Member Blog

Where is the first place you’ll go to if you want to reaffirm your decision to buy a product or a service? Most likely Google, or any search engine for that matter. And what are you likely to see when you type in the company name? The company’s profile and the reviews people have left for it. Among the top results will most likely be a couple of review sites where comments have been posted about the given business or product.

Consumers take online reviews seriously

But let’s first ask ourselves what motivates consumers to check product reviews in the first place? It doesn’t take much to figure that people need reassurance before they decide to part with their hard-earned money. It’s those who have already experienced the positives and the negatives of the product that are trusted to provide more information about their first-hand experience.

Various studies have been performed and although all of them present slightly different figures, they all unite around the undeniable fact that online reviews affect consumers’ purchasing behaviour to a considerable degree. Most of the research conducted, calculated that around 80 to 90% of people have been influenced by online reviews they have read about a certain product. What is more, Forbes revealed that 88% of consumers find online reviews trustworthy. Those figures are not surprising at all but they reiterate the significance of the feedback you get on the Internet.

Online reviews are cherished by potential users because they are supposed to involve a succinct summary of the pros and cons of a product. The customer is interested in feeding their expectations about something they want to buy, and want to learn the details from those who have already passed the stage of getting to know the product in question. But that’s not everything. Consumers tend to acquire their knowledge by visiting multiple sites. It’s not just Google – they could go to platforms like Yelp, Trustpilot or specialised industry-websites to do their exhaustive research. This comes to tell us that people invest quite a lot of time to learn more about their prospective purchase, and take the feedback they see seriously.

Seek reviews from your customers

What is key to understand is that companies should encourage their users to review them. It would be a positive step for them to invite their current users to leave a rating on their website or on some other platform. People are more than willing to assess anything numerically – be it a book, a movie, a plumber, or a lawnmower, they will happily express their opinion by giving 1 to 5 stars, or whatever scale different sites provide. By generating a good number of reviews, you offer your potential clients a bigger and clearer picture of your services, as they will normally trust you if they find out that many people have already commented on what you are doing, and how well you are doing it.

If you have been wondering whether you should worry about your overall score, the answer is no. People generally give positive marks and it is unlikely that you will get a destructively-low rating. The more reviews you receive, the higher your result will be, as occasional negative comments will be drowned in the sea of approvals.

A large number of reviews can help you get some easy traffic to your website, too. A study from 2015 showed that consumer reviews contributed 8.4% to what Google and other search engines use when ranking search results. This is not a figure to ignore as it gives you a respectable amount of extra visitors for the little effort you need to make to promote product reviewing.

Conclusion

All in all, any business’ reputation is built on customer satisfaction. If your product is usable and of high quality, you are certain to gain recognition. Nevertheless, it does not require much to help yourself further by asking your clients to review your business.

Whether you’re already testing or considering starting the right test kits will make all the difference.

15 years ago drug and alcohol testing was only available through a select number of specialist laboratories, and the only options available to companies needing screening was to enter expensive and slow contracted services, with long delays between testing and obtaining results. Jump forward to 2018 and the biotechnology has made massive leaps forward, enabling instant on-site screening, with positive or negative (clear) results in 5-10 minutes after sample collection. The enables businesses to get a workforce back in business fast and with minimum disruption. Drug screening has also moved out of the clinic setting and onto the work floor, with saliva options for almost all drug screens. Looking for the right drugs is essential and this includes testing for some drug groups which you may not consider in the classic “drugs of abuse” including some prescription drugs and the new psychoactive substances NPS or legal highs which have not been included on traditional older drug screens.

Remember you can test the environment as well as the people.

We have all probably watched Gordon Ramsay’s TV series on drugs and seen the findings when he tested changing rooms and toilets in some restaurants for Cocaine residues, but it is worth mentioning that wipe test and compound test kits are now available which will screen for up to 10 drug group residues. Only minute amounts of the drug have to be left for the test to detect its presence, and they can also be used on powders, tablets and vegetative product suspected of containing cannabinoids or synthetic cannabis. 

Most Companies choose saliva oral fluid test kits.

An integral part of any company drug and alcohol policy has to be the choice of testing kit. More and more companies are opting for the saliva route of sample collection for initial instant screening. It’s easy to see why, with an ever-growing catalogue of saliva test membrane options available, saliva test can now offer up to 13 screens in a single test. Sample collection is straightforward and can be directly observed with little or no ability for the sample to be tampered with, substituted, diluted or adulterated. 

Correct procedure, correct records, correct confirmation.

Most centres safely rely on instant screens to exclude all the negative results but it is essential to follow through with UKAS accredited confirmation testing of any non-negative findings. non-negative includes any screens with indeterminate results including invalids and will also include positive results where declared medications may be masking abuse or causing drug interactions. Fast track laboratory services can provide certificates results in 72 hours. Expect between 4 and 6 percent of tests to require a confirmation test.

Access Diagnostic Tests UK Ltd

Based in Aylsham Norfolk Access Diagnostics is the UK distributor of ALLTEST and InstAlert Brands of Drug and Alcohol testing kits. Directly or via our national network of re-sellers and suppliers we can assist in all matters which come up when your company introduces drug screening. Whether you’re looking to test 1 person or 500, we can guide you through the legalities, responsibilities and options to ensure your decisions stay legal, enforceable and above all improve the productivity and health of your workforce.

To find out more visit https://www.ukdrugtesting.co.uk or call us on 01263 731 168 Monday to Friday 8.30-4.30pm

Today is Time to Talk day, a day which aims to get people talking about mental health. And employers have a crucial role to play in destigmatising mental health issues.

But they can only do this by creating workplaces, where it is ‘safe’ to talk. Where it’s ok to not be ok.

There are some fundamental building blocks needed to create this environment and perhaps first of all is leadership. Leaders set the tone for an organisation so they need to be talking about mental health and setting the standards for the organisation. They need to normalise mental health through their leadership and provide the strategic direction for the delivery of activities to support mental wellbeing.

The manager is key too and I have written about the role of managers in supporting mental health in the workplace. Managers are in a great position to be able to identify signs and offer support but to do this, they need to have clarity about their role in supporting mental health in the workplace, understand the signs and symptoms to look out for, and feel confident to have conversations about mental health.

Communications are vital too and the employer needs to proactively share what is available and use language which normalises mental health. This, however, can be undermined by the dialogue which is taking place in the workplace – whilst a company may offer counselling, an individual’s willingness to access such support will be minimised if derogatory language is tolerated in the working environment. This needs to be challenged, but also, employees need to have access to mental health awareness training which gives them the insight and understanding needed.

Employers also need to consider their policies and procedures – are they giving opportunity for conversation or are they too directive? By having HR processes – such as 121s – which give equal opportunity for manager and employee to speak will help to build an ongoing conversation.

The organisation can also demonstrate that this is a safe place to talk by making commitments – to Mindful Employer, or to Time to Change, or indeed through their own organisational values. This is a loud and clear sign that the employer supports its people talking about their mental health.

And companies also need to think about what else they can offer – where they can signpost and guide an employee for support, to occupational health or talking therapies, for example. Because once an employee starts to talk, an employer needs to be ready.

People need to feel empowered to talk about their mental health. And employers have a great opportunity to support them to do this.

In today’s workplace, the transactional employee/employer relationship is – rightly – becoming a thing of the past. Companies are recognising that they cannot expect motivation and satisfaction through financial incentives alone. People need to feel engaged, connected, empowered – and in doing so, be motivated to deliver – more, often, – for an employer.

To increase motivation and satisfaction, employers need to develop and deliver targeted and relevant activities that engage and thus motivate and satisfy, including at key employment points, such as during recruitment, onboarding, and development. These engagement activities are absolutely essential for companies to deliver their business objectives – it is through involved and satisfied people that organisations will thrive.

And as well as employee engagement, companies also have an opportunity to connect with potential and past employees – and bring business benefits in doing so.

There is huge scope for employers to connect with potential employees through their external communications and engagement activities – and this may be long before a potential employee even considers a role with the organisation. The way that companies present themselves, through their external communications activities, through their charitable and community support, will have a significant impact on how they are perceived. As well as considering what external engagement activities they should deliver – be it media relations, social media, sponsorship, for example – companies also need to be mindful of the key messages they are sharing across their communications. Employers need to put their very ethos, their purpose, and above all, their values at the heart of their communications and engagement activities in an open and consistent way. Because these messages are what people will connect with – and which will ultimately attract applicants who share similar beliefs.

It is these activities – combined with the advocacy of existing motivated and satisfied employees who are benefiting from positive and proactive internal engagement and communications – which will help a company to become an employer of choice. And which will create that pull to a company which is perceived as a ‘great place to work.’

There is also opportunity to engage those who have left the organisation positively. The way that companies manage the ‘ending’ with those who are moving on is vital because these ex-employees also become advocates – or otherwise –  for the organisation. And so, companies need to make an employee feel valued throughout the leaving process – with recognition and appreciation, and engagement through, for example, truly effective and two-way exit interviews (the name of which, in itself, is rather disengaging). How a resigning or retiring employee is treated at this key time is crucial as it can colour their whole view of the organisation – and how they speak about the employer afterwards.

And once an individual is no longer an employee, a company can still keep them engaged through an ‘alumni’ scheme. This could include keeping them updated on progress through sharing the company newsletter, or through an annual Christmas or birthday card. This approach will help an ex-employee to feel valued for the contribution that they made, and still feel connected to the company – ‘part of the family’. A company which takes this approach will benefit from hugely powerful advocates within the community who will be in a position to influence others to want to work for that organisation. And, it may also encourage the ex-employee to return should an appropriate opportunity arise.

Employee engagement is crucial to business success as it is through people that objectives and performance are delivered. And more far-reaching engagement can also bring enormous benefits, not least around who wants to work with and for an organisation. A company which looks at these wider engagement activities can truly become an employer of choice.

​To discover more about engagement, engage with us [email protected]

Our in-house Google Adwords training courses allow you to train your team to successfully set up and run your own Google Adwords campaigns. The training course is designed to teach you to set up and manage your own AdWords campaigns.

The half day course includes:

• Why use Google Adwords?
• How to set up and structure Adwords account
• Using the dashboard
• Setting up campaigns and ad groups
• The three building blocks of AdWords – keywords, ads and landing pages
• Managing and measuring your AdWords campaigns

We can train up to 8 people at your offices and courses can be tailor made to your requirements. 

To find out more or book training call 01603 513080 or visit our website   Bigfork 01603 513080 www.bigfork.co.uk [email protected]

We recently conducted a Twitter poll asking people why they use (or why they would use) a telephone answering service and the results surprised us! We fully expected the top reason to be to save money – but it was actually near the bottom of the result table.

Top reasons to use a telephone answering service

Not only did we learn the answers to our question but we also learnt the value of market research! And here’s how the results polled:

41% human contact:

Never underestimate the value of speaking to a ‘real’ person. Customers who call your company want to speak to a person. They don’t want to hear the engaged tone or hear an automated message – they’ll simply move on if they do.

25% save time:

It’s great to have a busy telephone line – it can show your business is a great success! But how long is the average sales call? How many calls do you take that are nuisance calls? Filtering your calls means that you can pick out the important ones and call the customer back at an allotted time.

18% save money:

Do you employ a receptionist and incur all associated costs (wages, NI, sickness, holiday etc) or do you pay a small monthly fee to have a call-answering service deal with your calls?

16% not missing a sales call:

If you’re with a customer or client or in a meeting you’re probably not going to want to interrupt to take a call. That missed call could be a sales order and nobody can afford to throw business away.

  We also think the following a consideration too Giving a big business feel

You might not want your customers to realise you are dealing with them from your dining room or your bedroom. ‘Pretending’ to have a receptionist can give your business a professional front.

Professional call handling

What if dealing with people over the telephone is not your strong point? Or you can only take calls during anti-social hours? Experienced professionals can take calls on your behalf.

We can offer many reasons to use a telephone answering service. But why not think how you and your business could benefit? Reap the benefits and guarantee your customers always talk to a real person!

Try for yourself and sign up for a 7-day free trial with Pocket Receptionist

6 reasons to use a telephone answering service

We recently conducted a Twitter poll asking people why they use (or why they would use) a telephone answering service and the results surprised us! We fully expected the top reason to be to save money – but it was actually near the bottom of the result table.

Top reasons to use a telephone answering service

Not only did we learn the answers to our question but we also learnt the value of market research! And here’s how the results polled:

• 41% human contact: never underestimate the value of speaking to a ‘real’ person. Customers who call your company want to speak to a person. They don’t want to hear the engaged tone or hear an automated message – they’ll simply move on if they do.
• 25% save time: it’s great to have a busy telephone line – it can show your business is a great success! But how long is the average sales call? How many calls do you take that are nuisance calls? Filtering your calls means that you can pick out the important ones and call the customer back at an allotted time.
• 18% save money: do you employ a receptionist and incur all associated costs (wages, NI, sickness, holiday etc) or do you pay a small monthly fee to have a call-answering service deal with your calls?
• 16% not missing a sales call: if you’re with a customer or client or in a meeting you’re probably not going to want to interrupt to take a call. That missed call could be a sales order and nobody can afford to throw business away.

We also think the following a consideration too

• Giving a big business feel – you might not want your customers to realise you are dealing with them from your dining room or your bedroom. ‘Pretending’ to have a receptionist can give your business a professional front.
• Professional call handling – what if dealing with people over the telephone is not your strong point? Or you can only take calls during anti-social hours? Experienced professionals can take calls on your behalf.

We can offer many reasons to use a telephone answering service. But why not think how you and your business could benefit? Reap the benefits and guarantee your customers always talk to a real person!

Try for yourself and sign up for a 7-day free trial with Pocket Receptionist

Dear Norfolk Business Leaders

We need just 5-minutes of your time to help keep Norfolk on the tech map of the UK.

You may know that Norwich has featured in the nationally important #TechNation report for the last three years. Government ministers, policy makers and international business leaders read this report when making investment decisions. It’s vital for the region’s economy that we maintain our high profile.

However, the report is changing. The NEW Tech Nation Survey from Tech City UK is looking at the strength and diversity of regional clusters. If we don’t generate enough responses by Friday 2 February we won’t be included – and that could damage confidence in our region.

What can you do to help Norwich and Norfolk make this year’s #TechNation report?

It’s simple – just take the 5-minute survey – and then encourage everyone in your network to do the same. You might not think of your business as a ‘tech company’ but if it depends on digital skills, this survey is for you and your team.That includes people in your organisation like systems administrators, app developers, website builders and digital designers. 

This survey is not just for ‘techies’.

In fact, Tech City UK wants to hear from people across the industry. They want to know about the opportunities for high growth businesses, and the quality of education and training. They want to hear from anyone who:

• Works in a tech business
• Founded or leads a tech business
• Works in an organisation that supports the tech sector (local government, charity, not for profit organisation)
• Provides services for tech businesses (consulting, legal, accounting, finance etc.)
• Invests in tech businesses
• Teaches digital skills
• Runs a start-up incubator or accelerator.

But hurry – the survey closes Friday 2 February.

Remember – it only takes 5 minutes, so please grab a mug of tea and do it now. Here’s the short form link for you to share https://bit.ly/2D3WVdI

The #TechNation reports have transformed the way people see the UK’s digital economy. They have captured the strength, depth and breadth of tech activity across the UK. Crucially – they have revealed the scale of talent in communities such as ours.

The people at Tech City UK tell us that Norfolk returns the most survey responses outside London. Let’s not disappoint them this year. Together, we can make this #TechNation 2018 the best report yet.

Please share the following message with your network on twitter, facebook and LinkedIn:

Help keep #Norwich on the #TechNation map 2018. Have your say – take the NEW @TechCityUK survey today: https://bit.ly/2D3WVdI

Thank you for your support.

Huw Sayer

Business Writers Ltd.

PS: Please feel free to send this open letter to your contacts.

Our client, Grakn Labs, is one of the fastest-growing database programmes in the UK. The idea is that developers will use their code and platform in order to build the databases for their clients, which could potentially hold millions of records. The company’s services are a competitor to the likes of Mongodb or Oracle.

In the tech world, intelligent coders and developers do not like to be sold to, creating a real challenge when it comes to SEO. Simply ranking for database sofwares and tools on Google’s search results is not sufficent. Instead, developers want to stumble upon you and realise for themselves that you are the best option to go for.

Smart use of content

Rather than focus on optimising a series of landing pages for SEO, instead, we have focused on a number of blog posts and discussions to rank for long tail keywords. Whilst very technical, we have allows the Grakn staff to write these in the language and terminology that appeals to the audience. We have ensured the maximum optimisation by working on the meta-data, h tags, keyword density in the content, internal links and more. We believe that this will be a strong way to convert users onto the site and to use the platform.

Site clean up

In addition to the use of content, the Grakn website has benefitted from an SEO clean up and health check. This ensures a maximum indexation of the website including the sitemap, removing crawl errors, broken links and response codes so that it ranks as smoothly as possible.

Elsewhere, we have updated the meta-titles, meta-descriptions, removed meta keywords and used h tags effectively to organise the website’s content.

In terms of link building, the site has generated a lot of press already as an alternative to other big data providers. Our role has been to ‘reclaim’ any mentions on other websites and ask politely for a link. Elsewhere, we have carried out outreach to get mentioned specifically on computer and tech websites and build up their domain authority as a tech specialist.

We are delighted to announce that we are working with The Medic Mind, a new startup which has found an excellent gap in the market to help students get into the medical school of their choice.

The Story of Medic Mind

The Medic Mind was founded in 2016 by Kunal Dasani and Mohil Shah who are both studying Medicine and UCL in London. Together, they accumulated over 1,000 hours of tutoring to students looking to studying medicine and found that most people could not afford the standard £200 for a UKCAT or BMAT Course. 

They quickly saw a gap in the market to provide online course, one-to-one tuition and mentoring to help give young students the support they need. The online BMAT and UKCAT courses start from just £35, a fraction of their competitors and they include free online resources too such as past papers and mark schemes, something that was previously inaccessible.

The response has been fantastic as they have had thousands of pupils sign up and they have had a 92% success getting their pupils into University and an average UKCAT score of 720 where the national average is 570. 

What We Are Doing For Them

Since SEO is our speciality, we are working hard with Medic Mind to improve their organic search rankings on Google for terms relating to BMAT and UKCAT courses, tuition and mentoring. 

We have started with a big clean up of the website which has been challenging since the website is built on Weebly and is not designed for scalable SEO changes. It has been a very manual process to add meta-data, rel=canonical tags and h1 tags, hence we will consider moving the website to WordPress in the near future. The changes thus far have been targeted at incorporating our target keywords into the meta-titles, descriptions and h1 headings. Plus, we have carried a full fix up to ensure no broken links, crawl errors and a strong well-indexed sitemap.

For content, we are looking to create a number of useful guides to position the company as a leader in the industry relating to everything in medical school preparation. This involves a series of guides, interviews and resources to ‘hook’ potential students.

In terms of links and PR, we are leveraging the founders’ success but getting features in start up websites, UCL’s news online and also very medical specific websites.

We look forward to taking the company from strength-to-strength and are confident that we can use SEO to drastically increase sales and help build the brand into a household name.

Get into a conversation with someone about pest control and immediately most would refer to rat catchers and wasp nest removers. In contrast, the UK market size for pest control continues to grow with an estimated value of over £320m per annum. It does include rats and mice, more about that later, but it also includes many other areas which many people would not think about.  This blog article gives an insight into what pest management really is and how businesses can protect their assets and reputation by having a simple preventative contract in place.  In the UK there is considerable legislation concerning the responsibility of property and business owners with regard to pest control. Having pest control is not the law, but there are certain acts which you should know. If your business is in the food chain, you will need to follow very stringent pest control practices for health, safety and hygiene. However, all businesses and employers have a duty of care with regard to protecting its workforce from pests and the hazards posed by pest infestation in the workplace.  Here are some of the acts and what they mean to you: The Prevention of Damage by Pests Act 1949.  This act often relates to the presence of pests either on land or within a building that are affecting other properties. The act enables Local Authorities to take enforcement action to eradicate pests. This act also includes businesses which manufacture, store and transport foodstuffs as contamination by pests has serious health risks and covers aspects relating to insect infestation of foodstuffs as well.  A good example of this is when we were recently called to sort out an infestation of rodents that were causing major issues to a business. The problem was that the root cause was within a building next door where the occupiers didn’t manage the issue until the local authority intervened.   Food Safety Act 1990  Under this act, businesses must ensure that the food they sell is safe to the health of the people consuming it. The act outlines the need for business owners to take due diligence – by employing a professional pest controller to monitor and deal with infestations in a timely manner, helps you in meeting the obligations laid out in the act.  We have many contracts within the food chain. Every location has a detailed service report pack where we record every visit and the treatments carried out. We also manage electronic fly killers, perform fly counts and record these, a must for certain levels detailing what type of fly was present to enable trend analysis.  Food Safety (General Food Hygiene) Regulations 1995  These regulations are aimed at food proprietors and cover the basic rules that state that you should make sure all food is supplied in a hygienic way, all food safety hazards such as rats and mice are identified and that you know the critical activities for food safety and that safety controls are in place. A regular pest monitoring contract can assist you meet your obligations to these regulations and provide you with constant security from rodent or insect infestation.  Typically, we visit a premises 6 to 8 times each year (some monthly) to check on any pest activity. By law, you only lay toxic bait when rodents are present. We bait and revisit 3 times or until the issue is resolved. Following this we revert back to non-toxic baits. Health and Safety at Work Act 1974  All employers must take necessary measures to secure the health, safety and welfare of their employees and visiting contractors. This would include making areas safe and clean.  We get called to manage projects for bird control where birds become an issue attacking staff and contractors or bird droppings causing issues on vehicles, let alone the diseases that can be spread if not properly managed.  Technology drivers within Pest Control Even pest control is getting techy. At Abate, we have been using laser systems for bird control. We have installed one at Sizewell Power Station to reduce the amount of gulls nesting on the roofs. One laser covers 16 roofs and is charged by a small wind turbine and operated through GPRS so engineers can manage it directly from the office. 

We are also now using a new type of rodent box which will send a signal via wi-fi if the box has evidence of pests. Some may say that’s not a bad innovation. But when you think more, managing pest control on a food manufacturing site and you have 50 rodent boxes. This system will alert us to the exact box, which also means you only have to make that part of the site live with toxic bait.  

Today we have the ability for a client to log in to our client portal which will show them their pest control contract, locations, visits and treatments carried out. In 2018 we are developing a new online reporting suite of systems which will take us to a new level of enhanced management. It will be a booking system linking the office to the client and the technician.  Can we assist? We offer discreet assistance with pest-related problems to businesses at very competitive rates. We offer treatments and rolling contracts which are tailored to your needs. Our contracts provide businesses with any necessary treatments, regular inspections and free call outs should you need us between your visits.

At Abate, we manage rodents, insects, birds, woodworm and specialist hygiene services.  We are based near Wymondham and have been in the industry for over 18 years and employ a team of technicians to cover Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Essex and parts of Herefordshire and Bedfordshire.  We offer a no obligation report and survey to assist you with your pest control needs so please get in touch if we can help you via the website or by calling us on 01953 603390. 

Turning strategy into action

New Anglia LEP’s Head of Strategy, Lisa Roberts, looks ahead to the next steps in the Economic Strategy for Norfolk and Suffolk

“The New Year marks an exciting point for us – it’s now that we produce the implementation and delivery plans which will outline how we’re going to achieve the targets set out in the new Economic Strategy for Norfolk and Suffolk.

So how do we start identifying the priority actions and activities which will deliver new jobs, new businesses and improved skill levels?

Well the key to success is definitely partnership. We’ve worked with public and private sector partners throughout the development of the strategy and we’ve now asked them to start feeding back on their current activities so we can pull together a comprehensive ‘map’ of what’s currently under way. They’re telling us what they deliver at the moment under each of the priority themes and how they measure the success of these activities. This will form the starting point for our delivery plans – we need to identify both best practice and gaps to work out where the interventions need to be made.

Now we’re also really keen to hear from you so that your activities and plans can form part of this work – after all, its local businesses which will create new jobs and growth.

Hundreds of you joined us at events in the summer to feed into the development of the strategy and now we’d like you to spare a little time to help us at this stage too.

We’re hosting events with the Chamber across Norfolk in January and February where you’ll be able to feed into our delivery plans and meet our team. We look forward to seeing you and thank you all for your support so far. You can find out about the events and book yur free place on the Chamber events page. We’re coming to King’s Lynn, Norwich and Great Yarmouth so make sure you come and take part.”

You can read more about the strategy at www.newanglia.co.uk