StartupNation

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• 4 Reasons to Consider Outsourcing Your Sales Support
• A Beginner’s Guide to Business Success in the Metaverse 
• Build on Metrics by Designing Effective Focus Groups
• Do These 8 Things to Save Your Startup Money in 2022

4 Reasons to Consider Outsourcing Your Sales Support Posted: 26 Jan 2022 09:00 PM PST Sales representatives are responsible for boosting the company's profits, and it can be a daunting task. Because of this, sales support takes some of this burden off their backs. Having sales support may not directly improve sales, but it has a positive impact on operations. Additionally, representatives can concentrate on improving their performance. The roles of sales support vary from company to company. Sales support can involve product training, lead generation and market communication. Their roles can also include reaching out to customers to gather their feedback. Businesses can choose to hire their employees or outsource these functions. Sales support can get into the nitty-gritty details of a client's business so that the representative can use it during a call. They can also provide a deeper knowledge of the company's products and services to help with operations. Sales support can also involve advertising, marketing, creating campaigns, etc. 5 Areas of Your Business You Should Be Outsourcing The benefits of outsourcing sales support Cut costs Aside from the lower wage requirements that third-party providers have, you can cut costs via different avenues when you outsource. The following are factors that can help your business save money through outsourcing: Rent and space. You don't need to provide an office for more employees because this responsibility falls on outsourcing companies. As a result, you don't need to rent a bigger commercial space to cater to more employees. Outsourced employees have their equipment. It can either be provided by the company you hired or by freelancers. Often, these employees have enough experience and are already established in their field that they have all the requirements to perform the job well. Hiring employees, acquiring the technology and spending several months for training—these are heavy investments. Outsourcing companies do all these processes for you. Because of this, your business can save a lot of time, money and effort—all while having the best professionals in your team. Scalability and flexibility The prospect of scalability is an event that businesses must prepare for as they grow. Without a scalability plan, the business may not be able to handle growth, especially in sales. Hence, businesses need to be scalable to keep up with changes in profit margins, sales, demand, etc. More than just scaling up the number of employees, outsourcing helps your team to become more adaptive to change. Outsourcing companies have resources that monitor analytics, sales, stock, and other numbers to help you improve your operations. Sales support and sales representatives are equipped with information to ensure that they can make and close deals. Since they already have the resources and the expertise, your team can work through any hurdles that your business may face. Outsourcing also reduces the risk of falling behind when the business is growing faster than what you have anticipated. Businesses can also cope better since outsourcing guarantees that professionals are handling the sales operations. Another, having a professional and experienced outsourcing partner that can adapt quickly to the processes and policies of the organization they are partnering with in terms of required skills and background, will pave the way for business growth. Access to more talent and resources Outsourcing gives you access to talents all over the world. The large talent pool provides your company with employees that meet your qualifications and needs—no matter how high the standards are. At the end of the day, outsourcing assures you that the people who are trying to make and close deals for you are professionals. Outsourcing companies know how to hire the best people who can compete in the global market. Their adequate training, available equipment, and expertise guarantee the agility and flexibility of your company. These characteristics increase business continuity which allows the company to cope with any change it may face. Plus, your business will be introduced to the latest tools and software that can properly provide the support your business needs for your sales operations such as database management, lead generation, and more. 24/7 services As you go global, you can put time differences to your advantage. Outsourcing companies can have branches all over the world. As such, they can have employees working around the clock. Sales representatives and support can work for your company 24/7, and they can tap into new markets. Because of this, they can extend your company's reach to different parts of the world. The business can have more opportunities for growth while challenging itself to thrive on a global scale. Having a 24/7 service also gives full support for sales, orders and other business functions. Availability of this support is important to build customer loyalty and increase sales, especially when the business is at its peak. Minimizing outsourcing risks Of course, while outsourcing sounds like a smart move for many businesses in general, all business decisions involve risks, even outsourcing. Every business must determine the scope of its outsourcing in the first place to make sure all its goals and efforts align with its potential outsourcing partner. Also, to further minimize concerns and problems and in the long run, companies should be aware of all the common risks when it comes to outsourcing. From small technicalities such as unmet deadlines and/or language/cultural barriers, to ones as complicated as sharing sensitive and confidential information with your chosen outsourcing partner, businesses should always consider these factors if they are willing to outsource their operations. Outsourcing is great for your business Outsourcing provides several benefits for a business—and it's not limited to sales support alone. These benefits could reach different areas of the company where you might need a little helping hand. With digitization and competition rising faster than ever, outsourcing could be the best business strategy you could adopt. It's a good investment, and it's cost-effective. Your business can save on time, money, effort and resources while seeing the best results. By having access to a wide range of talent and expertise, your business can become more flexible, agile, and scalable. And you should know, these are all characteristics that guarantee the growth and survival of a business. StartupNation exclusive discounts and savings on Dell products and accessories: Learn more here The post 4 Reasons to Consider Outsourcing Your Sales Support appeared first on StartupNation.

A Beginner’s Guide to Business Success in the Metaverse  Posted: 26 Jan 2022 09:00 PM PST There's no hiding from it: The metaverse is coming, and it's on track to disrupt the world of business as we know it. Championed by newly rebranded Meta (formerly Facebook), the metaverse will be a network of 3D, 360-degree immersive and interactive micro-worlds. These digital spaces are where we will buy products, consume media,  learn new skills, socialize and play in avatar form. Naturally, businesses are looking to get ahead of the curve and stake their place in the alternate reality; giants such as Walmart, Sony and Manchester City FC are quietly preparing to win over customers and fans with digital-first products and experiences. So as a business owner and/or leader, you might be excited by the wealth of opportunities that the metaverse will bring. But it's just as likely that you're apprehensive, underconfident or just completely confused about what this latest era of tech evolution means for you and your enterprise. I'm passionate about making the metaverse as inclusive and accessible as possible so that everyone can benefit from the opportunities it has to offer. That's why I've put together this introductory guide for fellow entrepreneurs. Read on to learn about the simple ways that any business can harness the potential of the metaverse to support employees, connect with customers and drive success. Explore new avenues to connect with customers  You already know that to win new customers and retain existing ones, businesses need to demonstrate adaptability, relatability and relevance. So when customers are getting excited about the metaverse and shifting (some parts) of their lives into virtual spaces, companies must follow suit. Excitingly, the creation of a whole new world means a whole new world of marketing opportunities. The challenge here is working out exactly how you're going to catch the eye of new leads in the metaverse. This could look like sponsoring virtual events that your ideal customer plans to attend, branding the spaces they will inhabit, or creating your own immersive adverts to feature on streaming and video sharing platforms. Ambitious companies could take things one step further by building their own virtual experiences, exhibitions or games for new and existing customers to engage with in a playful or unique way. Bonus points for those who can encourage users to interact with their product or get excited by their brand narrative in these virtual environments. Importantly, don't panic about your own lack of tech development skills or understanding. You could consider partnering with a specialist agency, exploring low-code platforms or even hiring a developer with the relevant experience. Deliver engaging virtual events  For businesses looking for a reliable way to engage customers, clients, prospective hires and current staff, the hosting of a live event has always been an option with a strong track record of success. But now, in the metaverse, hosting live events can be much easier, more cost effective and more impactful. From panel discussions and conferences to master classes and hackathons, virtual live events are free from the restrictions of budget, time, space and geography that their in-person cousins face. The creation of new virtual events platforms mean that organizations can create fully branded live streams and webinars at the click of a button. Content can also be simultaneously streamed across multiple social media channels. More sophisticated platforms, such as the Virti Studio, allow hosts to record and store content, analyze viewer eye-tracking, assess chat-log data, and gather a huge array of insights in order to measure engagement and impact. Level up your staff onboarding and training  We've now explored some of the opportunities that the metaverse holds for external stakeholder engagement, but don't let this distract you from the benefits that can be reaped internally. For a start, in a recent survey, 87% of executives said they were experiencing skills gaps in the workforce or expected them within a few years. But less than half of respondents had a clear sense of how to address the issue. Clearly, the newly remote and hybrid global workforce needs a new, data-driven approach to L&D. And this is a challenge that the metaverse and immersive reality innovators are stepping up to address. In the metaverse, immersive training programs can be hosted in virtual environments. Employees can then access the content from any location, at any time, as many times as they need to. For example, a middle manager could  brush up on communication skills with the help of a virtual human – an AI-powered avatar that can assess and track hundreds of performance metrics. Or, a sales team member could practice complex product demos in a zero-risk virtual training space. The results from metaverse-enabled L&D are likely to exceed your traditional in-person training. This is because when learners interact with the virtual world, they make decisions just as they would in the physical world, activating the same neural pathways in the brain. And, as an added bonus, immersive training platforms facilitate progress tracking using AI data, which helps learners and managers understand where the areas for improvement lie. In turn, this data can be used to improve the training content for future users. The evidence to back the purported efficacy of immersive training is mounting; studies have shown that, when immersive simulations are used consistently for training new hires, learners experience a 61% higher retention of information during the first 30-days after initial onboarding and achieve a 27% faster time to productivity. Build productive relationships in your team  The final mention in this introductory guide is perhaps the most important: personal relationships. People are the foundation of any business, and although onboarding and training matter hugely, it's intra-team collaboration and communication that are crucial for the smooth running of everyday operations. With organizations increasingly operating fully remotely, we need to find new ways to maintain those relationships that previously flourished in face-to-face office environments. It might seem counterintuitive to suggest that the metaverse, a fully online environment, is a powerful tool for social connection. But I believe that it holds incredible potential as a space to unite people and facilitate collaboration. This is why I'm a strong advocate for regular virtual meet-ups in my 50+ person team at Virti. We use virtual spaces to discuss our work, ideas and projects synchronously and asynchronously. But we also use them to talk, to get to know one another, and to reflect or celebrate together. It might not be easy to encourage your whole team to take the leap into the metaverse, but if you work hard on encouraging a gradual transition then you'll soon notice the rewards. Making the metaverse work for you  I hope this guide has made clear that the metaverse needn't be seen as a threat or a disruption to your business processes. Take the first step now by choosing to pursue just one of the areas outlined above. And remember, by acting proactively and creatively, you can seize this exciting opportunity to accelerate your business growth. StartupNation exclusive discounts and savings on Dell products and accessories: Learn more here. The post A Beginner's Guide to Business Success in the Metaverse  appeared first on StartupNation.

Build on Metrics by Designing Effective Focus Groups Posted: 26 Jan 2022 09:00 PM PST Click-through rates, purchasing history, engagement rates—such metrics are helpful, but for ultimate success as a brand, you need to get beyond the what of customer behavior and uncover the why.  Focus groups are one of the most effective ways to do that. They allow you to engage your customers in conversation and gain valuable qualitative feedback that adds context and dimension to quantitative measures. How much you get out of focus groups depends entirely on the quality of your execution. Focus groups require an investment of time and money, and you don't want your effort and resources to be wasted on mediocre, unhelpful results. So here are five tips to make your focus groups more effective. 3 Ways Refining Focus Builds a Strong Foundation for Startups Tip #1: Hold multiple sessions. One of the most common questions people ask me is how many focus groups they need to conduct to collect the data they seek. The truthful answer is the more focus groups, the better. No one has unlimited time or assets, however, so deciding on a reasonable number is part of the process. I recommend a minimum of two sessions that cover the same ground. Ideally, the participant compositions should be consistent across both groups. Then, to confirm your findings, I recommend two additional sessions that have consistent group compositions and incorporate the same questions. A single focus group is better than none, but with only one focus group, you're working with a very small sample set of your customers. You risk getting an inaccurate picture of your customers and brand based on a minority's opinion. So it's better to hold multiple sessions. Tip #2: Recruit participants thoughtfully. The participants of your focus group have a huge effect on the quality of your results. Be thoughtful in who you choose, considering the number of participants, your goals for the focus group, and the participants' characteristics. For each focus group session, you should recruit between 7 and 12 participants. To ensure the right number of people show up, confirm roughly 15. Groups of a dozen or fewer tend to interact well with one another, engaging each individual and giving them a chance to build on others' ideas. Of course, groups need the right participants. The first step in your search is to delineate what you want to learn. This will guide you through such questions as: "Do I want people who are already using the product?" "Do I want people who haven't ever thought about my product before?" "Do I want people who have defected—people who once used my product or service but have moved on, perhaps to a competitor?" The second step is to clarify desirable demographics. Think about gender, age, educational attainment, income, geographical location and even such personal attachments as religious or political affiliations. Being clear on the characteristics your ideal participants should possess is critical. I often ask clients, "If I could deliver you the ideal one person right now that you would like to talk to, who would it be?" Once you've identified potential participants, the next step is to screen them. Commonly, this involves requesting that they complete a short survey to confirm that they are who they say they are and that they're interested and available to contribute. In my experience, only about 50 percent of the people who say they're ready, willing and able to join a focus group actually do, so the screening step is important. 9 Reasons Why Your Customer Isn't Buying (And How To Fix Them) Tip #3: Avoid divergent perspectives. In a focus group, you are looking to go deeper—to explore potentially fruitful lines of thought and conversation as fully as possible. In general, this means you want to avoid recruiting participants whose perspectives on or experiences with your brand significantly diverge. One challenge associated with working with groups whose participants have divergent perspectives is that the same questions may not be equally relevant to all. Say, for example, you're interested in a product's user experience. The questions you have for users will not apply to non-users. You may be interested in conducting a focus group with non-users who are considering purchasing the product, but this group conversation will be completely different from the user-group conversation. A second challenge of working with a varied group is that when participants' experiences or perspectives on a given product or service are at odds, a conversation can descend into unproductive disagreement or outright conflict. If you want the perspectives of divergent groups, instead of placing them in the same session, host multiple sessions with different focuses. Tip #4: Compensate participants. Participants should always be compensated in some way, shape or form. Not only does it encourage them to show up, but it also reassures them that you value their time and their feedback. Remember: You want both their attention and their input. Knowing they can expect to be compensated once the session has concluded will keep them present and engaged for the duration. In most cases, compensation should be commensurate with participants' level of interest. Consumers who are highly involved with your product or process may be eager to participate in a focus group. To these participants, compensation may be relatively unimportant, and you can offer them less without compromising your results. On the other hand, if consumers whose feedback is important to you have little or no interest in joining your focus group, you'll need to pay them more. Determining the right level of compensation may involve some back-and-forth with potential participants. Talk to individuals in your target group. Soon enough, they'll make their expectations clear. Tip #5: Go online. When you think of a focus group, you probably imagine participants gathered in a room around a table, but there are actually many benefits to holding focus groups online instead. First, online focus groups are far cheaper to facilitate than in-person ones. In 1998, I founded iResearch, an insights platform that helps brands facilitate online focus groups, for this very reason. I had many clients who wanted to run focus groups, but they simply couldn't afford to. By eliminating the need to provide a venue and catering, online focus groups were a more accessible option. I'll admit that I was initially skeptical about whether online focus groups would be as effective as in-person ones. Over time, though, I've actually found them preferable in many ways.  Most notably, where traditional focus groups cannot afford the protection of anonymity, online focus groups can. Even an online focus group's moderator can remain ignorant of exactly who the participants are. This anonymity tends to make online participants more honest. They typically use language that is more direct, and they'll often provide more emotion-based information. Plus, participants often put more thought into written responses than they do into spoken ones In-person focus groups have their advantages as well (like the ability to read body language), but I've found that, for most companies, online focus groups work just as well if not better. Listen, listen, listen. People want to feel heard. Your customers are no different. The No. 1 thing you can do to ensure an effective focus group is simply to listen.  The whole point of focus groups is to glean insights from your customers. Regardless of what you're trying to gain from a given conversation or whom you're having it with, you must remember to listen. You cannot learn from your audience members by talking at them. So follow these tips to set yourself up for success, then sit back and listen. You just might uncover the information you need to take your brand to the next level. This article was adapted from “Getting to Aha!” available on Amazon. 8 Surprising Strategies for Unstoppable Focus The post Build on Metrics by Designing Effective Focus Groups appeared first on StartupNation.

Do These 8 Things to Save Your Startup Money in 2022 Posted: 26 Jan 2022 09:00 PM PST Startup entrepreneurs face some of the toughest odds when it comes to achieving success. With 90% of startups failing — more than half by Year 3 — there's seemingly little hope for those looking to start their own company. Yet, small business owners are vital to the U.S. economy. These mom-and-pop shops make up for nearly half of the country's working population. That said, it makes sense that so many entrepreneurs go on to pursue their dreams despite the risks. So what's the key to not just surviving but thriving as a small business? Hacking your budget. Every penny counts when you're just starting out, and making a few simple adjustments can really save your startup some cash in 2022. 1. Marketing strategies Many small businesses get caught up in implementing a wide variety of marketing strategies to engage their target audience. Yet seeing a single ad can often prompt consumers to make a purchase. It all comes down to how, where and when you market to them. The cheapest and often most effective route is through social media. Nix traditional advertising and hyper-target ideal clients for free using Facebook, Instagram and even Snapchat. Simply create a captivating post, add it to your account and wait for people to engage with it. When they do, be responsive and answer any questions or concerns they might have. Encourage them to like, share and comment so more people see these posts. 2. Partnerships Creating collaborations with startups that share similar values can also cut costs and increase reach, especially during promotional periods. Brian Evans of BDE Ventures suggests looking for partners with audiences in a parallel cluster. In other words, find partners that are different enough to give you leveraged exposure to a substantial number of new potential customers. Partnerships can also help startups save money by providing access to technology or other resources that would be too expensive to develop or purchase on their own. However, it's essential that you only form alliances with those who share the same values and aren't in competition with your brand or business. Otherwise, the deal may backfire and create dissatisfied clients and employees. 3. Customer service Did you know that word of mouth generates five times more sales than paid ads? This free form of advertising also happens to be the most powerful. Even negative word of mouth can cause ripples for your business, with 26% of people completely avoiding brands their family and friends share negative stories about. Obviously, the customer experience is crucial to your success as a startup. Luckily, you don't have to spend a fortune to keep them happy. You simply have to deliver great customer service. Take feedback seriously, send thank-you messages, manage complaints gracefully, and reward loyal customers with special offers. These simple strategies don't cost much, and the payoff is well worth the extra bit of effort. 4. Inventory management Many startups have a problem of stocking either too much or too little inventory in the first few months or years after they open. Both scenarios waste time, space and money, which is why it's so important to take a proactive approach to inventory management. Adjust your strategy to include artificial intelligence and machine learning. These technologies can help you analyze and predict consumer demand so your warehouse is always stocked with just enough inventory. Sure, the software might require a significant initial investment, but it's likely cheaper in the long run. Weigh your options and factor inventory management into your budget so you aren't hit with expensive stocking emergencies later. 5. Spending habits If you've yet to make a detailed budget, now's the time to do it. Organize your personal and professional finances before launching your startup to make sure you hit the ground running. Then, cut costs any way you can to save money and reinvest it into your business. Shop around, haggle, barter and negotiate, and use free and discounted services where you can. Google+ Hangouts, Skype and Zoom all have versions you and the team can utilize for free. As your business grows and you create different departments, you can get a ghost card to monitor and track spending more accurately. This method also allows you to set spending amounts that differ between departments and individuals and save hours of reimbursement time. 6. Equipment Should you buy or lease equipment? Odds are good you'll need a photocopier, printer and computer, at the very least. If you expect they'll break or require frequent maintenance, leasing might be the more economical option. However, if you have the cash to purchase the equipment outright, you could save even more in the long run. Buy secondhand or reconditioned items to cut costs without cutting corners. This way you still get the model or specs you need without paying the market price. You might also compromise and buy a cheaper version with the intention to upgrade a few months down the road. Look for deals on previous models or avoid the whole fiasco and have your employees purchase their own equipment to lower overhead costs. StartupNation exclusive discounts and savings on Dell products and accessories: Learn more here 7. Employees If you already have a team of employees, you know how expensive it is to keep good workers around. However, it is entirely possible to save your startup money as it grows by training existing employees instead of hiring more people. Teach them new skills so they can wear multiple hats and give them a raise to compensate for their newfound know-how. Ultimately, this adjustment is much more affordable than attracting, training and paying a new group of team members. Maybe you haven't built a team just yet and are looking to outsource work instead. This option is even more economical, as freelancers and independent contractors often cost less than permanent employees. Sure, you might pay a higher hourly rate. But you'll avoid paying payroll taxes, unemployment insurance, workers' compensation and disability, all of which can easily add up to much more than a contractor's salary. 8. Energy consumption Nearly 70% of Canadian and American consumers believe it's important that brands are sustainable and environmentally responsible. Many are even willing to pay more for eco-friendly products and will avoid brands that don't offer such items, so going green is a no-brainer for startups that want to make and save more money. Small adjustments, like turning off the lights when you leave a room, installing low-flow water fixtures, and providing recycling bins are a great place to start. Keep equipment on a power strip and turn it off, too, when not in use. Open windows to increase ventilation and limit AC use during the summer, and choose an office with good insulation to keep energy costs low during the colder months. These solutions cost little to nothing but make a huge difference for the environment — and your bottom line. Cut costs, not corners Adjusting your budget will take time, effort and attention to detail, but when all is said and done, it's key to minimize spending and save your startup money in 2022. The trick is cutting costs without cutting corners. Your clients and customers deserve quality, and it's your job to give it to them in the most economical way you know how. Weighing your options and prioritizing their needs will help you make the best decision so you can nix unnecessary expenses and continue to serve the community for many years to come. Sign Up: Receive the StartupNation newsletter! The post Do These 8 Things to Save Your Startup Money in 2022 appeared first on StartupNation.

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