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How to Measure and Analyze the Growth of Your Sales Activities

Muzahed I.
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How to Measure and Analyze the Growth of Your Sales Activities

The measure of your sales growth is valuable in determining the pace at which your organization’s sales revenue is increasing or decreasing. This is a key metric for your business, and it should be carefully monitored, since it is a crucial chunk of information that is needed when making growth projections, and is instrumental in strategic decision-making. It’s best to monitor this metric over an extended time period to gain a clear perspective of growth trends and normalize your values. This will help you to account for monthly or quarterly spikes in revenue.

The measure of your sales growth is valuable in determining the pace at which your organization’s sales revenue is increasing or decreasing. This is a key metric for your business, and it should be carefully monitored, since it is a crucial chunk of information that is needed when making growth projections, and is instrumental in strategic decision-making. It’s best to monitor this metric over an extended time period to gain a clear perspective of growth trends and normalize your values. This will help you to account for monthly or quarterly spikes in revenue.

The sales growth metric is used to provide executives and sales directors with an assessment and understanding of the sales performance of an organization. This metric can also be used to show how sales teams or sales representatives can make contributions towards achieving organizational goals. Instead of providing each sales team with a broad objective of increasing total sales by 25% this year, you can set attainable goals that will help them to effectively contribute towards achieving your business objective.

It’s a known fact that by tracking the growth of your sales, you will also track the growth of your company. In general, it’s very important to be mindful about your sales Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Sales KPIs depend on the industry and the specific goals you are interested in tracking. There are a number of KPI types that you will want to monitor for your business. Once you’ve selected your key business metrics, you want to keep track of these KPIs in a real-time reporting tool. This tracking can be done using state-of-the-art business dashboards, which gives your entire organization insights into your current performance. This will enable you to follow the performance of your sales reps, their target industry and area. Let’s say for example, your team focuses on many verticals and only one of them has proven to bring significant returns. This could give you a clue about how you may want to redistribute the verticals in your team. As a result, you’ll then be able to have higher returns. By being flexible and analyzing your sales metrics, and you’re sure to gain more sales revenue for your business. Over a specific period of time, a positive sales growth tells you that you are on track with your sales goals.

Your KPIs should have proper structure, and should not be too costly to obtain, or too difficult to monitor on a regular basis. Make sure that the KPIs you are choosing are in alignment with the goals and objectives of your organization. This will help you to stay on track and will not lead you on a ‘wild goose chase’. Remember to ensure that the data that you are obtaining is accurate and reliable. You don’t want to make very important decisions based on inaccurate information, which can have devastating effects. Your KPIs should keep everyone on your team moving in the same direction. This means that the information is most useful when everyone knows where the business is and what must be done to move forward. As time goes by, your business will be changing and evolving, and it’s only natural that its KPIs will do the same. Always stay on top, no matter what time of year, no matter how long you’ve been in business, and remain consistent and steadfast in getting all the details you need about how your business is performing as a whole.The KPIs that you choose to monitor for your business should have data that is easy to attain. What’s worse than having incorrect or unreliable data? Data that you can’t get access! Furthermore, the insights that your KPIs give you should now give you the power to take the necessary action.

How to see whether you are on track regarding your sales targets

As with any entrepreneur, one of your top priorities is to be able to understand if you are on track with reaching your goals. Questions you should ask yourself include: Is your actual revenue better or worse than what you expected? When you first planned your goals, what did you base it on, and is your baseline included in your charts? The answers to these questions will help you to expect deal activities and results, and in case inconsistencies arise, you’ll be better equipped to recognize outliers versus trends. Using this metric will let you know if your team is doing what they should, if they need help or if the whole strategy should be adjusted. It’s crucial for forecasting, and it lets you know if other factors can impact your bottom line. You know your business is doing well when your revenue has outperformed its forecasted amount.

Track your Average Revenue Per User to track progress

The Average Revenue Per Unit or User (ARPU), is a sales KPI that indicates the average customer’s revenue from all your sales. A simple and easy calculation, it takes your total monthly revenue and divide it by the total amount of customers that you have in your roster. It’s worth pointing out that if your ARPU is rising with your acquisition costs, you could end up trouble. In order to earn a profit from your revenues, your customer acquisition costs should always be lower.

A rising ARPU is an indicator that you are signing bigger customers, or signing customers with bigger plans, and this is a very good sign for your business.

Tracking and measuring your sales metrics will help you to keep your business afloat, as you would be able to spot a dangerous situation before it has a chance to make a negative impact. Employ the use of simple tools that will give you the reports you need and you’ll be armed with the information that you can actually put to use. Take all of these factors into consideration and find the right software for your business that will give you to the power to make decisions that can affect your business’ present and future.

5 Facts about Telemarketing That Makes It Superior over Other Marketing Approaches

Muzahed I.
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0
5 Facts about Telemarketing That Makes It Superior over Other Marketing Approaches

Over the last several years, there has been an ongoing rise in the use of telemarketing as a marketing method among many companies. By definition, telemarketing is a method where a sales agent or officer, solicit customers to buy products available through a phone conversation or video conference as necessary. Though many people see telemarketing as an annoyance, it has proven to be one of the more superior marketing strategies in the industry today. Here are several facts about it that proves this point:

Telemarketing Increases Sales Territory

In telemarketing, a company’s sphere of contact and influence among customers widens as far as the telephone or the internet can access – which, in reality, is pretty much everywhere. With this method in place, you can sell your products from the comforts of your office in New York to a businessman in another state or a small-time enterprise as far as China or Africa. Thus, telemarketing makes your territory larger than you could ever imagine. With such a marketing approach, you likewise increase the possibility of spiking your sales up many notches higher as you contact and get in touch with as many customers in your locality and abroad. Moreover, telemarketing as an approach makes the consumer world a lot smaller but encouraging for telemarketing companies to reach new heights and expand as far as their telephone lines can reach. This is good news for both small-time, start-up enterprises and even big, veteran companies.

Telemarketing Provides a More Personal and Interactive Service

Another proof that Telemarketing is an effective marketing method is because it actually allows salespersons to provide interactive and more personal service to its customers. In telemarketing, there is less room for general, non-personalized ads and orientation sheets because salespersons call you on your own phone and attend to your own needs. This makes your service more customer-specific so customers feel that they are special and well taken-care of. Moreover, an individualized phone call makes room for a more interactive sales approach. That means customers can clarify things that they could not understand immediately with their very own sales agent on the phone. With that, you increase consumers’ satisfaction thereby increasing patronage which is great for business.

Telemarketing Provides Avenues for Customer Follow-Ups

In Telemarketing, a company can generate a master list of people they have already called out and even customers whom had business with them so far in the length of their business. With such a database, telemarketing can provide an avenue for customer follow-up. Now, this is quite a big problem when it comes to other forms of marketing approaches as customers are not as accessible in person compared on a phone. With Telemarketing as an approach, you can follow up with customers simply by dialing their numbers. This customer care method is very important especially if you’re building patronage, loyalty and trust among your most valued customers. You can follow up on their orders, payments and other items that need their attention and your attention as well.

Telemarketing Is Cost-Effective and Efficient

One of the biggest advantages of Telemarketing is its cut on overhead cost. The amount of money needed for sales agents to visit houses individually is sky high as compared to the cost of setting up a telemarketing department that would follow up with clients in a phone call. This cost-cutting method is very good, because it would not allow the quality of customer service to wane down just because they cannot meet face to face. Moreover, telemarketing ensures that all your marketers are efficient with their work. There is no competition between the numbers of customers a field sales officer can meet every day compared to the number of customers a telemarketer can get in contact with every day. Both cost and manpower is efficient.

Telemarketing Offers Good Evaluation

Finally, Telemarketing makes evaluation much easier. With increased access to customers, sales agents can check up on their clients on certain times of the year to assess and evaluate their products, ensure customer satisfaction and identify points of improvement. Now, not many companies are given the liberty to do this at a touch of a button. But for telemarketing, this is very possible. There are many things that you can do: customer profile to identify what products to add, popular products to identify the need to innovate and many more. Now, these are the reasons why Telemarketing is a cut above the rest when it comes to marketing approaches.

How to Market Your Business using LinkedIn?

Muzahed I.
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How to Market Your Business using LinkedIn?

LinkedIn is probably the best online place to brand yourself as an entrepreneur and your business at the same time. Let’s face it, as a small business, you are the brand! It is also a great place to network business—to find customers, partners, vendors, or suppliers, recruit new employees, and to research information. LinkedIn takes a little time to master, but is definitely a great way to get visibility. What’s more, it costs nothing to create an account and start making connections.

Getting Started

If you don’t already have one, you should definitely create a LinkedIn profile here. Take these steps:

  • Build your profile—and make sure it is complete. Don’t skip any sections. Definitely, include a photo—it helps to make a “personal” connection.
  • Customize your profile URL with your name. Edit the profile URL so that it takes this format: http://www.LinkedIn.com/in/yourname. To do this, click on “edit” next to your public profile URL and then “edit” again on your public profile settings page.
  • Add your company website and up to two other links.
  • Add the content for the Summary section and be sure it includes keywords to rank higher in search engines. For example, if your business does home building, include keywords in your description: ABC Company provides home construction services including, renovations and building custom homes. The italicized words are examples of relevant keywords.
  • Complete the Skills and Specialties sections to help others find you via keyword searches.
  • Now, start making connections! Start by reaching out to people you know to connect with on LinkedIn. This is actually really easy: do a search on companies where you’ve worked in the past, or current clients, or your alma mater. People you know directly (and who confirm that they know you) are identified as first-level connections. IMPORTANT: Do not pretend to know people you don’t, or reach out to strangers as first-level connections! This will backfire.
  • Get some recommendations from your connections. Ask individuals you have worked with to provide a recommendation of your work on LinkedIn.
  • Connect up your blog (via the WordPress or BlogLink applications) and any cool presentations you have given (via the SlideShare or Google Presentation applications) to your LinkedIn page. This is quite simple to do—just follow the online prompts—and it is a great way to drive traffic to your website and build your brand.

More Great Applications

Consider using these other applications:

  • Company Buzz to learn what others are saying about your company
  • Events to see what events your connections are attending and promote your own events
  • Reading List by Amazon to promote specific books you are reading to generate conversations
  • Polls to create simple polls either to gather data or generate conversations.

Be sure that your profile includes a link to your business website. And, since this is your own business, be sure to create a company page for your business. Under the Companies tab, you can “create a company” here.

Building Your Brand

LinkedIn helps you create conversations that help you share information and knowledge with prospective customers, and it also helps you demonstrate your expertise in your particular specialty. It is not, however, about pushing yourself on people. Through building strong relationships and letting enough people get to know you, be comfortable with you, and learn about your areas of expertise, you will be able to generate queries from prospective customers!

Network Update (to the right of your photo in the box labeled share an update) should be revised regularly to help connections to get to know you and become familiar with what you do. Use this feature to engage with your connections through sharing links to interesting articles, best practices information, links to your company “in the news,” and case studies that demonstrate your expertise. Notice nowhere here are we saying to blatantly promote your products and services. As people get to know you, they will find that information by going back to your website or asking you directly.

Answers Use this section to respond to questions from other LinkedIn users (not necessarily connected to you). This is a great way to help out others while showcasing your capabilities. You can search for Answers categories that make sense for you. Under the More link at the top of LinkedIn, select Answers. On the right, you can browse for categories that are relevant to your interests and your business. When responding to a question, you can provide the individual who asked the question (and others reading the responses) with links to relevant articles, blog posts, or other content on your website that helps in responding to their question. Relevancy is key!

Using Groups Effectively

It’s easy to use LinkedIn to participate in groups. From the main page, click on the Groups link at the top menu bar and search for groups that might interest you. Your goal here is to connect with “like people” to begin marketing your business.

It’s important to get actively involved in the groups. Do this through responding to discussions people post and posting your own discussion topics. Through actively monitoring and participating in group discussions, you begin to learn about new trends in the industry and challenges people are facing in their business. This helps you in a variety of ways:

  • Position your products and services in response to helping people address their challenges. (Be careful here—make sure you don’t come across as trying to make a sale. If you have case studies, they work great!)
  • Sharing information and best practices and thereby positioning yourself as a thought leaders.
  • Get ideas for new products and services to meet the needs of your customers. Through “listening” to what’s going on in the groups, you begin to see how you can develop new products and services, or enhance the ones you have, to increase your revenue.

Using LinkedIn DirectAds to Generate Leads

Everything we’ve described up to this point is free. You may also want to consider using LinkedIn’s DirectAds to push out targeted ads to LinkedIn subscribers to market your products and services. (On your LinkedIn page, just look to the right at Ads by LinkedIn Members.) You can target who receives your ad based on geography, industry, job function, and company size. This is an outstanding way to market your business at a very reasonable rate!

For instance, if your business frequently does webinars, holds training classes or sponsors other events, promote those events via LinkedIn and ask participants at the event to connect with you on LinkedIn. This is another great way to build your network of potential customers!

You can also use LinkedIn’s Companies tab to search for contacts at companies that you would like to have as a customer. You can learn much about companies via the tab, including finding executives and other employees of that company and learn how you are connected to the company’s employees (e.g. first or second level connections). You can also find out the type of company, its size, the industry in which it belongs and when it was founded. Follow those companies that are of interest to you.

Set aside 10–15 minutes a day to be on LinkedIn—sharing information, interacting with others, learning about your connections and what they have going on. Through interactions with others, you will make more connections and build strong relationships—this will generate leads, which will eventually lead to new business for your company! Good luck!

Want New Customers: Market Your Brand Effectively for It

Muzahed I.
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Want New Customers: Market Your Brand Effectively for It

Branding is a vital part of any business, but creating an effective brand that grows your customer base isn’t always easy.

When it comes to bringing more customers, the biggest thing you can do is brand yourself effectively and then leverage your brand in the best way possible. This isn’t always easy, especially if you’re a new small business owner and don’t have much knowledge about branding. But even if you’ve already opened your business, you can still brand or, if needed, re-brand yourself to bring in more customers. But before you can get to that point, you first have to decide what your brand is, how it fits into your industry, and how your customers will view it.

1. What is Your Brand?

The first thing to do is to decide what your brand is. This isn’t exactly as easy as it sounds because your brand is more than just your business name. It includes your logo, your color scheme, and everything else that makes your business uniquely you. You will want to look at it as the way you represent your business’s strengths, values, and expertise. A good brand takes time to develop, and you will want to come up with a number of different concepts and get feedback on them before deciding on your brand.

2. How is your Brand Different?

Next, you need to make certain that your brand is different from your competitors and isn’t too similar to any other business out there. You want to make certain that you stand out and that when people see your logos, colors, and name, they immediately think of your business and not another company. You also need to position your branding in such a way that when customers see it, they understand how your brand is better than your competitors.

3. Build Your Brand

Once you have your brand, you need to build it. You can do this in a number of different ways. First, know that it is going to take time. Your brand isn’t going to take off and become instantly recognizable overnight. However, you can start using blogs, social media, forums, and other online channels to get your name and logo out there.

Apart from a strong online presence in making your brand popular, some offline strategies can also be performed in order to attract new customers. For instance, marketing campaigns can be created or events organized where expert guest speakers can be called upon to promote the brand as they have the industry expertise in performing such tasks.

4. Make it Personal

While you’re building up your brand, you need to make sure you’re personalizing it. People don’t like interacting with a faceless company that has no personality. This is why you want to make sure you do interact with people on social media. Don’t be afraid to show a little bit of humor or to post things that are not strictly related to your products or services. You want your brand to be something customers want to learn about and, even better, be something they see when they log in to social media.

Your customers play a role in developing this part of your brand, too. If most of the comments and interactions you’re having on social media are with professionals and others in the market, it shows that your brand is being seen as professional. If it’s with customers and most of the conversations are more casual, your brand is coming across as a brand for the average person. Neither of these is bad on its own; it depends on the audience you’re going for. If you’re a business-to-business company who sells to other businesses, the professional view may be great, but if you’re aiming your products as the average consumer, that may not be what you want.

5. Know your Market

Do you know what your target audience is, what your industry is, and where you stand in the market? It’s important for you to know your market, and that means knowing your customers, your competitors, and what is affecting your industry. This will help you develop your products, services, and brand right now, plus it can also help you prepare for the future and for anything that may threaten your business model down the line.

6. Define What You Want Your Brand to Be

While having your brand defined is helpful for now, it’s also a good idea to define what you want your brand to become over the years. Do you want to be locally, nationally, or internationally known? Do you want to be an industry leader, or do you simply want to be a small company that holds its own on the market? Of course, defining where you want your brand to be is no guarantee that you’ll get there, but it is the first step in making a plan.

7. Put your Brand in a New Realm

In branding, a realm is the context your brand is placed in. You’re not in a vacuum—there are other businesses, customers, non-related industries, and more that all surround your brand and create the realm it exists in. You have to take everything that happens in this realm into account when you’re examining your brand because they will all affect it, just as your brand will affect them. This realm will provide a structure for your brand and show the relationships between your brand and everything else in the world.

8. Deliver Your Completed Branded Experience

Once you have defined your brand, given it content, looked at how it’s received, and everything else that goes into creating a strong brand, it’s time to deliver that brand. Once you begin consistently presenting your brand to your customers, you will either begin to see your company either gain ground or lose ground. What happens there all depends on your brand and how well you present the brand experience you promise.

If your brand is strong and reaches customers on all levels, your bottom line will improve. If, though, your brand is inconsistent and doesn’t follow through with what it promises, you may find yourself backsliding.

How to Create a Successful Facebook Event For Your Business

Muzahed I.
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How to Create a Successful Facebook Event For Your Business

Facebook Events are powerful because they give your business the opportunity to turn a virtual friend or fan into a real-life, paying customer. Events are also relatively easy to set up: after you get the hang of it, you’ll be creating new events in a matter of minutes. The danger, of course, is that the simplicity makes it easy to throw together an event without much planning or forethought. You need to think them through as carefully as one you would design through an event planner. Here’s how you do it.

Types of Events

You can launch three types of major events using Facebook:

  • A visit
  • A purchase
  • A conversation

The following sections explore each of these event types in detail.

The Visit Event

A visit is anything that requires the invitee to get up from the computer chair and head somewhere. However, Facebook still tends to be easier to execute than a mass-mailing campaign or other multimedia approach. In fact, in certain circumstances, it is virtually your only option. For instance, if you’re holding a last-minute in-store sale, you don’t have time to do a magazine ad or maybe not even a newspaper or radio ad. Sending a note through your email list may work, but just as often emails get caught in spam filters—or they get through the filters but people don’t bother to read them. Over half of Facebook’s 800 million users visit the site at least once a day, so chances are high that they will see your event.

You can organize a wide variety of types of visits, including the following:

  • Concerts
  • In-store sales
  • Seminars
  • Movie premieres

The Purchase Event

A purchase is anything that asks the invitee to buy something remotely—usually an online purchase, but it could apply to ordering over the phone or even via the mail.

For instance, your favorite musician could have an event for her new album’s launch day. By observing how many people are attending the event—or how many people say no to the event—the artist can get a better idea about her upcoming sales. It also would be beneficial for the artist to promote sales that day, because those first-week sales determine how high the album will reach on the charts.

Here are some purchase examples:

  • Album releases
  • Online sales
  • Book launches

The Conversation Event

A conversation involves asking users to discuss or support a particular agenda.

For example, a charity might ask supporters to change their Facebook Profile picture to its logo for a day in support of its cause. It’s a free gesture for the participant, and, for that day, the charity gets its fans to show a united front on Facebook.

Here are some other examples of conversations:

  • Petitions
  • Online discussions
  • Virtual classes
  • Live podcasts

Creating Your First Event

To create an event on Facebook, log in to Facebook, click Events in the left column, and click Create an Event at the top of the screen.

On the Create an Event screen, fill in the following details:

Creating an event on Facebook.

Choosing a picture for your Facebook Event.

  • Date: Indicate the day, month, and year of the event.
  • Begin and, if applicable, end time: Event planners are doing really interesting things with the begin and end times. For instance, some promotions don’t set an end date and use the event Wall as a de-facto message board. We recommend a more standard method through a Facebook page, but some organizations are making it work.
  • Name of Event: Keep it short and snappy. Think about it like a newspaper headline or a very brief tweet. Like all marketing, the following keywords work great in an event name:
    • Free
    • Exclusive
    • Limited
    • Trial
    • NEW!
    • Food
  • Location and, if applicable, street address: If you do have a location for your event, be sure to fill out the complete address. When you launch your event page, Facebook will provide a map link so visitors can plan their trip.
  • Additional info/description: Limit your description of the event to two short paragraphs—the first one for your event and the second one for your business bio.
  • Selected guests: Selecting your guests can be the most time-consuming part of the process. Even if you have an “open” event where everyone can come, you still want to personally invite people you definitely want to come. Sending a brief invitation can make the difference between someone showing up to support you and someone not bothering to come.
  • RSVP and guest-list settings: You have two yes-or-no choices:
    • Anyone can view or RSVP (public event).
    • Show the guest list on the event page.

If you choose Yes for the first option, then you are making it a public event, and it will …

  • Show up on attendees’ Walls—and therefore their friends’ News Feeds.
  • Allow anyone to RSVP.
  • Give details about your affair to people not connected to you or your guests.

On the other hand, private events …

  • Don’t show up on attendees’ Walls.
  • Only allow invitees to RSVP.
  • Won’t show up when searched for by people who are not invited to the event.

Showing the guest list also depends largely on the type of event you’d like to have. There are many reasons to hide or show the guest list.

Presenting the guest list can …

  • Encourage people to join if their friends are coming.
  • Show off the movers and shakers attending your event.
  • Let people know how big your event is going to be.

Hiding the guest list is equally powerful, as it can …

  • Prevent people from knowing if someone they don’t like is coming.
  • Keep the privacy of those attending.
  • Enable you to make the event seem much bigger than it actually is.

You’re finally ready to create your event! Click Create Event and your event displays.

Now that you know how Facebook Events work, it’s time to plan your first event! Happy planning!

Four primary leadership roles and responsibilities

Muzahed I.
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Four primary leadership roles and responsibilities

A leader’s specific roles are determined through the four basic leadership responsibilities of directing, coaching, supporting and delegating. Specific responsibilities will fall into one of these four categories. In leadership practice, one must master skills in all areas in order to effectively lead others under their direction.

Effective leadership is not happenstance; it follows specific rules revolving around these four basic areas of responsibility. Leadership skills can be learned and developed, even if an individual does not have a natural tendency toward leadership.

More importantly, once learned and applied, these rules make a leader more effective and productive as he or she learns to work, direct and guide others toward the mutual accomplishment of goals and objectives.

Developing strengths in each of the four leadership roles allows a leader to read specific situations accurately and know what communication style is best applied.

Directing

Directing refers to how to keep work tasks and activities on the right track. A leader’s direction is what makes or breaks problem solving as well as determines the effectiveness of an approach to an assignment or task, the maintaining of momentum until its completion, and whether it is done by the deadline.

There are several ways to generate good direction techniques. These include:

Explain things completely and include the ‘why’s’

Leaders learn early on that the best way to gain support and trust from their employees is to explain all things in their entirety. Once people understand why something is important or necessary, they generally rally to the call of that which needs to be done or addressed.

Remain visible

Leaders understand the power of their presence at all times. Nothing deflates the workforce’s motivation and desire to achieve more than to be left on their own with no visible means of support or direction.

Objectively consider opposing points of view

Leaders consider situations, problems and solutions from various viewpoints, as the input from as many individuals as possible expands their capabilities to effectively frame their direction.

Coaching

Coaching refers to when a leader knows where he or she wants to go and remains in control of the task but needs to lead others in developing a mutual support network.

Coaching instills the desire to achieve and builds a dialogue bridge between the leader and those under his or her charge. This motivates employees and positively changes attitudes toward the work assignment.

To do this effectively a leader must make an effort to:

Incorporate the word ‘we’ into all conversations

Effective leaders eliminate the word “I” because it denotes a singular rather than cooperative effort. The very meaning of the term “coaching” implies a team effort.

Listen for objections and areas of misunderstanding

Effective leaders who coach well develop the skill of eliminating objections by developing an effective dialogue and creating clear and concise responses.

Offer explanations addressing the ‘why’s, what’s and how’s’ of the problem or task at hand

Good coaching depends upon complete understanding. Motivation and confidence comes from understanding the expectations a leader has of those involved in a given task, assignment or problem solving situation.

Supporting

Managers cannot be effective leaders unless they actively hone their supporting skills. People look warmly on leaders who actively work to support them emotionally as well as physically.

When leaders actively work to support the people under their charge they:

Acknowledge individual efforts with comments of praise and positive support

Leaders are not afraid to say “thank you,” or “you’re doing a great job,” or whatever it takes to instill confidence in an individual.

Disclose their own feelings openly and honestly

Leaders are not afraid to reveal their “inner self.” Trust and loyalty are built on disclosing inward feelings, concerns and desires.

Readily and honestly opening up builds encouragement and perseverance on both sides.

Never hesitate to ask, ‘What’s wrong?’

Leaders allow themselves to get into the thick of a situation or task, and are quick to share the decision making responsibility, but know when to relinquish control in order to gain extra participation and involvement.

Delegating

Leaders know and understand their people. They know their strengths and weaknesses as well as what motivates and frustrates them. Effective delegating relies on the ability to select the proper person for the specific task or role.

Leaders develop good delegation skills by:

Briefing the delegate

Leaders leave nothing to chance when they delegate. When delegating, it is vital to explain exactly what expectations the leader has of the delegated individual.

Having confidence in the person they select

Leaders do not select individuals for an assignment according to their job descriptions or the salaries they command, they look for people with the skills, abilities, perseverance and motivation to get the job done and done well.

Not abdicating responsibility, but allowing individuals to decide a best course of action for themselves

Leaders monitor and weigh these individual decisions, but never advance their own leadership position for a particular course of action unless they assess it to be the best one.

How to choose the right chartered accountant for your business?

Muzahed I.
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How to choose the right chartered accountant for your business?

A business is a composition of ideas backed with actions and financial responsibilities. Each piece of a business is delicate and needs to be handled with extreme care and finesse. The financial aspect of a business is what decides whether or not tomorrow is opening for business, or if a file of bankruptcy is being properly filled out.

With that being said finding the right chartered accountant for your business can’t be a more important or delicate matter. With so much relying on the financial perspective of a company’s success the following should be put into consideration when seeking an individual to fit these needs.

First and foremost seek someone you are fully compatible and comfortable working with. Keep in mind this is your money and your investment. The first sign of discomfort or something phrased a way you don’t like it, you are not obligated to be responsible for this individual’s career, your responsibility is that of your own career.

So make sure that your very clear and honest about what you are looking for, and don’t settle for less than that. When the future of major decisions relies on this individual taking proper records and having professional etiquette you set the standards, and that is solely for you to decide.

Don’t be afraid to inquire about their experience in a business such as yours. Whatever it may be that you are running, don’t simply take their word for it. Be familiar of your competition and ask them who they have worked with that runs a similar operation. A matter of a few references can save you endless amounts of time when deciding on which accountant is right for you.

If they claim they have a great amount of experience, but can’t simply name someone that shows true to their word, there are other options. A rushed decision Is usually made out of desperation and is rarely a wise one. Any decision without the proper research and follow-through can and will often times lead to a road of mistakes and misfortune.

Another important factor to consider is there fee structure. Make sure they are straightforward and put it all out on the table initially, and hold them to it. Don’t let small fine print slip through somehow where later you are responsible for fees you were never made aware of.

If you ask them for a precise layout of terms, then they will be legally obligated to hold to them through both a written and verbal contract. Hidden fee’s that come out later In the relationship will not only cause conflict and a lack of respect toward your hired help, it will in the end prove to be nothing more than a great and unnecessary inconvenience.

There are various things you should expect initially from the individual you choose to employ. Prior to looking get a vague idea as to what kind of individual you are looking for, professional and personality qualities that you will find acceptable, and go for that. While it all sounds like common sense, the good nature that you may hold may prove to be deceiving in times where rational decisions are very key.

While you may feel the need to want to offer your business to someone, at times two people simply can’t mesh in a business scenario. You should have an expectation they will respect your confidentiality and keep the matters you discuss with them solely between you and them. Honesty is one of the strongest virtues between a relationship of owner and accountant. Some other qualities you will want to look for would be:

• Time-Management efficient with meeting deadlines and handling their work in accordance with their verbal promises

• Independent in the sense they can work with minimal instruction from you. You want someone that will ask important sensitive questions in regard to your business, but not questions that should be a matter of common sense for someone in their field of work

• Free of any conflicts of interest. This point cannot be stressed enough. If you sense that the individual you may be employing to feel any hesitancy towards your line of work, you will not get their best efforts.

• Handle situations in a technical and professional matter as they would be expected to do so at all times

An accountant is a prime building block to a company. They can make or break a company by keeping records in a state that will be easily accessible and organized. When making this decision while taking in their professional background, allow your own knowledge and gut do some of the thinking as well. Choosing who you think you can work with as opposed to knowing you are a strong fit with ‘x’ individual are two entirely different paths, and one grants a future of much better rewards.

The 5 most important leadership qualities any leader should possess

Muzahed I.
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0
The 5 most important leadership qualities any leader should possess

If you’re currently leading a team of people or are about to become a leader, I have learned five things that you should seriously take into consideration. For those already managing and leading a team of employees, it’s never too late to review some aspects of your leadership skills.

Nobody’s perfect and becoming a strong leader is something you can learn and even improve if you think that you’re lacking in certain areas. As in many other roles in the corporate world, a leadership role is a never ending process of self analysis and self improvement.

While opinions do vary regarding the role of a leader in a company or within a hierarchical system, several studies have shown that the main qualities a strong leader should possess aren’t the stereotypical ones we see almost everywhere.

Leaders that empower others are much more preferred and therefore are more successful than those who believe that leading simply means exercising power over those below you.

Here is the list of the five most important leadership qualities any good leader should possess.

1. Serve as a role model and lead as you want your leader to be: The first real thing that differentiates a good leader from a bad one is how they understand the concept of leadership itself, and how they use it to benefit the company as well as the employees. As a leader, your role is to lead a team of people to achieve results that will ultimately enhance and better the company.

So, how do you accomplish this? Simply by empowering, trusting and setting examples instead of showing and using the power you have acquired for your own gain, and to please your ego. It’s probably a little harsh to hear but it’s a truth.

A good leader should be a role model for the rest of team. Maybe it’s even easier to think of it this way; achieving success as a leader will only happen when you manage to lead as you would like your leader to be. In other words, be the leader you would want to lead you.

2. Working the hardest to set the example: Being a leader doesn’t exonerate you from hard work. In fact, it’s the opposite. Successful leaders, whether they run international corporations or smaller firms have to understand this concept which is the importance of working the hardest to set an example. A team will only recognize a good leader who’s willing to work the hardest and set the example by raising the bar as high as possible.

The time when bosses and superiors were sitting comfortably in their offices barking orders, making negative comments, mostly and resting on their laurels should be a thing of the past. When you think of it with an open mind, it’s simple and logical.

How can a leader expect the best from his own team or co-workers if he doesn’t show the example himself? Being in charge still brings in nice perks, such as some flexible time when needed for instance, but it also gives you the very important duty to work as hard as possible alongside your team.

3. Putting your employees first in all circumstances: Leaders do have to make decisions all the time. Good leaders will try and consider the well-being of the company, as well as that of the employees. While this is clearly not an easy task to do—indeed, so many different factors can affect the running of a company—a responsible leader will look for decisions that will benefit both the company and the employees.

One very important thing to remember is that a company is nothing without its workforce, whoever they are, and so, when faced with a hard decision, a good general manager for instance with a good understanding of human resources won’t hesitate to put his or her people first.

Again, decisions can be hard to make but compromises do exist and one of the top 5 leadership skills a good leader should possess is the ability of being able to value the employees as much as the company itself.

4. Expressing yourself the right way: It’s sometimes difficult for leaders to accept that they are filling a role that requires certain skills they may not yet possess. We all express ourselves differently but when it comes to talking to employees for instance, it’s best to adopt a style that may differ from the one you use outside of the workplace.

First of all, paying close attention to what your employees are telling you is probably what’s most important when it comes to honing your communication skills. By listening carefully instead of rushing, and maybe hearing only what you really want to hear, your answer will be much more adapted to your employees’ needs, appreciations or questions.

The second most important thing to learn is to always get straight to the point. There is no need to engage in a long-winded conversation, which in the end may lead you to say things you had no intention of saying, initially.

Listening carefully and making sure that the answer you provide is clear, polite and straight to the point will not only prove effective, but will also show that as a leader, you know what you’re talking about and what you really want.

5. Do exactly as you say and mean what you say: It’s sometimes difficult to keep promises made to employees, and we all know that disappointed staff members do not make good employees.

While there is nothing wrong with promises, and if you want to be a really good leader, you must always think thoroughly before committing yourself to something that may be impossible to keep later on.

Forecasting big business results or any other great business venture for instance is always enticing, and employees will respond positively but when the results aren’t there in end, you will most certainly lose your credibility. The golden rule here is to only commit to what you can deliver and this applies to all areas of your business.

There is always a learning curve when you take on leadership roles but when you know exactly that what you’ve said and announced to your employees is what you really mean, there will be no nasty surprises, disappointments and your leadership skills will remain intact, whatever the circumstances.

Not being able to keep up with things you’ve promised is like sending your employees the message that you are not in control of the situation and ultimately of your company. This reflects badly on yourself and you want to avoid this at all costs—for you

r own benefits, the benefit of your team or co-workers, and that of your company.

In conclusion, no one is perfect and neither is their leadership style or ability. If we remember that as leaders we must lead by learning, and we must continually focus on bettering ourselves. We should truly lead with a style of graciousness and humility, and show our strength only when needed. This will improve productivity, morale, and make you an all around better leader.

10 ways outdated technology can affect your business

Muzahed I.
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10 ways outdated technology can affect your business

Every day we hear about technological developments, new gadgets and devices, new software and apps, new operating systems and complex programs that make our lives easier, more pleasant and less time-consuming. In the business environment, new and updated tech is an essential key if you want to stay ahead of your competitors and have solid revenues and happy returning customers.

Do companies have the budget, the time and the workforce to implement and manage new tech? Or can we all be happy with our 12 years old Windows XP operated PCs and our good old fashioned accounting programs?

Outdated technology can harm a business like never before. Still, very few small business owners are aware of the fact that “the right technology solutions can drive sales, increase productivity and provide a competitive edge.”

According to a Spiceworks report, companies plan to increase their IT budgets only by 1% in the near future. Do you need to rethink your investments cash flow to focus on new tech and change the old one? Let’s see ten ways outdated technology can negatively impact your business:

1. Security Breaches

This is the biggest threat posed by outdated technology: hacking, security breaches, black hat techniques you can fall victim to, malware, spyware and all sorts of viruses. To understand the gravity of the situation, remember that around 49% of consumers will never return to a business if they heard that the company’s servers or website had been hacked.

Old software can’t handle new cyber-attacks, and new software isn’t compatible with old machines. In other words, if you are serious about your business, start investing in new computers and updated security programs.

2. Equipment Failure

Hard drives, motherboards, servers, software and memory disks don’t last forever. The older the machines are, the higher the risks you face. If they fail, if they get broken, you will lose catastrophically important data, and you will have to deal with lowered productivity, wasted time, and lost money, lost clients and so on.

3. Decreased Overall Productivity

If your employees operate on outdated programs, they will have to find a way around them and implement their own working rules in order to finish their daily tasks. They waste time and effort, and the overall productivity starts circling the drain if they don’t have automated programs, new and smart software or pieces of equipment that actually work.

4. Unhappy Business Environment

If stuck to outdated programs and improper machines your workers will get irritated enough to resent the job, the company and you as a manager. Instead of taking ten days a month to fill in a report they could push two buttons and have the report printed out for them.

Worker frustration translates into poor employee retention, high rates of turnover and general chaos, which translate into poor productivity, wasted time and money, organizational insecurity and so on.

5. Falling Behind Competitors

Your competitor uses high-end software to manage a transportation fleet while you are still manually introducing data and tables in Excel files. Not that there is anything wrong with Excel, but new technology helps you connect better with consumers and collaborators, make smarter and educated decisions, respond quicker to problems, strengthen relationships with your employees and partners and close more deals.

6. Poor Company Management

If you grow as a business, have many employees, started a few subsidiaries, manage multiple projects and have a lot of deals to control, outdated technology will make everything harder. A recent study showed that companies using cloud storage data to manage large teams and supervise complex projects have better revenue and a strong reputation on the market.

The logic is simple: as long as you don’t waste time and resources managing your business but use smart software solutions, the more time and resources you can allocate to actually grow your business.

7. Poor Company Reputation

According to a recent survey, over 90% of consumers said they would take their business to other companies if the company they work with uses outdated technology. If your clients take their business elsewhere, calculate how much time you will be out of business altogether. People want apps, highly responsive websites, instant payment confirmation, fool-proof credit card security and so on. If you fail in delivering, you will fail on staying in the market.

8. Decreased Sales

According to the same survey, more than 80% of people said they would never make a purchase from a company if the company’s website was outdated, not customer-friendly, not mobile-friendly and not easy to operate with.

If your company’s website is outdated, has an unprofessional theme and doesn’t respond well, you will see the downfall of your sales strategy in a matter of months.

9. Poor Online Visibility

You know we live in an online, Internet-driven world so you’d better step up your game. Slow working websites, poorly upgraded pages and improperly optimized websites will push your company’s website to Google’s second page (if you are lucky), as nobody reads page 3 anymore.

If you want to stay ahead and be visible or becoming a reputable source you will have to learn how to brand your company, invest in an unlimited internet option to always be connected, work on your website, up your hosting plans, engage in some SEO white hat practices, install tracking software for your marketing campaigns and open up to the world with the help of social media.

10. You Lose Respect

You run a business because you want to grow, and you invest and reinvest to position yourself as good as you can in your market niche. But since you don’t expect a graphics company to draw your company logo in Paint, but use Photoshop and vectors, so you should expect others to receive from you the best, fastest and most reliable results.

Using outdated tech when you as a company want others to use their upgraded tech for you is a sign of disrespect towards your own company and towards the other product and service providers you do business with.

Keep your business safe from attacks and equipment failures, retain your customers and show your business network the same consideration you want to receive. Outdated tech can cost your business an arm and a leg, so spend a few bucks on new tech, it will save you time, money and effort in the long run!

5 Inventive Influencer Marketing Techniques Can Boost Your Brand in 2018

Muzahed I.
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0

Brands are recently using a new form of Marketing called influencer Marketing in their marketing strategy. Let’s know more about influencer marketing and how to take advantage of influencer marketing strategy.

During 2017, companies spent more than $1 billion dollars on Influencer Marketing. There will be no wrong to say that the investments will increase in 2018 as well.

Businesses should no longer ignore influencer marketing; it’s not just another social media marketing strategy, currently considered as a best possible marketing way of generating a high return on investments (ROI) through digital marketing. Forbes claims that influencer marketing is the most efficient way of advertising.

The term “influencer marketing” has become the most searched item approaching the internet, after it saw an increase of 90 times from 2013 to 2016.  More brands are implementing this form of publicity to boost their returns. Below the five influencer marketing approaches you should attempt to promote your brand in 2018.

1.  Work back micro, macro, and mega influencers.

Marketing campaigns including influencers can boost the SEO of any business. The key is to select the perfect type of influencers for your marketing campaign. Generally, influencers are classified into three categories: megainfluencers (celebs), macroinfluencers and microinfluencers.

Microinfluencers were in demand throughout 2017, but 2018 will witness the unification of influencers. Brands will use an alliance of the different types of influencers. Each kind of influencer targets real audiences, which helps brands reach their goal.

In 2018, marketing campaigns won’t be limited to brand promotional activities. Instead, they will create an experience and establish an emotional relationship in the middle of the brand and their target audience. There are numbers of expert influence marketing service providers to connect with to run such types of brand marketing campaign.

2. Try video influencer guidance.

It’s been hard to ignore video marketing trend in 2017; currently accounts for nearly three-quarter of internet traffic. According to The Next Web, videos are more effective and impactful compared to text-based content to increase sales. The next most significant marketing trend will be video marketing in the coming years.

Seeing the same kind of posts again and again can board the audiences. The pictures are processed, and everything looks flawless, which is far from the truth. Audiences are looking for something original, and videos make that realistic. Videos are more exciting and have less scope for manipulation. Plus, videos are fun to watch and are more authentic, that is the reason influence marketers often use videos for marketing. Video marketing is flexible, can possible to share on many social media platform including YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat.

Not sure what types of videos will suit your business? Videos might create on product launching, tutorials or reviews; these are just some ideas that depends on your business types.

3. Track your ROI and KPIs.

According to Linqia, the biggest challenge is to measure the ROI in influence marketing (78% of marketers reported). To make the task easy, your campaign’s goal and objectives should be aligned with your performance indicator, and your KPIs should be specific and measurable.

According to The Next Web, influencer marketing platforms and software will improve continually. And these tools can help the marketers to simplify the process of calculating ROI and KPI results.

4.  Invest in Instagram stories.

It has been proved in 2017 that Instagram is the most popular influencer marketing campaign platform. More than 800 million users using the app on a monthly basis and Instagram reached the milestone in September 2017. It is easy to assume that the use of Instagram as a marketing platform will increase even more in the coming year.

Currently, according to Mediakix, the worth of influence marketing is $1 billion on Instagram. And predicting to cross $2 billion by 2019. Instagram is a platform that gives win-win opportunities for brands as well as influencers. A relevant and visually attractive post will catch the more potential customer attention, and it will help to increase the number followers.

5.  Build a strong influencer relationship

As influencer marketing grows, therefore, too, does the demand for influencers. More brands are including influencers into their marketing campaigns and strategies. However, the cost and value of the influencer marketing services are also increasing as well besides rising demand.  Previously, sending influencers free products samples or free services trials would sometimes suffice as compensation. However, businesses will have to give more effort in the coming year.

It is not all about money for the influencers. In 2018, many of them are going to be more careful and selective about the brands to work with, preferring to work only with those brands that want to create a long-term partnership with the influencer.

Final thoughts

Did you try the influencer marketing in 2017? If you have not tried yet, then attempt to try any creative influencer marketing approaches mentioned above. Following the methods can help your company and brand to reach the more potential customer and increase your revenue in 2018.

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