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Ways to Improve Your Customer Communication

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StrategyDriven Customer Relationship Management Article |Customer Communication|Ways to Improve Your Customer CommunicationStruggling with customer communication but unsure about how to improve? Then this article is for you! So, keep reading to learn about the best ways to boost your customer communication skills.

Use the right tools

The first thing you should do to boost your customer communication is to ensure that the right tools are in place. For example, using customer relationship management (CRM) software can help track customer details, set up automated messages, and send out marketing campaigns. This means you’ll spend less time on data entry and have more time to focus on improving your business.

These days, there are all sorts of customer communication management systems that you can use. Make sure you do your research before committing to a particular product.

Explain what your product is

When you’re trying to explain your product, make sure you talk about the problems it can solve and how it will benefit customers. If you keep your copy simple and actionable, you will be able to reach a wider audience. Plus, research has shown that if keywords are used in content marketing efforts, conversions tend to increase as well.

You can also use lead generation content in your marketing campaigns to educate potential customers about your product before sending them over to the sales team. Again, this is a great way of ensuring that anyone buying from you knows exactly what they are getting, meaning that you won’t see any expensive returns or dissatisfied customers.

Automate customer services

If your company is growing, you might find it hard to keep up with every customer’s request. To avoid this and save time, ensure that all the important information is stored electronically and shared as much as possible. This will enable you to automate customer service tasks like order fulfilment or answering queries.

For example, rather than calling up a supplier, you can use an online chat tool to ask quick questions and add the conversation to your CRM system. This can also be helpful on your social media channels, too!

Get feedback

You should always find out what your customers are saying about you. This can give you valuable insight into what you’re doing well and where there is room for improvement. The best way to do this is by asking for customer feedback. Then, make sure that the data you collect is actionable to help guide your business.

Always follow up

If you want to make sure that your customers are happy with the end result, always follow up with your clients. This way, you’ll be able to fix any problems before they become a big issue and gain invaluable insight into how your business is performing.

For example, if someone contacts your office for support, send out a survey after the issue has been resolved to find out whether or not they would recommend your business and if there is anything you could do better.

To improve customer communication, you need the right tools, explain what your product is, and an automated customer service system that can generate actionable feedback.

4 ways to future-proof your business

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article |Future-proof your business|4 ways to future-proof your businessThe business landscape is highly volatile. New developments both economic and social can have a massive impact on how your business functions. This sometimes makes it seem difficult to plan ahead, exposing you to problems further down the line. Future-proofing a business isn’t as difficult as it sounds, though, and these tips should help.

1. Invest in automation and artificial intelligence

Automation and artificial intelligence go hand in hand and they’re both set to play a big role in the future of business. You can start today by automating simple tasks like answering emails, setting automatic software updates for your network and even your social media profile. Artificial intelligence is everywhere, too, and easy to implement. Chatbots can streamline your customer service department and they can even be used to build mailing lists and work on customer outreach programs. Adopting these technologies early will ensure that your business is well equipped to face the future, whatever it holds.

2. Hire an advisor

No matter your intentions, your knowledge of future tech can never really match up to that of a professional advisor. These people spend every day of their lives learning about how businesses will develop. They specialize not just in predicting business trends, but in telling you how best to leverage them. Advisors like https://www.gioletellier.com/ are well placed to make predictions and ensure that your business never falls behind the curve. An additional benefit of hiring an advisor is that they take the strain off you and your staff. Future-proofing demands an enormous amount of data crunching and analysis. Having somebody else do this for you frees up staff to concentrate their energies elsewhere.

3. Research

Research and development is a key component of any healthy business. Continual innovation ensures a steady flow of ideas that can be transformed into products and cash flow. Future research is slightly different, however. It pays to research what your competitors are doing and how bigger businesses in your sector are embracing change for the better. Keep a continual eye on your customer base, too. Demographics might change as time goes by so it’s important never to lose sight of who you’re selling to. A continuous cycle of research and implementation ensures that you’re never taken by surprise if a sudden change occurs or market conditions shift.

4. Gather data

Following on from the previous point, translate themes into data. If your identify shifts in the market, customer base changes or the mass adoption of a new technology occurs, translate those trends into raw data. This makes change more easily quantifiable and gives you something to compare, month on month, year on year. Data allows you to trace not just the trajectory of your business, but that of the business world as a whole. Too many companies are taken by surprise by sudden market shifts, but if you continue to amass and monitor data, it shouldn’t be a challenge to identify potential disruption before it happens.

Create An IoT App In A Few Easy Steps

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StrategyDriven Online Marketing and Website Development Article, Create An IoT App In A Few Easy StepsTechnology has taken over your lives. As per the reports of 2020, over 30 billion smart devices are connected to the internet. This number includes computers, wearables, phones, and smart home elements. Presently, a tech category, the Internet of Things (IoT), has exploded in popularity. It is a system of devices that will connect physically through the internet by interlinking in some way. If you wish to learn how to develop an IoT app, here are the steps to look for.

1. Choose The Hardware: How To Develop An IoT App

According to TDengine, the Internet of Things needs software to function, but the hardware still matters a lot. Reliable and fast device connectivity is the priority for the development of IoT applications. You can achieve the best results with custom hardware solutions. It is not needed to develop an IoT application from scratch. You can get in touch with a high-quality hardware provider who can provide the necessary assistance. Thus, remember that choosing the proper hardware is the first step in creating an IoT application.

2. Pick A Platform

Many platforms are there which you can use to build Internet of Things applications. Before choosing one, you must pay attention to the kind of technologies and the cost to invest. A suitable way to pick a platform to create an IoT app is the one that will eliminate the inconsistency issues and allow developers to connect all devices. For example, the IoT platform of Google, Android Things, supports devices of different manufacturers. It can even connect to low-energy sensors.

Therefore, you have to first find out the requirements and then choose the platform accordingly.

3. Think Of The Scalability Parameter

Have you ever wanted your own IoT application? Have you been searching for a simple guide that will give you the information on the step-by-step process? At Aimprosoft, we know everything about creating such applications. Their blog section has great content from which you will learn in detail how to create an IoT app. And here, we will provide you with a more abbreviated version. Here we begin. While designing the application, keep in mind the scalability parameter. Whether the platform will stay relevant or not depends on this parameter as well.


4. Remember That The Application Is Fast

In the process of how to develop an IoT app, remember that the application is extremely fast when it is about sharing data. The price of every lag is too high, which is not always affordable. Imagine your car is connected with IoT, and it is taking a lot of time to respond to your commands. It can affect the performance, which users will never prefer. That’s why while creating applications, you must remember to keep speed in consideration.

5. Check Out The Security Parameters

Security should be the top priority of IoT applications. Because many devices are connected to the IoT application, security is vulnerable, and there is a high chance of data infringement. Individuals use IoT in cars, homes, and healthcare devices. If the security is not maintained, hackers can steal crucial information that can lead to troubles. While deciding on how to create an IoT application, do not ignore the security parameter.

6. Developing The Structure Of The Application

The next parameter is to decide on the application’s structure, and for that, quite a few variables are there to choose from. Variables will vary depending on what your requirements are. The standard features included are alerts, charts, maps, control, etc. One thing you should remember is the application must not look clumsy with a lot of stuff.

7. Customizing The End-User Application

An end-user platform contains the individual’s or business logo, icon, or any other thing. If you want any such things on the application, speak with the designers during the internet of things app development process. It will help them understand the things that you want to have in the application.

Start The Designing Process

Now you can start the process of how to develop an IoT app with the above steps. If you need expert guidance, get in touch with the top professional designers operating in this sector. They can help you in creating an internet of things application with all features.

Brands are Failing with Their Responsibility to Protect Consumers as UK Fraud Cost Rises to £137 Billion

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StrategyDriven Risk Management Article |Consumer Protection|Brands are Failing with Their Responsibility to Protect Consumers as UK Fraud Cost Rises to £137 BillionIt appears cybercriminals are having a feast scamming online, sparing no internet user, especially the vulnerable many who completely always trust every link sent to them in your brand name.

You can help, even though not entirely, but in some way, and this includes leveraging tools to fight against the ravaging internet crimes. These criminal activities only end up making e-commerce threatened.

Due to the growing insecurity and the rise of businesses and the need to educate customers more than ever, Skurio has investigated the current state of fraud on consumers to establish what companies could be losing, and you can click here to see their interactive slider that demonstrates the devastating daily cost of UK fraud.

UK Fraud Cost Surge Currently £137 Billion: What Items Are Experiencing the Effect
Cyber fraud is costing the UK economy approximately £137,000,000,000 annually and this means that consumers are missing out on being able to purchase various items that are used daily in society.

Here’s a breakdown of some of these consumer items that could have been purchased had it not been due to fraud daily:

Cups of Coffee:136,488,169.
Netflix Monthly Subscriptions: 62,661,513
Cinema Tickets: 55,606,291
Family Packs of 16 Toilet Rolls: 44,157,937.
Full Tanks of Petrol: 7,325,184
Smartwatches: 990 349
PlayStation 5: 834,112
Round the World Flight Tickets: 75,068

Cybercriminals Not Pitying Brands and Customers Amidst Post Pandemic Effect

Internet fraudsters are not retreating, and newer strategies are finding their place in the system to beat customers’ intelligence. Pharming, phishing, and many other defrauding techniques are also taking new forms, thereby becoming even more complicated for consumers to tell what from what.

For instance, website cloning and the use of your domain name is a big vulnerability. Even if a customer would manage to tell that the site is fake, the look and feel of the site confuses them and they end up trading with the account.

Typosquatting is a name for fake websites using domain names similar to that of your business. They will also add payment options, so that site users think they are dealing with the website. Sometimes, your customers end up on the website due to an error when trying to contact your site. Not only will a fake domain copy your site name, but they could also go on to promote the website, which means they will be gathering even more targets to victimise in your name.

Smishing is also a thing. In this case, a scammer sends out tons of messages containing malicious links to users. The links usually point to their fake website which is designed to store the information provided by the person falling victim.

How about finding your site credentials on the dark web? Well, these credentials could be used to jeopardise your integrity in the future, if not now.

Business-Oriented Response by Businesses to Curb Fraud

Unfortunately, you are responsible for safeguarding users that you think could be using your website. Your domain registrar cannot do so much, likewise the government. Therefore, you must take the fight against scammers if you must ensure to preserve your integrity.

The governments are contributing nonetheless. For instance, the US and Dutch law enforcement, under Operation Bayonet, had seized and disabled AlphaBay and Hansa, two prominent dark web marketplaces.

In your case, to respond swiftly to scammers’ attacks, consider the following:

  • Brand trademark. If you must justify and hasten takedowns, you want to trademark your company. Trademarking your company does not stop phishers, but it at least gives you the edge to take them down when you discover them.
  • Top-level domain registration. You can register as many top-level domains as you can that are similar to your brand. If you do not do it, scammers will.
  • Educate customers. Customer education can be vital in the fight against internet fraudsters. You simply have to develop clear and regular communications policies that inform your customers about the information your business can request from them.
  • Invest in the domain and dark monitoring solutions. You detect and eliminate phishing websites early before their presence leverages customer ignorance, which affects your brand reputation.

Final Thoughts

Dark web and domain monitoring tools are sophisticated ways to discourage fraudsters. Nonetheless, ensure to communicate your policies regularly with the customer. It should contain what personal information you collect, why and when, as well as the information you do not require or the only web pages they are supposed to enter their information on.

Nine Ways You Can Further Your Career

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StrategyDriven Professional Development Article |Further your Career|Nine Ways You Can Further Your CareerCareer development is not the responsibility of your manager. You are responsible. The manager is liable for your output. Thus, determining your goals and accomplishments at the annual review time is not the best idea.

These 9 career-boosting steps you can take today and in the coming months will boost your career.

Set Small Goals Often

There is a lot of emphasis on goals during annual reviews. It is difficult to set realistic, attainable goals in a year; it is actually too long. For this reason, setting smaller goals is more appropriate.

Consider what you do on a daily basis. Are there any ways to elevate that work? How can you improve yourself? Put these items on your list of goals and give them some thought. Once you’ve set your goals, give yourself a deadline by which you must learn these things.

You should grade yourself at the end of the deadline. Please. You know how it goes. What did you do? How well did you do it? You may also want to ask a friend or colleague how they would rate or grade your new skills. Do it again.

Stretch Yourself

We think the only way to succeed is to get out of our comfort zones. As such, you must learn to think outside of your expertise.

Dare to be scared. Are you afraid to speak in public? Attend business presentations and networking events. Do you feel anxious about sharing your industry insights? Request that someone publish your articles. Emotional intelligence training for geeks could be one way to stretch yourself.

Ask For Feedback

It is important to do self-assessments and to get feedback. You should also get feedback constantly. You should ask the following questions after every meeting:

What were your most successful strategies?
If it were even better, what would it be?”

From these two questions, you can learn a great deal. There is a lot you can learn from these two questions about the quality of your work and performance. Try them out.

Learn About Your Industry

Every week, spend some time learning about your industry. Consider yourself to be being tested on your industries and companies. Consult experts. Get advice from colleagues and managers. Speak to your clients about their feelings. Gather information from industry experts. Share the insights you collect with your clients.

Research

Keep up with the latest blogs, whether they are big or small. Take the time to read books relating to your profession. Read books about business that encourage you to think differently. As a reader, you can spark conversations with other people you meet at networking events. You can also build your career by learning new ways to do things and different hacks about living your life that will make it run more smoothly, both at work and at home.

Networking

The standard LinkedIn invite should never be sent. Not ever. That is all we can say. Let the recipient know what you have in common with him or her, and how you want to help them. To get a face-to-face introduction, ask a member of your network. Keeping an impression is the key to successful networking. But LinkedIn is not the only platform. Meet as many people as possible by attending industry events, local events, and local functions. This will also keep you interested in what you’re doing.

Find A Mentor

For all those elements, mentors can be an excellent resource. What are you looking for in a mentor? Let your mentor know what you are looking for. Do you have a question about the industry or how your company operates? Want to find out how you can stretch your abilities? Try mentoring!

Find A Protégé

Furthermore, a good protégé can be a valuable source of information and knowledge as well. It is possible to break your paradigms when you have a protege. In addition to exposing you to new ideas, they can present you with new approaches and ways to approach problems.

Always Be Listening

Even if you are happy in your current job, building relationships with new people and listening to other opportunities never hurts. Whether you want to grow and improve your career or grow and improve your personal life, that’s what you need to do.

Don’t shy away from your next opportunity or new connection. It feels great when people notice you! Do you have any other tips that could help? Please share them in the comments below.