Reginald Chan

Blog

  • Finders – Keepers: Recruitment And Retention Essentials For Your Business

    Finders – Keepers: Recruitment And Retention Essentials For Your Business

    The expense of finding a new employee to fill an available role is high. In many cases it can cost  over double the salary of that role, not to mention the additional costs incurred such as training costs, and reductions in productivity as you fill the post and get the new person up to speed. Of course, that is why the issues of recruitment and retention are so valuable to businesses. Luckily you can read all about how to find, and keep the best people over the long term below. 

    Recruitment first 

    Before you can hold onto the most valuable employees, you need to find them. Fortunately, there are some tactics that can make it easier to track down employees that will be the best fit for both the position and your business over the long term. 

    The first of these is to read between the lines when it comes to applications. For example, people that have only held past positions for a short period may not be the right choice. Instead, it’s better to go for a candidate that has a long and stable work history with previous employers as this suggests they are more likely to come in with a committed attitude. 

    Additionally, some experts suggest that looking for candidates that commit to things outside of the office can prove a useful indicator of likely commitment too. After all, if they play a team sport or volunteer with a charity, it demonstrates that they have the characteristics of resolve and loyalty that should keep them with your business for as long as possible. 

    Finally, when it comes to recruitment, remember that you’re not only looking for someone with the rights skills, but also for a person that is the best match for your company culture as well. In fact, by doing a little extra work in the recruitment stage to identify these types of candidates, you can maximize your chances of finding people that will stay with your company for the long haul. 

    Dealing with interpersonal issues 

    Many times, employees do not leave a job because they dislike the work or the company itself. Instead, interpersonal issues can be the driving factor for change. Of course, sometimes people are just not going to be best buddies, especially in a work environment, but should that be the reason why you lose valued members of your team? Unfortunately, in the worst-case scenario, if you let such a situation get out of hand, you can very easily find that a single toxic person ends up dominating a team, meaning your business suffers. 

    Therefore, constructively dealing with interpersonal issues is hugely important when it comes to keeping the best employees for your business. One option is to take a proactive route and test potential employees for personality traits before giving them the job or assigning them to a specific team, so ensuring the best fit. 

    Additionally, actively training managers in conflict resolution can be useful too. Then when issues do arise, as they are bound to do, you will have someone already integrated within the team that can provide some perspective and some options on how to resolve such issues before they spiral out of control. 

    Opportunities for growth and learning 

    Once you have tracked down the best people, you must do all you can to keep them. Fortunately, there are some steps you can take to make sure that your employees feel that their contribution to your business matters, and that they are valued. 

    The first of these is offering an opportunity to progress within your company. After all, even the most dedicated of individuals will have to move on to another business, if there is no room forward progression. 

    It’s not just promotion alone that works to keep the best employees working for you, though. Instead, the opportunity for advancement also needs to be combined with the chance to grow, learn new skills and engage in education. 

    To that end, training, whether formal or on the job is a vital aspect of keeping your best workers. Of course, there is a big difference between offering a place on the occasional training course, and building in new learning opportunities and training into each day or project. The latter option being the best for keeping employees engaged and committed over the long term. 

    Benefits 

    Back in the old days, the only benefits that employers offered were the opportunity to work, and get paid for the hours that employees did. However, companies that are looking to find and keep the best employees these days understand that a generous benefits package can go a long way to sweeten the deal. 

    Probably the most important benefit that will encourage worker retention is healthcare coverage. Were not just talking about doctor and hospital care here either, but dental and eye health programs as well. 

    Of course, when providing such benefits, it is also vital that you educate your employees on how to use them to their full advantage. For example, some vision benefit plans make it seem as if you have to choose a glasses provider that belongs to their network. However, this is not the case, and, by selecting an out of network store like the one you will find here, and using out of network benefits, your employees can get much higher quality lenses and frames for a very low price. 

    In addition to healthcare benefits, flexible working hours are also something that can make a massive difference when looking to keep employees over the long term. The reason for this is because by offering flexible options, your employees’ jobs can grow with them as their life outside of work changes and develops. This allows you, employees, to have a better work-life balance and be present for the things in their life outside of work that matter and have meaning for them. Something that means they will be more engaged and happier while in work, and very unlikely to move on to a position where they were not given the same freedoms. 

    Minimize stress and maximize eustress 

    For those not in the know, the term eustress means positive stress. That is stimulation that is challenging, but not overwhelming or pointless. Of course, employers don’t always have control over the amount of stress that we ask our employees to experience, especially as different people react to things in various ways. 

    However, there are ways to tip the scales from stress into eustress and make sure that your employees have a much more positive and engaging experience, one that means they are much more likely to love their work and stay with your company over the long term. Meaning is the key here because once we have an overall goal that is meaningful, even the most boring or difficult of tasks before more manageable. 

    With that being said, creating meaning that aligns with your employees’ values can be more challenging in some fields than in others. However, running sessions that can help employees to identify their own personal values, and how they can live by these in the setting of your company can be hugely worthwhile and help you to retain your best talent over the longer term. 

    Listen and ask 

    Many employees feel much more valued when listened to in the workplace. That is not to say that you need to act on every suggestion. However, offering employees the opportunity to be heard can be very helpful for many, especially as your employees will usually know what is going on at the front lines of your business better than anyone else. 

    In fact, to increase opportunities for management to listen to what employees have to say, actively asking questions and inviting feedback can be very useful. Of course, this does need to be managed correctly. After all, a free-for-all of shouting over a canteen table is usually not the best way to conduct such sessions. 

    Instead, consider having a suggestions box, or even automating questions and feedback over your email system. Additionally remember that if employees never hear anything back about their suggestions or never see anything done in line with them, this tactic will lose its impact. With that in mind, consulting with those whose ideas and suggestions are the best and even rewarding them can help to enhance the benefits here. 

    Final thoughts 

    As you can see from the post above, there is much you can do to track down and retain the best talent for your business. However, a certain amount of turnover is always to be expected. With that in mind, it’s essential to have robust systems in place for finding new and suitable candidates quickly. 

    Additionally, it’s also vital to invest in onboarding for candidates once you have offered them the job. After all, if you have put all that time, effort, and money into finding someone, the worst thing that can happen is that you lose them during their settling period, before all of your other retainment strategies have a chance to take hold. 

  • LastPass and ExpressVPN Announce a New Partnership

    LastPass and ExpressVPN Announce a New Partnership

    Introduction

    On September 24th, ExpressVPN and LastPass announced a brand-new partnership. This partnership gives LastPass Premium and LastPass Family users a 30-day free trial for ExpressVPN, giving users the best of both services at no extra cost to users.

    And while this news is surely exciting—more free stuff is always good—it’s important to understand the benefits both services bring to the table. So what exactly do LastPass and ExpressVPN bring to users? Why would these two services partner together?

    The Benefits of Password Managers

    Let’s kick off this article by talking about LastPass. LastPass is a password manager, a piece of software that stores all of your passwords into a locker—a locker you can access with a master password. But what makes password managers superior to a pen and a piece of paper?

    1. Easy to Organize Passwords

    For one, password managers make it easy for users to organize their passwords. When a user logs into an account, LastPass will ask them if they’d like to store the account information into the locker. If the user agrees, the account info (the username and password) are placed in a specific category and is easily accessible at any time.

    For example, a user’s login information for their online banking account would be placed into the “Finance” section of LastPass. This keeps things organized for users and removes the headache of searching for a specific password.

    2. Can Create Strong Passwords

    Password managers like LastPass contain password generators. These password generators often allow users to decide how long the password will be, if it will contain special symbols and numbers, and if it’s easy to read.

    These generators help users create strong, unique passwords for all of their accounts—an important step in account security.

    The Benefits of VPNs

    Virtual private networks (VPNs) focus on the data your device or network sends out while in use. For example, if you frequently use a public network, your data is visible to everyone on the network. With a VPN, your data is encrypted. But how is this useful in the real world?

    1. Encrypts Your Device and Network

    The main feature of VPNs is the encryption they provide to your device and network. Whether you’re on a public network or your private network at home, the data your device sends out is visible, and with the right software, a hacker can easily steal that data and use it against you, for example, in fraud, identity theft and hacks.

    VPNs prevent this by masking the IP address of the device sending out data and encrypting the data it sends out. This encryption effectively masks the data as it travels to-and-from your device. The result? A user’s data becomes unreadable and untraceable to everyone, including your internet service provider, government, and neighbors.

    2. Easy to Use

    Modern VPNs are also extremely easy to use and are quite accessible. When it comes to ExpressVPN, all a user has to do is select which country they want to connect to and click the giant power button in the software. After that, no further input is needed from the user.

    What this Partnership Means for User Privacy

    But what exactly does the LastPass and ExpressVPN partnership mean for users? Well, ExpressVPN and LastPass are popular pieces of software across the world, but besides the free 30-day trial, what does this partnership bring to the table?

    First, let’s take into consideration what has happened here: two titans in the cybersecurity industry have partnered up to bring users more digital privacy. The influence of this cannot be ignored. See, this collaboration will draw attention to the importance of cybersecurity and the need for enhancements within the industry.

    While this partnership may not seem like a big deal at first, it’s important to consider the long-term effects of a collaboration on this level. Further down the line, more cybersecurity companies will see the success of this collaboration and will start collaborating with other cybersecurity companies as well.

    The end result? More enhancements for users on the privacy level. This is the end-goal, and this is what matters most today, where user data is akin to gold.

  • Expert Tips for Managing Your eCommerce Business

    Expert Tips for Managing Your eCommerce Business

    E-Commerce platforms have opened a world of possibilities for both business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs alike. By removing the back-breaking capital needed for starting a brick-and-mortar store, the possibilities of providing products have become endless. As a result, we’ve come to witness businesses dealing in products without having any inventory. Shipping companies have swarmed the globe. Intermediary agencies came to light, doing nothing but managing the operations of other e-commerce businesses. 

    If you ask an expert about the best one to follow in the middle of all these different operational strategies, they’ll tell you there isn’t a specific rule. They’ll point out how some businesses rely on selling high-tag items for profit, while others decide to dominate a certain niche. The strategy of either can work for neither, so it all comes down to your business strategy. However, if you adjust your question to asking for tips on managing your e-commerce business, they’ll give a list of proven tips they all swear by. 

    Here’s what they’ll tell you to do. 

    1. Think Like a Customer

    If you’re still stuck between the pages of plans and statistics, it’s time to take a stroll down the other side of your eCommerce platform. Stop thinking like the executive you are – you’re only looking at how products are selling and the strategies you need to tweak to create more reach. Meanwhile, if you start thinking like one of your customers, you’ll instantly point out all the strategic flows you’ve been missing. Additionally, you’ll start experiencing what a real customer would, which gives you better ideas on how to optimize their experience and tempt them into adding more products into their shopping cart. 

    2. Craft a Full Operational Plan

    Again, forget your strategic plans for a while. Do you have a full operational plan ready to be executed? Many business owners fail to realize the difference between the general plan and the operational one. Your operational plan considers every single factor you’ll deal with once you start your execution – ideally expressed as an action plan that’s divided into tasks and deadlines. Your operational plan must cover every step of your manufacturing process, supply chain, customer service, and promotional strategies. 

    3. Choose the Right Platform

    There’s a world of difference that comes with choosing the right platform and failing to do so. While eCommerce platforms are available in multiple forms and features, ensure you’re very familiar with the technicalities that the platform relies on when operating. Some platforms are relatively easy to use, but they come with limited features. Other well-established platforms offer more features and better user experience (for you), but you’ll still face certain issues. Generally, you’ll face fierce competition on these platforms, so what’s your plan for dominating the market and positioning your brand?

    4. Consider Outsourcing 

    While it’s tempting to do everything on your own (we know what we entrepreneurs are like), it’s not always the best nor smartest approach to operating your eCommerce business. Sometimes, it’s much more efficient to outsource certain parts of the operations to a specialized agency. 

    The experts from https://www.envisagedigital.co.uk/magento-support-services/ point out that using an eCommerce platform like Magento can be worthwhile – only if you ensure the optimum customer experience; this experience will be compromised if the site keeps crashing or lagging. Are you experienced enough to deal with these technical issues? If you’re not, then it’s better to leave it to the experts. 

    5. Map Out a Customer Journey

    Following on thinking like a customer, you must optimize your eCommerce platform for the optimum customer journey. It includes regular site maintenance, yes, but it’s so much more than fixing bugs as they arise. Your main focus should always be to push your visitors to add more items to their shopping cart and finalize the purchase. 

    Think of all the tools you can accomplish without overwhelming the visitor. An optimized eCommerce platform will use a funnel approach to its maximum benefit, taking the customer through a smooth journey, generating leads and conversion, and customer retention. 

    6. Utilize Different eCommerce Marketing Strategies

    There are a few well-known strategies when it comes to tempting customers over the eCommerce platform. For instance, make sure to cross-sell and upsell different products while they’re viewing the page of interesting products. Reminding them of abandoned carts is another popular and effective strategy to encourage them to finalize their purchase. 

    7. Integrate Your eCommerce Platform with Social Media Strategy

    While you’re thinking of different eCommerce marketing strategies, integrate it into your entire marketing efforts. There’s no better way to generate leads than directing your traffic from other social media platforms to your eCommerce platform. Moreover, social media platforms have the best ability to reach your target audience and build a channel of connection with them, so make sure your marketing efforts are always complimenting each other. 

    8. Maximize Email Marketing Benefits

    Speaking of marketing strategies, email marketing needs to be discussed on its own when it comes to eCommerce. You can’t neglect the value of integrating email marketing into your strategy. It’s the best tool you can use to build and maintain the connection with the leads you’ve acquired, from welcoming emails to confirming their purchases, reminding them of abandoned carts, sending promotions and offers, and keeping them updated with your news. Email marketing is the single most important tool you’ll need to utilize to the maximum. 

    9. Test, Analyze, Optimize

    With all your efforts directed in the right place, you’ll only know what works and what doesn’t by monitoring your progress and testing different approaches. Keep testing how you present your products and keep experimenting with different strategies. With every different test, collect the data and analyze the efficacy. Check the conversion rates or repeated pitfalls during the customer journey; this will give you the insights to optimize your eCommerce operations and management strategies. 

    Despite the practicality that eCommerce platforms offer in the world of business, or perhaps, as a result of it, managing a successful eCommerce business is no walk in the park. From product strategies to strong competition, many obstacles are standing between you and success. Instead of discarding all of your plans, it would be wiser to follow the experts’ tips and make simple adjustments to your managing process first.

  • How to Use Testimonials to Improve Your Customer Experience

    How to Use Testimonials to Improve Your Customer Experience

    The fact of the matter is that no business would be able to thrive without satisfied customers. That’s why the goal of every business should be to ensure that their customers are happy with their brand. One of the easiest ways a business can achieve that is by talking to their audience. By asking your customers for feedback, you’ll ensure that they feel valued. What’s more, you’ll also strengthen the connection you have with your customer base.

    All of this can significantly help you improve your business. Not only that, but customer feedback, reviews and testimonials can actually help you bring more customers in. Anyone who sees a positive interaction with a business will be likely to check that business out. That said, here are some of the best ways you can use testimonials to improve your customer experience.

    Offer information to new customers

    Word of mouth recommendations are still one of the most preferred forms of marketing. Simply put, people are more inclined to trust information they receive from another person than information they can find about a business online. Testimonials and user reviews have a similar effect. Any potential customer looking to try a business out will first go through these, before giving the business a shot. So, choosing to include testimonials in your business promotion will only bring you good. This way any potential customer will get a chance to learn more about your business beforehand. That way they’ll know exactly what to expect from your business before they even interact with it. Needless to say, including testimonials in your business promotion will work as an excellent lead generation.

    Improve relationship with existing customers

    As mentioned earlier, customers like to feel valued. That’s why – if you’ve already asked them for testimonials – you should include them in your business promotion. The thing is that the vast majority of businesses usually focus on acquiring new customers. And while this is the right way to go – to a point – you must not forget about your existing customers. Your existing customers are what keeps your business going. So, showing respect and appreciation towards them is as equally important as trying to acquire new customers. This will greatly improve your customer loyalty. And anyone in the business world knows just how important good and strong customer loyalty actually is.

    Customer Reviews
    Customer Reviews

    Promote transparency

    Moreover, customer testimonials can really be used to emphasize business transparency. In some niches, business transparency is extremely important. This is particularly true for highly-profitable and lucrative industries. For instance, the iGaming industry is currently one of the most lucrative industries in the world. With such huge sums of money circulating on a daily basis, transparency becomes very important. That’s why review sites such as AskGamblers became so sought-after. Not only do they offer their users all the relevant information but they also put a high emphasis on transparency. What’s even more important is that they don’t censure their testimonials and user reviews. Instead, you can find plenty of true and accurate information which can greatly aid you in the long run.

    Boost your business

    Next, aside from using testimonials to show your current and potential customers that you care, you can also use them to better your business. Simply choosing to display testimonials is not really going to be enough. Instead, you will also need to really listen to what your customers are saying. If you’re only asking for feedback without actually listening to it, it won’t do you much good. What you actually do is ask for feedback and really analyze the information you’re given. When it comes to paying for a product or service, people will be more than happy to share their opinions. So, you should use that information to grow and improve. See which aspect of your business your customers feel like needs to be improved. And, of course, look for practical and sustainable ways that will allow you to achieve just that.

    Provide relevant information

    In the end, do know that simply slapping testimonials left and right on your website is not the best approach. Instead, you really need to pay attention to where and how you place your testimonials. The best approach would be to group them. If you’re offering a selection of products or services, make sure that testimonials correspond with the solution you’re offering. By making sure that you place relevant testimonials in the right place you’ll offer your customers better insight. And, along similar lines, more information about your offer in particular. This will not only showcase your business in a positive light but it will also encourage better customer interaction.

    Online Reviews
    Online Reviews

    These were just some of the ways any business can use testimonials to improve customer experience. The more you take care of your customers, the more they’ll be willing to give back. So, make sure you use the same energy when caring for your existing customers as you do when looking for new ones.

  • 6 Tools You Need to Run a Successful Online Business in 2020

    6 Tools You Need to Run a Successful Online Business in 2020

    If you are like many people out there, there’s a big chance you’ve thought about starting an online business. As you are reading this, some of you have probably come up with a business idea already. Others may have even created a website and are wondering what’s next. Well, whether you still have your day job or you are currently not employed, an online business can be an amazing way to generate income without too much commitment in terms of energy and money. Compared to starting a brick and mortar shop, starting an e-commerce store can be fairly cost-effective, and the setup process is often less involving.

    For your business to succeed and stay ahead of your competition, however, you have to get several things right. For instance, your marketing approach has to be on point. This means investing in various internet marketing strategies and tools, including SEO, web design, social media campaigns, online ads, and so forth. It also means investing in tools that will help you run your day-to-day operations more efficiently. These include tools that will help streamline processes like customer service, order management, inventory management, appointment scheduling, and workforce management, just to name a few. Without further ado, let us look at six tools you need to run a successful online business in 2020.

    1. Email Marketing Software

    Especially in 2020, where many businesses found solace in online business after COVID-19 struck, the internet market tends to have become more competitive. For this reason, you will need to up your game as far as internet marketing is concerned. This means using various digital marketing strategies, email marketing being one of them.

    But let’s be honest, it can be extremely strenuous when you have to manually send marketing emails to 500 or more existing and potential customers. This is why you need an email marketing tool that automates the entire process while gathering leads and boosting your sales. Some of them have added features like CRM and other tools to help your online business succeed.

    2. Customer Referral Software

    In this age and day, people tend to trust brands and products that previous users are talking positively about. Referrals go a long way in boosting your marketing efforts and increasing your customer base. As pointed out at MarketerStack.com, referral marketing software allows your existing customers to recruit more customers to your business. It is an excellent way to promote your products and services while improving your brand recognition. From Ambassador to FriendBuy and ReferralCandy, there are many great referral marketing programs out there to choose from. You just need to choose the one that best suits your business’s needs, budget, and preferences.

    3. Project Management Tools 

    Keeping track of your projects’ progress with different departments and team members can be a real hustle if you are doing it manually. Instead of endless calls, lengthy reports, and a bunch of meetings daily, a project management tool can simplify things for you. Many of them exist, some available for free, whereas others require a monthly or annual subscription. Some of the most popular project/task management tools out there include the following:

    • Asana
    • Trello
    • Basecamp
    • Wrike
    • Zoho Project
    • Scoro
    • Proofhub
    • And many more

    What’s more, many of these have both a web version and a mobile app that lets you track your projects even while on the go. They help teams within the workplace to stay organized and ahead of schedule. They even allow you to easily share files and tasks with internal and external team members without a hustle.  

    4. Online Accounting Tools

    For your online business to achieve success, proper bookkeeping and accounting are a must. Online accounting tools make various accounting tasks easier and faster, thus saving you money at the end of each month. These tools will simplify tasks such as invoicing, creating quotes, making payments, and bookkeeping.

    Good online accounting software will also integrate with your bank accounts so you can request and import statements at will for easy reconciliation. They also include a cloud storage feature, meaning that you can even access your accounting data remotely from any authorized device without necessarily having to install the program. You just need to open your favorite browser, log in, and start executing your accounting tasks. Some reputable accounting tools you can have a look at include

    • Freshbooks
    • sevDesk
    • Zoho Books
    • Sage 50cloud
    • Xero
    • Wave

    5. Video Conferencing Tools 

    With many people working remotely in 2020, the office-based meetings and conferences may not always be possible. Thanks to the internet, however, teams within your business can meet comfortably from their home offices through video and teleconferencing tools. Zoom is a good example of these tools, and it has been all the rage this year.

    The cloud-based platform is easy to use, and in addition to video conference calls, it also offers other features like chats and can be used for webinars and online presentations. It also lets you stream your video on Facebook Live or other platforms so others can access you. Sessions can be recorded for future access or shared for easier collaboration on projects. Other notable video conferencing tools include Skype, Blue Jeans, Cisco Webex, and Microsoft Teams, just to name a few.

    6. Social Media Managers 

    As mentioned earlier, your business’s success online is also dependent in part on how well you connect with people on social platforms. The frequency of your posts, how long you take to respond to queries, and how engaging your social media posts will play a huge part in building your brand reputation and profitability. Therefore, social media management apps are a must-have, especially for small and medium businesses. Apps like HootSuite help you keep track of all the activity on your profile pages and handles, and you can even automate your posts as you manage your campaigns. Your activity on social media lets you reach a wider audience while also serving as a customer service tool.

    And there you have it. Succeeding as an online business takes some work, but it’s all worth the effort. It takes embracing technology and using it to your best advantage. The above are just a few tools you definitely need for a successful online business in 2020.