The devil might be in the details, but you can't lose site of your ultimate goals. Its often difficult for small businesses to manage both.

From business plan consultations to defining your target market, from mission statement refinement to putting the right personnel in place, Labrador Consulting & Marketing Services is here to help you define and refine the processes necessary for success. We are you on-call adviser for all business issues large and small. How can you achieve your short term and long term goals? How can you narrow in on your target market for greater efficiency and increased chances of success? How can you devise a customer care/customer service strategy that will strengthen existing relationships without breaking the bank?

Its difficult to keep your eye on the ball while wearing multiple hats and coaching the rest of the team. We'll work with you and make sure you put your best team forward and have the greatest chance to win.

Operations are essentially the day-to-day actions that are required to accomplish your organizational goals.  Tracking customers and maintaining sales pipelines are operations.  Making sure your suppliers and vendors are prepared for your orders so that there is no delay in fulfilling sales are operations.  Effectively everything you do regularly in order to met your sales objectives are operations.

And you do them because you have to.  But are you doing them efficiently?  Are you in compliance with federal and state regulations?  Are you operational expenses higher than they need be?

Because operational functions are the everyday tasks that are required to get the job done, they are often overlooked or under-appreciated by business staff.  This is especially true in small businesses where often the management wears multiple hats and you just don't have time to re-invent a wheel that isn't broken.  But operational functions that take up too much time or resources can negatively impact the bottom line, and that's why its imperative to higher an outside consultant to review your company's operations and see which functions can be fine-tuned and which need wholesale replacement.  Its also imperative to have operations relating to identifiable customer data and document retention reviewed, as the penalties for failing to protect against identity theft are extremely high.

Whether mundane or methodical, our staff can review and assess your business operations and their effectiveness.  We will work with you to create policies and procedures that are both cost-effective, compliant and strictly enhance your ability for organizational success.

Marketing is the first thing to be cut with most small businesses we see. Money gets tight... decrease your marketing budget. Response isn't quite what you thought on a new ad... kill the marketing campaign early. Economy takes a turn for the worse... let your marketing go. Regardless of industry, we see the same response time and time again. Sadly its all wrong. The worst thing you can do when things get tough is stop marketing. The second worse thing you can do is kill a marketing program early because it doesn't have instant success.

Marketing takes time, and like everything else, it also costs money. And marketing is a fickle thing without somewhat difficult to quantify results. If you mail someone a sales letter and they don't call you, was it a waste of time and resources? What if they do call you, but its a month or two later, is it a waste then? People can't buy your product if they don't know what you sell or that you even exist. And even if they know who you are and what you sell, you have to catch them at the right time and persuade them that you are the best option if you want to make it happen. Some marketing efforts seem to go unheard only to be reap the benefits later... you have to keep sowing the seeds in order to enjoy the fruits.

Information Technology (or IT) is one of those "buzzwords" that can mean just about anything. In a broad sense, IT should be the informational and technological tools that help you achieve your organizational goals. Unfortunately, IT, and the people who perform IT duties often get in the way or fail to perform as promised. If your computer systems, networking, IT policies, or staff are dictating how you run your business then there is a good chance you need to have them reviewed and revised. IT shouldn't dictate what you do or how you do it, it should only be a tool to help you get there.

We are not IT Professionals or Business Professionals. We are both. We know the lingo and understand the systems, standards and procedures of IT resources while being business people who never fail to see the bottom line or the organizational goals. We will work with you as a bridge to bring your IT resources and staff inline with your business objectives.

They say you never get a second chance to make a first impression.  This is especially true online.  Americans spend mere seconds on a website making the decision to read further or move on.  But if a web visitor stays past the first few seconds, they will expect to find detailed information on products, pricing, and policies as well as information about the company, locations, and how to reach you.  In no other marketing form is it as important to grab someone's attention quick while providing a vast amount of detailed and accurate information for when they stick around.  In no other marketing form to you have to offer everything to the consumer at once, but only present it if they keep searching for me.  Think about it like this; your website is both a dust jacket and the whole novel.  It is both the 15 second preview and the 2 hour movie.  If you understand that, than you understand the importance of a fast-loading attention grabbing website wear content is key.

Labrador Consulting & Marketing Services is not a pioneer in the latest animations or glitzy technology.  We don't include background music and rarely use flash that is noticeable.  We build a comprehensive website package whose interface and "glitz" enhances your content and core focus but never gets in the way.  Our sites are easily identifiable with your company or organization.  They load fast, work well, and have intuitive user interfaces.  Our sites enhance your company's ability to achieve its goals through e-commerce, customer service, market penetration, and enhanced visibility.

If you have an existing web site and would like a professional to review it and make recommendations, we can do that.  We will analyze your site's SEO (Search Engine Optimization), ease of use, validity of content, cross-browser compatibility, and likelihood of success.  We will also analyze your security measures (if any) and potential security holes or software needing updating.  We will look for dead links, incorrect use of meta data, and compliance to web and security standards.  Our site assessments can be one-time projects or on-going assessments.  Whatever you need, we'll work with you to customize a solution that meets your budget and operational goals.  If we develop your web presence for you, of course all of the above is included in every site we create.

Labrador Consulting & Marketing Services offers e-commerce consultations and solutions to businesses of all sizes. Labrador Consulting & Marketing Services is available to be your trusted adviser when you have your electronic commerce solutions performed in-house or by third parties.  Want to know what questions to ask before hiring a third-party firm?  Want to know if your current site or staff are up to today's standards?  Want some assistance with CPI compliance, SSL security, or customer service procedures?  We can help.  We have the experience and the expertise in e-commerce operations and can provide one-time assessments and consultations, or on-going assistance and advice.

And, if you want to outsource your e-commerce solutions, we can work with that too.  Over the years, we have built relationships and earn experience in developing e-commerce solutions ourselves.  Based on your needs, we might make a proposal to do the work ourselves as well as recommend other third-party e-commerce solution providers.  We can be as involved in your site's development as you like, or just maintain a consultation role.  The choice is yours.

If you are considering us to provide your e-commerce development, we can offer a wide range of services.  From maintenance and security check-ups to payment gateways for merchant accounts, PayPal and Google Checkout integration, and full site development; Labrador Consulting & Marketing Services of Raleigh is here to work with you every step of the way.