Category: Run a Home Business

    How to Get Your Team on Board With Your New CRM System

    Getting your team to get on board with your new CRM system can sometimes be a tough challenge. It is not just a technological hurdle  it is a psychological one. People do not want to change their habits and they do not want to learn new things  especially when it takes them out of their comfort zone.

    You have to get your sales staff, customer service staff, and administrators excited about it. How do you motivate them? How do you get them to adopt your fancy new CRM system? Let’s dig into what you can do to speed things along. The faster you get your team using the new CRM system, the more the money you have spent is working for you.

    Let them know what you have in mind

    Be clear about the goals you are setting and why you are shifting to the new CRM system. If they are on the same page with you, then everyone will know why you are switching. It will be easier to make the change. Do not just tell them what to do. Tell them why they are doing it. Then, they will even come up with new ways of reaching the goals you are shooting for. Give them a crystal clear rationale. Make them understand in the simplest terms possible.

    Hold them accountable and stir up some competition

    It is important that you hold each person accountable. You do not want them to get away with making errors or using the software the wrong way. Track each user. Log everything everyone is doing. It will pay off in the long run. If they are not held accountable, they might not use it correctly. Empower them to use it the right way, too. Teach them how you want them to use it. Finally, set up a little competition. Reward the best people and encourage the others to keep going and do better next time.

    Demonstrate your results

    Look for every opportunity to highlight the good effects and positive performance that the CRM has generated. If you can showcase real results, your sales staff will be more likely to personally adopt the CRM. Once they like it, they will naturally do better at it. If they think they are getting somewhere by using it, they will want to use it a lot more, and that should help performance.

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    What is the Best Smartphone for Business?

    If you’re an avid businessman or woman and you need a new smartphone, or if you’re tasked with selecting a ‘company phone’ for your staff, then you might find yourself having something of an impossible task trying to choose which device will best suit your needs. These days there are hundreds of phone models on the market at any one time and all of them have impressive features that might make them seem like good candidates.
    Which phone then, if any, has the edge over the competition for a business setting?

    The Operating System
    While there are numerous different operating systems you can get for smartphones including Linux  the only two you really need to consider are iOS and Android. There was a time when many people were interested in Blackberry phones for business but unfortunately there just isn’t the app support necessary on this platform and the hardware leaves a lot to be desired.
    iOS and Android run the most impressive range of business applications and they are found on the most top-end hardware. So which one has the edge? Well, if you are a design business using Macs and you don’t need any proprietary software then you could probably choose either  with iOS having slightly smoother function all round. For many businesses though, the greater amount of flexibility that Android offers means that it will have the edge. Android lets you drag and drop files over USB for instance and it lets you create your own applications more easily.

    The Specs
    In terms of specs, you don’t need quite the same workhorse that you do for your main PC. That said, you do want something that will be capable of some basic multitasking and that will be able to run the best apps.

    Here the most important consideration might be the RAM. 2GB is the highest for most phones (with only very few going up to 3GB) so this should cater to most of your needs.
    What’s most important though is the screen size. If you’re going to work well on a mobile device you need to make sure that you can see a lot of the screen so that you can fit lots on all at once. The iPhone 6 Plus is famous for its large screen, while the Galaxy Note 4 and Nexus have a smaller screen.

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    The Power of Flow Charts and Checklists for Business Systemization

    In one study looking at the effectiveness of doctors and nurses, it was found that doctors would be far less liable to make serious mistakes (as would surgeons) when presented with a checklist by the nurses. This was an idea that many doctors were resistant to at first seeing it as them being ‘checked up on’ and constantly monitored when they considered themselves capable of working alone. In fact though, even the most experienced doctors were found to make fewer mistakes when following precise checklists which forced them to pay attention to the smaller details.

    Flow charts have exactly the same power. A flow chart is a fantastic tool for very quickly outlining a situation and then providing the very best course of action to get the preferred solution.
    In many ways a manager or a business owner will often work as a checklist and as a flow chart. Staff will come to them with problems and challenges and they will then reel off solutions and checklists that the team can follow.
    What this basically means then is that a boss can often systemize their business better and remove themselves as an integral part of the workflow, simply by using check lists and flow charts.

    Flow Charts for Dealing With Problems
    An example of how this might work could be in a car garage. If you ran an auto repair company, then often you would be using a mental flow chart to diagnose and solve car problems. You’d ask yourself, does this car have ‘X’ problem? Is it making ‘Y’ noise? Is it ‘N’ make and model?
    By writing this down as a flow chart, all you are effectively doing is giving lesser experienced staff the ability to come to the same conclusions you would. Likewise, checklists can ensure that as they are working on the problem, they will be able to avoid small mistakes.

    This way flow charts and checklists mean that you get asked more questions and are better able to work on your business rather than in your business. What’s more, it means that the process from start to finish will be systemized meaning that every customer will get the same level of care and attention and the same great treatment.

    What if your flow charts and checklists can’t do the job?
    Then you look into dealing with the problem. Otherwise though, you’ll be bothered much less and your business will practically run itself!

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    Three Project Management Tools That Aren’t Asana, Trello and Basecamp!

    When it comes to project management tools, Asana, Basecamp, and Trello are pretty much superstars. Each of these three has gained a lot of popularity and found a large number of users, and between them, they cover most requirements for a variety of different organizations and businesses.
    But while these three are all great, they are certainly not the only options available, and it’s worth the time to look at some of the competition, which may better suit your specific requirements. Here, we will look at some of the other big players available that aren’t one of those big three.

    Orchestra
    Orchestra has the ability to create tasks and lists of tasks and, then, to assign them to people or share them. Users can comment on tasks, mark them as done or started, and upload completed work. The app is beautiful, works flawlessly, and the whole experience really does feel like conducting an orchestra, only the players are typing on keyboards rather than playing trumpets.
    You can try out Orchestra for 30 days, and overall, it’s similar to PHPCollab with a little more polish.

    Flow
    Flow is a particularly well designed and beautiful project management tool. It allows you to plan projects with teammates and has the ability to add tasks, comment on them, assign them to other members, and more.
    An exciting feature coming to Flow that’s something pretty different from the competition is the Flow Concierge Service. This lets you assign simple tasks to personal assistants!
    The apps are attractive, and it only costs $99 a year for the full service.

    Google Docs
    Google Docs isnt really a project management tool, but that’s only because it does so much else. Actually, Google Docs has more than enough features to make it a great choice for managing projects. You can create spreadsheets, documents, presentations, and more, store them all online, and edit them in real-time.

    What’s more, Google Docs is completely free to use, it provides tons of storage for adding a range of files, and it’s something that everyone has access to. It’s nicely compatible with Microsoft Office, which makes a nice change for Microsoft and Google to be getting on together!
    There are a few small bugs, but other than that, this is a pretty powerful suite of tools for managing any project and it can certainly bail you out in a crisis!

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    How to Get A Lot More Out of Your CRM Software

    CRM software has been around for several decades now, and most businesses, even small business owners, know that it has amazing potential. It can streamline customer interactions, improve customer service, and free up your employees so they can do more important things.

    Unfortunately, most businesses do not get close to maximum value out of their CRM software. Even though so much thought has been into making CRM a game-changing solution, so many business owners just do not get maximum value out of their investment.

    Why does this happen?

    It happens for a number of reasons. From not choosing the right CRM solution to trying to force it to be the be-all-end-all of the business to making your employees use every unnecessary feature. A CRM solution can turn into a CRM problem in a hurry.

    How to Get the Most Out of Your CRM Solution

    #1. Keep It Clean

    CRM software can get messy really fast. Most CRM software solutions come with a lot of bells and whistles. Do not start off with every feature available – add in features and functions as needed. It will be a lot less of a headache for your employee base if you add different functions on a gradual basis

    #2. Keep it Sales-Focused

    CRM should be put in place for one main reason: To make your salespeople more productive. Add in the features, functions, and tools that will help your salespeople be more productive.

    #3. Keep it Rep-Focused

    Make sure that your CRM system is focused on making your customer service agents and sales representatives better at doing what they do best: managing customer interactions and generating more sales. It is important that you focus on making your reps be the best they can be at what they do. Make your CRM system as rep-focused as possible. The more you pare own and strip down the CRM software to that end, the better off your company will be.

    The bottom line: It all boils down to keeping things clean and focused. If you can do that, your business will grow by leaps and bounds. Too many business owners and middle managers do not set up their CRM software correctly to ensure they get the maximum value out of their CRM software. Their employees end up carrying a burden, and their sales do not skyrocket.

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    Top Uses of a Smartphone for a Business User

    If you are a business user and you have a smartphone, then there are lots of different things you can use your device for that will help you to get more work done, to improve your workflow and to generally enhance your productivity. Read on and we’ll look at some of the very best of them.

    Taking Notes
    Whether you’re on the move or you’re sitting at your computer, sometimes it’s useful to be able to take notes wherever you are. A great way to do this is with a smartphone, especially one with an app like Evernote that will keep your notes on the cloud for you to access online later. Alternatively, you can take voice notes, or even use the camera to capture things that are happening around you when you don’t have time to input information in any other way.

    Working on the Move
    Stuck on the train? Then you can actually get quite a lot of work done on your phone as long as you know how to find the right apps. An example of a great app for working on the move is Office365 for instance which is essentially the whole of Microsoft Office in a mobile format. If you run a website meanwhile, then the WordPress app is one of the most useful things you’ll be likely to find!

    Streaming Your PC
    Need to do something else on the move and can’t do it on your phone? Then consider using an app like ‘Splashtop Remote’. This lets you stream your desktop so that you can operate it remotely. The framerate is a little laggy but if you need to send yourself a file from the office or something then this is still incredibly helpful.

    Extending Your Screen
    Another interesting thing you can do with an Android or smartphone is to extend your screen so that you can do more at once. Either you can load up webpages and look at them next to your monitor for easier multitasking, or you can use apps that let you literally turn your phone into another computer display.

    Organization
    Perhaps the best way to utilize your smartphone in a business setting though is as a way to organize your information. Organizing contacts of course is very helpful but just as useful is having Google Calendar in your pocket so that you can get notifications wherever you are in the world!

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    The Top Personal Project Management Apps

    Project management does not just apply to businesses. Anyone who works on any kind of project on will sometimes find that they feel like they’re juggling too many balls at once. Having a way to lay out everything that needs to be done in one place can be extremely helpful.
    This is why you’ll find many people, who definitely aren’t project managers, still using software like Trello. Here, we will look at which of these tools is the best suited to personal use.

    Trello
    Trello is a great project management tool for individuals because of the smart interface it utilizes. This is a very visual and touch-friendly tool that lets you add cards to boards. Essentially, it works like a to-do list but with the ability to easily drag cards around, add due dates, and assign tasks to multiple people, which could be useful in case you ever do collaborate. You can have multiple boards for different projects, and all in all, it’s a pretty elegant and dynamic system.

    OneNote
    Evernote gets a whole lot of love, but OneNote is more powerful than a lot of people realize. It’s great for taking notes, but it’s also a very useful personal planner and project management tool. Just create notebooks for each of the tasks you have coming up, and then, add separate pages for the subtasks.
    OneNote also works particularly well when you combine it with OneTastic and OneDrive. And it’s brilliant if you have Microsoft Surface Pro 3, in which case, you can click the pen tip to launch it and jot down notes on the move.

    Todoist
    Todoist is an online to-do list that allows you to set due dates, categories, projects and more. At its most basic, you can add daily tasks here such as wash jacket for tomorrow, but if you want to get more advanced, you can create to-do lists pertaining to specific jobs and much more. In other words, it can easily be scaled up to become a full personal project management system.

    Azendoo
    Azendoo is another lesser-known project management tool. It does have some emphasis on teams and collaboration, but if you ignore this, it’s still a great personal tool. It basically feels like taking post-it notes and attaching them around the screen and is perfect for planning a pet project. It also syncs up with Google Drive, Dropbox, and more.

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    Every Small Business Needs a CRM Solution

    Small business owners might think that Customer Relationship Management or CRM is just for bigwigs and head honchos who run mega corporations.

    It’s not for the little guy, right? Wrong. CRM can benefit a small business in several ways, and it can help them grow their small business into a big business.

    Give yourself an advantage early on

    Half of new small businesses fail within the first six months, and part of the problem is small business owners are not managing their contacts well enough. They think they will only need CRM when their client list grows to a certain threshold – that’s a rookie mistake. What they should be thinking is that with CRM they will maximize the follow-up, repeat order rate, and word-of-mouth of their existing customer base.

    Furthermore, they might not even realize how much of a drain it is on their time and energy to update a spreadsheet or basic database manually. Even if they think it’s a breeze  and actually enjoy doing it chances are they could be spending their time on more productive things. The tedious upkeep of updating, maintaining, and understanding customer interactions can add up to a lot of time and effort they could be using elsewhere.

    The price isn’t so bad.

    Small business-friendly tools, software, services, sites, and service subscriptions are not expensive. They can be, but most subscriptions are under $30/month and some are as low as $15/month.

    2 major objections hold small businesspeople back
    Sadly, many small businesspeople say they are good just the way they are, and they do not need to change. They may have a narrow mindset, and it won’t lead to growth. They need to break through their mindset and try a real CRM solution. Use it enough, and they will see how much more efficient, aware, customer-focused, and profitable it makes their business.

    Another objection small businesspeople have to CRM software is that they cannot get a custom solution. They think it’s just mass market-ready for big old companies that have different objectives and concerns.

    Those objections are the most common, but there are loads more. It’s hard to get people to change. But there is really no excuse. Software-as-a-Service makes it simple for any small business to adopt a CRM system.

    There are many benefits of adopting a CRM system. Small business can maximize the traffic, leads, and customers they do have and turn their business into a big business!

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    The Very Best Productivity Apps for Business Owners

    If you are looking to be more productive with your smartphone then good news  there’s an app for that!
    In fact there’s about a billion apps for that, which is kind of a problem when time is money and you don’t have the luxury of trying them all. Read on then and we’ll look at some of the best apps on the market right now for helping you to be more productive and to get more done.

    Google Drive (Android, iOS)
    Not only is Google Drive a great app for storing your files on the cloud but with access to Google Docs you also get a full office suite for editing them on the go. This is really handy if you’re working on a spreadsheet remotely and you want people in the office to see the live changes.

    Dropbox (Android, iOS)
    Dropbox is a cloud sharing app that gives you lots of space and makes it very easy to access your files.

    Splashtop Remote (Android, iOS)
    Working on the go and find you left an important file in the office? Splashtop Remote is thankfully on hand and will allow you to access your desktop and stream it through your device. The framerate’s not always the best but if you’re not watching movies that’s hardly a problem. Another alternative is TeamViewer.

    Mobile Office365 (Android, iOS)
    Sometimes you need to access the real thing and nothing will substitute for Microsoft Office. Fortunately there’s now this mobile version, though you will need a subscription.

    Kingsoft Office (Android, iOS)
    If you’re looking for a free alternative to Mobile Office365, then Kingsoft Office is a great choice with all the features you’d expect.’

    Multiscreen Multitasking THD (Android)
    If you need to write an article that is based on something you’re seeing online, or if you need to compare two web pages side by side, then Multiscreen Multitasking THD will allow you to do that with small resizable, draggable apps built onto a larger desktop.

    Evernote (Android, iOS)
    Evernote is a great note taking app that will let you capture your ideas then view them elsewhere.

    WordPress (Android, iOS)
    The WordPress app is incredibly useful if you run a WordPress site and will let you handle pretty much every aspect of running your website remotely!

    Google Analytics (Android, iOS)
    For tracking your site’s performance on the move, this is incredibly handy.

    Of course there are many more, which ones did we miss?

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    The First Step to Systemizing a Business

    What do you think when you hear the term ‘biz systemization’? This is one of those ‘buzz words’ that’s flying around a lot at the moment, but what does it really mean?
    Ultimately, business systemization means making your business more efficient to the point where it is capable of running without your input and where it will be better designed to deal with challenges and obstacles. Biz systemization then allows you to either step back and loosen the reigns, or it allows you to expand and take on more challenges.
    So what does business systemization look like? How do you begin? It all begins with a single step.

    Analysis and Reflection
    The first step towards biz systemization is to analyze and assess your current systems and how they are working. You will be powerless to make any effective change to the way your business runs if you don’t recognize the systems that are already in place and if you aren’t able to find the stress points that are slowing your business down.
    This initially requires something of a shift in the way you are thinking about your business. Here, your organization itself can be thought of as a kind of ‘master system’ which is made up of much smaller parts.
    You can demonstrate this as a flow chart. So say your business deals with web design, you might have a simple flow chart for your main input > output system that represents your business as a whole.

    This might look as follows:
    Client Gives Instruction > Time Invested in Site Design > Profit > Marketing

    A good business model like this should ultimately loop back to the start so that you are perpetually gaining new clients and customers and starting new projects for more profits.
    But each of these systems can be broken down into smaller systems and contingencies.

    For instance, ‘time invested in site design’ might mean another flow chart, like this:
    Initial Meeting and Discussion > Moodboard > Second Meeting > Wireframes > Initial Construction > Feedback > Refinement > Launch

    You could then break down the ‘Initial Meeting and Discussion’ further and on and on.

    Once you’ve done this, you can then assess each of the miniature systems and look at how much time they’re taking and whether they could and/or should be more efficient. What is taking longer than it should do? What is taking up too many resources? And what other systems are in place as contingencies should everything not go to plan?

    Once you find yourself asking these questions, you have truly begun the process of biz systemization!

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