The secret to getting more customers was the hot topic of conversation at Bathurst Regional Council’s free seminar for local businesses held at BMEC yesterday.
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The presentation by Professor Steven D’Alessandro from CSU attracted 70 participants eager to learn how they could grow their business by knowing their customers well, how they could find out about their customers, and how they could build better links between their businesses and CSU.
Prof. D’Alessandro said he would love to see Bathurst become an entrepreneurial hub.
He said businesses chose the topics they wanted him to talk about and it was a matter of translating the research to answer those questions.
“Bathurst is an undiscovered gem, in my opinion,” Prof. D’Alessandro said.
“There are some great businesses here and a lot of potential.”
One of the issues Prof. D’Alessandro spoke about was the use of social media.
He said where the use of social media for marketing was concerned, Bathurst businesses could be doing a little more.
Prof. D’Alessandro said council’s idea of offering free seminars to local business people was a fantastic one.
“It’s a really important way of building business networks and perhaps getting business owners thinking about how to upskill their workforce,” he said.
One local business owner who has attended most of the free workshops is Karla McDiarmid of Macquarie Skin and Day Spa.
She said there was always something new to learn and, while she already does a lot of the things suggested, it was always good to get a refresher.
“I have come away today with four ideas I want to implement when I go back,” she said.
“Every seminar I learn new things. I also love networking with other businesses, sharing ideas and getting their feedback.”
Nigel Flowers of SHIFT Lab, a sales coaching program based in Bathurst, said he finds the interaction at the seminars fantastic.
“You always pick something up to take away with you,” he said.
“Everyone bounces ideas off each other. It’s so important to build networks.”
Roz Townsend said yesterday’s seminar was great for shaking people out of their complacency.
She said most business owners were so busy keeping their heads above water it could be difficult keeping up with new trends. Ms Townsend said the seminars were great way of doing that.