What questions should you be asking your customers right now?
You’re an extraordinary person. I’m not just saying that to make you feel good about yourself. I’m telling you’re extraordinary because, well, you are. You’ve lived through a pandemic, my friend. Not only that, but you’re still in business during a pandemic. And now you’re using time in your busy day to read an article […]
Creative Ways to Show Love from a Distance
I have some exciting personal news: I recently earned my communication degree from Portland State University! But this blog post isn’t really about that. It’s about what happened a few days later, when I woke up, looked out the window, and saw a dozen flamingos standing in my front yard. I’d been flocked. If you’re […]
Business Unusual: Round Table Part 2
In the second video in a two-part interview series, Katie Hurst continues to talk change with a panel of entrepreneurs about the state of business in a post-COVID world. Read the Interview Katie Hurst:Hi, my name is Katie Hurst and I’m the Director of Communications here at Ruby. And I’m so excited to introduce our […]
Unclog the workflow: the perks of answering services for plumbing businesses.
You run a plumbing business. Ruby runs a plumbing answering service. You should consider using us. But this isn’t about us. It’s about you. Your plumbing business takes work. Perhaps you have a handful of employees, or maybe you’re the sole member of your organization. Either way, you work too hard, you don’t get paid […]
Is your customer service WOW-worthy?
There is no denying we have transcended into a high-touch, high-tech, digital age. But, even in this era of automation, focusing on the human element of your business can be your most valuable tool in impressing potential and current customers alike. In fact, 66% of customers think that a company’s customer service reputation is a […]
How live chat can improve your search rankings
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) can feel like a painfully abstract chore for business owners – a coded game that you pay a tech wizard to win on your behalf – but it’s related more to basic business values than you might think. Over time, search engines have become very good at understanding what people actually […]
Business Unusual: Round Table Discussion
In this edition of Business Unusual, Ruby’s Director of Strategic Communications, Katie Hurst, talks COVID-19 with a group of entrepreneurs including Robin DeTrude of Elaine’s Salon, Greg Seei of Robust Promotions, and Joshua Zissman of Pennsylvania Dental Implant & Oral Surgery Associates. The panel discusses new technologies, strategies, setbacks, and wins. Read the Interview Katie […]
The only customer service audit checklist you’ll ever need: 30+ skills & tools any business should optimize
When did customer service become so complicated? Maybe when the world got complicated. We live in a dizzyingly elaborate, interconnected global society teeming with people, technology, organizations, and their various competing interests. An action as simple as finding a plumber to fix a leaky sink can bring someone into contact with multiple channels, opinions, advertisers, […]
Shifting gears: Stories from small business owners
We asked small business owners, what’s changed? Here are their stories. It’s clear life and business as we know it has fundamentally changed — but what does that look like for the local florist shop, neighborhood dentist, or the two-person design agency working out of their homes? We collected stories from dozens of small business […]
5 ways to encourage customers to leave positive reviews (with real-world examples).
Restaurants, lawyers, plumbers, doctors, landscapers, power tools, cars, cat food, computers, babysitters, lampshades, interior designers, travel experiences, company cultures, customer service teams… If it exists, someone out there seems to be willing to review it. And from Yelp to Amazon, Facebook to Google, the Better Business Bureau to Glassdoor, the internet is teeming with ratings […]
Business Unusual: Wellness in Crisis
In this interview for our Business Unusual series, Ruby’s Jill McKenna talks about wellness in the midst of crisis with Amanda Soares, LCSW. Jill McKenna: Hello, I’m Jill. I’m the campaign marketing manager here at Ruby. And today I’m talking with Amanda Soares. Amanda is a mental health speaker, therapist, coach facilitator, and licensed clinical […]
Video: Local marketing and Google (with Nalini Prasad)
Katie Hurst, Ruby’s Director of Strategic Communications, takes the mic in this edition of Business Unusual, interviewing Nalini Prasad, Chief Strategy Officer at BluShark Digital, about the power of local marketing and the importance of Google My Business. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6TUxdBa2aM Read the Interview Katie Hurst:Hi everybody, my name is Katie Hurst, and I’m the director of […]