Does your business have a team strategy? How engaged are your employees? A recent study found that 70 percent of U.S. workers are not engaged at work!
What can you do to strengthen your team? It all starts with team training and creating a culture of caring and pride in your company. Keep reading to see how you can create an effective team strategy.
1. Establish Leadership
Before you can build a team, establish proper leadership. This person sets the tone for the entire group, so you need to make sure you and your managers establish trust with all team members. The leader needs to be loyal, trustworthy, empowered, and have integrity, or else the team will not follow.
Employees need to trust their judgment. You also need to be transparent to build trust with your employees. Employees should be able to work effectively whenever management is not around because they know and trust the direction of leadership.
2. Have Core Ideas
You need to clearly define and also communicate your company’s values, mission, and vision. It is essential to get employee buy-in and alignment.
This helps empower your employees, so they know what to do when faced with a decision.
Let’s say you pride your company on delivering products on time. If an employee is faced with a decision, they know that they should come up with a solution that ties into this mission and delivers a product in a timely manner, even if it is an excavation project.
3. Establish Relationships With All Employees
It’s important to learn more about each team member. What are their skillsets? Likes or dislikes? And what motivates your employees?
Answering these questions is valuable knowledge and it lets you match each employee with the right role. You can set up employee training to help team members reach their goals. This will help increase production along with job satisfaction.
Include your employees in decision-making when possible. You should also give your team open-ended projects instead of telling them what to do. You may find a better solution, and you should also encourage cooperation and the development of problem-solving skills.
4. Foster Teamwork and Team Strategy
When you establish relations with your employees, it’s time to have them work together. Encourage employees to share information with the organization and amongst themselves. This means you also have to communicate more with your team.
This is more than just holding meetings and saying you have an open door policy. You need to be honest and communicate with your team. You can also offer assistance if needed and ask about each team member’s work.
5. Adapt and Learn
High-performance teams usually don’t get stuck in stagnant work processes. They are able to spot and stop potential errors before they happen. This means you have to be willing to adapt.
You should encourage experiments with your team and not be afraid to try new ways. Listen to your team. They may have good ideas to help you move forward.
Execute Team Training Today
Ready to implement a team strategy? You can. Listen to your employees and create an honest, open working relationship.
Set the stage for how you want your employees to act by showing effective leadership to gain your team’s trust. Set some training goals, so your team can continue to learn and adapt.
Looking for more ideas? Keep checking out our site for more effective leadership advice and learn more strategies to drive your business forward.
https://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/5-Secrets-to-Building-an-Effective-Team-Strategy.jpg8001200StrategyDrivenhttps://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/SDELogo5-300x70-300x70.pngStrategyDriven2020-12-01 08:00:142020-12-01 05:43:565 Secrets to Building an Effective Team Strategy
Online shopping has become a massive new market in just the past twenty years. So much so, that now many businesses are purely online, with no physical stores.
But for those who balance both online and physical stores, how can you convince people to visit in-person? Surely, with the ease of access and greater range associated with online shopping, the prospect of coming in-store would seem unnecessary.
Yet your physical store or stores are great investments of capital and staff and can be a great source of revenue. To dismiss them could bring greater losses.
So how can you increase in-store visits in the online world we find ourselves?
Promotion
Customers aren’t going to come to your store if they don’t know where it is, and even if it exists! Depending on the location of your store, you might have to do more or less promotion.
If you find yourself on a busy high street, less promotion will be needed compared to if your store lies out of the way. But in both cases, a little promotion can’t hurt.
Window displays are a great way to catch passer-bys’ eyes. You can get really creative with these, so do some research into the kind of window display that will tempt the right demographic into your store.
Consider making yourself known within your community. Sponsoring community activities – like this company sponsoring the local football team – to promote goodwill, and advertise both place and purpose of your business.
Website
On a similar track to physical promotion, consider the promotion of your physical store on your website. This is a great place to promote, as you already have customers who are considering buying with you there.
Tactical SEO can actually bring customers into physical stores, so signing up for live SEO sessions will help.
The question lies around how to convince those already on your online store to shop physically. There are several options available to you in regards to this:
Quality and Price of Products
When customers shop with you, you want them to shop again—basic business strategy. To even consider tempting customers into your physical store, you first need them to want to shop again.
Therefore, focusing on both affordability (in relation to your target demographic) and quality across all products is necessary.
Rewards & Incentives
Another option for bringing customers to a physical store is to implement incentives. Physical stores can’t offer the range or ease of access that online stores can, so they must offer something else exclusive.
Try using offers like 3 for 2, or discounts on products that cannot be achieved online. Advertising these incentives on your online store has the potential to move customers away from online shopping and into the physical store.
By making these offers bright and eye-catching, it will be impossible for buyers to miss.
Presentation
So you have customers into your store with your promotions and incentives. How do you make them want to come back? The answer is simple: their shopping experience must be excellent.
Focusing the presentation of your store – from basics like wall colour to key details like store layout – can massively impact the shopping experience for consumers. You want everything to be clear and understandable, whilst also being a pleasant place to be.
Presentation isn’t just physical attributes, however. Your store is also presented either positively or negatively. Top-quality customer service is key to incentivising customers to return to your store to buy again.
Health & Safety
Right now, there is an extra level of importance when it comes to in-person stores. With the pandemic, fewer people are shopping in-store than ever before.
When people do come to shop in-store, they need to know that they will be safe. Depending on your location, there will be different regulations, but the inclusion of some general safety precautions can only serve to help you.
Safety precautions to follow:
Hand sanitiser upon entry to the store
Workers in masks or visors
Limited capacity depending on store size
One way systems
By following these safety precautions, customers are likely to feel much safer, and return to your store, as they know they will be protected.
Given the increasingly online world business must operate in now, it can seem like physical stores are growing to become dead weight. But a flourishing physical store can boost a business. All it takes is a willingness to focus resources onto enticing people into the store.
https://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/Daventry_Pet_Love_shop_on_the_High_Street_-_geograph.org_.uk_-_1729975.jpg7991200StrategyDrivenhttps://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/SDELogo5-300x70-300x70.pngStrategyDriven2020-12-01 07:00:532020-12-01 04:58:57Increasing In-Store Visits In A Growing Online World
Making money as an entrepreneur has so much to do with your ability to identify opportunities and make the most of them. If you’ve started a business in the first place, then this means you’ve found a gap in the market that you can fill. In light of this, you should always be thinking about how you can grow beyond where you are and ultimately increase your reach and income further. There are several ways to achieve this, and all require you to get out of your comfort zone. If you consider that being uncomfortable is typically where all of the magic happens, then you’ll be more enthusiastic about exploring new territory. Below are practical ways to make your money grow in business.
Be Frugal
Just because you’re making money as a business, it doesn’t mean that you have to spend it at the same pace. It is crucial that you learn to manage your money and be frugal if you want to see your money experience steady growth financially. To be a frugal CEO, here are three approaches you could take.
Budget on Office Set Up: When setting up your office, it can be tempting to go all out. However, spending exorbitant amounts on furnishing isn’t necessarily going to give you the best return on your investment. Instead, look for ways to furnish on a budget such as by getting furniture that is slightly used or on clearance. The charity shop often also has fairly used or even new furniture that you can get at an affordable rate. Ask around to see how you can find affordable functional furniture so that you save space and money.
Control Legal Fees: Every business needs a lawyer but be careful not to spend too much on legal fees. These fees can eat out of your finances if they aren’t carefully managed. Focus on setting clear expectations with your lawyer before meetings, especially when their cost per hour is high. In some cases, you may even find that it’s better to pay on a per project instead of an hourly basis.
Monitor Cash Flow: As above use a fixed monthly fee accountant to keep your cash flow up to date on a monthly basis. 3 in 4 startups who do not monitor cash flow fail whilst 3 in 4 who do monitor their cash flow succeed. Be sure to shop around to find an accountant at the right cost.
DIY Marketing and PR: Aside from the mentioned, you should also make the most of the cost-effectiveness of digital marketing. Instead of hiring a PR firm in the early stages, try doing the pitching yourself to begin with. Doing this could also help build both trust and a good rapport which are tools that will get your business far. Social platforms are also ideal ways to get your brand out there without spending thousands on advertising too.
Consider Mixed Use Development
Mixed-use development is a way to grow your money as an entrepreneur. In case you’ve never heard about it before, in summary, it refers to buildings that have multiple units that are used for different purposes which are usually residential as well as commercial. You may be wondering how exactly this could benefit you as an entrepreneur. How it would work is that you could buy one or more mixed-use buildings and run your business in the commercial area while you live in, lease out or sell the other units. This could serve as a great business opportunity so read more here to find out how you could go about doing it.
Offer New Products and Services
Another straightforward way to make your money grow when running a business is to offer new products and services. Learn from the performance of your current range meaning you should do more of what’s working and improve on what isn’t. If, for instance, your customers seem to love a certain product, take the feedback and see how you can create something even better. Here are a few tips to consider when you want to launch a new product or service.
Ensure it Solves a Problem
Whether you’re launching your second or tenth product or service, you want to be certain that it solves a problem. If you look at some of the most successful ones you know, you’ll notice that they make people’s lives easier in one way or another. Creating a product that sells is about making something that’s simple, interesting, meaningful, entertaining, and long-lasting. The more value that it adds, the more likely it will do well in the market.
Build Buzz
Before launching a new product, it’s so essential that you first take the time out to build buzz. This is key as you want to build excitement and get people to anticipate this product and the value it could add to their lives. By doing this, you’re more likely to get the kind of response you want form customers and prospects.
Devise a Strong Strategy
A product launch strategy will help you map out how to launch your product from start to finish. Start by doing this as it will work as a guiding force to help you execute your plan. When you have an effective strategy in place, you’re less likely to miss out on important elements of a product launch and also more likely to prevent major mistakes. With that being said, there are several templates you can use online to help you flesh out your strategy.
Have a Growth Strategy
Earlier on, it was mentioned that you should have a strategy for launching a product, but you should note that you also need one if you want to grow. When you have a growth strategy in place, you’ve got a better idea of where you’re going as a business and how you’re going to get there. You may decide that you’re going to start with one product for the first year and then diversify your income as a business in the second year of operating, for instance. It’s essential that you think through what direction you want to grow in, so you put measures in place to ensure that you get there.
Every business has to steadily grow if they want to remain in business and expand on to do bigger and better things. However, in order to see the growth you want, you’ve got to commit to learning and trying new strategies.
https://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/grow-your-money-3084027_1280.jpg8531280StrategyDrivenhttps://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/SDELogo5-300x70-300x70.pngStrategyDriven2020-11-30 11:15:512020-12-02 21:55:19How to Make Your Money Grow in Business
How your team communicates could be the difference between a project going smoothly, and some serious miscommunication that blows the budget. There isn’t a single communications style that is applicable to all industries.
For example, those who work within an office will be able to communicate via video calls, instant messaging, and emails. For those who work in construction, or in fieldwork a two-way radio can often be a better option. For more information about that communication type, read here for more.
Internal communication for your business can always be improved and modified to make sense for your company and team. Here are some of the ways that you can improve your business comms within the team.
Be the example
All of the management and team leaders should be in a position to show what great communication looks like. Since we aren’t all blessed with natural communication skills, it might be best to have training.
Work with certified communications experts to improve the skills of your leadership team. You can do it with formal training, having assessments, open feedback sessions, and more.
The better of an example that your leadership and management sets, the more likely it is that your other staff will follow suit.
Online
Face to face meetings, although they can be useful, take up a lot of time. 2020 has leaned heavily on online video calls and meetings. Taking communications online saves time and money. Although there is a balance to find within the online world, it is usually faster to communicate this way.
As leadership, it is important that you research and understand what video call fatigue is, and how you can best support your team.
Value
If there is no value for the people attending the meeting, then ask yourself do they need to be there? Requiring attendance at multiple meetings should serve a purpose for all involved. Make meetings impactful, so they always have a reason.
If there is a value for the project updates or they play a vital role it will be of value to them.
Attending meetings for the sake of it takes up time, resources, and costs money.
Open goals
There will be team specific goals and company-wide goals. Making these public will mean that everyone will always be held accountable for themselves, and within their team too. We know that setting goals are the best way to achieve progress, making the goals transparent to your team will encourage them to achieve more
Tools
When your team is working remotely, you need to make sure they have the tools to communicate well. It might include some of the following tools:
VPN or otherwise managed security to keep communications secure
Hardware like a laptop, mobile phone, and other items to be able to do their job
Internal communication is one of the keys to ensuring that your projects, services, and products meet the high standards you set for your company. The right communication system can save money and increase productivity – but it starts with management.
https://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/headway-5QgIuuBxKwM-unsplash-1.jpg8001200StrategyDrivenhttps://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/SDELogo5-300x70-300x70.pngStrategyDriven2020-11-30 07:00:382020-11-30 07:07:52Internal Communications Within Your Business
When you ship items from your warehouse, you likely place them on a truck and send them on their way. Not all shipments stay on the ground the whole time, though. An increasing number of transportation providers are implementing multimodal transport to improve the efficiency of their operations and get shipments to their destinations at a lower cost.
In the simplest terms, multimodal transport or multimodal shipping means that a single carrier uses a combination of round, air, sea, or rail transportation to move goods from one location to another. Opting for this type of shipping offers a variety of benefits to both the shipper and their clients alike, and preserves the supply chain in the face of challenges brought on by major businesses like Walmart and Amazon, as well as disruptions like those created by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Multimodal vs. Intermodal Transport
Before getting into the benefits of multimodal transport, it’s worth discussing the difference between multimodal and intermodal transport.
Although both types of shipping use at least two forms of transport (for example, land and air), the primary difference is that intermodal shipping uses multiple carriers. In other words, one carrier manages the ground portion of the shipment, and then hands off the shipment to another carrier for the air transport, or vice versa. The shipper pays each carrier separately, and your reports, receipts, and tracking details will come from each carrier individually, and only deal with their portion of the journey.
Intermodal can help speed up shipments, but it can be complex to manage. That’s why many shippers are turning to multimodal shipments instead.
How Multimodal Shipping Benefits Businesses
Opting for multimodal shipping can benefit your business in a number of ways.
Reduced Costs
Although you may receive competitive rates from an intermodal shipping company, opting for multimodal can be a more cost-effective option. Transport providers often provide more competitive rates when you allow them to handle the entire shipment, and offer priority status. Multimodal shipping can also result in tax incentives for shippers. Because these arrangements typically involve making infrastructure investments, companies that opt for multimodal transport enjoy certain incentives that would not otherwise be available. Multimodal transport also reduces carbon offset costs, further reducing expenditures.
Improved Communication
In contrast to intermodal shipping, multimodal shipping only requires communicating with a single operator. The central provider manages all of the communication with the actual transportation providers, ensuring you have a single point of contact in the event there is an issue. For instance, if you receive data from an impact recorder indicating rough handling or excessive vibration, you can work with the multimodal provider to solve the problem.
Faster Delivery Times
There are times when intermodal transport may be the faster option, but multimodal transport is often the faster option. Federal regulations govern how long a single carrier can move freight in one trip under the Electronic Logging Devices (ELD) Mandate. Essentially, this only allows freight to be in motion for a certain amount of time before the operator must rest. It’s mostly applicable to trucking, but it does add time to truck transport.
When a driver can transfer a load to another form of transport, like a train, though, the shipment is able to keep moving despite those limitations. Instead of sitting idle for 24 hours or more while the truck driver rests, the shipment reaches its destination more quickly. Using multiple modes of transportation can also cut shipping time for shipments traveling long distance. For example, shipping partially by air cuts a significant amount of time, even when the last leg is handled by truck or train.
Getting the Most from Multimodal Shipping
Using multimodal shipping can be beneficial to your company, but it does require proper management. That begins with evaluating all of the modes before selecting one for your shipments. Not all shipments are well suited for all modes, and what works for other companies may not be ideal for yours.
It’s also important to connect your transportation management system with the carrier, so you can effectively monitor your shipments at every stage. All of your freight processes should be data-driven and based on real-time, contextual data collected at every step of the shipment process. Armed with this information, you can implement efficient, cost-effective shipping policies and procedures that align with your company’s strategic goals and budget.
https://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/train.png7081200StrategyDrivenhttps://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/SDELogo5-300x70-300x70.pngStrategyDriven2020-11-29 07:00:502020-11-29 05:16:03What is Multimodal Shipping?
A VETERAN OWNED SMALL BUSINESS | Call or text now for a FREE consultation: +1 (770) 765-3692 | Website Login
Business Programs
5 Secrets to Building an Effective Team Strategy
/in Managing Your People/by StrategyDrivenWhat can you do to strengthen your team? It all starts with team training and creating a culture of caring and pride in your company. Keep reading to see how you can create an effective team strategy.
1. Establish Leadership
Before you can build a team, establish proper leadership. This person sets the tone for the entire group, so you need to make sure you and your managers establish trust with all team members. The leader needs to be loyal, trustworthy, empowered, and have integrity, or else the team will not follow.
Employees need to trust their judgment. You also need to be transparent to build trust with your employees. Employees should be able to work effectively whenever management is not around because they know and trust the direction of leadership.
2. Have Core Ideas
You need to clearly define and also communicate your company’s values, mission, and vision. It is essential to get employee buy-in and alignment.
This helps empower your employees, so they know what to do when faced with a decision.
Let’s say you pride your company on delivering products on time. If an employee is faced with a decision, they know that they should come up with a solution that ties into this mission and delivers a product in a timely manner, even if it is an excavation project.
3. Establish Relationships With All Employees
It’s important to learn more about each team member. What are their skillsets? Likes or dislikes? And what motivates your employees?
Answering these questions is valuable knowledge and it lets you match each employee with the right role. You can set up employee training to help team members reach their goals. This will help increase production along with job satisfaction.
Include your employees in decision-making when possible. You should also give your team open-ended projects instead of telling them what to do. You may find a better solution, and you should also encourage cooperation and the development of problem-solving skills.
4. Foster Teamwork and Team Strategy
When you establish relations with your employees, it’s time to have them work together. Encourage employees to share information with the organization and amongst themselves. This means you also have to communicate more with your team.
This is more than just holding meetings and saying you have an open door policy. You need to be honest and communicate with your team. You can also offer assistance if needed and ask about each team member’s work.
5. Adapt and Learn
High-performance teams usually don’t get stuck in stagnant work processes. They are able to spot and stop potential errors before they happen. This means you have to be willing to adapt.
You should encourage experiments with your team and not be afraid to try new ways. Listen to your team. They may have good ideas to help you move forward.
Execute Team Training Today
Ready to implement a team strategy? You can. Listen to your employees and create an honest, open working relationship.
Set the stage for how you want your employees to act by showing effective leadership to gain your team’s trust. Set some training goals, so your team can continue to learn and adapt.
Looking for more ideas? Keep checking out our site for more effective leadership advice and learn more strategies to drive your business forward.
Increasing In-Store Visits In A Growing Online World
/in Marketing & Sales/by StrategyDrivenBut for those who balance both online and physical stores, how can you convince people to visit in-person? Surely, with the ease of access and greater range associated with online shopping, the prospect of coming in-store would seem unnecessary.
Yet your physical store or stores are great investments of capital and staff and can be a great source of revenue. To dismiss them could bring greater losses.
So how can you increase in-store visits in the online world we find ourselves?
Promotion
Customers aren’t going to come to your store if they don’t know where it is, and even if it exists! Depending on the location of your store, you might have to do more or less promotion.
If you find yourself on a busy high street, less promotion will be needed compared to if your store lies out of the way. But in both cases, a little promotion can’t hurt.
Window displays are a great way to catch passer-bys’ eyes. You can get really creative with these, so do some research into the kind of window display that will tempt the right demographic into your store.
Consider making yourself known within your community. Sponsoring community activities – like this company sponsoring the local football team – to promote goodwill, and advertise both place and purpose of your business.
Website
On a similar track to physical promotion, consider the promotion of your physical store on your website. This is a great place to promote, as you already have customers who are considering buying with you there.
Tactical SEO can actually bring customers into physical stores, so signing up for live SEO sessions will help.
The question lies around how to convince those already on your online store to shop physically. There are several options available to you in regards to this:
Quality and Price of Products
When customers shop with you, you want them to shop again—basic business strategy. To even consider tempting customers into your physical store, you first need them to want to shop again.
Therefore, focusing on both affordability (in relation to your target demographic) and quality across all products is necessary.
Another option for bringing customers to a physical store is to implement incentives. Physical stores can’t offer the range or ease of access that online stores can, so they must offer something else exclusive.
Try using offers like 3 for 2, or discounts on products that cannot be achieved online. Advertising these incentives on your online store has the potential to move customers away from online shopping and into the physical store.
By making these offers bright and eye-catching, it will be impossible for buyers to miss.
Presentation
So you have customers into your store with your promotions and incentives. How do you make them want to come back? The answer is simple: their shopping experience must be excellent.
Focusing the presentation of your store – from basics like wall colour to key details like store layout – can massively impact the shopping experience for consumers. You want everything to be clear and understandable, whilst also being a pleasant place to be.
Presentation isn’t just physical attributes, however. Your store is also presented either positively or negatively. Top-quality customer service is key to incentivising customers to return to your store to buy again.
Health & Safety
Right now, there is an extra level of importance when it comes to in-person stores. With the pandemic, fewer people are shopping in-store than ever before.
When people do come to shop in-store, they need to know that they will be safe. Depending on your location, there will be different regulations, but the inclusion of some general safety precautions can only serve to help you.
Safety precautions to follow:
By following these safety precautions, customers are likely to feel much safer, and return to your store, as they know they will be protected.
Given the increasingly online world business must operate in now, it can seem like physical stores are growing to become dead weight. But a flourishing physical store can boost a business. All it takes is a willingness to focus resources onto enticing people into the store.
How to Make Your Money Grow in Business
/in Managing Your Finances/by StrategyDrivenBe Frugal
Just because you’re making money as a business, it doesn’t mean that you have to spend it at the same pace. It is crucial that you learn to manage your money and be frugal if you want to see your money experience steady growth financially. To be a frugal CEO, here are three approaches you could take.
Budget on Office Set Up: When setting up your office, it can be tempting to go all out. However, spending exorbitant amounts on furnishing isn’t necessarily going to give you the best return on your investment. Instead, look for ways to furnish on a budget such as by getting furniture that is slightly used or on clearance. The charity shop often also has fairly used or even new furniture that you can get at an affordable rate. Ask around to see how you can find affordable functional furniture so that you save space and money.
Control Legal Fees: Every business needs a lawyer but be careful not to spend too much on legal fees. These fees can eat out of your finances if they aren’t carefully managed. Focus on setting clear expectations with your lawyer before meetings, especially when their cost per hour is high. In some cases, you may even find that it’s better to pay on a per project instead of an hourly basis.
Monitor Cash Flow: As above use a fixed monthly fee accountant to keep your cash flow up to date on a monthly basis. 3 in 4 startups who do not monitor cash flow fail whilst 3 in 4 who do monitor their cash flow succeed. Be sure to shop around to find an accountant at the right cost.
DIY Marketing and PR: Aside from the mentioned, you should also make the most of the cost-effectiveness of digital marketing. Instead of hiring a PR firm in the early stages, try doing the pitching yourself to begin with. Doing this could also help build both trust and a good rapport which are tools that will get your business far. Social platforms are also ideal ways to get your brand out there without spending thousands on advertising too.
Consider Mixed Use Development
Mixed-use development is a way to grow your money as an entrepreneur. In case you’ve never heard about it before, in summary, it refers to buildings that have multiple units that are used for different purposes which are usually residential as well as commercial. You may be wondering how exactly this could benefit you as an entrepreneur. How it would work is that you could buy one or more mixed-use buildings and run your business in the commercial area while you live in, lease out or sell the other units. This could serve as a great business opportunity so read more here to find out how you could go about doing it.
Offer New Products and Services
Another straightforward way to make your money grow when running a business is to offer new products and services. Learn from the performance of your current range meaning you should do more of what’s working and improve on what isn’t. If, for instance, your customers seem to love a certain product, take the feedback and see how you can create something even better. Here are a few tips to consider when you want to launch a new product or service.
Ensure it Solves a Problem
Whether you’re launching your second or tenth product or service, you want to be certain that it solves a problem. If you look at some of the most successful ones you know, you’ll notice that they make people’s lives easier in one way or another. Creating a product that sells is about making something that’s simple, interesting, meaningful, entertaining, and long-lasting. The more value that it adds, the more likely it will do well in the market.
Build Buzz
Before launching a new product, it’s so essential that you first take the time out to build buzz. This is key as you want to build excitement and get people to anticipate this product and the value it could add to their lives. By doing this, you’re more likely to get the kind of response you want form customers and prospects.
Devise a Strong Strategy
A product launch strategy will help you map out how to launch your product from start to finish. Start by doing this as it will work as a guiding force to help you execute your plan. When you have an effective strategy in place, you’re less likely to miss out on important elements of a product launch and also more likely to prevent major mistakes. With that being said, there are several templates you can use online to help you flesh out your strategy.
Have a Growth Strategy
Earlier on, it was mentioned that you should have a strategy for launching a product, but you should note that you also need one if you want to grow. When you have a growth strategy in place, you’ve got a better idea of where you’re going as a business and how you’re going to get there. You may decide that you’re going to start with one product for the first year and then diversify your income as a business in the second year of operating, for instance. It’s essential that you think through what direction you want to grow in, so you put measures in place to ensure that you get there.
Every business has to steadily grow if they want to remain in business and expand on to do bigger and better things. However, in order to see the growth you want, you’ve got to commit to learning and trying new strategies.
Internal Communications Within Your Business
/in Business Communications/by StrategyDrivenFor example, those who work within an office will be able to communicate via video calls, instant messaging, and emails. For those who work in construction, or in fieldwork a two-way radio can often be a better option. For more information about that communication type, read here for more.
Internal communication for your business can always be improved and modified to make sense for your company and team. Here are some of the ways that you can improve your business comms within the team.
Be the example
All of the management and team leaders should be in a position to show what great communication looks like. Since we aren’t all blessed with natural communication skills, it might be best to have training.
Work with certified communications experts to improve the skills of your leadership team. You can do it with formal training, having assessments, open feedback sessions, and more.
The better of an example that your leadership and management sets, the more likely it is that your other staff will follow suit.
Online
Face to face meetings, although they can be useful, take up a lot of time. 2020 has leaned heavily on online video calls and meetings. Taking communications online saves time and money. Although there is a balance to find within the online world, it is usually faster to communicate this way.
As leadership, it is important that you research and understand what video call fatigue is, and how you can best support your team.
Value
If there is no value for the people attending the meeting, then ask yourself do they need to be there? Requiring attendance at multiple meetings should serve a purpose for all involved. Make meetings impactful, so they always have a reason.
If there is a value for the project updates or they play a vital role it will be of value to them.
Attending meetings for the sake of it takes up time, resources, and costs money.
Open goals
There will be team specific goals and company-wide goals. Making these public will mean that everyone will always be held accountable for themselves, and within their team too. We know that setting goals are the best way to achieve progress, making the goals transparent to your team will encourage them to achieve more
Tools
When your team is working remotely, you need to make sure they have the tools to communicate well. It might include some of the following tools:
Internal communication is one of the keys to ensuring that your projects, services, and products meet the high standards you set for your company. The right communication system can save money and increase productivity – but it starts with management.
What is Multimodal Shipping?
/in Tactical Execution/by StrategyDrivenIn the simplest terms, multimodal transport or multimodal shipping means that a single carrier uses a combination of round, air, sea, or rail transportation to move goods from one location to another. Opting for this type of shipping offers a variety of benefits to both the shipper and their clients alike, and preserves the supply chain in the face of challenges brought on by major businesses like Walmart and Amazon, as well as disruptions like those created by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Multimodal vs. Intermodal Transport
Before getting into the benefits of multimodal transport, it’s worth discussing the difference between multimodal and intermodal transport.
Although both types of shipping use at least two forms of transport (for example, land and air), the primary difference is that intermodal shipping uses multiple carriers. In other words, one carrier manages the ground portion of the shipment, and then hands off the shipment to another carrier for the air transport, or vice versa. The shipper pays each carrier separately, and your reports, receipts, and tracking details will come from each carrier individually, and only deal with their portion of the journey.
Intermodal can help speed up shipments, but it can be complex to manage. That’s why many shippers are turning to multimodal shipments instead.
How Multimodal Shipping Benefits Businesses
Opting for multimodal shipping can benefit your business in a number of ways.
Reduced Costs
Although you may receive competitive rates from an intermodal shipping company, opting for multimodal can be a more cost-effective option. Transport providers often provide more competitive rates when you allow them to handle the entire shipment, and offer priority status. Multimodal shipping can also result in tax incentives for shippers. Because these arrangements typically involve making infrastructure investments, companies that opt for multimodal transport enjoy certain incentives that would not otherwise be available. Multimodal transport also reduces carbon offset costs, further reducing expenditures.
Improved Communication
In contrast to intermodal shipping, multimodal shipping only requires communicating with a single operator. The central provider manages all of the communication with the actual transportation providers, ensuring you have a single point of contact in the event there is an issue. For instance, if you receive data from an impact recorder indicating rough handling or excessive vibration, you can work with the multimodal provider to solve the problem.
Faster Delivery Times
There are times when intermodal transport may be the faster option, but multimodal transport is often the faster option. Federal regulations govern how long a single carrier can move freight in one trip under the Electronic Logging Devices (ELD) Mandate. Essentially, this only allows freight to be in motion for a certain amount of time before the operator must rest. It’s mostly applicable to trucking, but it does add time to truck transport.
When a driver can transfer a load to another form of transport, like a train, though, the shipment is able to keep moving despite those limitations. Instead of sitting idle for 24 hours or more while the truck driver rests, the shipment reaches its destination more quickly. Using multiple modes of transportation can also cut shipping time for shipments traveling long distance. For example, shipping partially by air cuts a significant amount of time, even when the last leg is handled by truck or train.
Getting the Most from Multimodal Shipping
Using multimodal shipping can be beneficial to your company, but it does require proper management. That begins with evaluating all of the modes before selecting one for your shipments. Not all shipments are well suited for all modes, and what works for other companies may not be ideal for yours.
It’s also important to connect your transportation management system with the carrier, so you can effectively monitor your shipments at every stage. All of your freight processes should be data-driven and based on real-time, contextual data collected at every step of the shipment process. Armed with this information, you can implement efficient, cost-effective shipping policies and procedures that align with your company’s strategic goals and budget.