Tuesday, April 14, 2020

How To Be Successful In The New Customer Experience Battlefield

by Nathan Pitzer, Head of Marketing at Augment CXM

Customer experience (CX) is defined by a person’s feelings and emotions, experienced at any stage with a brand. Great CX means happy, loyal customers who not only trust your brand, but are active advocates of it. 

Essentially, CX encompasses all the touchpoints in your customers’ journey: from your website and email-marketing, to talking with a customer service representative, chatbots, and in-person communication. Companies that actively focus on CX can significantly reduce churn rates, increase retention rates, and earn higher revenues.

CX is an integral part of the wider Customer Relationship Management (CRM) concept. In fact, CX is the fastest-growing segment of CRM – highlighting just how important it  is to both customers and businesses alike. Even more granular, customer service is considered one of the most crucial elements of CX. 

So, why is CX seeing such growth? According to HubSpot, prior to the internet “service didn’t matter too much because contracts, for software companies as well as professional services, acted as ‘lock-ins’ on customer loyalty”. Nowadays, however, e-commerce has meant it’s extremely easy to switch brands. With only a few clicks, customers can buy from a rival company, whereas before, buying from a new brand might have meant driving an hour to a different store.

Whereas customers used to make decisions based on adverts, mail, and the news, consumerism in 2020 has been revolutionized. Customers can swiftly fact-check, price-compare, and unsubscribe at any time, causing brands to work harder to impress and retain people. Moreover, customers’ expectations around CX have evolved with the technology – they anticipate a personalized, seamless, and authentic experience across the board. 

Here are simple, effective ways to stay successful in the new customer experience battleground:

Connect all communication channels.

Technology is everywhere, meaning customers have multiple options to reach your brand. Mobile, phone, online, live chat, and social media are just some of the ways customers and companies are connecting. While the new scope of communication is great to get in touch, these platforms need to be intertwined and offer a consistent level of service. 

Many platforms allow brands to target specific audiences; for example, social media and chat is best for younger, tech-savvy customers, while older generations prefer phone or in-person. Understanding which methods are suited to which customer persona enables you to promote more personalized products and services. It also means you can tailor your messaging to the specific groups. 

At the same time, remember that social media platforms are a way for customers to voice their CX with your brand, whether positive or negative. The conversation then, goes two ways. As you strive to create a great customer experience, you’re also being reviewed in real-time. Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon (the most valuable company in the world), once said “you know if you make a customer unhappy, they won’t tell five friends, they’ll tell 5,000 friends”.

Harnessing the chance to interact with customers (whatever their feedback) is key. Online, always reply to comments, tags, and notifications either thanking customers or providing them with a channel to discuss things further. Offering an incentive for a customer to return is a top way to put your brand in a good light too. 

Offline, if someone comes into your shop, send them a follow-up email afterwards asking them about their experience. Don’t shy away from acknowledging when people have interacted with your brand at an earlier time. For example, if on the phone, say “I see you came to a store a few weeks ago”. These basic efforts establish a human-to-human relationship with customers, and close the gap between online and offline conversations. 

Collect customer service data.

Personalization is key in CX: 84 percent of customers say being treated like a person, not a number, is important to winning their business. In response, most (if not all) brands have been quick to customize their CX accordingly. Such tailoring and segmentation has proved beneficial not only for customer satisfaction, but also to gather data to continually improve CX. Companies like Conde Nast, T-Mobile, and Adobe all use integrated data solutions to improve their CX strategies.

In the past, CX was a slow-feedback process, where heads of marketing made assumptions about what people want. Now, companies are able to analyze all the hundreds of thousands of conversations that come through customer support channels – and understand exactly what customers are looking for.

Customer data can help align the content, tone, and vision of your brand with your customers. It can also create real value for the customers themselves, because you as a company are more aware of what the actual pain points are. By using tools to track ongoing customer interactions, automate responses, and monitor customer satisfaction analytics, your products and services can prioritize the most  frequently complained about issues. 

While it is valuable to use data to understand your customer base at large, customers still want to be recognized as individuals. Automated services like chatbots can quickly provide you with representative chunks of customer data, but chatbots can also have a reverse effect of leaving customers feeling like a number.

Value customer lifetime.

A common misconception is that companies should prioritize customer acquisition over customer retention. In reality, signing a new customer may cost your business as much as six or seven times more than nurturing an existing customer. Not to mention, increasing customer retention by 5 percent can increase profits by 25 – 95 percent.

In the fast-paced, evolving world of modern CX, long-term customer relationships should remain the central focus. Well-executed CX encourages customers to not only make repeat purchases, but also to promote the brand in other areas of their lives. 

Companies that develop their CX for quick conversions are less likely to form a committed user base; especially considering that 85 percent of customer churn stemming from poor customer service can be prevented. Artificial intelligence (AI) and chatbots can certainly facilitate large-scale CX, however, the ‘human touch’ remains the biggest challenge for companies to foster long-term customers. Creating a customer support experience that is as fast as a chatbot, but as personal as a one-on-one conversation with an agent, is a must.

Brands shouldn’t be apprehensive to ask their customers to define what the ‘human touch’ is for them. 44 percent of U.S consumers say they are loyal to brands that ask them for help in designing or co-creating services and products. By including customers in your CX planning, they feel respected and valued, and are positioned to work (and buy) with your brand for a longer time. 

CX a priority for every brand.

Customer experience is a huge component to being a successful, profitable company. And as technology and expectations continually advance, the CX battleground is becoming all the more competitive. A recent survey found that companies believe the single most exciting opportunity for their organization in 2020 is CX, but better still, CX needs to be a top priority. 

Customer service, in particular, is the crux of any customer experience. Learning from your customer service communication can have a powerful ripple effect on your CX as a whole. Customer service can even outshine the product you offer – 88 percent of consumers prefer dealing with a company with strong customer service rather than one with the latest, most innovative product. Beyond satisfied customers, there are financial motivations for investing in CX too, as consumers are willing to spend 17 percent more on a company that has outstanding customer service.

Connecting all your communication channels, making customer service data-informed decisions, and prioritizing customer lifetime value, are core ways to optimize CX. However, the process is fluid – companies that are prepared to adapt to new trends in CX are poised to be far more successful than those that don’t.

 

Nathan Pitzer has earned his stripes in the startup world; with over 10 years of experience building and branding organizations at their most exciting, most vital time. Nathan is Head Of Marketing at Augment. In his role there, Nathan is dedicated to driving all elements of Business Development, Design, and Marketing. Nathan started his career in customer success within highly technical companies, where he discovered the importance of listening to customers in order to ensure a great experience.

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Spice Up Your Office With Posters From Minida

Find inspiration for your next poster purchase at Minida Design Studio, who sells posters for the office, children’s room, kitchen, living room and many other locations in the house. In fact, the only limit is your imagination, when searching for new posters from Minida, because they can fit in any room anywhere. Most importantly they should match your personality, and perhaps provide work motivation.

Get inspiration for your next purchase of a poster – in this case, specifically for the office. Get inspired and find your next poster for your office at Minida Design Studio, today.

Great posters for the office.

A room where the interior should have a main focus, is in an office. The office, whether it is at your private home or in a public building, it is important that the interior creates motivation and looks good, because it creates a better work ethic. Also this is where you spend most of your time during the week. Furniture, rugs and plants are some important parts of a decoration, but especially pictures help to create the entirety and personality within the office, and tells a lot about the organisation that you work for. Pictures could be posters, paintings or canvas prints. Posters in the office, however, are a choice of interior, that is trending in the modern Danish homes or organisations, as you have the opportunity to create a so-called ‘wall filled with pictures’ of various motifs and color combinations in all directions, that combined put a personal touch to your home or office. 

Posters for the office.

If you happen to be looking for illustrations that can decorate your empty walls in your office, Minida Design Studio sells posters for every taste, and work place. There are many possibilities in choosing a poster, that should be able to fit the office in a perfect way. It’s your own imagination that determines which posters you think matches your office in the best way. If you happen to be a bit of a movie nerd who enjoys watching critically acclaimed classic movies on television in your off-duty hours, then a poster of popular actors might be favorable for you. At Minida Design Studio you will find, for example, graphic posters of James Bond, John Wick or Vincent Cassel. You may also be a big animal lover and therefore want to hang pictures of majestic animals in your office. It’s all up to you. 

Invest in good quality.

Minida Design Studio emphasizes good quality and guarantees that you always receive a quality product when you buy a poster from Minida.dk. All the posters are printed on premium paper of 250 grams and in the highest resolution. Afterwards they are printed from the best printers on the market, namely one of Denmark’s best printing companies. Minida.dk wants you to be fully satisfied with your new design poster for your home, apartment or whatever location that needs decoration. Minida.dk is a Danish webshop that designs and sells modern posters for the living room – and for any other room in the house. 

*This content is sponsored

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Why the “Expert” Mindset Can Kill Every Sales Opportunity: The Mental Shift That Yields Remarkable Results

by Andrew Sobel, author of “It Starts With Clients: Your 100-Day Plan to Build Lifelong Relationships and Revenue“

You’re great at what you do. And people clearly value your expertise and domain knowledge. That’s as it should be: Knowing your stuff is your ticket to entry in a competitive business market. But if you want to build lasting client relationships, don’t get too hung up on your “expert” status. Clients don’t want experts who talk at them all day. They want trusted advisors.

Experts focus on the transaction. Advisors take a broader outlook, giving clients an expansive outlook on their problems and the potential solutions, and emphasizing the long-term relationship — even when there are no fees coming in.

Here are a few reasons the “expert” mindset often fails.

It’s “me” focused. An expert mindset focuses on your experience instead of your clients. You may run the risk of overwhelming clients with breathless serenades about your products, services, methodologies, and the details of your résumé.

It causes tunnel vision. In 1980, when the old AT&T commissioned a top consulting firm to estimate the market for cell phones in the year 2000, they forecast that there would be only 900,000 cell phones. The “experts” were off by 108 million because they lacked the imagination to see the potential for mobile phones…and AT&T missed a huge opportunity to get an early start in the market.

It vastly narrows your scope. Harry Truman once quipped, “An expert is a fellow who’s afraid to learn anything new, because then he wouldn’t be an expert anymore.”

As an expert, you may enthusiastically pitch your solutions, whereas with the advisor mindset, you ask thought-provoking questions and listen deeply. As an expert, you accept the client’s definition of their challenge. As an advisor, you reframe the challenge in order to define the total problem and the total solution. The result is greater impact and more value.

You can make the shift from expert to advisor. Here are a few behaviors to embrace as you seek to become a trusted advisor:

Prepare smartly for prospect meetings.

Don’t spend hours and hours researching the company. Much of that will be a waste of time. Likewise, don’t spend most of your preparation time rehearsing your “message.” You’ll get too fixated on it and build in rigidity. Skim background material looking specifically for two things: facts about the company that stimulate an idea or “hook” you might use to engage the client, and things you want to ask questions about. Focus as much on the individual as the company: What is the background and career history of the person you’re meeting with? What can you learn about their personal style? The more you understand about them, the faster you will be able to build rapport when you meet.

Find commonalities and similarities.

Engage with clients around common interests and experiences, mutual acquaintances, life’s concerns and challenges, family, and so on. Search for what you have in common, not how you are different. This accelerates likability and trust.

Be curious about your client as a person.

Curiosity drives a thirst to learn about knowledge and other people. It motivates you to ask thoughtful questions, empathize, and build a rapport with your client. You might ask questions like, So what do you think about… (a current event, trend, some breaking news, etc.)? How would you compare the culture here with the culture at your old employer? What has been the most important leadership development experience in your career so far? What are you working on that you’re most excited about?

Set the agenda: Why are you there?

This is a crucial part of establishing a collaborative peer relationship with the other person. It demonstrates confidence. For example, you might say, “I understand we’ve got one hour scheduled for this discussion — is that right? (pause) I wanted to share with you my approach to building clients for life and describe a couple examples of how I’ve helped other firms improve both their new client acquisition and their ability to grow and retain existing relationships. Then I’d love to hear about your efforts to grow your client base and what your most important priorities are right now. Is there anything that you’d like to make sure we cover?”

Walk in confidently as a peer (without being arrogant).

Treat your client like a colleague or friend, not as a superior. Be polite and courteous, but not deferential or fawning. The first sale is always yourself. If you don’t believe you have something valuable to share with others, they won’t believe it either. If it’s a new prospective client, you might even say up front, ‘I’m sure that at the end of our discussion, we’ll both know if it makes sense to continue the dialogue…’

“Show” by using engaging client examples.

These should be very brief and conversational. Don’t tell your prospect all the details. Instead, focus on three things: the original problem the client wanted to solve; the approach you took (which ideally illustrates the uniqueness of your solution); and the results or impact. Hint: Make sure you have permission to give the name of the company and the executive you worked with. This adds heft and believability to the example. If you don’t have permission, then disguise the example.

Have a conversation and use a whiteboard or flipchart if appropriate.

Don’t rely on a slide deck or brochure to make yourself credible. If you have frameworks or diagrams you want to show, draw them on a flipchart or whiteboard. It’s called “pencil selling” and it’s far more engaging than projecting a slide. Use slides only as a leave-behind.

Ask credibility-building questions.

These are questions that inherently demonstrate your knowledge and experience. You make a statement and then flip it into a question. For example: “It sounds like gaining more collaboration to serve your clients across organizational silos is an issue for you. In looking at my other clients, the three most common barriers to collaboration I see are… (then list them). But I’m curious, in your organization what particular obstacles are getting in the way?”

Ask implication questions.

This is a powerful way to better understand your client’s agenda. I recently met with a prospective client whose new strategy was quite public. My opening questions with the CLO were, ‘I’m familiar with your new strategy aimed at repositioning your firm in the large corporate segment. How is this impacting your priorities in learning and development? What new capabilities and skills do your people need to develop to facilitate this shift?’ Similarly, you could ask implication questions about external trends or competitive changes.

Ask about their aspirations and the gap between the present and future state.

This simple paradigm can help you understand the scope and gravity of virtually any issue. It goes like this:

1. What are your aspirations and goals for X? (X=the business or area of discussion) What do you want your business/this area to look like in two to three years?

2. What is the gap between the capabilities you have today and the ones you need to support your aspirations? (What is getting in your way?)

3. What capabilities do you need now build to bridge this gap?

Share what’s working for others.

Come to meetings ready to share a few successful practices that other companies in the same industry are using. This is a great way to give added value and build your credibility with skeptical clients.

Summarize your conversation and discuss next steps.

During meetings, take five or ten minutes to summarize the discussion and then proactively suggest a next step. This could be another conversation to go deeper, or something else, like meeting other executives in the organization. I recommend offering something of value to encourage further dialogue. For example: “Would it be helpful if I put together a one-page outline of how I would approach this challenge? Then we could meet again next week to discuss it.”

Evoke their curiosity.

This is your secret weapon. You can do this by mentioning new information and insights that you can subsequently share during your next meeting. You might suggest another client you’d like them to meet, or perhaps offer to interview other members of their team to in turn present a point of view on their challenge.

If you don’t make the shift from expert to advisor, you’ll be a tradable commodity who is one of many solid “experts” or product salespeople clients can choose from. This will keep you thinking small, being reactive, and settling for a diet of what I call “little mice.”

A lioness cannot live on mice alone — she simply can’t catch enough of them each day to survive. Being an advisor allows you to make big catches: those longstanding, mutually prosperous client relationships that can keep you fed for years to come.

 

Andrew Sobel is the most widely published author in the world on client loyalty and the capabilities required to build trusted business relationships, and recently published “Power Relationships: 26 Irrefutable Laws for Building Extraordinary Relationships“. His first book, the bestselling “Clients for Life“, defined an entire genre of business literature about client loyalty. In addition to “Power Relationships“, his other books include “Power Questions“, “Making Rain” and the award-winning “All for One: 10 Strategies for Building Trusted Client Partnerships“.

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Monday, April 13, 2020

How To Make Your Blog Posts Convert Visitors Into Customers

Bloggers often brag about their website traffic.

So does my friend who has a food blog. Once, she said: “I get two thousand unique visitors every month.”

“That’s great! You did a good job,” – I said. “And how much do those two thousand people pay for your meal plans?”

Then she got all upset because her blog brought her not a single dollar yet.

Of course, there is nothing wrong with creating a blog and failing to monetize it. Some people are passionate about writing articles; others love sharing amazing photos or videos. Some even provide their audience with valuable content jam-packed in their guides —  all for free. However, if a blogger wants to make money, they need to find out how to convert website visitors into paying customers.

So, let’s look at five effective ways that can help you boost your percentage of converting traffic.

1. Write on important or difficult matters.

The best content for driving conversions is focused on something that answers a question or helps a reader overcome a pain point. So, take the time to identify the topics that resolve the pain points of your target audience.

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For example, you might target readers who want to learn a foreign language, make more money, improve productivity, and more.

Or course, there is no guesswork involved. You need to ask your audience (one-on-one conversations in chat, messenger, by email, or phone). You can also hit people up in communities related to your niche or even in your personal life.

Don’t forget to check your comment section, reviews, and social media mentions regularly. There you might find a lot of interesting ideas for your blog posts.

2. Add internal links.

Consider including internal links to your other blog posts, a “related posts” or “you might also like” section. By doing so, you can not only reaffirm your expertise but also make visitors stay longer on your site.

3. Ask readers to subscribe to a newsletter.

Once you have created a popular blog, the chances are that your followers will want to stay up-to-date with the new blog posts. And you shouldn’t miss the opportunity to encourage them to take action and join your mailing list. If you do everything right (no spamming, no boring emails), people will be more receptive to occasional offers and convert more easily.

You can use a navigation bar, pop-ups, static ads, or simple email signatures to collect newsletter signups.

Quick tip: Think of all the opportunities you miss when you don’t create email signatures with the right call to action for all your employees. Many of them probably engage with customers, vendors, and friends via email. All those email recipients could easily turn into your blog visitors, newsletter subscribers, and even customers.

4. Include CTA buttons or banners in text.

Your awesome articles always need a call to action. If you are ending them with nothing more than an offer to leave a comment, you are letting potential buyers go.

But people are already on your website. They are already interested in what you write. So why not give them more? Why not lead them further?

Never be shy to ask your visitors to do something. For example, sign up to receive a newsletter, download, click, learn more, install, contact you, purchase, and so on.

Keep in mind that many blog visitors might not read each of your articles to the end. That’s why it is important to include in-text CTAs or banners in different parts of the blog post.

5. Make sure people stay on your blog the longest.

Try to keep visitors on your website longer. The more they read, the more likely they take action. You can do that by creating quality content, putting related posts in the blog post, providing user-friendly design, adding a search bar, and including calls to action.

Conclusion.

If you read this article, you know blogging is not all rainbows and mojitos on the beach. And if you want to earn money with your blog, you are going to have to put in the time and work.

Using some or all of the tips from our article will help you convert your leads and be proud of yourself for creating such a great money-making blog.

Let’s start converting!

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A Complete Checklist To Follow Before Purchasing A Printer

A printer is an important accessory that every office and household requires. A lot of changes have compelled us to look for the best printer that is most suitable for the needs, whether you are buying one for your children’s assignment or just for a small business. A printer should be selected carefully before making an investment as they are expensive and last for a long duration. If you are also looking towards buying a printer, it’s a cartridge, printing papers, and other gadgets; you can just browse at BlueDogInk inventory for the latest models at the most affordable prices.

If you are purchasing a printer for the first time, hereby, some tips are added that you should keep in mind before you invest in a printer.

1. Affordability.

A printer model that you have decided should be in your budget. The difference between the prices of a printer is highly variable. Therefore, it should not exceed your budget. Also, some printers have the ink that becomes more expensive over the long term. It is how the manufacturers make money for the printer they sell at low prices as well as for the ink. Research before you invest in a printer and think about your long term goals.

2. The ink used.

You can select the model depending upon the ink used for printing. Decide whether you want a monochromatic image or a color print, also if you would prefer a toner instead of a printer. How frequent you will replace your cartridges depending upon your nature of work. All these points will help you eliminate the wrong model.

3. Quality and speed of print.

A printer that prints slowly while you hurry for another dozen documents is frustrating. If you have the job of printing multiple documents, we suggest you invest in a printer after checking its pages per minute ratings. A printer has a different speed for printing text and an image; you need to check it carefully before you invest in it. Similarly, you should also check the quality of print and your nature of the job before you settle for a model.

4. Wireless connectivity.

If you want your printer to print from the phone, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity is an option. Gone are the days when only a desktop was supported for printing. Ask yourself the medium through which you want to print and try to search for a relative option.

5. Size of the printer.

A printer has different sizes and abilities depending upon the requirement. If you want a printer to sit in a compact space, choose one that can fulfill that requirement. Those who use the printer occasionally can easily compromise on scanning and copying functions as well. A large size model will be difficult to handle and can get damaged easily if not placed at a proper space. Make sure you are buying one that fits your space.

6. Paper format.

If you think you might need a printer for legal matters, you should make sure that it accepts that size of legal papers. Some all in one printer don’t allow you to use different sizes of papers. Similarly, some other printers allow you to print in different page formats.

No matter what printer you choose, rather than getting influenced by your surrounding peeps, you should invest in one that suits your requirement and fulfill them. Make sure that your product is worth the investment. Don’t end up buying something useless for you. Also, buy the original brand rather than investing in a cheap copy to make sure you can utilize the warranty services; shall the need arise.

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Time Is On Your Side, Grow Beyond Today

by Joe Curcillo, author of “Getting to ‘US’: Discover the Ability to Lead Your Team to Any Result You Desire“

This pandemic has caused many entrepreneurs to hit roadblocks if not come to a screeching halt. This slowdown is the perfect time to revamp your business model and plan through the crisis and into the future.

Crisis Can Teach Us Lessons.

We didn’t talk about “social distancing” a couple of weeks ago. We didn’t talk about washing our hands. Now, suddenly, that is what we are talking. A world unified to achieve a single goal has changed the way we talk, think and work.

People knowing that they can be part of the cure and part of the solution has given them a desire to succeed in beating COVID-19. So, people are very quickly adapting to a new normal and joining the fight for an environment where they are not spreading the disease, not catching the disease, and not sharing the disease. People are working together as one, because the noble purpose is survival.

People were unified and re-trained almost over-night by this pandemic.

Aim to Unite Your Clients, Customers and Associates.

Through-out my career, and in my book, “Getting to ‘US’ I have urged businesses to create a Unifying Vision. One single vision that will unite everyone in your world.

The power of Unifying Vision is that it brings everyone together as one. People need to belong to something that gives them purpose. Something that gives them meaning. When people have a cause to believe in, they will sacrifice and work harder. People will commit when they know they are part of something big, that they have a noble purpose, and that they have a role in the big picture. Everybody wants to be a part of the solution.

People want a better tomorrow. People want to be empowered to be part of a solution. People want to have a role in the betterment of mankind.

Will your Vison Change the World?

The bigger your vision, the more it will change the World. When your vision is big enough, people will commit and change to fulfill your vision and to move in the direction of your dreams. People will enroll in an idea when it is so big that they know that they can be a part of it and that they can find their own noble purpose. Your idea must be so big that it transcends self-interest.

Global changes to fight this pandemic are not all about self. People are protecting themselves, but they’re also very keenly aware of how their interaction with others could spread the disease. People are changing how they visit and travel so that they do not put senior citizens at risk. People are wearing masks, to prevent spreading the disease if they themselves are asymptomatic carriers.

Without massive enforcement measures, people have shut businesses and stayed home because they are unified in this fight.

Today, Amazon shines. Jeff Bezos once had an idea that he wanted a warehouse on the moon. That is powerful big thinking.

That unifying vision is keeping many people alive by daily deliveries of household items and things needed for survival. That kind of vision doesn’t happen every day. It happens through commitment and hard work, but it is fueled when a visionary leader looks into the abyss of fear and says, “I don’t feel this. I don’t feel fear. I want my vision to be so massive that my team and I will be a part of something so big that the world will never see anything like it again.

When we overcome fear, we alter how we live.

Be Ready to Succeed.

This current pandemic is, sadly, a powerful example of what a Unifying Vision can be.  Business leaders need to step back from the panic and learn from the power of this Unifying Vision.

It is amazing how last few weeks have changed our lives. It was so fast, that many haven’t taken considered what these changes have taught us.

If you step back and reinvent your business through this trouble time, you will make it through this pandemic, and you will succeed on the other side. As you reinvent your vision for your business, remember that vision is what will tie all of your people together in a single mobilizing force that will survive anything.

Make sure that your vision is so big that everyone in your company, on your team, and in your world can see their role in your Unifying Vision.

 

Bestselling author, business coach, lawyer, mentalist and motivational speaker Joe Curcillo helps companies to thrive by focusing on the idea of having a unifying vision. He has helped countless business leaders to improve their effectiveness by adopting and carrying out the mission. He specializes in helping companies to tap into the power of their millennial employees and bridge the gap between generations. He is author of “Getting to ‘US’: Discover the Ability to Lead Your Team to Any Result You Desire“.

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Sunday, April 12, 2020

Reduce Overhead Costs With These 5 Smart Tips

If you own a small business or you’re self-employed, you will know only too well how crippling overhead costs can be. Unfortunately, operating costs are a necessity, meaning you need to spend money in order to make any.

For those who are in tough economic conditions, keeping overhead costs to a minimum should be your first step, so here are a few tips to help keep costs down.

Go Paperless.

While it may seem like an obvious tip, going paperless is a great way for your business to both decrease expenditure and clutter. Climate change is a serious problem that we need to all be aware of, so if you want to adopt an eco-friendlier way of life, storing important documents and files on disks or in the cloud should be your first port of call. Going paperless means you don’t have to shell out for paper and ink cartridges, which can save you a ton of money in the long run. If you have printers that are now of no use, you can sell them on platforms such as eBay.

Hire an Accountant.

Although it may feel counterintuitive to splurge out for an accountant to do your bookkeeping, it’s important that you do everything above board. Having an account look over your taxes will put your mind at ease and ensure you don’t miss anything out. The last thing you want is to pay any penalties, which can be financially crippling for your company. Although it’s a big investment to make, having an accountant go through your finances is an investment worth making.

Evaluate Your Needs.

Regardless of how long you’ve run your business, there are always changes that can be made, especially when it comes to reducing overhead costs. Make sure to go around your office and have a look at things that aren’t a necessity. After all, you shouldn’t be shelling out for anything that you do not need. Whether it’s supplies, space, or office equipment, looking at alternative options is advised.

Find the Cheapest Suppliers.

If you operate your business in person, it’s important that you and your team are in an environment that is welcoming, warm, and comfortable. There are lots of overhead costs that are mandatory, such as gas and electricity. With so many providers on the market, to find the best deals possible, you can get rates quickly from websites like Energy Seek. Where you are located can also play a huge part in how much you pay in rent, gas and electricity, and water. There are several factors that you need to address, such as whether your business premises could be housed somewhere further away from the city centre.

Develop Brand Ambassadors.

No matter what kind of business you run, advertising and marketing are expensive. With many businesses paying a lot of money to run a TV, radio or print advertisement, it’s best to look at other options to drum up interest for your brand. A great way to boost your numbers is to get your clients to become brand ambassadors. Offering your current customers and client’s special incentives for talking you up can be a great way to spread awareness of your company. Social media is another powerful tool that you shouldn’t overlook. Creating business pages on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn will broaden your audience and make consumers take notice of your company.

Overhead costs can quickly spiral out of control. If your business is going through a rough patch, there are lots of measures that you can take to keep costs down and ensure your day to day operation runs smoothly.

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