Business Strategy | Mike McRitchie | Resume and LinkedIn Profile Writer | Telecom Marketing Content Writer

Why You Need Your Opposites To Help You Succeed

May 18, 2018 by Contributed Post Leave a Comment

Hiring Complementary Staff

When you first start out in business, you’ll often do so alone. And that’s often the best way to get started. It’s just you and your ideas and you’re excited to make waves with what you’re doing. However, before long, you’re going to realize that you can’t do everything alone. As you start to grow, you will find that you need to bring in some support. But as you do this, if you’re new to hiring, you may find that you start to look for people that you either like, or that you’re similar too. Because that’s the thing with looking for staff, you’ll often have a personal interest in the process. But what you need to do is the complete opposite of what you think you should. If you’re creative, you won’t always need more creatives around you. Instead you’ll want to find people that are strategic, and vice versa. And here’s why…

You Can’t Do It All

First of all, you have to realize that you just can’t do it all. You’ll think that you can, or you’ll want to (particularly if you’re a type A), but you just can’t. Not if you want to grow. You need to make sure that you’re focusing on the things that you can do, and then bring in others to take on other areas.

You Need To Play To Your Strengths

As you start to realize that you just can’t do it all, then you need to focus on the things that you can do. If you’re great with marketing or sales or networking, then do that. If you love strategy and finance, do that. You need to focus on your own strengths, and this has to be something quite narrow, because at the same time, you need to push the business forward.

It’s Better To Let The Experts Lead The Way

So, when you’re focusing on your own stuff, you then need to bring in experts to take on the stuff that you’re not so great at. And these are your opposites. Whether that’s strategic technology consulting or financial experts, you bring them in and let them influence what you’re doing with their skills and experience. On the flip side, if you’re strategic, then you can hire in the creatives to do their thing.

You Need To Absorb Fresh Ideas

One thing to really note is that if you’re working on everything yourself or with like-minded people, you’re really limited. So, by working with your opposites, you get to bring in some really different and exciting ideas. And yes, they’re going to be fresh.

It Pays To Surround Yourself With Smarter People

And finally, you need to make sure that you’re always working with people that are smarter than you are. Don’t just hire interns or people that you can educate, because they’re not always going to bring anything to the table. Instead, when you hire people smarter than you, they are going to really add value. And this is how you’re going to really push things forward.

Technological Ignorance Could Be Killing Law Firms

May 18, 2018 by Contributed Post Leave a Comment

Legal Firm Technology Ignorance

Technology has been one of those explosions that has seen the majority of industries rejoice at the new-found freedom, adaptability, and ease of operating tech has given them. But this sense of happiness hasn’t transcended across all business-types, as the legal sector proves. For many law firms, there is a feeling of fear their age-old, traditional and (dare we say) archaic practice is under threat.

But it’s not the technology they should be worried about, it’s being slow in their adoption of tech that will be the real competition divider. Not all lawyers are going to follow every new technological trend. We get that. However, understanding the trends is absolutely essential if they are going to remain competitive.

So, without further ado, here are some top technological trends within the legal field and, even more importantly, how you should be using this tech:

1) Budgets Made Better

A huge part of part of planning amongst law firms is being able to budget effectively, which is something technology encourages by helping firms become more proactive. It’s about moving away from the break-fix mentality that so many of the older professions still have.

2) Train Them In Tech

While a good craftsman never blames his tools, it’s pretty darn important to accept a piece of technology is only going to be as effective as the person using it, which is why there has been a growing interest in training over recent years. As one study pointed out, when technology “fails”, it’s very rarely the technology that’s the issue. As such, training your employees on how to use the latest tech should become a major part of your development process and onboarding procedures.

3) Law On Cloud Nine

For those that still haven’t got their heads around the whole cloud computing thing; instead of storing software (or anything) on a device, you store it on the internet. This is incredibly useful for the legal industry for so many reasons, as you can see for yourself by reading this article on http://www.enteracloud.com/solutions/solutions-for-legal/. It’s not just about maintaining your IT infrastructure, or having your data backed-up, or adding an additional layer of security to your operation; it modernizes the legal industry by allowing employees to operate remotely. That means increased productivity and decreased ‘dead-time’.

4) Matter Of Security

Believe it or not, a recent study shows law firms are surprisingly weak when it comes to the matter of security. We’re talking 25% of firms having no security policies while less than 50% of firms use encryption devices to protect their files. The most common worry of all, though, is firms allowing employees to use their own devices, which not only adds responsibility to the individual but leaves firms at risk. To counter this and protect yourself at a time when data-protection is such a hot-topic (thank you Cambridge Analytica), it is so important your firm increases its security across the board, which can be done very easily by speaking to an IT services company.

Effective Ways to Reduce the Volume of Repeat Customer Support Calls and Messages You Receive

May 17, 2018 by Contributed Post Leave a Comment

Customer support is one of the most important components of any good business. Sadly, being able to provide effective support is both expensive and time-consuming. You’ll need to train plenty of support staff and you also have to consider if outsourcing your customer support is worth the savings in exchange for a lower-quality service. There are many concerns involved when dealing with customer support, and the last thing you want is to have a poor reputation when it comes to helping your audience with your products.

The best way to avoid this is to prevent it in the first place. In this article, we’re going to discuss a couple of effective methods to help you reduce the number of support queries you receive across all platforms. This will result in less money spent on bolstering your customer support and more money on improving and growing your business.

Customer Support

Strive to educate your customers

Simple step-by-step instructions can go a long way. If the product or service you’re selling has a learning curve (for instance, if you’re offering a cloud-based software solution or sell a technical piece of hardware) then it’s never a bad idea to invest some money into video production. Create a YouTube channel and upload an instructional video. Next, embed the video on your website so that it plays on the product page. Not only will it demonstrate how to use the product, but it will teach your customers how it’s used in the first place.

Another fantastic way to educate your customers is to have a knowledge base on your website. This is great if you have a fairly complicated product and receive many questions about how to use it. A simple FAQ will do as well, but a knowledge base is usually preferred as long as the answers to each question are comprehensive. Social media can also be an effective marketing tool to help teach your customers about your products.

Consider the materials included with your product

Everything from the labeling systems you use to the manual you add to the packaging will have an impact on how educated your customers will be when they receive your products. You’ll be surprised at how many people contact you regarding small and seemingly trivial things such as how to turn on an appliance they bought or how to change the settings of a piece of hardware.

A simple quick-start guide is good for any piece of tech you sell, and a label with deeper information, such as a list of ingredients on food items or medicine, can go a long to helping your customers. This will drastically reduce the volume of queries you get, giving you more time to focus on growing your business.

Final words

It’s never a bad idea to bolster your customer support, but keep in mind that you should start with the root of the problem. The cause for all of the customer queries is usually in a poorly-explained product. Luckily, this is something that you can easily fix if you follow the methods listed above.

3 Ideas For Stepping Things Up A Gear

May 17, 2018 by Contributed Post Leave a Comment

Beating the Competition

Have you launched a new business operation during the last few months? Would you like to increase your profits and take things to the next level? Then the ideas listed on this page are going to come in handy. Use the information below to step things up a gear and ensure you beat the competition at every turn. There is no harm in conducting online research when you need advice of this nature because blogs like the one you’re ready today are everywhere at the moment. So, sometimes you can find some excellent suggestions that will point you in the right direction and ensure you make all the right moves this summer.

Outsource marketing to experts

There is no getting away from the fact that developing a marketing a promotional strategy that works for your brand is going to require a lot of hard work and effort. If you don’t have any experience with that task, there is a reasonable chance you will waste money and get things wrong. So, consider outsourcing all your advertising efforts to a professional agency. There are thousands of them out there, and so it makes sense for you to read some online reviews before making your selection. However, marketing agencies will deal with everything from content marketing to Adwords campaigns. You are left free to focus on the growth of your enterprise.

Build a relationship with an IT support firm

You never know when something will go wrong with your computer network and prevent you from making a profit. If you get hacked, or a virus appears, it’s essential that you deal with the issue as quickly as possible. The best way to do that is to build a relationship with some specialists who provide managed IT support right now. If you do that; you will have a team of experts willing to swing into action whenever you face an issue. In some instances, they can fix your problem remotely, and so it should only take a few minutes. However, some firms will send representatives to your workplace in extreme cases.

Train your staff in customer service

The customers who spend money with your business are the backbone of your operation. If you fail in keeping them happy; you could end up with a bad reputation. It’s difficult to turn things like that around, and so you should think about arranging some suitable training for your team members this summer. Search online for courses that cover all the issues you want your workers to master. They then can complete the course online in their spare time or during working hours. At the very least, that should help to make sure all customers have the same experience when dealing with your employees.

Now you know how to step things up a gear and take your business to the next level this summer; nothing should stand in your way. Use the tips and tricks from this article to create your strategy for the summer, and attempt to build on any successes you’ve achieved so far. When all’s said and done, marketing, IT support, and customer service are the biggest issues affecting entrepreneurs today. So, make sure you get them right!

5 Ways To Find New Employees

May 15, 2018 by Contributed Post Leave a Comment

There are possibly thousands of different possible problems which could impact you as you get your business started. From the money you’ll be spending and making, to the way that you treat your customers, you will always have something new on your plate which has to be dealt with. As a big part of this, feeling your team will be one of the hardest jobs you have. To help you out with this, this post will be exploring some of the easiest ways to find people who will be able to benefit your company.

Regular Recruitment: This sort of field has been around for many years, in loads of different forms, and is still very popular today. A recruitment agent can make adverts, find candidates, and test them all on your behalf. While this may seem excessive, as it a good way to ensure that you have the best people for your team, while also taking work out of your hands.

Competitions: Over the last couple of years, loads of companies have been able to make a name for themselves thanks to their recruitment drive. Competitions are a great way to do this, giving you the chance to see people’s best work, while also ensuring that no one gets taken by one of your rival companies.

Referrals: Having your current employees refer people to your business will enable you to trust people as they come through the door. A piece of good referral software, a plan, and some rules are all which are needed to get new people into the company. Of course, though, you will have to work hard that no one gets special treatment as a result.

Scouting The Competition: In most industries, there will be other companies which are all working to get to your product first. As a big part of this, employees change jobs a lot, and the most vicious companies out there will be prepared to take employees for themselves. Of course, this can be a double edged sword, as people may also target you in a similar way in the future.

Partnerships: Being a freelance professionals has never been as popular as it is today. Loads of different people are engaged in this sort of work, and this opens the doors for companies to recruit cheap workers. You will need to work with them once or twice before coming up with a true agreement. Aside from this, though, there won’t be a huge amount to do to welcome them into your business.

With all of this on your mind, it should be a lot easier to fill the seats within your company. As time goes on, more and more ways to build a workforce are being developed, promising to change the way this sort of market works. Until then, though, people have to do the bulk of the work during a process like this. There are loads of people who can help you out with this, but you will have to look for them if you want to get started quickly.