Seventhman Blog

1. Empowering Your Mobile Workers Without Sacrificing Data Security

   Just where do you draw the line between your worker’s right to choose and your business security?  In more than two decades of working with mobile teams across the globe, I have experienced firsthand how the global workforce is quickly shaping this new generation of mobile and motivated workers who are willing to work anywhere on computing devices of their choice.  Whether they use personal or corporate supplied tools to meet the company’s expectations, these workers still need to access your organization’s network and applications.  Now, this freedom comes with the risk of getting access to untrustworthy content online, other than losing visibility and control over what your team is working on.  How can you support this need for mobility and easy access to your business resources without sacrificing security of your data then?

   The Great Mobile Mindset Shifts

   Those who are doing business traditionally are still locked in old school ways where IT is concerned.  They may even be tied with the usual cycles of software development.  While you can engage your workers with questions to make sure they are the right fit for you, especially when you’re outsourcing, you will have to find that balance still.  These BYOD ( bring your own device ) workers are more diverse than you think and by developing a new set of policies that allow them to mix freedom with responsibility, you may just secure the agile business that you seek for – in the need to adapt to these consumerization of mobile devices and change as a whole.

   Being Proactive is the First Step

   Empowering your new breed of mobile workers means approaching your business in a new light.  You don’t have to risk information security in the need to innovate either.  Having a comprehensive policy will allow your team to work securely anywhere, even on virtual desktops. how long does ivermectin take to work on humans   While it’s your job to secure your business data and applications, you can also support your worker-owned smartphones, tablets, laptops, hybrids and netbooks.  You have to define how your mobile worker will provision for the tools and how they will use these devices for work.  Although most outsourced providers are equipped with their own, if you’re starting to open this option to your employees, you can offer some stipend to encourage buy-in or offer affordable plans that will encourage them to buy these tools of the trade with the service plans of their choice.  By having this shared ownership, you have to let your mobile workers know that there are certain limits where access to data is concerned, including passwords and encryption.

   Dealing with Consumerization and Innovation

   While consumerization and usage of these mobile devices can foster new relationships between your team and your business, know that an empowered worker can drive innovation to your cause.  They know that these gadgets are good and they want to use its fullest potential to help you succeed.  It might even surprise you that by supporting the BYOD concept, you may just stop your top talent from leaving.  It may sound simple, but it all takes careful planning as you:

   1. Secure enterprise services that allow your workers to connect from any device.  This means strong authentication where applications, VPN and Wi-Fi, are concerned. You have to make sure that your workers can utilize any platform to access data – securely.

   2. Draft a comprehensive plan that effectively ensures your mobile workers will comply, even over various geographic locations. billig ivermectine

   3. Keep a backup of important data in case someone accidentally modifies or changes the one you share online with everyone.

   4. Train your workers on how to use data and applications safely as learning is the key to reducing risks.

   In short, keep the balance between human and technical so you can empower a flexible team to be at their most productive. does ivermectin treat goat lice   Are you ready to trust your mobile team?

2. What Makes Your Customer Service Exceptional?

   Whenever I meet a small business owner, I’m often tempted to ask if their business have a ‘soul’ –  that is, if they are customer-centric.  There’s no denying that people are demanding world class customer service these days and where loyalty is at stake, it only makes perfect sense to come up with effective means of improving customer satisfaction scores by investing in training for your front-line or virtual team.  Marketing professionals make the mistake of mixing up customer loyalty and customer experience, and this can come at a high cost — your brand reputation.  The problem why many programs won’t work is that loyalty is more about relationships and though they may appreciate all those discounts, freebies and perks, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they will buy more.

   Redefining Your Customer Touch Point

   Someone mentioned that it’s five times more costly to get a new customer than keep new ones.  If that’s the case, why do businesses lose the good ones?  Perhaps, achieving high levels of customer service is a myth?  But then, we hear brands like Southwest Airlines who keep customer service at its finest.. thousands of miles above the ground.  I bet that what worked for them is not only creating superior value for customers to buy, but making customers feel valued.  The more you customize the experience, the closer you get at building that relationship many have been blogging about.  Customers are not just some number on your balance sheet, your score cards.  You may be proactive in taking steps to improve satisfaction rate and at the end of the day, it’s more than just doing business in order to generate revenue.

   The Fundamentals of Creating a World-Class Customer Experience

   I have been an avid participant in this weekly twitter chat that talks about customer service, and it’s an amazing source of insights and best practices from key influencers and folks who are passionate about the subject. The #custserv chat happening every Tuesday nights at 9-10 pm is something you might want to add on your to-do list where getting social is concerned.  I’ve been itching to ask if they can name one important component of what makes an awesome customer service and I think, the answer will vary a lot.  I believe that training your front-liners is crucial to your company’s success and the challenge is how to make them feel this sense of purpose.  To motivate your team is one thing, to make them enthusiastic in giving out a one-and-done resolution to your customers is another.  It will all start with the passion to help..

   The Makings of a Transcendent Customer Support Revealed

   I recall someone asking me weeks ago on what makes a good customer-centric website and here’s the best way I can answer that question: It’s not about where your customers intend to do business with you that matters, but how available you are when they need your help.  Investing in a good website may help lessen the amount of phone time or the load of tickets you get each day in your inbox. It will come down to a customer-friendly website that’s easy to navigate, easy to read, updated, understandable and most importantly – complete. مراهنات المباريات   This is why I would recommend entrepreneurs to invest in developing a good website that doesn’t look like some free blog template tweaked for the sake of keeping an online presence.  Besides, there’s no point creating an interface for your customers to interact with when your site gives them a crappy experience. 888 casino   That means dabbling in some codes or hiring someone to do it for you.

   Then, all you have to focus on is listening to your customers so you can build conversations with them that create trust over time.  And by talk, I mean going beyond the typical ‘yes/no’ type of questions.

   Are you ready to engage now?

3. Business Principles: Your Mission and Vision Will Define Your Action

   What’s the difference between a successful business and an epic fail?  The second one hits the wall because no business principle has been established, committed to, and communicated.  Call it many different names: vision, mission, values.. if you don’t define them, it’s like driving long distances without a road map.  Just as thinking outside the box is crucial when you’re formulating ideas for your business, you have to lay down the foundation that will set the stage for many decisions that you will make later, or you may see yourself going downward spiral.  And don’t give me the reason that you have no time; I’d say make time!  These core values will affect everything that you do, no matter how big or small it may be. ivermectin tablets south africa buy

   Creating a Vision in Vulnerable Economies

   Promoting entrepreneurship is not an easy task when you’re talking about small businesses that are thriving in developing countries and economically-challenged zones.  While outsourcing has bridged the gap between skills and technology across the globe, having a comprehensive approach in tackling the slews of difficulties in business growth seems more than just a modern vocabulary in the world of innovation.  The truth is, that whether one does business in developing or progressive countries, most often, the CEOs of these organizations are not in touch with reality – simply because they lack a clear mission, vision, values statement to start with.  It’s like an incurable paralysis spreading over one’s foot, leg… just because processes are ineffective and goals are misaligned.

   Your Values are the DNA of Your Business

   Our founding fathers have made it clear what freedom really meant and they took every measure available in order to gain independence.  They were revolutionary thinkers.  You see, no matter how grandiose your vision ( more likely, fantasy ) is, if you don’t make a mark within your company about it for your people to believe, everything’s lost.  This is why it is not only important to shape your business with your founding principles, but to stay transparent and consistent with your cause.  Perhaps, we can define:

   Mission – as the very reason ‘Why’ your business exists
   Vision – as the way your business will look in the future, like five years from now
   Values – as your collection of beliefs that you share with everyone in your organization; something that creates your company culture

   And having a mission based on your vision will help you define values to keep, as you inspire your team to charge in the right direction.

   Your Business Principles Don’t Have to Stink

   Like rotten eggs, that is, if you make time to create something meaningful.  This means you have to come up with a statement that’s tailored to your business, something that doesn’t look like everyone else’s. ivermectin treats   No buzzwords, no jargon.  Keeping things simple is your best bet here and you may not be a talented writer, but your mission-vision statement have to make sense, so much so that it gets everyone in your team excited about what defines your company. ivermectine vente libre   Think of storytelling.  What story does your business have to tell?  Will this story spark an interest among your customers?

   There’s no need for talking the talk here and  those countless excuses why you don’t need to write down what really defines your business.  You may know what you’re doing or you may not. You may be too busy for all I care.  But having a focus and clarity on your mission, vision, values, and objectives will shape that winning strategy you’ve been looking for ever since.  It’s time to take.. Action!

    

   Freedom is nothing but a chance to be better.  ~Albert Camus

   Happy Independence!!!

4. The Next Big Idea: When Entrepreneurs Think Outside the Box

   Back in the days of jotting down your idea on a cocktail napkin, the excitement seems so overwhelming that you need to capture that ‘magic’ moment to the next million dollar dream.  Like sugar rush, ideas can also crash.. because you haven’t had time to find out if it’s viable.  For a gifted few, imagination comes so easy.  But reality is, one need to lay down the foundations of a plan, to have a clear idea on what makes your product unique, on how to build a demand in the marketplace for it.  So, the real question is this: How can you turn that big idea into a profitable business?  Can you manage without having a partner, taking a loan or writing a business plan?

   Going Beyond Your Unique Value Proposition

   It’s starting to feel a lot like summer and I can’t stop thinking of this beach vacation under a beautiful weather.. and yet, I have to keep my focus somehow as I prioritize my list to making this new idea a reality.  If there’s one good advice I’ve read today, it’s this post  on military training techniques you can apply to business.  I love what Louis wrote, “Intelligence is a Key to Staying Ahead”.  Nowadays, everyone’s on the rush to come up with a new product or service that they often forget to do market research.  The data you can gather will prove invaluable in determining the success or failure rate of your plan.  This is why we often see many aspiring entrepreneurs waste dollars in activities that lack direction.  You don’t simply state what makes you unique, but you need to have a road map to follow in making sure that your research will help you fine tune that idea into something a customer will want to purchase.  Even before you think of innovation when it comes to brand development, try to see the SWOT of your idea ( as in strength, weakness, opportunity and threat ). Your analysis based on these will help you fix flaws before people try it out.

   Challenges in Brainstorming: Where Traditional Meets Digital

   Sometimes, it is better to get less advice because the more you do, the more distracted you will be.  Should you just ignore everybody instead?  It’s just that the more unique your concept is, the harder it is for you to get like minds to help you brainstorm ideas.  There are those moments when solitude works best though, where all that brainstorming sessions and focus groups do more harm than good.  What intrigues me most is that in this digital age, those who collaborate using new technologies often come up with creative ways to work on ideas.  When there is time pressure on compiling data and predicting trends, the very same idea can be burned through overthinking.  The challenge, therefore, is how to run a criticism-free session that’s free from fear, stress, ego, beliefs, absolute truths, conformity, doubts and bad habits. المراهنات الرياضية   The very process of sharing becomes the very problem itself, don’t you think?

   Is There Really a Market for Your Idea?

   This is a very crucial question to answer.  The problem with running surveys is that quantifying results based on a few number doesn’t really justify the target market as a whole.  How can you really solve your customers’ pain points?  When you present an idea to a group, things become interactive and participants are free to share their thoughts about your idea.  Sometimes, it is how we question things that define what we observe and this can be very limiting.  The marketplace is crowded and having your slice off the pie means creating the ultimate hook where fishes bite the bait. استراتيجية الروليت   It all comes down to making things simple and sticking to your promise.  If you build it right, the right customers will come.. كازينو البحرين

   There is chaos in the creative thinking process. Things can get out of control.  Don’t panic. It’s only normal.  Pay attention and just do things better this time.

5. Achieving Success: From Product Development to Product Launches

   Someone has said that the key to a successful product development is having a vision.. and those who succeed had a clear vision to start with.  In the need to rush and be the first to come up with something new, we often forget the value of a product vision statement – a brief note on what we want to accomplish, why it is important and what criteria do we set for success.  No doubt, product launches feel like rocket launches; exciting, mind-boggling and sometimes, rewarding.  What goes on behind-the-scenes has become an obsession lately, in the race for innovation through great leadership.  So I ask you, once and for all:  Can you make your ideas… happen?

   Product Development: From Repetition to Perfection

   If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.. and in the haste to launch something ‘innovative’, we may have forgotten old product development processes that worked.  Most of thriving brands out there know that iteration is a crucial factor to making a new product – from revamping old products to adding more value, or repeating time-tested systems in making sure that your raw idea turns into a viable product that customers will buy and love.  Just what made iPhone a phenomenal success these days when there are many versions of smartphones out there? Apple has repeatedly used effective marketing strategies, other than a systematic product development cycle. Think about it.  Besides, repeating actions that fail is like listening to a broken record playing the same track over and over.  You have to focus on what works and eliminate those that don’t.

   Technology-Driven vs. Consumer-Driven Perspective

   Most often, businesses tend to take on a technology-driven view on their product development, like the cost of production and vanity product specs, that they forget to take time to get to know their market.  Many hours have been spent in perfecting a product to make it look cutting edge that we forget to ask our end-users (customers) on how this product can solve their needs.  The result then is having less sales than expected, simply because we forgot to ask for feedback. العاب بوكر   You may want to create the next thing in super eyeglasses that can magnify vision to the nth degree, but if it will give users a headache and a hard time using it, they might as well ditch it.  Any successful business out there will tell you that bringing an inadequately-developed product onto the market is as bad as presenting an overly-developed one.  This is why when you’re in doubt, you must proceed with caution and spend more time on the drawing boards so you can come up with a great product.

   The Secret Recipe to Launching Market-Leading Products

   It’s not really a big secret after all.  Not all ideas turn into fully-developed products with huge potential. روليت امريكي   But those who did know that staying true to their course has helped them.  It comes down again to having a clear vision statement and validating it not only with an elevator pitch, but by clearly defining the requirements on turning your idea into a reality.  You must have the patience and perseverance to test your concept, make business analysis, do market testing and identify what needs to be improved on (quality assurance checks).  It’s all about efficiency, plus a solid grasp of the features and benefits of your product that will help you accomplish something that stands out.  Are you ready to make your idea… sell?

   “Vision without action is a dream. Action without vision is simply passing the time. Action with Vision is making a positive difference.”  -Joel Barker

6. Going Beyond Customer Satisfaction Surveys

   ‘Ask and you shall receive’ is a popular adage that many businesses might have failed to channel. كازينو888   Sometimes, when you’re not sure where your market is heading, all you have to do is ask your customers about it.  A few spontaneous questions can lead to valuable insights on how you can understand your customers so you can quantify what’s useful and what’s not.  This is where the art of customer satisfaction survey comes in.  But, can it really predict your business success?

   Measuring Customers’ Perceptions is the Key

   For your customer satisfaction survey program to be effective, you must focus on measuring your customers’ perceptions.  It’s a no-brainer that customer satisfaction is directly proportional to brand loyalty and understanding your customers’ sentiment may be a bit tricky in the beginning.  When done correctly, you can monitor your relationship with them, so you can improve overall customer experience with your brand.  This is why it is absolutely important that your survey reflects what your respondents really care about.

   Dispelling the Customer Survey Satisfaction Myths

   Take note that a traditional survey can work for.. or against you, and it doesn’t have to do with innovation at all. Unlike popular beliefs, getting the feedback of your customers is not a luxury metric for large businesses.  You don’t have to shell out big bucks and spend lots of time in conducting a large-scale research, thanks to online tools these days.  Another fallacy of these types of surveys is that the more questions you ask, the more info you’ll get. تنزيل العاب اون لاين   It will depend on the quality of your questions, no matter how short your survey is.  When you ask it right, you can actually produce not just a report; but using the data to come up with results, like making fixes to your products or service offering.  Still, just because you’ve asked doesn’t mean answers will come pouring.  This is why it is important not just to ask, but to give your customers a true means of sharing their feedback.

   Going Beyond the Usual

   If you’re looking for new ways of doing business so you can stay ahead of the game, you have to go beyond the traditional survey setup and simply deliver on your brand promise.  Besides, no two customers are alike and their behavior can be misinterpreted if you focus on feedback alone.  Customers may not always tell you when they’re happy about your brand but when they’re not, you need to keep your eyes and ears open.  And with the amount of information available to everyone these days, one bad word about your brand is like a nuke exploding on the Web.  Satisfaction may not mean loyalty at all and building a lasting connection with your customers is what makes a whole lot of difference. كيف تربح المال من الانترنت

   The only question now is: Will fixing the problem lead to a satisfied customer?

7. Drawbacks of IT Outsourcing Revealed

   With the sluggish economy and ceaseless debates around the subject, one can only wonder what outsourcing in this age of uncertainty really means.  Every company these days are trying to make ends meet on nearly every level, where they strive to bring value to their business.  While outsourcing may have been blamed countless times to the cause of unemployment, let us not forget that outsourcing is merely a business strategy helping an organization, large or small, survive and thrive .  To maximize productivity and minimize cost is not an easy fete, but it doesn’t mean a perfect solution either.

   Realities of IT Outsourcing You Need to Consider

   Despite the fact that IT Outsourcing is growing each year, even in places like China where English skills need to scale higher, many are still outsourcing some or most operations run by their IT Departments.  Whether be it a permanent or temporary fix to bridge the gap among cost, quality and manpower – outsourcing may seem like a salvation to many, that is if you are not too overeager to miss the real cost of outsourcing IT.  For example, if you are to move your IT functions offshore, you need to consider travel cost to the country of your choice, not to mention, other costs that may involve directly ( or indirectly ) with running your operations there.

   Calculating Beyond the Real Cost

   While you may think it will cost you less in the long run to get a third party service provider, you may have to consider the time factor when it comes to their familiarity with how your system and network really works.  If not, that can mean additional costs in training.  Then, there will be cases when you need something done a.s.a.p. and your outsourced IT provider must be inept to deal with issues right away, or you can suffer delay time which is not really good for any business.  Whether you’re outsourcing locally or offshore, you have to consider the worst case scenario to prepare yourself for the unexpected, just in case.  The problem is that plenty of contracts are sugar-coated and misleading, and no matter how urgent your needs may be, it helps to see a bigger picture that includes the real cost + long term benefits of having an outsourcing partnership.

   Outsourcing the Human Liability

   What drives companies to outsource these days is having access to first-rate IT expertise and resources that will yield more results and cost less.  Still, one must consider that anything, or anyone, can become a liability.  It does make sense to have your fine print well-defined, as well as backups, in case data is lost or stolen.  Yet, the question here is how much will it cost you when downtime happens because of these?  Will it cost you more if your team hasn’t worked for an entire day ( or week ) because the system crashed?  Is your team motivated enough to continue with your cause, efficiently?  Have you even considered the impact of cultural barriers that may lead to communication gaps? بلاك جاك 21

   You may argue that any business is a gamble and it comes with risks.  Keeping a close eye is just a start and no matter how providers may offer free consultations, it’s only a sales pitch.  It will always come down to long term benefits and what outsourcing will really cost your IT dollars. العاب كسب المال   Choose wisely!