Business News

Wed Jun 8

Five ways to make the most out of your tax return

Written by Sarah Fleming

It is not uncommon for people to get the urge to splurge mid-year when they receive their annual tax return. While material goods are satisfying in the short-run, it is far more valuable to invest in yourself and make a positive difference in the long-run. A recent report this month by skills recognition and RPL (recognition of prior learning) specialist, Get Qualified Australia, has found that a mere 2% of people will be spending their return on education and upskilling. This is compared to 19% of people planning to spend the return on holidays and recreation.

Adam Wadi is the Founder of Get Qualified Australia. He has listed his top five ways to make the most out of your tax return below:

Start your own business

“Big dreams are usually the hardest ones to realise, but always the most important. Use your return to take the first step towards starting your own business. Regardless of whether the return goes into a dedicated savings account to reach this goal or goes towards securing a necessary qualification in business management, make it count. Once you have taken that step, there’s the double benefit of earning small business (and/or home office) tax deductions, as well as the additional income from running your own business.”

Get healthy

“Health = wealth. Every dime that goes into getting physically fitter and mentally healthier is money well spent. Invest your return into a gym membership, pilates course, therapist session, boot camp retreat or a membership for a meditation app.”

Educate yourself

“I’m of the belief that no-one should ever stop learning and your tax return gives you the opportunity to be proactive in educating yourself. See an RPL specialist to see what qualification you may be able to secure through recognition of prior learning and previous work experience. You may be able to secure a qualification without having to do any study whatsoever, or alternatively you will save time and money by minimising the number of units you have to complete. Having a qualification/s opens up doors, whether it’s getting a pay rise, a promotion, a better job or leading you to further study.”

Dress career smart

“The old saying goes ‘Dress for the job you want, not the job you have’ and it’s still an important one to remember. How you dress alters not only the image you project to others but also how you see yourself and therefore how you behave. Going on a shopping spree may not seem like the smartest way to spend your tax return but by taking a portion of it and investing in some signature pieces for work, you will actually be investing in your future. Dress to the nines and see how your boss, colleagues and clients treat you as a result. If you’re struggling, invest in a stylist session or meet with a personal brand image expert. It’s also worth looking into what clothing you can claim a tax deduction on. This is possible for a range of industries that require occupation-specific clothing. You may even be able to claim costs associated with laundry and dry-cleaning.”

Learn how to save

“It may seem counter-intuitive to pay someone to help you stop spending money. However, you’d be surprised by how learning to budget and save pays off in the long-run. Take the time to find experts in this field such as a one-man-band or small business who will not charge an arm and a leg for their expertise. Trial the service for a period of three months and see how much you can save with a little bit of know-how and the pressure of being accountable to someone!”

About Get Qualified Australia:

Get Qualified Australia is Australia’s leading skills recognition and RPL (recognition of prior learning) specialist. Founded in 2010 by Adam Wadi, Get Qualified Australia is the first business of its kind. Engaging GQA is extremely cost-effective, as it can potentially save up to 75% on their course fees, and years of their life that would have been spent in the classroom. Get Qualified Australia has 40 partners and 400 qualifications available to its customers across 29 industries. The business has helped to upskill tens of thousands of professionals, from tradies to executives.

GQA makes RPL simple, providing a time and cost-effective way to obtain nationally recognised qualifications based on existing skills and experience. While the Australian government offers a similar service to international students, this is the only business that works to help Australians upskill and better their future. GQA’s services are available Australia-wide.

For more information visit www.gqaustralia.com.au

Tue May 24

NewVoiceMedia research reveals how Australian businesses are driving away customers

Written by Nicola Brookes

SYDNEY, May 24, 2016 – New research from NewVoiceMedia, a leading global provider of cloud technology, which helps businesses sell more, serve better and grow faster, reveals that companies in Australia are losing $11 billion a year due to poor customer service, a 38 percent and $3 billion increase since 2014.

Since NewVoiceMedia’s initial 2014 survey, the number of Australian consumers who report leaving a business due to inadequate customer experiences has actually decreased from 58 percent to 48 percent, but consumers are now spending 49 percent more with a company over the course of a year before switching.

Top reasons respondents gave for leaving were consistent with the previous study and included: feeling unappreciated (43 percent), unhelpful/rude staff (36 percent), not being able to get answers (29 percent), being passed around to multiple people (27 percent), being fed up of queuing (26 percent) and being kept on hold for too long (25 percent).

“With revenue being transferred between companies at an alarming rate, this research highlights the considerable impact that customers have on a business’s success”, said Jonathan Gale, CEO of NewVoiceMedia. “Customer experience is the key differentiator, and by doing it well, organisations can drive the customer acquisition, retention and efficiency that make leading companies successful”.

Calling out the contact centres

A majority of respondents (52 percent) indicated calling as their preferred method of communication with a business and 72 percent consider calls to be the quickest way of resolving an issue. However, consumers flagged being kept on hold as the top reason (54 percent) they dislike calling companies. Respondents also noted not being able to speak to a “real person” straight away (45 percent), having to repeat info to multiple agents (45 percent) and needing to navigate multiple menus (35 percent) as off-putting. On average, respondents indicated they would only hold for 11 minutes before hanging up.

Consequently, only 40 percent suggested calls were the most effective way to resolve an issue. Email (25 percent) and social media (18 percent) were other channels respondents touted as “effective” in settling customer service issues.

According to one respondent, a preference for non-telephone communications stems from email’s “ability to thoroughly document the problem and [lessen the] chance of a misunderstanding”. Others explained that social media often spurs response because the channel is public facing.

How customers respond

Faced with poor customer service, more than half (55 percent) of respondents would never use the offending company again, 47 percent indicated they’d change supplier, 36 percent would write to complain, 30 percent would tell friends and colleagues not to use the company, 15 percent would post an online review and 15 percent would complain publicly via social media.

On the contrary, if provided with good service, respondents indicated they would be more loyal (70 percent), recommend the company to others (66 percent), use the company more frequently (41 percent) and spend more money (30 percent). Only 7 percent claimed good service would not affect their relationship.

For further information, download the research whitepaper at www.newvoicemedia.com.

Comments on the news

Shep Hyken, customer service and experience expert, New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author, said, “There is a disconnect between how companies think they are doing and what customers are reporting. Customers are more service savvy than ever before, and companies are training customers to expect more tailored experiences. The companies that deliver great customer service have set the benchmark and with each improvement push the baseline bar higher. What was acceptable customer service last year is far below the bar this year”.
Nancy Jamison, principal analyst at Frost & Sullivan, said, "Today's consumers want consistent, personalised and proactive customer service, not silo'd interactions. Change the journey and you change your win and retention rate”.
Blair Pleasant, president and principal analyst at COMMfusion LLC, said, “Social media can be a double edged sword – it can be an easy and efficient way for consumers to get customer care, but it can also become an open forum for discontentment”.
Jeff Toister, author, customer service expert, said, “Customers generally complain on social media because they weren’t able to resolve their issue somewhere else. They might have complained in-person, over the phone, or via email and were either dissatisfied with the response or they received no response at all. So, the best thing that companies can do to reduce or prevent complaints on social media is to strengthen the service they deliver via other channels".
Micah Solomon, author, speaker and customer experience consultant, said, "Through every demographic slice, good service is one of the clearest predictors of customer loyalty, willingness to recommend, and hesitancy to switch. And in our easy-to-switch reality, it is one of companies' most important weapons to achieve these all-important goals".

About NewVoiceMedia

NewVoiceMedia powers customer connections that transform businesses globally. The leading vendor's award-winning cloud customer contact platform revolutionises the way organisations connect with their customers worldwide, enabling them to deliver a personalised and unique customer service experience and drive a more effective sales and marketing team. With a true cloud environment and proven 99.999% platform availability, NewVoiceMedia ensures complete flexibility, scalability and reliability.

Spanning 128 countries and six continents, NewVoiceMedia's 600+ customers include PhotoBox, MobileIron, TNT, Lumesse, JustGiving, Canadian Cancer Society and Wowcher. For more information visit www.newvoicemedia.com or follow NewVoiceMedia on Twitter @NewVoiceMedia.