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Advantages of Outsourced Answering Services

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article | Advantages of Outsourced Answering ServicesOutsourcing different aspects of your business can help you save time, money and focus. You can send your books to an accountant, your calls to an answering service and your intelligence technology management to an IT firm, while you concentrate on the core projects and tasks that build your company up. Some of the benefits you will see from outsourcing your answering and receptionist services include being able to extend your customer service hours, save money and focus your efforts.

Extend Your Call Hours

Many answering services offer call-in hours around the clock and on all days, with the phones being answered by real people instead of an automated system. This gives your customers the opportunity to talk to someone and resolve issues outside of your normal operating hours without you having to keep employees working at all hours. You can even find mobile apps from these services to help you keep track of messages and leads in one place. This can lead to better customer retention and higher profits.

Save Money

Outsourcing can save you money both in terms of salaries and in terms of space needed for the extra personnel. You will not have to hire and train employees to answer the phones and then dedicate a place in your building for them. An outsourced receptionist service will have many clients to help cover their costs as well as the beefed-up phone plans to keep up with everything. Many will offer personalized call scripts so your brand’s voice and culture will be presented to the customer when they call just as it will be when they walk in your office.

Focus on Core Activities

When you do not have to pay for a dedicated employee to answer your phones, you can more closely focus on the core activities that make your company great. For example, if you own a catering business, then having another company answer your phones will give you more time to develop new recipes and finish orders without worrying about the calls coming in.

Outsourcing can help startups survive the first few years of business with less overhead and can streamline operations for huge corporations. When you outsource your call answering with a receptionist service, you can see increased customer service and retention as well as lowered costs. This gives you more time to focus on other aspects of your company such as making new products. You can also extend your customer service hours outside of your office hours and help clients around the clock without paying overtime.

The Scary Journey Of Selecting New Leaders

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Every single business in the world will have at least three to four changing of the guards in each century. Out with the old and in with the new. Leaders have to be changed and replaced. Bringing in the next generation of managers, C-suite and other senior positions, is a daunting and even scary task. What’s at stake? Your company culture is by far the most important thing that is in the crosshairs. You need to maintain a solid culture that transcends time and generational gaps. It’s what makes your business unique and special in the industry. You will also need to bring in leaders that have the type of temperament you need to make tough decisions that ultimately allow your business to thrive and in some cases, survive.

Young incumbents and mentors

Every new leader that is brought into their position, must be given a mentor. This is a lot easier said than done as you may not be able to keep around the previous leader, long enough to show them the ropes. That’s why it’s beneficial to have a transitional phase, whereby the incumbent leader is taken under the wing of the outgoing leader. The outgoing leader will have overall authority but more and more of it will be passed to the incumbent.

The mentor will stick close to the young new leader, whether it’s a manager or a senior in a department. Make sure the incumbent is asking as many questions as possible so that small issues are nipped in the bud before problems arise. It’s general practice to keep it this way for about 12 months, but in some cases and depending on the role, it can be 18-24 months.

On shaky ground

Many young leaders will feel like they’re on shaky ground. It’s a good idea to provide them with seminars and content about leadership, so their knowledge of different techniques and mental toughness can expand. Providing them with a Keynote Speaker regarding leadership motivation is highly recommended. This type of speaker lives and breathes, supporting new leaders to become comfortable in the role and thrive on the additional responsibilities and pressure. Some of your leaders will be plagued with self-doubt and they will allow themselves to feel overwhelmed despite being great at their jobs. Don’t allow a spark to fade when you have the opportunity to fan the spark into a flame. Some of the best leaders in the world, started off not believing in themselves and weren’t able to handle the pressures at first.

Making tough recalls

As the boss, you have to make the toughest decisions. Sometimes it will involve demoting an incumbent leader because it’s either not the right role for them or, it’s too soon. Even if an employee passed all the managerial training, they might not perform well in the actual role. Give them time to get used to it, but if several months down the line you still see them making mistakes, you need to recall them from that role.

It’s quite a tense time when you are training, selecting and evaluating new leaders. But every business must go through this changing of the guard, so make sure you do it right.

Giving Your Employees All The Resources They Need to Work Better

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StrategyDriven Managing Your People Article |Employee Resources|Giving Your Employees All The Resources They Need to Work BetterWhen was the last time you checked that your employees had the right resources to do the job? Supplying them with the right resources is more than just making sure they have the correct equipment, although this is a major part of it too.

For a well-rounded employee to be able to do their job properly, how you treat them and understand their specific job role plays a big part in how they perform for you. No one wants to be paying employees who aren’t doing the job well or even at all. So, what can you do in your role as their employers to make sure they have all the resources they need to do the job?

Equipment

In every single job role you come across, there will, of course, be the need for equipment. This will take many different forms, depending on the sectors and type of business you are in.

Whether this is making sure you have a solid infrastructure in place for employees to do their jobs properly and deliver customer service, making sure you have the best epson drivers in the office for your printing needs or state of the art tech for workers who need to stay connected on the go.

Making sure you have provided staff with the right products, systems, apps and devices to do their job efficiently will play a part in making sure the job is done and done well.

Training

It can be tempting to skip out on making sure training is completed and completed thoroughly. Don’t. If you don’t make sure your team is well trained, then chances are, they won’t be able to perform as competent as you need them too.

Ignore the fact you are against the clock, have time restraints or any other issues and focus on making sure all your staff, new and old, are able and confident to carry out their job role properly.
Neglecting this will end up in sub-par customer service and corners being cut due to gaps in knowledge. So cut the mistakes and make sure everyone is one the same page

Motivation

Are your staff looking forward to the day ahead and today’s workload? Chances are if they don’t have the right support system in place or are over/underwhelmed and lacking in motivation they won’t be doing their best work for you!

Look at how you interact with staff and how you and the job itself comes across. Is there anything you can be doing differently or stop altogether? Staff feel more motivated to work when they know what they are doing is appreciated and their opinions and suggestions are taken on board.

Staff meetings are a great way to get everyone together to discuss new ideas and ways of working together as is one on one meetings. Take anything that is offered onboard and see how you can create a better working environment that fosters creativity and encourages people to work more efficiently and productively.

Why Its Time To Turn Your Business Green

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article |Green Business|Why Its Time To Turn Your Business GreenIf you haven’t started to make “green” changes in your business yet, then it’s time to start now. When it comes to your business, it’s not just about contributing to the sustainability of the environment as there are many benefits to your business as well and many reasons to go green.

Contribute to the Sustainability of the Planet

Let’s start with the most compelling reason for making your business greener and the most obvious one. We all know that the planet is changing and that we need to do our bit. Going greener can benefit our health, it can help endangered species and provide a better future for the next generations. Most people know about this now, and companies are doing what they can. From Starbucks providing incentives to bring your own reusable coffee cups, to other companies working on ways to use recycled frack water or non-potable brine for fracking. No matter what business you work in, there is something you can do to help, so it’s time to work out what that is.

Save Money

One way that you can go green in your business is to minimise your power usage – and the good thing about this is that it will save you money too. It might seem like a cost at first to switch to energy-saving light bulbs and upgrade to other more energy-efficient equipment where but over time it will save you a lot of money. You could try converting a paperless office which will save you money on paper, printing supplies and filing cabinets too.

Tax Reductions

Green strategies often equal tax deductions. Renewable energy will mean savings not just for now, but for way ahead into the future, and the government wants to encourage and are providing incentives to do so.

Builds Your Reputation

Today consumers are pickier over who they choose to buy from and give their money to. This applies to millennials in particular, who would spend more on the same product if the company they are buying from is more ethical than another. Research shows people now want to do business with merchants, service providers and manufacturers that share their values. It would help if you shouted about the efforts you are making, whether it’s on social media, writing blog posts or advertising your efforts. Let people know so that they can make an informed choice on where and with whom they spend their money.

Helps to Attract Talent

Just as people are picky about who they spend their money with, they are also particular about who they work for. If you want to attract the best talent, then you need to become a leader in your industry and stand out from the crowd. Today, employees are more bothered about being environmentally responsible too, so they will want to work from somewhere that they align with in terms of what is important to them. Make sure your home page, About Us page and blog proudly show that you value sustainability, and any potential employees who share your values will definitely notice.

How to Streamline Your Business Communications

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StrategyDriven Business Communications Article |Business Communications|How to Streamline Your Business CommunicationsCommunication is one of the key tenets of any business. Without clear communication, things just don’t get done, and start to fall apart. Whether your business’s communication is good or bad though, there’s always room to streamline, and doing so can have huge benefits for your company.

There are many ways you can look to improve your communication, both internally and externally, and find the systems that are going to allow your business to offer a better service.

Here, we take a look at five ways in which you can streamline your business communications.

Clearly Define Roles

When you’re working on an important project, it’s important that everyone clearly understands their roles. If everyone’s roles aren’t clear, that’s when communication can break down, as nobody knows who they need to communicate with.

You may think you have defined someone’s role within the project, but it really needs to be made sure that they understand exactly what that role is and what they’re responsible for.

Have a Point Person

You need to have a person at the top who is in charge of the project. Otherwise, different pieces of information can get passed around certain pockets of the project without ever making it to the person who’s actually in charge.

Communication needs to flow through the point person, who decides what to do with the information and how to proceed. Otherwise, people begin to communicate as individuals rather than as a team.

Bring Your Communication Together in One Place

We have so many different ways of communicating these days, which in many ways is great, but it also brings its own problems. Every minute someone spends trying to remember if they received that important piece of information through email or an instant messenger is time wasted, and this time can really add up.

Bringing your different communication channels together through unified communications (UC) with a company like Code Software can help streamline your team’s communication, making it more efficient and effective.

Make Use of the Data

When you use a UC system, you have access to so much data that allows people to learn about the way they communicate and improve their performance.

When it comes to communication with the customer, there are so many variables that happen in every call, so it can be difficult to judge how you’re performing. It’s only when you have access to all the data that you can see which areas you can improve on.

Make Rules for Different Communication Channels

Another way to overcome the problem of having too many communication channels is by having different rules for each communication channel. For example, if you’re seeking someone’s opinion, it can be quite tricky to do it through written word because it’s hard to understand tone in writing.

So, you can make the rule that if you’re seeking an opinion it has to be through a voice call rather than instant message. There are many different rules you can put in place to suit your business needs and further improve upon communication.