What Are The Different Levels Of Customer Engagement?

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StrategyDriven Customer Relationship Management Article |Customer Engagement|What Are The Different Levels Of Customer Engagement?There are many different levels to customer engagement. This can be important to consider when building a comprehensive and varied marketing strategy – some companies can end up focusing too much on one stage of the funnel (such as focusing on new customers and neglecting loyal customers), which can lead to you losing customers at other stages. Below are the five main levels of customer engagement and how to nurture each of these consumers.

Aware consumers

The first stage of engaging customers is to make them aware of your company. Aware consumers are those that haven’t yet used your company and who may not even show an interest – however they are familiar with your brand. Most of us are more likely to use a company if we’re familiar with them, which is why building brand awareness is so important.

You can build brand awareness by using advertising strategies such as PPC ads, posters, billboards and flyers. A marketing agency can serve as a brand catalyst, helping you to build this awareness and helping you to construct a recognized brand, which typically requires elements such as a memorable company name, eye-catching logo and identifiable color scheme.

Leads

Leads are consumers who are yet to become customers, but who show genuine interest and potential. To generate leads, you need to not just make customers aware of your brand, but appeal to their wants and needs.

There are so many different marketing strategies that you can use to acquire leads. Creating engaging informative content is often a great way of building leads – detailed product descriptions and explainer videos are great for hooking customers’ interest. You can also use sales pitches, tasters and demos to get consumers interested. Generally speaking, lead generation is best achieved by targeting your marketing at specific consumer groups using personalised strategies. Not everyone is going to reeled in the same way.

New customers

Only by turning leads into customers can you make money. Some leads will naturally convert themselves, while others will need more convincing – it’s important to nurture both types of leads.

For those leads that are already willing to buy your product, you should focus on making the payment process as easy as possible – promising leads may still be scared away if you don’t offer enough payment options or if your checkout process is overly complicated. When it comes to leads that require extra persuasion, you may have to do some negotiating. Things like follow-up phone calls, pop-ups discouraging people from leaving your website or last minute discounts can all be used to convert undecided leads.

Loyal customers

Loyal customers are customers who continuously use your service or continuously buy your product. These types of customers can help you to maintain a steady flow of income without having to constantly convert new leads.

You can generate loyal customers by nurturing your new customers. Don’t just focus on taking their money – check back on them by asking for feedback and support them with the product or service if necessary. Offering return discounts or introducing loyalty reward schemes can be another way of helping to encourage loyal customers. All in all, don’t neglect the customers you already have.

Advocates

Advocates are not just loyal customers, but customers who are willing to fight to defend your brand and who take it upon themselves to recommend you to others. These customers can essentially provide free marketing for you.

Every business should aim to build customers that are advocates for their brand. This typically involves getting to know your customers and rewarding them for their loyalty. You can even introduce a referral program that encourages customers to help find you new customers in exchange for rewards.

Why We Aren’t Prepared for What’s Waiting Over the Horizon in 2022 and Beyond

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StrategyDriven Editorial Perspective Article |Over the Horizon in 2022|Why We Aren’t Prepared for What’s Waiting Over the Horizon in 2022 and BeyondAn ambulance is racing down the freeway, transporting a suspected heart attack victim in critical condition. Long before the patient arrives at the hospital, doctors are remotely examining his condition, pouring through up-to-the-second data from sensors and video feeds transmitted from the ambulance over a 5G wireless connection. Even before he gets wheeled into the emergency room, the attending physicians already have a detailed picture of the problem and are ready to go to work. Or, even more exciting, the patient’s life was saved by being remotely treated while in the ambulance.

Amazing stuff, but it’s just the coming attraction.

We’re on the cusp of a transformative era where the deployment of real-time, event-driven technologies turns vast volumes of data into actionable information, leading to fundamental improvements in everything from commerce to personal security. For example, if a child gets lost in Central Park, her picture could be automatically transmitted to thousands of video cameras equipped with AI recognition to enable searchers to find her.

Or think about filling your grocery lists with the help of intelligent shopping carts that guide shoppers through a supermarket, optimizing their route and making suggestions based on what it knows about their buying habits. (In fact, these intelligent shopping carts are already being tested in Israel and the results show shoppers using them are spending on average 20% more per visit.)

That’s a glimpse into our future – if we do it right. But let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves. As cool as it sounds – and it is – this sort of advanced functionality is complicated and requires a reliable infrastructure that can guarantee the kind of high-speed bandwidth for the transfer of massive volumes of information – which still needs to be built.

Gaining an Edge

One advancement that will help speed this transition is the emergence of multi-access edge computing (MEC), which is essentially a distributed architecture where compute and cloud-like capabilities get pushed out to the edge of the network. This will be key because the new applications we’re talking about put extra demands on network capabilities, particularly when it comes to low latency, high bandwidth, and resource consumption. The telcos are best-positioned to lead the way here and we should expect to hear more from them over the next few years.

Think of the possibilities that would arise as massive amounts of data get filtered and processed on the edge in actual real-time as these systems react instantaneously to help manage critical events. Think back to our connected ambulance example. The system is communicating with the biometric systems monitoring the patient in the ambulance. If something about their condition changes, the emergency personnel in the hospital are immediately forwarded an analysis of the voluminous and complex data collected at the edge.

A lot is going on in the background as this deployment must support the dynamic movement of data in a distributed edge-enabled network. While the ambulance moves down the road, data sent from that vehicle must get transferred reliably. Maintaining ongoing contact with the ambulance literally becomes a matter of life and death where the system must guarantee that the information will get picked up by the next MEC down the road.

The Developer’s Dilemma

When it comes to designing applications that make all of that work seamlessly at the edge, we immediately encounter two problems. One is a developmental challenge, the second an operational one.

From a development perspective, you need to tie everything together to create real-time systems that essentially sense, analyze, and act on situations of interest. That’s not easy. Operationally, how do you deploy and then keep this edifice up and running? And how do you make sure that the infrastructure can handle the load as there’s a need for more capacity?

Also, an event-driven application in a distributed environment (such as when a connected vehicle changes from one network to the next) needs to be able to share data across multiple administrative domains. That raises new multi-tenancy issues. Do we share data across multiple administrative domains? How do we do that? Am I sharing inside the company or outside the company? My point being, that in a distributed environment, these developmental and operational issues get extremely complex in a hurry.

Think again about the example of our ambulance passing one MEC after another as it speeds to the hospital. The MEC is running the logic – essentially serving as a mini-cloud – where it’s analyzing the streaming data on the patient, such as an EKG. When the vehicle moves from one MEC to the next, however, what we refer to as the “state information” from the ambulance needs to get transferred seamlessly when the ambulance connects to a new MEC, rather than re-calculated from scratch.

Make it Simple

These types of applications are highly complex, and they won’t work with traditional development platforms where a simple application may take months or longer to create. This is the third time in my career that I’m building distributed systems. I did it at Ingres and Forte – and now again at Vantiq – and I can say from experience that it’s incredibly difficult. Things are getting too complex for us to hard code anymore. Even elite coders are discovering that this kind of task is near impossible and would require a series of discrete products to get the job done; and even then, it might take months to finish the project.

Frankly, we need to make coding a lot simpler – to find ways to help developers convert high-level operational processes into a framework for real digital applications.

One way to overcome this hurdle is to embrace an abstracted low-code framework that allows developers to handle the complexity that they’ll face in these kinds of scenarios. These low-code tools allow for a more agile framework that developers can use to create solutions much more quickly. While different forms of low-code have been around for a while, the approach is fast gaining speed thanks to the market’s demand for digitalization, which soared throughout 2020 as businesses accelerated their plans due to the pandemic. It also fits well with the need for speed found in mature agile DevOps practices.

How this unfolds in practice remains unclear, but the debate over the best approach must surface sooner rather than later. We’re fast approaching a future where we’ll need applications that can take advantage of the latest advances in IoT, AI, machine learning, and edge computing. And we’ll be there in a hurry.

About the Author

StrategyDriven Expert Contributor | Marty SprinzenMarty Sprinzen, Co-Founder and CEO of Vantiq is a visionary leader and successful software entrepreneur. The organizations he created and led have introduced some of the most innovative software solutions in the areas of systems management, relational databases, internet application development and, currently, real-time, event-driven applications. Sprinzen founded and became CEO of VANTIQ Corporation. Prior to VANTIQ, he was CEO and co-founder of Forte Software, which was acquired for over $1B. He also served as VP of International Operations and VP of Engineering at Ingres and VP of Development at Candle Corporation. He holds a BSEE from The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art.

The Hidden Costs of Not Washing Your Truck Frequently Enough

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StrategyDriven Tactical Execution Article | The Hidden Costs of Not Washing Your Truck Frequently EnoughTrucking companies must perform a variety of tasks to maintain the fleet trucks and keep the vehicles on the road. Any failure to complete maintenance tasks can generate a high financial loss for the company and may lead to certain liabilities. Dirty trucks are liabilities for the company in more ways than one.

A truck that hasn’t been cleaned could accumulate debris on the top of the vehicle that could flow down onto the windshield. Limited visibility for the driver increases the risk of trucking accidents and serious injuries for the driver and others who collide with the truck. By setting up professional truck cleaning services, the trucking company stops these events and protects their drivers and others on the roadways.

Paint Corrosion and Body Damage

Debris and pollutants that are not removed from the trucks properly can eat through the paint. Once harmful substances get underneath the paint, the body and structure of the vehicle could become damaged, too.

Commercial trucks must be cleaned regularly to remove the debris and protect the paint and body. If not, the owner can sustain serious financial losses. Business owners can learn more about dfw fleet washing by contacting a service provider now.

The Collection of Animal Droppings on the Trucks

Animal droppings can accumulate on the truck body depending on where the driver travels. In areas where there are berry trees, birds are likely to defecate onto the vehicle and drop pieces of the fruits, too.

The acidic compounds in animal droppings cause body and paint damage, but the substances also present serious health risks for the driver and anyone who comes in contact with the affected portion of the truck. If a driver places packages on the truck’s hood, the droppings could transfer to the parcel and spread to the recipient.

Increasing the Frequency of Truck Inspections

The Department of Transportation has strict regulations related to commercial vehicles, and if an officer comes across a filthy fleet truck, the agency has the authority to conduct roadside inspections. During the inspection, the DOT can determine if the truck complies with federal sanitation regulations. If the truck fails the inspection, the trucking company faces penalties and fines based on the severity of the violation.

Making the Wrong Impression on Customers

Customers will look at the truck when assessing the company, and if the trucks are disgusting, this paints a negative picture of the company. In most instances, the customers won’t place orders or hire the business for services if the trucks are dirty and unsanitary.

With the emergence of new health risks throughout the world, trucking companies must follow protocols to eliminate dangerous substances from the trucks and protect customers, drivers, and the public. Once there is a negative impression of the business, customer retention can become a serious problem.

A Decrease in Lifespan of the Truck 

Without proper cleaning, the truck’s lifespan is shortened. While owners may think that body and paint damage isn’t a major issue, the damage could travel further and cause mechanical issues. Corrosion on the truck hood allows rainwater to leak on top of the engine, transmission, and other major parts. The rust can also travel and cause defects that prevent major parts from working and increase auto repair costs for the owner.

Regular truck cleaning can remove all debris that causes damage and prevent more corrosion. If the owner doesn’t eliminate harmful substances frequently, no one will get the full use-value of the vehicle, and the price of the truck decreases quickly and dramatically.

The Truck Cannot Pass Certain Borders

In Canada, commercial fleet trucks that are dirty or present health risks cannot pass the border crossing. Federal health regulations give border authorities the right to refuse entry to any commercial driver that has health risks on the vehicle.

If the transport service delivers goods to Canada, the business owner must clean and maintain the vehicles. Border authorities can complete a full safety inspection of the truck, and if there is a higher accumulation of debris on the truck, the driver cannot enter the country and deliver any products beyond the country’s borders.

Debris Accumulation Hides Damage and Defects

Bird droppings, pollen, and other debris on the truck can hide major defects on the body. If the trucks aren’t cleaned thoroughly and often, the driver and the owner are less likely to notice the damage until there are holes and significant signs of rust or breakage. This can become a serious problem for a company that doesn’t have the capital to buy new trucks.

Professional truck cleaners sanitize the entire truck body, around the tires, and all spaces underneath the carriage. Dirt, pollutants, and other harmful materials are removed properly and stay off the vehicle with regular cleaning services. By setting up the services, the owner can avoid high costs later and protect their commercial vehicles.

Increasing Maintenance and Repair Costs

When maintaining commercial trucks, cleaning services are part of routine maintenance, and the vehicle should be cleaned at the first sign of debris accumulation. Business owners know how important oil changes, air pressure assessments, and tune-ups are to the longevity of the trucks.

However, most owners don’t consider how dirt and other substances can damage the vehicle and affect how the truck performs and how the vehicle looks. With regular truck cleaning services, the business owner completes all steps for truck maintenance and gets the most out of the investment.

Professional truck cleaning services eliminate a variety of liabilities and issues for trucking companies. Cleaning services aren’t just for aesthetic purposes, and the options can prevent major trucking accidents. Debris accumulation can damage the truck body and paint, and corrosion can damage parts underneath the hood.

Trucking companies can get major advantages by allowing a professional to clean the commercial trucks. The service providers will complete a thorough job, and all trucks pass inspections conducted by the DOT and border authorities. By setting up regular cleaning, the owner gets the full benefits of the services.

The Top Benefits of a Corporate Wellness Program

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StrategyDriven Talent Management Article | The Top Benefits of a Corporate Wellness ProgramThese days, the most pressing challenges that employers face are attracting and retaining top talent. If you want your company to stand out from the crowd and interest standout candidates, you must find creative offerings. While a competitive salary and benefit packages are key, you also need to show prospective employees that you care about them as people rather than just workers. Corporate wellness programs can help you with this. So, what other benefits follow the establishment of a corporate wellness program?

Improved Employee Productivity

First, such a program can increase your staff’s productivity. After all, happy employees are more likely to work hard and remain focused. Individuals struggling with mental or physical health issues often struggle to complete tasks. But a wellness program can help you take proactive steps toward supporting health and wellness. As a result, employees have more energy to focus and fewer distractions to undermine their productivity. If you want to boost output, focus on your workers’ mental health.

More Continuity and Less Turnover

Another significant benefit of a corporate wellness program is how it increases continuity in the workplace. When employees struggle with their health and wellness, they tend to take time off work. Someone else must then pick up the tasks of that staff member. If you want to avoid this issue, you must keep your employees as happy and healthy as possible. A corporate wellness program will help you do just that.

Attract the Top Talent

Finally, the greatest benefit of a corporate wellness program is its capacity to attract talented individuals to the workforce it supports. More than ever before, employees care about their office’s atmosphere. They want to know their company values them as individuals and team members. If you put extra time and effort into keeping your employees happy and healthy, talented individuals will want to work for your organization.

Set Up a Corporate Wellness Program

To illustrate that you care about the health and well-being of your employees, establish a wellness program. If you have never created a wellness program before, you need not do so alone. Reach out to a professional who can help you establish effective health initiatives.

How a Slow Internet Connection is Costly to Your Business

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article | How a Slow Internet Connection is Costly to Your BusinessThe internet is an integral element in the functionality of every business. Every business needs to invest in a reliable internet connection to ensure that everything runs smoothly, from communication to eCommerce. An established company can lose a lot if disconnected from the internet for even the shortest time possible. Here are some ways a slow internet connection hurts your business.

Lowers Employee Morale

A reliable internet connection has a significant impact on the morale of your workforce. Since a company’s success relies on employee performance, your business stands to deliver performance shortcomings to its true potential. It is only through investing in a fast, reliable internet connection that you can boost their morale, increase productivity and realize company goals.

Increases Stress

There is a possibility that a slow internet connection can increase stress within the workplace. Work is bound to pile up, and some activities cannot be done, which will result in a stressful and unproductive environment. You could be putting your workforce in danger of mental health complications by creating a stressful working environment. To avoid such employee concerns, you can browse through providers offering dedicated business internet in Ashburn VA.

Operational Failure

The Internet is a necessity in modern business. It would help if you had it as a tool to facilitate numerous transactions, send emails, research, and even access past data saved to the cloud. A slow internet connection can cause delays when performing these activities, limiting productivity and efficiency in the firm. Being disconnected from the internet will stop almost everything; you cannot access the cloud or communicate via electronic channels. You can avoid operational failure by ensuring your internet provider provides a connection that meets your business needs.

VoIP Lag

VoIP services also prove essential in running a business, and you need an internet connection that can support your requirements. Most of these services require at least 256kps for quality video chatting needs. If your connection doesn’t meet this specification, you are likely to experience video or audio quality complications. You can avoid echoes and disconnections on your VoIP calls by upgrading your bandwidth to a strong and stable internet connection.

A slow-speed internet connection is unacceptable in any business. It creates an inefficient working space that prevents reaching its true potential.