StrategyDriven Marketing and Sales Article |Cold Calling|Is Cold Calling A Beneficial Way To Drum up Business?

Is Cold Calling A Beneficial Way To Drum up Business?

StrategyDriven Marketing and Sales Article |Cold Calling|Is Cold Calling A Beneficial Way To Drum up Business?Cold calling is a difficult tactic to master when looking to drum up business as it can be seen to may as a harsh way of selling. But for those that have already expressed interest, is it really such a bad idea? With a number of strategies as well as the best times for cold calling, could it be the secret your business needs to drum up sales? In this article, we will be looking into whether or not this is the right way to drum up sales for your business.

Gets Your Business Noticed

Though this is considered outdated by some businesses, the act of cold calling can still be a highly effective way of getting your business noticed. Whether this is with customers or through a long term B2b cold calling strategy, you are getting your name out there to a number of other businesses, providing them with insight into the product or service that you are looking to offer.

Gives A More Personal Touch

Though email marketing and social media are highly efficient ways of drumming up business, there are other options such as cold calling that give a far more personal touch. Though this can generate the initial lead, this can then blossom into more interest and lead to a conversion later on down the line allowing you to develop a relationship between you and the customer. This is beneficial for a sales team as this allows them to take a general interest in a client or business and help to sell them a package that will help them to achieve their long-term goals.

Can Be Used Alongside Social Media Campaigns

Social media campaigns are a great way of drumming up business but using cold calling to contact those that have downloaded an E-book or provided you with their phone number through a website can be the perfect way of drumming up business. Though this will be a challenge depending on the target audience that you are looking to reach, this can be an efficient way of drumming up leads for your business and even acquiring new business later on in the process. Though this is a lengthy process, there is a success rate you gain from cold calls that are yet to be replicated by emails or social media campaigns.

Is Highly Beneficial For Inbound Sales Strategy And Lead Nurturing

Inbound sales strategy is crucial when you have made the first call as you want to be sure you are able to close the sale. Whether this is converting the lead through regular phone calls or you decide to organise a meeting to go over new proposals, this can all lead to your business acquiring new clients. When dealing with b2b clients, it is important to keep this as professional as possible as this is likely to be a long-term investment and even the potential of repeat business for a product or service.

Whether you are looking to use cold calling as a new tactic for your sales team, or you are looking to cut back on the use of this potential outdated sales trick, there are a number of benefits that come along with cold calling.

StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article |Workspace Solutions|Three Popular Workspace Solutions That Could Be The Answer to Your Prayers

Three Popular Workspace Solutions That Could Be The Answer to Your Prayers

StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article |Workspace Solutions|Three Popular Workspace Solutions That Could Be The Answer to Your PrayersThese days, offices come in all shapes and sizes. From virtual offices to hot-desking and leased floor space, it’s getting more difficult to be sure you’ve chosen the optimal solution for your needs, especially if your business is growing fast. If you feel a little intimidated by all that choice, these tips will help you work out what type of office space would suit your company best.

Leased Office Space

Once your business is properly up and running, it is possible that you will have special requirements that don’t fall within the realms of your standard serviced office offering. If you’re excited by the idea of designing your perfect office from scratch (everything from IT infrastructure to décor) you may appreciate the chance to begin with the blank canvas that is leased office space.

Leased office space only really becomes viable when future projections for your business suggest that you have a few years of secure trading in the pipeline. Renting your own workspace may not be particularly cost-effective if you aren’t in a position to sign a long-term lease, which would lower the overall cost. It’s also worth bearing in mind that you will have to manage every aspect of your office, which can be challenging if you’re used to the service office environment. Everything from carpet cleaning to ordering stationery and performing maintenance tasks will fall to your company. Depending what you’re up for, you might like to investigate outsourcing options. For example, to ensure you avoid IT disasters, look into customized managed IT.

Coworking

Working flexible hours according to an international clock is the norm nowadays, and if you’re hoping to retain your top performers, taking flexible hours into consideration could be beneficial. This is just one of the many reasons why startups are flocking to the countless coworking spaces that are popping up in cities all over the globe. These super convenient, and often extremely stylish, serviced workspace locations pride themselves on a community atmosphere, were people from all industries work together in a shared space. Most locations stay open 24/7, allowing you to come and go, as your schedule requires. Leases tend to be extremely flexible, with short term options as standard. Most of your needs are taken care of, from wifi to good coffee. The coworking demographic can be characterized as motivated, ambitious and young, so if you and your team would benefit from a competitive atmosphere with fantastic opportunities for collaboration, coworking could be ideal for you.

Virtual Office

A virtual office is, in a nutshell, running your business from home, or a far-out location while acting as if you have a well-located office. If this sounds like a good idea to you, don’t feel ashamed by the pretense: the virtual workspace solution is helping countless emerging startups fake it till they make it. Until you have your own real office, you’ll suffer from the lack the credibility that stops you from competing with bigger companies. A virtual office lets you put a professional business address on your letterhead, with the option to receive calls to a landline number monitored by a remote team, answering as if they were your employees.

Whether you’ve just launched a startup or you’re the owner of a mid-sized company, securing the ideal workspace for your business is not easy with all the options on the market. These pointers will help you narrow things down a touch.

StrategyDriven Management and Leadership Article |Leaders|3 Core Differences Between a Boss and a Leader

3 Core Differences Between a Boss and a Leader

StrategyDriven Management and Leadership Article |Leaders|3 Core Differences Between a Boss and a LeaderWhen it comes to management in the workplace, it takes a real person to be a leader for their employees. There is a big difference between the word “boss” and “leader,” as these two words do not mean the same thing. Below is a closer look at three characteristics a leader possesses and why employees look up to them.

What a Boss is

Simply put, some bosses are just a boss. They have attained a position in the management section of the corporate world with a nice office and a designated parking space. They sit back behind their desks and make decisions that affect the direction of the company and often dictate how money is spent. Although these aspects are needed, they are not enough to make the people holding those positions leaders. Fortunately, a boss can become a leader by learning the differences and applying them to the job.

Leading, Rather Than Pushing

Leaders motivate their employees and find practical solutions together to make sure the employees are inspired and follow their leader’s example. Bosses tend to push employees into doing something without really giving them much guidance. This not only forces employees to work without having clear directions, but the results will most likely be less than favored. A good leader will present ideas and work alongside their employees to demonstrate that communication is key and working together to achieve goals as a team is the way to succeed.

Leaders Listen

A good leader spends time listening to their employees instead of talking above them. True leaders see the value of asking employees about their opinions and incorporating those opinions into the decision-making process. On the other hand, a boss will dominate the conversation while expecting employees to listen attentively and carry out commands while giving them little or no direction. Listening will build a team of engaged employees who know they are valued for their skills and knowledge and will want to work harder and more efficiently to complete projects.

Invest Time in Their Employees

Some bosses tend to ignore the majority of their employees, giving those employees the sense of an uncertain future within the company. A leader does not ignore an employee. They invest time and effort in helping each employee develop in their profession, teaching them new skills and allowing them to advance in their careers. Not only that, but a leader will look at their management style and make changes where needed to ensure they are giving employees the attention and guidance needed to perform at their best.

Many people in positions of authority seem to think they only need to stand aside and supervise their employees rather than taking the initiative and working alongside their team. Employees that see their leader invested in the project will be inspired to do their best work as well as improving the team’s motivation, creativity, and collaboration. Good leaders in the corporate world lead their employees by example. Employees will respect their supervisor a lot more if they are relatable and make themselves approachable to the staff.

Supervisors at any level are only as good as the employees that work for them. If a supervisor does not respect their employees and treat them well, the employees will not perform to the best of their ability, and this will reflect poorly on that supervisor and the project they are in charge of.

StrategyDriven Customer Relationship Management Article |Customer Care|The Customer Really Is Always Right

The Customer Really Is Always Right

StrategyDriven Customer Relationship Management Article |Customer Care|The Customer Really Is Always RightIf you are a new startup, the chances are that you are overwhelmed by the amount of things that you need to get done. While you were once a specialist, you are now having to be a Jack of all trades. As well as being the owner, you are now the marketing executive, the financial guru, the social media manager, the reprographics assistant, the web designer and the coffee maker. You have a business plan to write and you might not even know where to start.

While you might be obsessed by getting all of your financial ducks in a row, securing funding for your business and ensuring that you have a buoyant cash flow, you need to consider the customer experience that you provide.

Your new venture will live or die depending on the reviews it receives. Nowadays, people venture online in the first instance when they are looking to research a company. Consumers are now incredibly savvy and want to know more about the startups that they are looking to do business with. If you are keen to hone your positive reputation, you need to have a policy in place that recognizes that the customer is always right.

Under Promise And Over Deliver

As a new startup, you have an array of already well established rivals to compete with. This means you need to solidify your reputation immediately. Ensure that you have a policy of under promising and over delivering. If you know that you can deliver a product in forty eight hours, ensure that you state that you’ll have it delivered in seventy two. This is an effective way of trading. When your customer sees that their item is on their doorstep seemingly a day early, they will assume that you have gone the extra mile. This creates a positive buzz and warm fuzzy feeling about you. This emotive response is vital if you are to encourage positive feedback.

First Contact

When a customer first makes contact with you, they need to feel inspired and confident that your company will provide what they need whether this is legal representation or a custom made tee shirt. An answering service for lawyers is perfect for those legal firms that want a polite and professional representative for their potential clients. Outsourcing this sort of service also means that you are more free to deal with more pressing area of your business vision.

If customers contact you via Facebook or Twitter, respond speedily. You can also utilize a less formal and corporate voice. Converse with your potential customers in a chattier tone and enjoy selling and marketing your wares on social media. If this will take up too much of your time or you are not au fait with social media, consider outsourcing this to a professional. These professionals will work with you to achieve your online and customer service goals through analytics and market research.

StrategyDriven Customer Relationship Management Article |Customer Care|The Customer Really Is Always RightIncentivize

While you can’t pay for positive feedback as this is not ethically sound, you can incentivize your customers to leave a review of any kind. When people receive the services or goods that they expect, they aren’t inclined to leave a review. However, if someone is let down or feels hard done by when dealing with a company, they will be proactive in seeking out ways to get their voice heard. You need to incentivize those people who are happy with your service. When you deliver items, place little discount cards in the packaging stating that your customers can receive twenty per cent off of their next order if they leave a review. Ensure that you have a range of platforms that accept reviews of your company such as Amazon, Trustpilot, Feefo and your social media channels.

Social media is the key platform that your potential customer base will flock towards when researching your company. If they spot a swathe of negative feedback, they won’t do business with your startup and will move onto another company providing the service or product they need. You need to hone those positive reviews. Any complaint (and you will receive them) needs to be dealt with promptly. Keep the customer informed and say sorry. Anything aired on social media is public so respond professionally and remain committed to resolving any issues.

You could have all of the funding that you need, a perfect supply chain and incredible cash flow, but if you don’t have the customer backing and reviews, your company will not survive. Provide an exceptional customer experience and your business will thrive.

StrategyDriven Practices for Professionals Article |Increase Your Wealth|Increasing Our Wealth For The Future: What You Might Want To Try

Increasing Our Wealth For The Future: What You Might Want To Try

StrategyDriven Practices for Professionals Article |Increase Your Wealth|Increasing Our Wealth For The Future: What You Might Want To TryMany of us have full time jobs, or a job that we do that happens to fund our main income each month. It may be something you love and cherish, or it may be something that you just fell into because you weren’t sure what direction to take with your career. However, many of us can agree that often we want more for our future, and there are thankfully things that you can do, either alongside your current job or as a change of career entirely.

The hardest part is finding the time, and some of us will openly admit it that they won’t feel like there is enough time. But there are big things you can do, and also small things that don’t take that much time that can help you to increase your wealth. With that in mind, here are some of them are.

Constructively look at your outgoings

One of the first things that you may want to think about would be to constructively look at your outgoings and see if there are any changes that can be made. The money we spend each week and month can often be a big indicator as to where we can make savings. Some people will still have outgoings that they thought were cancelled. Others will be paying too much for things like energy and insurance, where changing providers could give you an instant saving and boost your disposable;e income. Take some time to do this and really understand where your money goes.

Developing our career

Another great thing that you could do would be to look at your current career. Not everyone has a job they love, but for some people, they are fortunate to enjoy the career that they have and have a passion for it. This is when developing your current career could be a great way to increase your wealth for the future. Maybe it involves learning and getting more qualifications to move up the ladder. It could be that showing initiative means you get more responsibility and alongside that are able to enjoy a big pay rise. The more you climb, the higher pay you can earn.

Buying and developing property

There are some great options to consider when it comes to making More money, and property is one of the ways you can do it. Many of us focus on our own property, and that can be a great for the future. You can earn from your property as you live in it or own it for longer, and this can be great in terms of increasing your value. But, you could also do this with intention. Such as buying and selling for a profit, making improvements to earn big money. Our it could mean buying more than one and having a property portfolio that you then earn from monthly as well as long term.

Investing in something physical

Maybe you want to invest some of your savings into something more physical. This could be jewellery or art and often this holds a value but it can also increase in value in the future. It might be because of what you have invested in, that all of a sudden interest in that item or even the person such as the artist could then increase the value of it.

Investing in stock, shares and long term investments

Maybe you like the idea of long term investments which includes things like stocks and shares and even fixed terms savings and hedge funds. This is when things like algo trading can really help you stay on track with your investments, or certainly make the right level of choices when it comes to what you do invest in.

Turn a hobby into a job

Many people have decided to turn a hobby into a job, especially with things like blogging, writing, or using a skill that you have developed over time. Often this hobbies have been nurtured and your passions and love has been poured into them, so turning them into a job and business often feels like a natural step to take. It can feel like a lot to do at first, but it could certainly enable you to be in a position to earn more money for the future. You may want to think long and hard about how you do this, so enlisting the help of affordable seo services could help you to enable a blog or website you have to get a better reach and in turn reach more potential customers and clients.

Declutter your home

Many of us will have things in our home that we no longer want, need or have any use for, and yet they are stored in lofts, attic spaces, drawers and cupboards. Never to see the light of day. You could be making money from these unwanted things. This is when platforms like eBay prove very useful and can enable you to not only increase your income in the short term, but also help you to build up savings for the future.

Change your habits in your home

Often the future starts with actions that you take today, and habits that you have in your home could be costing you a small fortune. The way you use your energy for example, can be quite costly. Leaving things on charge and also not switching things off can be using more energy than you think is possible. Meal planning can also save you money on your food shopping bill each week.

Use your spare time wisely with side hustles

Finally, you can use your spare time wisely and invest into side hustles that can be completed even when you are relaxing, watching tv, or spending time with loved ones. This is when performing online surveys for a fee and mystery shopping are just some of the side hustles you could consider. There are many more advertised online.

Let’s hope that this has inspired you to consider some options for your future.