How customer voice
drives business

Eating out is a tradition as old as time–or at least as old as your grandparents. But technology in the modern restaurant is not. Adoption of new tech in the food and beverage industry has lagged behind other industries. Using software hasn’t traditionally been a part of the typical service industry skill set. F&B business owners may be worried about the cost of the system and training employees, or may not even be aware of what options are out there. There are many SaaS tools today that can help restaurateurs perfect their art, without being too expensive or complicated.  Online, subscription-based software has a lower upfront cost (it’s usually billed monthly). Software vendors understand that easy to learn, user-friendly interfaces and mobile accessibility are a requirement for the restaurant environment. Restaurant management tools are a great place to start when thinking about how to get those plates out of the kitchen fast. They are all-in-one systems that handle administrative tasks like scheduling, inventory, orders, payroll, and point-of-sale (POS) Outside of restaurant management tools, there are a host of tools that can help F&B businesses. Managers need to consider strategy when it comes to online marketing, loyalty programs, menus accounting, staff […]

The complexity of traditional Business Process Management (BPM) platforms has often meant that deployment fails to deliver the value originally anticipated – at least in the short term. In addition to complexity, there are very real obstacles to overcome. This is particularly true in terms of helping employees to see process automation as a way to remove time-consuming manual processes. The danger is that employees may find it difficult to abandon a broken process just because “that is the way it has always been done”. For these reasons, it is essential to build some early quick wins to build confidence and get buy-in. The following list of best practices has been found to greatly increase the likelihood of success of BPM projects. The key is to start small rather than trying to do too much too soon. 1. Plan Baby Steps While the ultimate goal is to have everyone in the organization adopt the BPM tool, you need to start off small. It could be a particular function in your organization. It could even be targeted at a specific workflow inside your department. For example, if you are targeting the human resource function, it is smarter to start with the recruitment […]

When it comes to sleek eye-catching print ads or TV commercials that make you want to dance, Apple has dominated the advertisement game. Their marketing campaigns have proved to be memorable, successful, and always seem to leave songs stuck in your head. These advertisements, however, are merely just the surface of their entire marketing strategy. Their strategy is one that runs deep, highlighting the product itself, not how to purchase it. Lessons to Learn from Apple There are many lessons to be learned from Apple’s unique approach to content and marketing. Their success does not just come from driving sales from direct marketing. In fact, much of their marketing strategy has a focus on customer loyalty, curiosity, and unique experiences. It’s safe to say that any company can learn a lot from Apple’s approach to marketing. Here are 10 lessons to learn from Apple and ways in which you can integrate these practices into your new marketing strategy. Courtesy of: The Website Group   Are you ready to adopt new “Apple-inspired” marketing tactics? Check out TrustRadius reviews for marketing automation software, content marketing software, or even video editing software to find the right tools to build out your new approach […]

As a manager, a call from HR can be one of the most stressful calls you receive if you’re not prepared.  Even though most managers have a better relationship with HR than, say, Michael Scott does, there are still phone calls no one wants to receive from HR.  Let’s look at five such calls, and how you can prepare for situations like these before they happen. 1. “You know Devon – as in Devon who you terminated two weeks ago?  We just got a letter from his attorney.” It’s easy for this kind of news to trigger an emotional response – What is he claiming?  How will I be implicated? – but try to keep your cool and focus on the facts. As you prepare, gather any documentation you have about the reason for termination, from poor performance to disciplinary action. Your HR Leader will require this documentation from you as they work closely with your legal counsel to address the situation. Never speak with the terminated employee or their attorney.  Even if Devon calls you directly, or his lawyer does, do not engage.  Let your HR Leader and your legal counsel speak for you. Don’t make any disparaging remarks about […]

Solid customer relationships are fundamental to your business success. That’s why choosing the best customer relationship management (CRM) solution is necessary. CRM platforms give your business customer-centric tools to harness healthy relationships and drive profit growth. The goal of using a CRM  is to offer a unified face to customers and provide them a great experience every time they interact with you. CRM software helps you find new leads, organize contacts, track and analyze customer interactions, and give you the tools you need to effectively engage with your client base. In 2018, CRM systems are table stakes for a smooth marketing, sales, and customer service operation. But you don’t want to pay for a complex CRM if you don’t have the resources to use it to its full potential. You also don’t want an overly simple CRM to hold you back from getting smarter about customer engagement. If you don’t have a CRM solution yet, or you’re looking to simplify (or upgrade) your current system, it’s time to investigate which options will best suit your business. Salesforce is one of the most well-known CRM solutions. We will take a look at what this software features and why it is popular. […]

In an age where inbound marketing has taken over, it is almost impossible to find a software or influencer who does not have a blog. It’s basically a requirement just to be on the Internet. When blogs abound, it can be difficult to sort through blogs that are merely throwing keywords at you and the gems that can actually inspire an ‘ah-ha’ moment. Some of the best blogs out there can help you grow your business exponentially. The B2B community has a wealth of information on digital marketing, SEO, modern sales techniques, and more. To access this information, we have put together a list of the top 14 blogs you should be following. These blogs offer plenty of useful content that can help you get started or advance your skills in your B2B company. The first 7 are personal and consulting blogs, followed by 7 software companies with blogs dedicated to the B2B space. B2B Personal and Consulting Blogs 1. Neil Patel’s Blog You don’t need to work in digital marketing long before you start hearing about Neil Patel. Neil Patel founded Crazy Egg and Hello Bar and has a reputation for testing everything while producing enough content to prove it. His […]

If you’ve spent any time in business you know about the importance of customer experience as a way to retain customers, reduce churn rates, and attract new customers. Similarly, in recent years top-performing companies have turned that kind of attention inwards. They’ve identified employee experience as a way to retain talent, make employees happy, attract new recruits, and ultimately be better at business. As a result, these top-performing organizations have started to dedicate significant resources to measuring and improving how engaged and happy their employees feel. Below we’ll explore why treating your employees with the same level of care as you do your customers benefits all parties involved. What is Employee Experience? A lot of people believe that employee experience (EX) is synonymous with corporate culture but that’s only part of it. According to author and speaker Jacob Morgan, there are three components that make up employee experience: culture, technological environment, and physical environment. In this trifecta that makes up your employee experience, the culture is defined by the values and everyday actions of everyone in the company; the technological environment is composed of all the internal communication tools your employees use to communicate with each other like (Slack or internal email […]

A powerful HR department is essential for your thriving business.   As businesses shift to become more mobile, agile, and global, more stress is being placed on HR teams. Employees expect an HR team who provides an amazing onboarding process, constant feedback and recognition, and timely attention to their needs. Not only that, but they expect their documents and timesheets to be digital, mobile and self-service. As an HR representative, it is easy to find yourself overwhelmed. Fortunately, this is where modern HR management software comes in. HR management software is no longer just about employee history, timesheets, and payroll. In fact, solutions now include all core HR functions plus talent management and integrations with other business tools. Modern HR management suites are where core HR operations and strategic HR programs converge. The options for equipping your HR department are endless. To help you get started, we take a look at one of the most classic HR providers: Zenefits. After we give you the low-down on this solution, we will explore alternative options available to you as well. Zenefits for HR Zenefits is online software built for the entire HR ecosystem. Since 2003, this platform has evolved to feature HR, […]

It’s a big question and if you find yourself in league with many marketers, one that is important to understand. A recent study conducted by Bizzabo found that 80% of c-suite executives believe that live events are crucial to their organization’s success. In this blog post we’ll walk you the various stages of event marketing and what it means for your brand. What is Event Marketing? Event marketing goes by many different names, including field marketing, experiential marketing, in-person marketing, and live event marketing. Whether it’s a thousand-person customer conference, an intimate VIP dinner for prospects, a street-side donut booth your brand sponsors, an internal company event to rally your team, or a roundtable discussion of an industry–event marketing is harnessing the power of person-to-person experiences to create unforgettable moments that drive business goals. It’s also just so happens to be one of the most effective channels for achieving business goals. Note: While event marketing can be associated with exhibiting or sponsoring an event in addition to hosting your own, we will focus on what it takes to create your own event during this piece. (Still, that’s not to say that many of the same takeaways don’t apply. They definitely […]

Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is simple. Businesses pay for ads to appear on search engine results pages, like Google, Facebook, Instagram, Bing, Yahoo and more. Every day, 3.5 billion Google searches take place. People are seeking information on all things, whether it be clothing brands, health products, or food delivery options. No matter your type of business, you need to appear in those top results. That’s where SEM comes in. Your ads are online and easy for potential customers to find. Ad retargeting makes SEM even more effective because it tracks who has visited your site and makes sure they see your ads again. Search Engine Marketing is necessary for your business to grow in today’s competitive climate. Google Ads, formerly known as Google AdWords, is one of the most popular choices for SEM and ad retargeting but that does not mean it is the only option. Here we take a dive into Google Ads and its competitors to see how they compare. A Glance at Google Ads Google Ads is one of the biggest pay-per-click online advertising platforms. It has formerly been well-known under its original name, Google AdWords. The platform itself is free to use and only charges businesses […]

The adoption of mobile device usage since 2011 is nothing short of a revolution. According to the Pew Research Center, more than 95% of Americans own a cell phone and 77% own smartphones. This is up from 35% in 2011. As our comfort with cell phones increases, so does our dependency. This past March, Pew reported that 26% of American adults go online “almost constantly” up from 21% in 2015. The vast majority of us (77%) go online daily, with 43% going online several times a day and 8% going online about once a day. Wide mobile adoption crosses multiple demographics. Americans ages 30 to 49 are now as likely as younger adults to use the internet almost constantly. Additionally, the share of “constant” internet users ages 50 to 64 has risen from 12% to 17% since 2015. This widespread adoption of mobile naturally has implications for the way we search for products and services in our professional lives. It also affects how B2B marketers can reach buyers. This constant connectivity provides new opportunities for marketers to connect with B2B buyers who consume and interact with online content at all hours of the day. The Modern B2B Shopper Research from […]

No matter what type of business you are in, time is money. Growing businesses need easier ways to track time and expenses. Today, instead of using spreadsheets or complicated invoice reporting, managing costs can be simple as opening an app on your phone. Both Time Tracking and Expense Management software have been instrumental in allowing freelancers and companies of all sizes to track their time, expenses, and analyze resulting profits easily. There is a substantial overlap in these two categories because time and expenses are not mutually exclusive. Time Tracking software is an instrumental tool for modern workspaces. Remote workers and staff who travel for meetings can sign in from anywhere. Firms that manage multiple projects can analyze how much time is being spent on each task and reallocate if needed. It’s additionally beneficial for the hard working freelancer who shouldn’t give away free hours to developing a project and for the employer who is worried about staff “stealing” time. Expense Management tools today make expense tracking easier for both employees and companies. Software enables employees to keep track of expenses on the go (like submitting receipt photos from mobile, for example), and gives businesses a more streamlined way to […]

Full disclosure: I was skeptical of Dropbox some years ago when I first heard about folks using it to back up their personal and professional data. Fast-forward to 2018 and my doubts seem quaint in retrospect, as I now constantly rely on cloud storage providers to secure my most important files and information. The rest comes from knowing a bit about what cloud storage is and how it works. As you probably know, cloud storage offers a slew of practical advantages over old-fashioned data storage via local drives. These include: Your data being available on various devices in various locations The ability to access, search, edit, and synchronize your data across devices at the push of a button or on an automated schedule The ability to support all the file types you use, including audio, video, text documents, and digital images Many cloud storage apps integrate with others to allow the easy sharing, editing, and playback of your data across platforms and devices Cloud storage solutions have much to offer anyone with data to manage. But many of their features are geared towards businesses rather than individuals. Security and admin features, for instance, are designed for companies where sensitive data […]

These days, small businesses and enterprises alike depend on software tools for everything from HR and management to customer engagement. Survey and form building tools can be extremely helpful to businesses of all shapes and sizes. Tools like SurveyMonkey let companies easily create and distribute surveys. Some companies may need a survey for internal purposes – to establish employee preferences for overtime, for example. Others may want to use a form building tool to engage with their customers and target audience, either to collect contact information or to conduct market research. The best survey and form building tools go beyond the creation and publication of surveys. They also let companies analyze survey responses and report on their findings. Some may even act as a comprehensive research platform for marketing, sales or HR departments. The most common use cases include customer satisfaction surveys, employee feedback surveys, and overarching research studies. Whatever the use case, these business tools should let users directly edit format, appearance, content/questions, design, logic, and flow. Most of the Top Rated tools listed below include the capability for analytics and reporting, integration with CRM or marketing tools, automated publication, and flexible admin permissions. SurveyMonkey is one of the […]

Big data is big capital in today’s tech markets. Technological advances that make it cheaper and easier than ever to store and process large quantities of digital information. Thanks to these advances, the analysis of big data, or data analytics, is a flourishing sector of the tech economy. Many products and services offered by tech companies rely on their collection and analysis of huge, complex data sets from increasingly diverse sources. Big data is conventionally defined in terms of the three Vs: a greater variety of data arriving in increasing volumes with ever-higher velocity. It is important to understand these three Vs a little more in depth. Why? In order to understand what big data companies have to offer and which ones to watch in 2018. 1. Variety Whereas traditional data was neatly structured, big data is unstructured or semi-structured, as from text, audio, and video sources. What this means is that these and other new data types require a preprocessing that traditional data did not. Data from sensors, tweets, encrypted packets, audio recordings, photographs, e-mail, books, presentations, and documents, and so on are all qualitatively different from one another. They do not all fit neatly or in the same […]

It’s 2018, and having an online presence is no longer optional for most businesses. From enterprises to small local shops, online content helps businesses connect with their target audience and keep up with current customers. There are a few elements to this – social media, for example, is often crucial for engagement and reviews. But at the core of moving online for most businesses is the use of a Content Management System, or CMS. A CMS is used to create, manage and publish web content. This includes websites, blog posts, e-commerce content, corporate information and more. Businesses can use a CMS as a basic blogging platform or a unified platform for their entire web presence. Depending on the platform, users can typically create content directly within the CMS. Some feature WYSIWYG editors, while others require at least some technical skill for uploading content, customizing the layout, and building out navigation. CMS platforms are critical for business success because they allow companies a structured and integrated approach to managing content across web pages. Most also let users personalize content, analyze demographics and optimize content. WordPress is one of the most widely used Content Management Systems out there today. In fact, WordPress […]

The war for talent is more intense than ever. Just when organizations are starting to adapt to the demands of millennials, their successors–Generation Z–are ready to stir up a storm. Satisfying these tech-savvy workers is notoriously tricky. Now, HR leaders aren’t just competing against other employers–they’re also battling demands from their potential recruits. Generation-based stereotypes are broad judgments, but there is often a lot of truth to the observations when it comes to recruiting and workplace culture. Younger generations demand convenience, and job-hopping doesn’t carry a stigma anymore–it is a way of life. If a role fails to fulfill their expectations, the next-generation workforce will gladly trade it in for another opportunity. HR staff move mountains to find qualified workers and hire them. Once new employees sign on, the grueling task of training and engaging them begins. Consequently,  one slip in this phase can invoke churn, dump all of HR’s efforts down the drain, and leave them back at square one with seats to fill. The truth is, nearly 56% of all new hires leave their job within the first year. 2017 saw a steep rise in employee turnover rates, and 2018 doesn’t look any better. Work Institute’s retention report […]

Every business faces the same challenge: to make a consistent profit while continually growing and improving customer satisfaction. The way businesses achieve this goal has changed in recent years, with software at the core of business success. Just like their customers, businesses are not looking for a solution that works. They are looking for the best experience possible. They are looking for a software solution that increases productivity, lowers cost, and improves the bottom line. This is where software-as-a-service (SaaS) comes in. “Companies have woken up to the fact that people want outcomes, not ownership. They want customized experiences, and they want continuous improvement, not planned obsolescence. This isn’t a software story anymore. The table stakes have been raised for every industry.” – Tien Tzuo Founder and CEO, Zuora SaaS companies like Salesforce, HubSpot CRM, and Zendesk have paved the way businesses of all sizes to strategically use software for business processes. Software giants like Microsoft, Amazon and IBM now focus a larger portion of their effort on SaaS products and offerings. The combination has translated into a business environment run largely using SaaS products. Even with the growth of software-as-a-service, some companies and business leaders are left wondering what […]

In this guide, we’ll give you insights on how to use Facebook to market your brand to a consumer audience. As the world’s most popular social network, and one that offers many tools for advertisers to personalize and measure their campaigns, Facebook is a powerful way for you to reach consumers. Here’s everything you need to know to get started with Facebook Ads. Why is Facebook a Good Tool for B2C marketing? Social Ads are a quick, effective, and inexpensive mode of reaching potential clients through highly personalized messages. Thanks to social networks’ large user data storage, social ads hold the potential for highly precise and targeted campaigns. With over 1.5 billion active users, Facebook offers an enormous potential reach, making it one of the most interesting social networks to leverage. It is also one of the most personalizable and visual options, all at a very low cost per click. For a successful B2C Facebook marketing strategy, follow these five basic steps: Understand the different types of ad placement Facebook offers. Define your goals for the ads—awareness, consideration, or conversion? Build your audience segments. Design and format your ads. Measure your results, and iterate! In the rest of the guide, […]

What are some of the strategies for a productive, successful conversation? No matter who we’re speaking with, or the circumstances surrounding a conversation – whether we’re speaking to a friend, asking for advice, or passing the time of day with a stranger – a conversation must convey relevance and value to both parties for it to continue. For modern buyers, that immediate and contextual relevance -receiving the right information at the right time – is now an expectation across digital interactions with brands too. It is a key aspect of buyer empowerment and decision-making. In fact, conversational inside sales and marketing techniques, such as live chat and intelligent chatbots, are playing a huge role right now in personalizing, humanizing, and building trusted relationships between buyers and organizations. However, it’s not all smooth sailing! From the buyer’s perspective, there’s still a lot of information out there. There is plenty to consider when looking for the right-fit solution – particularly in B2B. In fact, often there’s so much information that buyers experience analysis paralysis when they feel swamped by information overload and indecision. For a B2B sales leader today, finding a way to cut through the noise, and deliver that expected timely […]