Month: April 2020

Categories
HR & People Management

5 Best Practices For Your Small Business Onboarding Process

How to Build an Effective Onboarding Process?

Once you find the right hire for your company, the business onboarding process is a critical part of building a great team. It is important to create an impeccable onboarding process to make them feel comfortable in your work environment.

The onboarding process is a holistic introduction that gives knowledge about the company policies, necessary skills, and work ethics at the office and most importantly how to be productive as an employee. It also includes training & development programs, socializing with the other team members, essential paperwork, and getting an understanding of the operations.

In many places, the business onboarding process is just the orientation which includes the very basic- the new employees watch some videos, fill necessary forms and are asked to start the work. However the right onboarding process is a chance for your new hire to connect emotionally with your company’s values, vision, and culture. Right onboarding helps the new employees to be more productive and a positive first impression of the workplace is built on their mind. Here are some tips to make the onboarding process a delight for your new joiners: 

1. Prepare for new employees

  • Manage your new employees by proving them with a clear and brief overview of their first day in the company.
  • Prepare everything in advance. Whatever they require to start their day with should be ready before the employee reaches the office.
  • Introduce the new employee to the rest of the team. You don’t have to go far into the details. Make sure you introduce them to all the major departments of your company.
  • The onboarding process makes sure that they have a copy of the employee handbook; that includes an employment letter, welcome note, company policies, payroll information and general HR policies.
  • Give them a proper guide and schedule for their first week in the company.
  • Assign your new employee with a clean work area and software they might need to login to.

2. Make sure they follow the rules

  • It is important to teach your new employees to stay in compliance and follow the rules & regulations.
  • Make sure that they have a copy of the rules & regulations and a manual of your office culture and ethics to follow.
  • Refresh their knowledge and make them aware of the new regulations by providing them regular training programs.

3. Clear company culture, values, and vision

  • Make them understand the vision and culture of the company on the first day itself. Do not rush; explain to them why each value is important for your company.
  • Let them know how your company is operating to achieve the goals in order to set an example and expectations.
  • Your new employees can contribute more positively to your business if they are clear about the vision, value and culture of your company. Make them understand that the company’s value and vision are critical.
  • You also need to focus on your workplace and build a culture that supports efficiency, hard work and employee productivity.
  • Have transparency in your communication; the clearer the communication, the more productive the employee will be.

4. Create a comprehensive training and development program

  • Build a team of experienced employees for the training and development program to help train new joiners.
  • Training encourages continuous employee development and will not only lead to employee efficiency but also employee satisfaction.
  • Training helps new employees to expand their skills that can benefit your company in the long run.

5. Set-up a practice run

  • Practice by conducting a mock call internally with the new employees to understand what they have learned.
  • Have a small onboarding test that includes procedures for customer interaction & certain regular tasks. If they succeed in the test it means that you have done your job correctly and if they don’t then make note of the areas you have to work on again.
  • Ask for feedback from the new employees to understand if anything needs to be removed, added or better explained.
  • Encourage the team heads and managers to have phone calls and quick meetings with the new employees; this practice makes the new hires more comfortable and will reduce the time on other ineffective modes of communication. Building a personal connection is critical team building.
  • For better employee productivity, ensure each person is in the right role as per their needs and skills.

It can take some time to build a successful onboarding process for your company but the right onboarding process will encourage the new employees to stick with the organization for the longer run. So if you want to generate more revenue and build a solid team for your company than spend time understanding the right onboarding process and execute it to the tee.

Categories
HR & People Management

4 Tips For Fostering a Feedback Culture in Your Business

Listen to Your Employees to be Successful in Business
 

Feedback is the most important and the only way to know what you are doing is working or not in your business. Every business has guidelines on how the feedback mechanism should work. A strong feedback culture in business can foster the growth of the teams, individuals, and the organization.

Your customers and employees are the only people who can make or break your business. Their voices & opinions should be valued. Companies with a feedback culture are investors of talent and this can in turn influence the growth of the business, boost employee job satisfaction and lead to a higher retention rate. 

Fostering Business feedback requires a lot of time and effort, so let’s discuss a few points to build a strong feedback culture in your organization:-

1. Ask your employees for feedback and ideas

  • Let them know that you respect their ideas by asking them to share their opinions. This goes for everyone- from the top management to your-entry level workers; let them share whatever they want to atleast initiate the feedback culture in business.
  • It is important to hear your managers and especially employees who take care of the complaints department as they have a first-hand experience of what the customers are struggling with and their immediate pain points.
  • Pay attention to each feedback as their valuable suggestions can help your organization grow.
  • Neglecting their inputs can cause a disconnection between the employees and the management.
  • Make sure your management welcomes all the feedback and considers it seriously.

2. Send an anonymous e-mail survey

  • There will be some people in your organization who can feel uncomfortable in speaking up and sharing their ideas, in this case, you can send an anonymous e-mail survey and ask for their business feedback.
  • Many employees feel more comfortable sharing negative feedback or a botheration anonymously.
  • You can always use a different a mode of channel for the feedback survey. Provide your employees an opportunity to share their feedback in a way they are most comfortable with.
  • Here are some of the different methods of conducting an employee survey:

1. Anonymous vs. attributed feedback

2. Group vs. individual feedback

3. Face to face vs. written feedback

4. 1 on 1 vs. 360 feedback

3. Focus on Relationship-Building

  • It is easy to foster a business feedback culture in your organization if people have more trust in their co-workers and team-mates.
  • Put an extra effort into relationship-building activities of your employees and improve your workplace collaboration. You can shuffle the seats; have team building activities, organize special days such as the Pot luck day or a Family day, or maybe an outdoor activity for your employees.
  • You can felicitate or talk about the achievements of some of the employees before starting the meeting; it will also help you to develop a bond between the team members. 

4. Be Transparent with your team

  • Give your employees constructive feedback which can help them grow professionally within the organization. Be transparent with your employees to set a solid feedback culture in your organization.
  • If you cannot act on their feedback, explain to them why it couldn’t be implemented so that they get the feeling that at least their feedback was considered and not ignored.
  • Make sure you set the goal/objective of the feedback. You can also have regular and general business feedback surveys on management behavior, product innovation and the working environment. 

Building a strong Business feedback culture is a great investment if you want to your company to be one of the best places to work in. The process will take time to roll, so continue your consistent effort to implement the feedback culture in business. Your employees will surely be more productive and bring valuable ideas that can make your business grow.

Categories
Process & Business Expansion

ERP For Small Business: Going The Right way!

Transform your business using ERP solutions

Billionaire Entrepreneur Bill Gates has said, ’Vision without execution is day dreaming’. Managing business requires handling many functions and verticals and to align this together ERP software tools need to take center stage.  The advantages of using ERP solutions for small businesses are immense which will eventually help their companies to grow. Here are 8 benefits of implementing ERP small business software:

1. Cost Reduction

  • Implementation of the best ERP tools will reduce administrative costs considerably. This also helps in better turnaround time. Employees won’t have to waste time in doing manual jobs and entries into the system
  • Capability of your employees can be used for bigger and more profitable projects and plans 

2. Automation with Increased Efficiency

  • Automation in workflow will help avoid the possibility of human error. Hence, reduction in any delays or problems related to customer interface leading to increased efficiency
  • Industry best practices can be adopted and aligned with the company’s goal and vision
  • Increased Efficiency is one of the biggest benefits of ERP tools for Small businesses

3. Visibility and Transparency

  • Visibility & Transparency is one of the biggest selling points for ERP small business software. It allows access to most of the critical functions of the business by keeping a track of every department.
  • For e.g. you can keep track of your distribution network, your inventory in the store house and how much of it is in transit as well as your marketing spends & financial books.

4. Single Reporting Structure

  • In SMBs there are not too many departmental heads, hence with the help of ERP small business software, a single reporting structure is created making it easier to analyze, report and draw conclusions

5. Improved Planning & Departmental Collaboration

  • Since the software gives you accessibility and the ability to analyse and compare reports from across departments, it can help plan inventory and financial management in a better and efficient manner making ERP small business software highly beneficial

6. Inventory/Supply Chain Management

  • For businesses with inventory requirements, ERP solutions create the opportunity for another kind of savings in the form of inventory management
  • ERP for small business can help calculate demand for specific materials, decrease overstocking and track real-time supply
  • When supply chain management runs smoothly, the entire organization will benefit

7. Data Reliability and Security

  • Data is the heart of any organization and needs to be secure all the time
  • ERP tools have controls that can keep your data secure by having restricted rights of edit, copy and deletion monitored continuously
  • Since there is a single source of data, accuracy and security are most important

8. Mobility

  • Today organizations are working on the move especially Startups and SMEs, hence effective ERP systems help in giving the same opportunities to employees who are working on the field
  • Employees can have access to a central database where they can carry out work from any location and any device making them a productive asset for the company. 

ERP for small business is a boon that companies need to embrace and understand. The company needs to weigh which ERP solution is best suited to its goals and objectives and can deliver the ROI expected; hence decisions regarding ERP small business software need to be made strategically before jumping the gun.

Though every business has its own need and requirements, these are some of the Best ERP tools for Small & Medium Businesses

NetSuite ERP

Business Cloud Essentials

Sage Intact

SYSPRO

SAP Business One

Oracle ERP Cloud

Sage Business Cloud Enterprise Management

Epicor ERP
Categories
Strategy

5 Tips to Build an Effective Crisis Management Plan

Be Prepared: How to build an Effective Crisis Management Plan

Every entrepreneur should understand that even the best of business plans can go off course during an unexpected event. Therefore a business crisis plan is a must. We usually tend to procrastinate while preparing a crisis management plan, but unfortunately, disaster can strike at any stage, and having no back up at that point of time can be risky for the business. Here are some tips to keep in mind while preparing for a business crisis.

1. Build a Crisis Management Team

  • It is important to have the leadership team involved in the crisis management plan
  • Involve people from different disciplines, so that all views and points can be accommodated in the final business crisis plan

2. Assess the Risks

  • Identify potential risks that can disrupt your business and work with all stakeholders to assess the risks
  • Devise a contingency plan for short-term as well as long-term. Once the potential risks are known, make a crisis management plan for a period of 3 months, 6 months and then one year. You never know how long the crisis can last
  • For e.g. no one anticipated the Corona virus outbreak and the lockdown that will follow. Hence businesses need to plan for the entire year in this case, to make up for the losses incurred by them and by the predicted slowdown
  • Carry out a Business Impact Analysis to evaluate which side of the business will be impacted the most. Will it be customer satisfaction, lowering of sales, payment defaults from vendors or damage in reputation in the market?
  • Once you know the extent and areas of impact, damage control measures can be listed and put into action during a crunch situation

3. Determine your Contingencies

  • Now that we have assessed the risks and the functions that can get impacted, the next step is to jot down how can the crisis be solved and what resources can be used efficiently to do so
  • Keep an emergency line of credit handy. You never know how long the crisis lasts so knowing from where you can get funds is always a plus
  • Include your employees in crisis communication management. Your marketing team, customer care teams and business heads need to know how they are going to communicate during a problem
  • A business crisis plan requires you to train your employees to tackle such situations and also be ready to take on additional functions to ease the pressure of on some teams. Also keep updating them with new skills, you never which one comes in handy during a crisis

4. Act Quickly

  • Though we advise you to act quickly during a crisis, but that doesn’t mean you take hasty decisions. During a crisis you need to be even more careful about how you battle the situation
  • For e.g. In the early 2000s, Cadbury was in the eye of the story when worms were found in their Dairy Milk Bars. In less than 2 weeks a PR campaign was launched for the trade followed by a nationwide ad campaign with Amitabh Bachchan on their new and improved poly-flow packaging.
  • Key learning here is that, Cadbury was quick in their damage control, they did bear a heavy cost of the damage but soon customer confidence was back and they started achieving their sales numbers
  • A crisis management plan needs to have steps that can help act faster

5. Keep your Business Crisis Plan updated

  • Review your crisis management plan on a regular basis for possible updates or market changes
  • We keep talking about the business environment being highly dynamic; there are changes in the market, technology up-gradation and sometimes there might be a case that employees who were a part of this plan might have left the organization. Hence, revisiting the plan will be beneficial for your business

One thing that Covid-19 has definitely taught us is the extent of impact a crisis can have on your business especially when there is no plan in place. If companies who are on the verge of a shutdown had a cohesive crisis management plan, maybe they could sail through these tough times. As they say, ’Better late than never’- there is no harm in having a general preparedness in place for your company to be financially sound in the long run.

Categories
Strategy

A-Z Guide to Understand Your Business Balance Sheet

A-Z Guide to Understand Your Business Balance Sheet
A-Z Guide to Understand Your Business Balance Sheet

Understanding the Balance Sheet to maintain Financial Stability

Is your business in a position to expand?

Can your business handle financial setbacks? Or should your business take immediate steps to increase cash reserves?

As a business owner, you probably are aware & keeping track of what your business earns and owes to others.

However, if you don’t organize these key pieces of financial data in your business balance sheet, you may be setting your business up for failure.

Fortunately, it’s not too difficult to understand the balance sheet, if you’re willing to learn a few key concepts. So let’s dive in!

What is a Balance Sheet?

Balance Sheet = Financial Position of Your Business

Balance sheet is a financial statement of a company which includes the assets, liabilities and equity capital of the company, at a particular point of time.

Balance sheet communicates the “book value” of a business.

Book Value of your business = Assets – (Liabilities + Owner’s Equity)

Business balance sheet provides you with a summary of your company finance at a given point of time i.e. how a business is currently performing, how it performed in the past, and how it expects to perform in the immediate future.

Understanding the Balance Sheet: How to read a Balance Sheet?

Business balance sheet includes 3 sections:

  • Assets
  • Liabilities
  • Owner’s Equity

Assets:

Asset means any tangible or intangible resource owned by a company like machinery, furniture, land, etc.

Assets include:

  • Short-term Assets = that you expect to sell or convert into cash, within 1 year.

– Cash

– Marketable securities – traded investments easily convertible to cash

– Trade accounts receivable (Debtors + Bills receivable)

– Prepaid insurance

– Inventory

  • Long-term Assets = assets that will not get converted into cash in 1 year, and provide long-term value to your business.

– Fixed Assets: machinery, equipment, furniture, buildings, land, etc.

– Investments: similar to fixed assets; long-term investments, not to be sold within 1 year

– Intangible assets: franchise rights, patents, copyrights, trademarks, goodwill, etc.

Liabilities:

Liabilities means the money that your business owes to others, which could be in the form of loans, wages, taxes, or debts.

  • Short-term liabilities = current liabilities, to be paid within 1 year.

– Trade accounts payable (Creditors + bills payable)

– Accrued expenses

– Taxes payable

– Short-term debts

– Current portion of long-term debts

  • Long-term liabilities = liabilities not to be paid within 1 year.

– Long-term loans

– Capital leases

– Other long-term debts

Owner’s Equity:

The final section of the business balance sheet is owner’s equity (or shareholder’s equity).

Owner’s equity = Total Assets – Total Liabilities

In other words, owner’s equity is what you own after you subtract (reduce) what you owe from your total assets.

  • Capital invested by the owner
  • Retained earnings

5 Simple Steps to Prepare a Balance Sheet:

Step 1: Gather the required information from your books of accounts

Gather all the information (discussed above) needed to prepare your business balance sheet. Any source with updated account balances can be used, however, the most appropriate tool for collecting information is your business’ Trial Balance.

Step 2: Report all Assets

 

  • Report all the assets in the right side of the business balance sheet. Report all short-term assets separately from long-term assets.
  • Short-term & long-term assets should be subtotalled, then totalled together.

Step 3: Report all liabilities

  • After reporting all the assets in the business balance sheet, next step is recording liabilities of your business. Start by recording short-term liabilities, followed by non-current liabilities.
  • Short-term & long-term liabilities should be subtotalled, then totalled together.

Step 4: Calculate Owner’s Equity

Owner’s Equity = Assets – Liabilities

Compare the assets and liabilities of your business to calculate the owner’s equity.

Step 5: Add Total Liabilities to Total Owner’s Equity and Compare to Assets

It is necessary to compare total assets against total liabilities plus equity, in order to ensure you’re your balance sheet is balanced.

Here’s an example of a finished Balance Sheet: Balance Sheet Format

Balance sheet in the books of _________ year ending 2020

Liabilities Amount (Rs) Assets Amount (Rs)
Capital XX Fixed assets XX
Loan Taken XX Current assets XX
Current liabilities XX Cash/Bank XX
Outstanding expenses XX Accounts receivable XX
Bank overdraft XX Bills receivable XX
Accounts payable XX Inventories (Stock) XX
XYZ XYZ

Balance sheet is one of the most critical and important financial statement of your business, offering a quick summary of the financial health of your business.

Learning how to prepare a balance sheet for business can help you understand the financial implications of business decisions leading to better decision-making and running of your business.

Categories
Marketing

8 Ways Your Small Business Can Get More Customer Calls

8 Ways Your Small Business Can Get More Customer Calls
8 Ways Your Small Business Can Get More Customer Calls

Your Ultimate Guide to Cold Calling

Is your business heavily dependent on the cold calling strategy? Allowing customers to quickly and easily contact your business through a phone call can help build trust and in turn improve the sales of your business.

Here are 8 ways your small business can get more customer calls:

1. Have web presence

Having a web presence is extremely essential nowadays. If your business is at an initial stage, then ‘Google My Business’ is a great place to get started with if you don’t have your own website yet.

This platform allows small business owners to display their business across all of Google’s products and platforms.

Tips:

  • Include your contact details at the top of every page so that it becomes easy for visitors to reach out to you.
  • Make sure you include a click-to-call link in the website, so that it becomes convenient for the visitors to call you without having to search for your number.

2. Use landing pages with a single call to action

Using one course of action through a promotional page increases the odds of your potential customers taking that particular route.

Tip:

  • Visitors are more likely to call when it is made clear that they should pick up the phone to receive a discount.

3. Speak at an event or host an industry gathering

Communities are a great way to capture a large segment of the market, hence if you have plenty of expertise in your field—why not get involved with the community?

By speaking at an event, sharing your experience and getting involved in your industry at a local level, you’ll have the opportunity to build your connections and give an impetus to your reputation as a thought leader.

4. Get your business listed in local directories

Marketing through listings in local directories can have a great impact to get more customer calls.

The idea is to make it more convenient for the consumers to find your brand, and one of the most assured and affordable ways to do so is to get your brand listed in local directories.

Tip:

  • Try to be as elaborate as possible by adding your company information in detail, the product/service that your brand caters to and most importantly your contact information.

5. Feature your number on all your marketing material

You never know which medium a potential buyer might choose to find your brand

You might be marketing your products or services through various channels such as outdoor media, catalogs, brochures, social media posts, search ads or any other form of marketing tools. All these marketing materials must include your phone number.

Assign a unique number to each of your marketing channels, as it will help you analyse which channel is driving maximum results. You can then shift the maximum focus there to boost the results further.

6. Paid advertising

We all know about the benefits that paid advertise can bring to the table.

This route is a sure shot way to get that phone ringing and to get more customer calls, if done right.

  • You can hire an agency that fits your budget to help you out with this.
  • Take small steps by allocating a small budget towards paid advertising and use core optimization techniques. Explore different paid channels such as Google Search Ads, Facebook Ads, etc.

7. Spend more on click-to-call (CTC) campaigns

Listing your phone number on your website is a great way to encourage people to call you.

You should focus to spend more on click-to-call campaigns.

  • You should add a click-to-call feature in your website, so that, if you’re dealing with people who are interested in talking to a real person, this feature could result in more calls.
  • According to statistics 52% of search queries come from smartphones, hence, a click-to-call feature encourages consumers to call your business & get answers as soon as they have a question.

8. Have Social Media presence

As the first step, you have to create a profile for your small business on each relevant social media platform.

  • Leverage these platforms by creating & sharing customised content to each of your social media handle.
  • An effective social media presence will encourage your followers to go through your lead funnel and eventually reach out to you by calling your business.
  • Make sure to include a click-to-call link on your social handles as well, so that it becomes convenient for the visitors to call you without having to search for your number.

With the advancement of technology, there are multiple ways through which customers can reach out to businesses, but, there is always a sense of satisfaction for the customer when they speak to an executive in person and this feeling surely can’t be replaced easily.

So for those businesses that depend & focus more on calling as a point of contact, you now have 8 more tools in your arsenal to get more customer calls and begin tangible conversions.

Categories
Process & Business Expansion

Tips by Ratan Tata to Run a Successful Business

Lessons for Life: Business Gems by Ratan Tata

Entrepreneurs today are not just building companies, but creating a stronger India. Some of the best business tips revolve around the attitude & determination of an entrepreneur that eventually decides the altitude he can achieve. Growth in business is full of challenges and to reach the top you need to inculcate habits that make your life happy and productive. Here are 10 business tips for success mentioned by a visionary and entrepreneur par excellence- Chairman Emeritus of Tata Group, Mr. Ratan Tata.

1. Giving

  • Businesses need to go beyond company profits, sales & targets. You need to give back to the communities you serve
  • Successful companies have the resources to give back to the society and do good!
  • Build a culture of giving back in the organization, in this ways the employees respect and look up to you even more
  • The gesture of giving only builds mutual respect making your community a better place to live in

2. Persistence

  • Have the ability to push and push till you reach the finish line
  • Persistence in business is one of the best business tip for an entrepreneur as you need to fight failure and bounce back, only then you can be successful
  • Persistence is all about indomitable spirit whether it is in business or in your life
  • Find new ways to do things and you will be able to find new solutions to many of your problems

3. Talent

  • Everyone cannot be the best in everything. Develop your talent and find your unique strength
  • An important business tip for success is to focus on the visible skills and hone them. As a leader you should do this on a regular basis for your employees
  • Build a culture of development- Mentor employees, have one-on-one interactions, devise programs for skill development. This gives employees the confidence to build more capabilities in them
  • Understand the value of learning- Learning is a continuous cycle and for people interested in building new skills, touching new horizons & reaching new heights, learning should never stop

4. Life

  • Embrace life, love life and enjoy every moment of it
  • Don’t stress over things what others say to you.  As Mr. Ratan Tata himself says, let them throw stones at you and you should build a monument out of it
  • You are born to do bigger and better things in life, identify your goal, your mission and put in all your energy to fulfill it. This can be one of the best business tips to lead a prosperous company and will turn you into a happier soul

5. Decision Making

  • Decision making is required at every level of your business; in fact it is required at every moment of your life as well
  • For success, one of the best business tips is to have clarity of thought. Be sure of what you want to do and then devise plans around it
  • Don’t be scared of making the wrong decision, this too is a part of your learning curve
  • Gather relevant information that can help you make a decision and then evaluate your options. This will help you reach closer to your goals
  • Evaluate the results- Evaluation and reviewing helps in judging the effectiveness of the choice made by you

6. Mindset

  • Your mindset can either break or make the goal you have set to achieve. It is your way of thinking to treat a problem as an opportunity or an obstacle
  • Develop a success-oriented mindset; following this mantra is a key business tip for success
  • Be around positive people and find time to disconnect from unnecessary stressors
  • Focus on learning new skills and put yourself in challenging situations, this will help in making you mentally strong and build confidence

7. Change

  • We all know the only thing constant is Change. So embrace it and move on with it
  • Suggest new ideas, introduce new processes and do things differently. A change for the better is the best business tip
  • Predict and prepare for the future. This will help you face challenges in the rapidly changing business environment with ease and preparedness
  • Focus on your values and not the fears. You need to understand that change is inevitable and there should be no inhibitions while adapting to it

8. Challenge
 

  • View any obstacles that stand in your way as a challenge, have the belief that it’s not impossible to overcome a certain business problem
  • In challenging times, the best business tip for an entrepreneur is to don the role of a leader. Show the way to your people and other stakeholders
  • Ups and downs are very important in business to keep us going. It helps us challenge our limits as well
  • Understand the problem first and then put things into perspective before jumping the gun and making a hurried decision 

9. Legacy

  • Follow a set of values, ethics or culture that your forefathers have left behind
  • Build your business on sustainability and not just on the basis of profitability. Money is important but sustainable development is the best business tip for success in the long run
  • Following or leaving a legacy requires immense investment in upholding the value system that has been created

10. Growth

  • Know what you want- If you have clarity about your goal, you will focus all your energies to achieve that and this business tip forms the stepping stone for growth in business
  • Set your eyes on the prize- Measure yourself, your team, and your organizational goals alongside your target. Once you know the how far the target is, everyone can align their energies to work towards it
  • Keep your Passion alive- Keep the excitement and enthusiasm going, it is contagious and spreads to people around you
  • Think People first- Your stakeholders are the backbone for the company. Keep your employees motivated, customers happy and other stakeholders aware of the functioning of the company. This business tip for success will play a major role in your growth strategy

So if you feel a little lost in life, these 10 business tips for success by Ratan Tata can put you back on track and motivate you to bounce back.

Categories
HR & People Management

10 Remote Work Tools That Help Employees Work From Home

Work from Anywhere Successfully using these Remote Tools!

Having the perfect set of remote work tools can make work from home productive and meaning for yourself and the employer. With the entire country under lockdown, we get you 10 remote work tools that can help employees successfully work from home.

1. Zoom

  • Zoom is a web-based video conferencing remote working tool with a local, desktop and a mobile app that allows users to meet online, with or without video
  • Zoom users can choose to record sessions, collaborate on projects and share one another’s screens, all with one easy-to-use platform 

2. Google Docs

  • This remote work software solves the challenge of working on multiple documents at the same time. Today, businesses have various spreadsheets for every department. With Google docs you can collaborate and work with fellow employees simultaneously
  • Say goodbye to endless chain mails and creating multiple versions of the same document. It is also available in 53 languages

3. Slack

For business communication and internet chat services, slack is a unique remote work tool as it reduces your reliance on e-mails through its third party services

4. Google Hangouts

  • Hangouts is slightly on the lines of Zoom as it brings conversations, discussions to life through group video conferencing for free.
  • From direct messages to group chats, it can help employees collaborate and work efficiently from remote locations

5. TeamViewer
 

  • What happens when most of your important documents and information is kept on your office desktop and you want to access it while working from home?
  • TeamViewer is easy to set up and is a great option for employees who need desktop access from their homes or any other location. Supporting a two-step authentication, this tool requires very basic firewall access and in no time you are ready with your work 

6. Google Calendar

  • Google calendar helps you keep a schedule in place making it easier to check with co-workers on conducting meetings at a given time. Through this remote work software calendars can be shared so that full event details can be viewed by employees working from their respective homes 
  • It can be accessed from your laptop, phone or a tablet

7. Skype for Business

  • Again a great tool for conference calls, instant messaging or creating chat rooms

 

8. Dropbox

  • Sharing large files can be a painful task over e-mail, so a dropbox account makes it easy to sync files and collaborate with
  • It’s a great way to organize work from remote teams when they need to submit presentations or projects.

9. Teamwork

  • Teamwork allows you to track your team’s productivity. This remote work software lets you create custom time reports of time logged on the project
  • Once the work is completed employees can export the report and time log entries in easily accessible formats to their reporting managers

10. Hub Staff

  • Hub Staff helps in keeping a track of the tasks assigned to the employees working from home
  • Some of its important features include online timesheets, employee scheduling, employee monitoring, payroll software, GPS tracking, online invoicing & project budgeting

Employees & employers both are able to adapt quickly to the remote work tools and can jump right into their jobs without worrying about how to set things up. All these tools are easy to work with and make remote working more productive.

Categories
Motivational

8 Ways to Make a Great First Impression in Business

Make a Positive First Impression: Recipe for Success

First Impression in business is very important. You get only a limited time to impress your potential partner or client and he too takes only one glance to judge you. Every new encounter leads to evaluation and it’s your first impression that makes all the difference.

Here are 8 important tips that can help you create a positive first impression on the people you meet.

1. Research about who you are meeting

  • It is important to prepare beforehand and research about who you are meeting. Whether it is a potential partner, a client or a customer, you should not enter a meeting cold.
  • Doing your homework will give you a competitive advantage over your competition.
  • Being knowledgeable and showing that you have made an effort, are both positive qualities to make a first impression in business.

2. Attire

  • You need to dress for success. When you enter the room, the first thing a person notices is the way you dress. So be dressed as per the gathering.
  • If you are meeting a client or a highly qualified gathering, professional attire will help in making a good first impression.
  • Some occasions do call for a casual approach, so if you are going for a networking dinner or a media party you can try out your personal style.

3. Rehearse your Pitch

  • It is always better to practice your pitch before the meeting. You don’t want the client to lose interest halfway.
  • Hence, make pointers that will help you convey your message promptly and with clarity.
  • A third party prefers if you have clarity of thought and a clear outcome of what is expected out of the meeting.

4. Be Punctual

  • You always build a positive first impression in business if you are punctual and no time is wasted waiting of either of the parties. In fact try and be 10 minutes earlier just in case you face any issues in finding the place.
  • Give a few minutes to compose yourself and gather your thoughts before entering the meeting.

5. Be Courteous and a Patient Listener

  • Listen to them. Listening to the client with patience can go a long way in forming a good partnership.
  • Sometimes we get too carried away in making a good first impression that we forget to listen to what the other party has to say. This can appear to be rude.
  • It goes without saying that certain courteous gestures always work in a meeting. Just like switching off your phone or being well-mannered and polite with others.

6. Be Honest & Genuine

  • Do not try to fake your achievements or boast about your credentials. Be genuine and it will help in creating a memorable first impression in business.
  • Clients appreciate honest feedback, so if a client is asking for something unreasonable to be done, be honest about your feedback and suggest a way out.

7. Carry a Positive Outlook

  • Positivity can help conquer every obstacle, so enter the meeting room with a positive approach.
  • Your attitude can make or break your first impression, so be optimistic about whatever challenges they throw at you.
  • A smile can help you break the ice and bring everyone at ease.

8. Be at your Professional Best

  • Reserve personal comments or negative remarks about any person from the organization or any religion/country being discussed in the meeting.
  • Keep your conversation to the point and answer in a professional manner. This will help in building a sensible first impression.

A positive first impression in business is an important chance to prove your confidence & passion. If you follow these guidelines before entering an important meeting, be rest assured you will come out happy and contended and so will your client!

Categories
Marketing

Zero Dollar Marketing Strategies to Attain More Customers

Learn the Art of Zero Dollar Marketing to Get More Customers

In today’s digital India, social media has democratized marketing for everyone and zero dollar marketing techniques can be a boon for SMEs. It’s about your creativity, your understanding of the customer & innovative strategies that will get you more customers. Here are 7 strategies that will get the customers rolling!

1. Make a World-class Strategy at Minimum Cost

  • The basic premise is that the customer should be able to find you. You should not spend your energy in finding people and zero dollar marketing tools help you to achieve that
  • Design a website and that has a neat and clean home page, so that the customer can understand the messaging easily
  • The website should support a Call to action; this will help in engaging the customer.
  • Focus on the solution- Don’t waste your website space on product introduction and description. Maximize your messaging on the solution
  • Try and have all the navigation information on one page making it convenient for the customer to browse
  • Stick to need-based up-gradation of the website

You would need either a full-time resource or a vendor to fulfill these requirements. Look at minimizing the cost but increasing the scope of work here. And how can you minimize the cost- by using zero dollar marketing ideas!

  • Ask the technology vendor to come and explain how the technology works and how will it benefit you.
  • Call 4-5 vendors and understand what they teach you and then finally choose the best vendor for your company
  • This will help in minimizing your cost to set up your website or what we call as zero dollar marketing

2. Track the Pattern of your Customer’s  Buying Behaviour
 

Consumer behavior is key to an entrepreneur’s business and zero dollar marketing tools can help track this beahviour in a structured manner

  • To begin with you need to analyze the old buying behavior of the consumer
  • Understand the touch points, how is the customer reaching you?
  • What is your customer’s buying process and where is his pain point. Try and solve that buying process gap.
  • For e.g. If a customer would order multiple items from a restaurant, it would cost him Rs. 800, but if that restaurant owner gave him an option of a fixed thali with most of his likable items with a cost of Rs.600, immediately the customer would prefer to order the thali. This is how you can pull the consumer using zero dollar marketing
  • Take business decisions based on analytics & data and not based on perception. You can use the Google analytics tool for this
  • Check which pages on the website show high traffic and which pages show low traffic
  • Analyze for how much time you retain the customer on your webpage
  • What are the videos from your website that he is sharing on other social media platforms?
  • What is the bounce rate which means at what point does the customer move to another video or website

3. Anticipatory Content to gain Customer Attention

  • Anticipatory Content is that content which is authentic, relevant, and to the point. Don’t write big articles but use infographics, tabular representation instead. This just requires a little time and effort but is a powerful tool for zero dollar marketing
  • Make the content free and make sure it is not about your product features or promotions
  • For e.g. For a pathology lab, give the consumer content related to what tests are beneficial for him. For a restaurant owner, give content related to recipes & international food items. Interesting content makes for good zero dollar marketing.
  • Understand that content is king and the customer will come to you with these zero dollar marketing technique

4. Flip your Marketing Budget from Outbound to Inbound

  • Outbound methods include- Trade shows, Seminars, TV Ads, Print, Cold Calling, Tele marketing, E-mail, Hoardings & Door-to-Door marketing
  • Inbound Marketing includes- SEO, Blogging, CRM, Social media, Call to Action, Analytics
  • Change your model, spend 90% of your funds on inbound methods and 10% on outbound. The ROI on outbound marketing is less
  • Attract, engage and delight the right customer by using zero dollar marketing

5. Build your Database

  • Data is the heart of your business, keep your customer’s personal data and their preferences secure to successfully run your business
  • Build a database of your prospective and relevant customers gathered from calls, events, old sales and enquiry forms
  • Put all data in the CRM software so that it is registered for life
  • Empower your employees to build a relationship with the customer using this data

6. Give Old Data a New Life

  • Follow-up with ageing lead and build a relationship with the customer
  • Don’t waste time on incompatible, incomplete or unqualified data
  • The sales agent should call the old customer to build a relationship and not to sell the product in the first go. Ask more questions on why the customer has not returned to make more purchases
  • Building on employee-customer relation can go a long way when it comes to zero dollar marketing strategies 

7. Story Telling for Recall

  • Have an emotional, engaging & educational story that talks about your brand rather than a direct advertisement
  • Add a story in everything; from your sales pitch to your brand campaign to your website. This will help the customer connect with your brand
  • Become a problem solver!

If an entrepreneur follows these Zero dollar marketing strategies to acquire more customers, not only will his business flourish but his customer too will be happy and satisfied.