At Clear Business, we’re constantly looking for new ways to make life easier for our customers.
During the pandemic we’ve seen a clear increase in customers wanting to self-serve and manage services online, without having to speak to someone on the phone.
That’s why we’ve bent over backwards to improve our Customer Zone portal, so you can now do more online, more easily, at a time that suits you.
What can you do in Customer Zone?
We’ve created a series of videos to explain the five key things you can do in Customer Zone and show you how to make the most of the portal. We’ve also detailed what you can do in Customer Zone below in writing.
Set up or make changes to your Direct Debit
Paying by Direct Debit is the easiest way to pay your bills. You can change your bank details or set up a new Direct Debit mandate any time in Customer Zone.
If you need to reset your Direct Debit, simply log on to clearbusiness.co.uk/customerzone, hover over ‘My Account’ and select Direct Debit from the dropdown menu.
If you’re not already paying doing it, you can save £10 a month off your bill by signing up to pay by Direct Debit.
View your latest bills
You can view your latest bill, get detailed breakdowns over the last 12 months and download printable versions all online.
Submit meter reads
If you take one of our utility products, we recommend you send us a meter read monthly to ensure your bills are as accurate as possible. Submitting your meter read using Customer Zone is easy to do and only takes a minute.
You can use Customer Zone to make online payments. Click on ‘Make a Payment’ and your invoice balance will automatically be entered. Then simply enter your payment details. You can only use this method if you’re paying your full invoice amount. If you want to pay a lesser amount, you’ll still need to call one of our team on 0333 014 3131 between 8am and 6pm Monday to Friday.
How do you sign up to Customer Zone?
Signing up to use Customer Zone is quick and easy to do. You’ll just need your email address and Clear Business account ID. Once your account is activated, you’re ready to go.
If you’re considering who to partner with for your next sales campaign for Fixed Line and Fibre, Energy or Water take a look at our five reasons to become a Clear Business partner.
Reason one
We pay amazing commissions straight into your bank account, weekly.
On top of that, every payment is made using self-billing, reducing admin and leaving you free to focus on running your business.
Amazing commissions
Reason two
Our customer onboarding is seamless.
Our streamlined processes enable customers to go live quickly, simply and with a minimum of hassle.
Rest assured, we’ve been doing this for 20 years now, so we’ve got pretty good at it!
Cut the red tape
Reason three
We’ve got some of the most competitive product offerings and prices in the marketplace.
Your team can be fully trained on the industry, our products and how to best market them successfully. We’ll tailor training to fit your level of experience.
Our processes are adapted to cater to a non-contact marketplace, focussing on telephone and digital sales, and providing you with all the tools to make the customer’s journey switching over to us as simple as possible.
We’ll show you the ropes
Reason five
You get dedicated support from a desk-based account manager as standard.
Plus, our online portal and daily reporting, keeps you in touch at every stage of your customers’ journey; when they’re expected to go live; how much revenue you’re going to receive; and which stepped volume bonus you’re on target to achieve.
The portal also notifies you of any action needed on your part to move the contract along.
Between your account manager and the reporting portal you’ll have all the support and information you need to maximise sales.
Clear Business, the essential service provider to small businesses, is on the lookout for up to 50 new recruits in Glasgow as it prepares to support its customers during their recovery from the pandemic.
The company is looking for talent across its sales, customer service and partner support departments at its office at One Rutherglen Links.
With a core customer base of businesses in the retail, hospitality and beauty sectors, Clear Business is targeting the new hires to ensure customers have the essential services they need to thrive as the economy bounces back.
Part of the Verastar Group, Clear Business entered the Scottish Water market as a licensed provider of water and waste services in 2013 and now delivers services to over one in four Scottish companies.
Clear Business offers water, energy and telecoms services, all on one simple bill.
Verastar Group announced the appointment of former TalkTalk MD Lee Hull as CEO in October 2020.
Hull said: “We’re committed to continuing to grow our workforce in Scotland, and while the pandemic slowed down our recruitment plans, we are now back to full speed ahead.
“As the government eases restrictions, businesses of all kinds are sure to see an increase in activity. We’ve been working incredibly hard to support the UK high street and hospitality during the pandemic and we’re here to support them as they begin to recover.
“Alongside the pandemic recovery, we’re working flat out on the rollout of full fibre broadband, equipping small businesses with the connectivity they need to thrive as part of a modern economy. This project presents a significant opportunity for Clear Business and we’ll need the right people on our team to continue to deliver a great service for our customers.”
Founded in 1998, Verastar Group employs nearly 900 people and achieved a turnover of £183m in the financial year ending April 2020.
The referral. Good, old-fashioned word of mouth. It can often be much more powerful than leads generated by telesales, social media, or any other source for that matter.
Having happy customers give your product or service the thumbs up and then introduce it to others, is considerably more efficient than generating new leads from scratch. With a referral, you’re already halfway down the sales process!
What is a referral?
A referral is when someone tells another person about the great work you do and the positive impact it has had on them. Ideally this is done directly through word of mouth, but could also be via an online review, a social media post or even an email.
Should you ask for a referral?
Many people feel awkward about asking customers for a referral, worrying they will come across as pushy or desperate.
However, if you’ve provided a truly fantastic service to someone and you have built a positive and trusting relationship, there’s no reason you shouldn’t ask for a referral.
When should you ask for a referral?
It’s commonplace to wait until whatever work you’re doing is complete before asking for a referral, maybe as part of the invoicing process, but actually the perfect time to ask for a referral is whenever you feel the time is right.
Referrals work on the basis of relationship building and trust, so if you reach a point while providing a service that you feel your client is very satisfied, or that you’ve generated a strong rapport with them, then that is probably the right time to ask.
Don’t always wait until the last step in the process to ask, or you might miss your moment!
How to ask for a referral
You need your request to be specific to that person. It’s no good asking “if they know anybody that might be interested.”
Rather, ask: “I know you work with a lot of other small businesses; would any of them be interested in making a saving on their essential services?”
If you’ve really made a difference to the person you’re asking and added value for them, they’re quite likely to agree to refer you on to relevant people within their network.
More great ways to get a referral
1) Make it easy – consider creating a page or form on your website encouraging visitors to recommend your service to a friend who might find it useful.
2) Create two-way relationships – remember that referrals work both ways, so consider offering your customer a referral to someone you know who might need their services. Maybe engage with their business on social media or leave them a positive review online. All of this will keep you front of mind when your customer is talking to others in future.
3) Tell your story – we humans are storytellers by nature. We enjoy hearing and passing on good stories. You can make your business resonate so much more with your customers if there’s a real human story behind it. People are much more likely to remember your business and talk about it to the next person if you’ve given them an interesting story to pass on.
Wow your customers and earn even more word-of-mouth referrals by offering an amazing product range from Clear Business.
As the UK gets back to business, we’re working hard to grow our team and provide an even greater level of support to our partners. Working together we can offer fantastic deals on essential services to help the UK’s small businesses bounce back in style!
We caught up with one of our newest recruits, Partner Sales Manager, Adam Stableford, to give us a little insight into his life and his time so far with Clear Business.
Adam began his career with Crown Energy where he spent nine years across two spells as a member of the sales team.
Having joined us at Clear Business in March 2021, Adam is already a huge asset to our team.
Adam is working closely with Clear Business partners, helping them through the onboarding process, managing relationships and helping each partner to maximise the opportunities they have while they work with us. He’s a key point of contact for many of our partners.
He told us: “I enjoy working with our partners because it’s like having an extended group of colleagues. It sounds a bit cliché to say it, but we’re like one big family working towards a single goal.”
Despite only having been with Clear Business for a few months, Adam is already building lasting relationships with our partners that he plans to develop over the long term.
“I’m looking forward to developing those relationships in the future,” he said. “It’s fantastic to work with such a broad range of different partners across a wide range of products. We work at a really fast pace, and I feel our partners appreciate that.”
When he’s not offering expert advice to partners, Adam is spending time with his six-year-old daughter and his fiancée. He’s also an avid DJ and we already have him booked for our company Christmas party!
We couldn’t let Adam go without first asking his secret to success within the industry: “First of all is the standard of treat others as you wish to be treated in any situation but also be transparent and open with both colleagues and partners.”
We’re so pleased to have Adam on our team and we’re already excited for the value he can add for Clear Business partners.
