Entry Software Corporation

Entry

Archives for January 2018

How to Optimize Your Business Dashboards

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W. Edwards Deming once stated, “You can’t manage what you can’t measure.” This very true when one is looking to increase their company’s work efficiency. In the workplace, there is a lot on the go and for managers especially, it can be difficult to determine “What is succeeding?” and “What needs to be improved?”. Although, with the assistance of project management dashboards, many managers can easily access analytics based on their team’s operational efficiency.

Being able to measure and visually see key areas in your business, you can analyze what areas are performing well and some that need work. Identifying where your company is lacking in projects, allows managers to evaluate the problem, which can ameliorate these areas. Dashboards are definitely a needed asset that serves many benefits to a business. Ultimately, the big question is “How can you maximize this software, so it helps your company in the most useful way?”.

Many times, businesses do not choose the right key performance indicators (KPI) which can lead to useless information collected, allowing no insight on what needs to be improved and what projects are progressing well. To avoid this hassle, you must choose the correct KPI’s that will help give the right data to quantify the progress of the success of the business. This can be done by, first, identifying the goals and objectives your business wishes to accomplish. Example- Decrease customer service calls, by improving the online help centre. Next, you must choose which factors will present information on how well you are acceding these objectives according to the data scale. These are known as Critical Success Factors (CSF), and focus on how a business plans to achieve their objectives. To add to our example CSF’s could include the number of visits on the help centre website or the number of calls to customer service lines. Once this is done, KPIs will collect useful data and analyze the effectiveness of the activities and whether your company was successful at its objectives.

You now have very well collected data from your objectives, based on a timespan that fits your company’s needs, this can be either: daily, weekly or maybe monthly. Managers need to organize their dashboards, picking the best visual representation of the data. You can pick from a variety of options: graphs, tables, charts or gauges. This can express daily business achievement; plotting the data collected. Managers can analyze these visuals and pinpoint the areas that are not doing as well. To utilize this data in a beneficial way, managers can hold weekly meetings with their teams discussing their weekly performance. This helps visually and vocally communicate to you and your workers what is going well and what needs work. Here the workers can communicate to one another the reasons they may be not achieving the set objectives and brainstorm solutions to improve the negative data and change it to positive data. Managers should encourage their teams to go above and beyond, to motivate them to continue succeeding in the areas they are performing well while trying to turn around the negative trends shown in the data.

If you can manage to accomplish the previous requirements you’re on the way to improving your business and have optimized your project management dashboard. Dashboards help calculate the data analyzing how well your business is doing in key areas. This is crucial information that can help grow a business to higher success. It also helps managers see where the company is lacking and allows them to gather with teams to calculate a solution as to how they can improve their drawbacks. Overall, dashboards are very valuable to businesses, especially when they’re utilized in the best way!

Which Help Desk Suits Your Business Best?

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With the technological direction, modern business have been moving towards, a push for organization and customer service solutions through software has been made. The most common form of connecting the business to customers and business to itself is through help desk software. The main goal of a help desk is to connect everyone to one central point for various purposes: customer communication, voicing questions comments or concerns etc. Depending on the business, a certain type of help desk is required. Not all software offer the display of information suited for the business such as banks wanting to keep their online access safe for each individual and merchandisers will have forums for frequently asked questions to be answered.

Web Helpdesk Software

Web helpdesk software is the most commonly viewed form of helpdesk. It allows customers to connect with the business or the business to connect with the customer to be able to contact them for inquiry. Customers can discuss their questions or concerns through the designated “customer feedback” section. The business receives and categorizes the question from the customer and is sent to the business’ customer service team to be addressed. Businesses can contact the customer to inquire feedback about their experience with their product or service. An interaction between the two entities can come through email, text message, social media etc.

On-Premises Helpdesk Software

On-premises help desk software is an enclosed system for connecting the business to the customers. By having an enclosed system, the customer and the business have web pages that can only be seen by the parties involved. This is done by having business host internally so the information remains safely within the business. This system is safe but expensive as a computerized system needs to be installed within the business to function. This can be seen in financial-management businesses such as PayPal or various online banking applications. When viewing your account with pin numbers, balances and other account information, you and the business are the only ones with access to this information, thanks to on-premises help desk software!

Enterprise Helpdesk Software

Enterprise help desk software is programs instated to connect all aspects of the business to an easily traversable map. Each employee is also a user of the software; the data they generate or collect is automatically categorized and displayed to other users. This way, the business is able to see the progress of projects, workloads of users and generation analytics and reports, among much more. A software of this type is essential for a large business that needs to smooth communications between their numerous employees. Finally, enterprise help desk software allows the business to scale to any size!

Open-Source Helpdesk Software

These have been around since the beginning of the online connection. Often referenced as “forums”, open-source helpdesk software is an avenue of answering customer questions or concerns through community channel. This means anyone, whether they are connected to the company or a regular Joe, can offer assistance to the customer about their comment. This is an easy and financially efficient way of offering customer support, the tradeoff being suggestions by other customers may be false. However, with the implementation of a rating system, reoccurring concerns will be addressed correctly.

Cloud-Based Helpdesk Software

Cloud-based help desk software allows any user connect anywhere in the world. Whereas in an on-premises help desk software is in-house and is maintained by the business, cloud-based help desks software allow the business to build and run their help desk without maintaining the servers. It is also open for anyone from anywhere to connect and use the help desk as the servers are international.

With all of these different types of help desks, it is important to understand the market your business is in and understand which type will best suit your business best.

Four Ways to Increase Your Business’ Revenue

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Sometimes, the amount of business’ revenue you are is generating may not be enough to sustain you and your employees. There are many reasons why you need to generate revenue, whether you want to relocate operations, making an important and costly purchase, or just keeping up with your business’ day-to-day expenditures. Whatever your reason, do not fret, it’s possible to boost revenue and here’s how:

1. Raise Prices

Price raises are one of the most common ways to generate more revenue, however, they need to be done strategically. Try your best to avoid a dramatic increase in price as it will turn customers away because your products or services will become financially unrealistic for customers to purchase. When raising prices, the concept of supply and demand needs to be considered. It makes more sense to increase the cost of a product or service that has a higher demand. If the demand for an item is high, the price increase will generate more revenue for your company. Therefore, there a few ways you can go about raising prices. The first strategy is raising the price slightly on a product that your business has been selling successfully. The second way is advertising to your customers, via email that your prices will be going up soon. Make it known that they will only have a limited amount of time to purchase the product at a lower price. This can boost revenue because customers will always get sucked into buying a product if they think they’re getting a deal.

2. Increase Promotion Usage to Attract Additional Purchases

Promotions are any form of communicating your product to a potential customer to entice them to purchase your product or service. Simply putting your product or service out there through advertisement can entice people who have not heard of your product or service to surface and purchase it. Additionally, providing promotions such as discounts, sweepstakes or rewards will also entice new customers. You may be thinking, “Why would I promote if everyone that wants to try it has already tried it?” While this may be true, there are many shoppers who cannot afford or do not have enough interest in certain products or services at its current price and wait for to go on sale to purchase. You can communicate promotion through emails, social media, ads, flyers or on-site locations.

3. Increase the Average Transaction Size

The average transaction size is the average amount of products that are bought by each person during a transaction. Increasing the average amount of products your customers are purchasing directly increases revenue. The key to this is recommending and suggestion products for the customer to purchase. For example, if a clothing store is trying to raise their average transaction size, the business can offer clothing suggestions that would go with the ones the customer has already picked out. If the store is online, there can be product suggestions based on what the customer has already chosen, similar to Amazon’s “frequently bought together” section.

4. Increase the Frequency Of Transactions Per Customer

When a customer is buying more frequently, it an is extremely beneficial for your company’s revenue. An avenue to increase the number of transactions per customer is by setting up a points system. For example, a points system entails the following: when a customer buys a product they get “x” amount of points for that item. If the customer accumulates enough points over a certain amount of time, they get a reward such as a discount or free product. A points system can act as a motivation for customers to spend more money and therefore increase your revenue!

Whatever your reason is for increasing revenue, it’s possible when using these methods. You can choose one or combine multiple. As long as the methods mentioned above are used correctly and are carried out with thought and effort, you’ll be making more revenue in no time!

Everything You Need To Know About Customer Service

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“Hello! Welcome to our company, what can I do for you?” These few words of introduction, depending on how they are spoken, will either make a great first impression or a worst on the customer. Customer service is crucial if you want any business to thrive. It does not matter whether you are located online or in a store, the way you deal with customers will greatly impact your business. The only difference is for online, you’ll find yourself dealing with customers virtually, through email, or calling; as to the store where you’ll be face to face with a customer. No matter how you run your business, the same tactics for great customer service will apply!

In order to have solid customer service, you will need to acquire a few skills. Firstly, patience. There is nothing worse than talking to customers and not giving them the time and patience they deserve. There will always be the customers that are not always kind when dealing with employees. In some cases, customers may talk for a long period of time complaining or explaining their issue, which may become irritating to the employee. Now, taking the time to think about how to analyze the problem, can not only give the customer the feeling of being valued but also allows the employee to respond in a way that is beneficial to the business.

Another quality of good customer service is knowing your business. When a customer asks about a product or service that your company offers, there should not be any “I’m not sure” or clueless looks or silent air time. When talking about a big company that has multiple departments, transferring the customer to someone with the extensive knowledge will assure the customer is informed.

One of the most important skills is communication and positivity. A customer service team that shows great communication skills such as eye contact, gestures, good tone of voice and confidence, shows that you care about what the customer has and want to help. When speaking face to face, 55% of what you mean is in your body posture, 38% of what you mean is in your tone of voice and only 7% of what you mean is contained in words. Talking on the phone or in person; no matter which one it is, using different tones of voice shows you are interested in the conversation and shows value to the customer. Staying positive, even in tough situations, can relax the customer and settle them down. If you are in a situation where a customer is yelling or upset, keeping the conversation positive will help bring the issue down.

These skills come naturally to some people! Although, there is always room for improvement especially with customer service, which is why training and workshops can help boost your customer service at your company. Training sessions can help your employees learn what to do in difficult situations. As well teach/refresh them on the skills required to keep a high customer service. Workshops can set up real-life scenarios and help the employees feel and learn what it is like to be in very different situations. Investing in customer service training allows for better success in the future!

Lastly, companies can be overwhelmed by the number of customers. In these cases it usually takes more time to respond to customers, making them unhappy. Using customer service software can help dramatically organize the wave of customers. There are many software products now created to help companies manage customer service. Ticketing systems are one way that this software helps, by highlighting the key issues in an easily organized list. This helps employees and managers categorize issues and their significance for the business. These software applications can also provide calendars showing assigned tasks, and tasks needed to be completed; helping managers see who is dealing with what, and what other issues need to taken care of. Customers do not like to be kept waiting. Using ticketing software can help your employees stay on top of issues, and get to all their customers in an organized and quick manner.

Customer service is crucial from a business standpoint. Employees need to know how to engage properly and solve issues that may arise with customers. Training programs and workshops can help achieve this! Software apps are also offered that can assist the company with staying on top of issues, with an organized and less chaotic way. Treating your customers like gold will help keep your existing customers, but also bring in new ones. If a customer is satisfied with the way they were treated, they will talk about it and spread the word. Although, it can go the other way too as well. Let the word get around positively…and that can be done with the help of the assets mentioned throughout this article!

Inexpensive Acts Your Customers Will Appreciate

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Customers come in all shapes and sizes, and that includes different personalities. Despite some of the hassles they may cause, they are a reason your business has become what it is. Many companies show appreciation to their customers, by offering free gifts on their next purchase. From a customer perspective, this is amazing! However, there are also inexpensive acts that make your customer feel special, without draining your budget.

Solid, Consistent, Customer Service

Customers want to feel appreciated and valued while doing business with you, and this can start with just having great customer service. Simple things like having the right people answering the phone, positively acting as the face of your company can boost your customer service dramatically. Training your employees to comprise the needed customer service skills will show a huge difference in your customer relationships. Positive and attentive attitudes are very important and will show that your employees care about your customers. Perfecting this area of service can quickly show positive relationships with customers, costing you little to nothing extra.

Start a VIP or Affiliate Club

VIP or affiliate clubs can not only give the customer exclusive deals or discounts, but it also motivates them to continue to purchase or direct new business to your company. They can be designed however you see fit; although they usually include a points system, depending on how much customers have purchased, or how long they have been a customer. Customers can gain points they can redeem on items such as purchase discounts. This way the customer has to be invested in your company before they begin to get discounts.

Personal Emails

The little things people do sometimes have the biggest impact on someone’s perception. Sending emails designed uniquely to customers let them know how much their service means to the company. Other email subjects such as wishing them a happy holiday can add a personal relationship with your customer. Allowing this, makes the customer feel special because it’s not just a spam email that’s sent to everyone. It shows that the company took time to that specific customer and show you care.

Social Media Callouts or “Shoutouts”

Social media has grown over the past decade and is now the main way the world communicates to one another. Some including Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, or Instagram. Companies take to these social media to advertise their product or service and connect with their customers. Another inexpensive way to appreciate a customer is to directly communicate with them on a social media page. This can be done by writing a sincere tweet, Instagram or Facebook post including a little about them, a picture and why they are valued.

The little things that are done can sometimes be the most impactful. Customers are very important to your company and should be shown appreciation for their time invested. Beginning with overall customer service, having the trained employees deal with customers with the correct skills such as respect, listening, and patience can display extreme value towards the customer. Once the company has customer service down, they can start reaching out to new ways to appreciate their customers. Maintaining good relationships with customers, by making them feel valued, will get your company name noticed in a positive way, benefiting the company dramatically.

Tone of Voice Matters in Customer Service

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Communication has always played an important role in our lives. Whether it’s through technology or actual words; our tone of voice when we speak, the facial expressions or hand gestures used to express ourselves are very important. For example, when you call a customer service line, sometimes you’re greeted with an unpleasant tone of voice, it makes you feel as if the employee doesn’t want to speak to you. Which can leave you questioning if you’re a valued customer. On the other hand, if the employee answers the phone with an enthusiastic tone of voice, it’ll make you feel more welcome and valued. When dealing with customers, tone of voice is crucial because it can either make or break a deal. Here are a few common problems related to an employees tone of voice and customer dissatisfaction.

1. Bad Attitude

An employee having a bad attitude can be one of the main reasons customers don’t feel appreciated. Imagine calling a customer service hotline and the employee sounds extremely rude and disinterested in what you have to say. It can be disheartening and even offensive towards the customer. As the owner of a company, it can be frustrating to know that your employees are the ones breaking sales instead of making them. A way to fix this problem is finding employees who are passionate about their work. Choose employees who have a positive attitude towards their work and who can always make an effort to care about the satisfaction of customers by talking to them in a delighted, happy tone. Remember, your tone of voice matters immensly.

2. Boredom

If your employees are taking calls day in and day out, repeating the same tasks over and over again, their job is bound to get boring. Once an employee gets bored, they start to lose interest in the task at hand. This can be a major problem when it comes to calling customers. The employee’s tone of voice can start to sound monotone, making the customers dissatisfied because the employee should value them more. A way to fix this is allowing employees to mix things up in their work environment. As an employer, you should keep things exciting for your employees, such as rewarding whoever works the best with a free coffee. This will keep things interesting and add a little variety and competition into their day, which will hopefully lead them to take calls with a positive attitude.

3. Inadequate Training

An employee may have a less than satisfactory tone of voice on the phone because they haven’t been trained properly to have a professional conversation. The employee may be nervous or unsure of what to do, what to say or how to adjust their tone of voice to accommodate the customer. Employees shouldn’t be blindly put up with such a big task without sufficient training because learning how to communicate properly with others requires constant training. In order to train your employees to use the proper tone of voice when communicating with others, you could invest in a sales communications trainer in order to ensure a proper tone of voice and customer satisfaction.

4. Scripts

Many customer service hotlines use guidelines for the employee to understand how to communicate with customers. However, these are just guidelines. When guidelines turn into scripts and the employee is following a word for word format, their tone of voice and choice of words will sound robotic. Customers love to feel valued and having a personal connection with them is key, when scripts are involved, an employee will sound like a recording and disinterested from the conversation, instead of being personalized. A way to fix this is to strictly use guidelines as guidelines, instead of a script, so the conversation can sound much more personal.

Conclusion

An employees tone of voice can influence how valued the customer feels and whether they will be purchasing your product or service in the future. Hopefully, these flaws and errors regarding the customer service industry can help you fix or enhance your customer service in the future!