January is a time to reflect on the successes (and challenges) of a year gone by, with a renewed sense of optimism for the upcoming year. This “restart” presents an opportunity to set goals both personally and professionally, and defining your strategy for success can set your business on the right trajectory.
Check out 10 suggestions that can set your company on the path to a prosperous 2020.
1. Add Fresh, New Leads to CRM
Your salespeople might feel too busy cultivating their ‘hot’ leads to add cold ones, but new lead generation offers huge potential to increase sales while renewing motivation. Once these new leads begin to bear fruit, you’ll see attitudes turn around. Yesterday’s cold lead might just become your next big account. Find new leads by identifying your existing customers’ neighbors, asking for referrals, and reviewing this year’s award season results.
2. Renew Your Marketing Strategy
There are 101 ways to market to prospective customers, but have you missed out on some of the newest trends? Chances are, you’re not doing as much as you could be to find new clients. Good marketing can help clients find YOU instead of the other way around! Upgrade your website, start blogging, try SEO, email marketing, or social media outreach. These tools can be effective for companies large and small. If you’re doing it right, you should be able to measure the ROI of your efforts.
3. Enhance Team Collaboration
Try adopting a virtual workspace with tools like Microsoft Teams. These collaboration tools enable people to work remotely, allow employees to connect more personally with clients, and improve communication without cluttering your email inbox. Teams and similar tools also offer video conferencing, file sharing, and other features in a single hub. Email, while tried and true, is slow and cumbersome compared to collaboration in Microsoft Teams. How many unread emails are in your inbox right now? Is this attachment the most recent revision, or is this the one you edited 2 versions ago? Teams is a whole new way to communicate and it can help cut down on inbox clutter while improving overall efficiency.
4. Praise Your Staff
Microsoft Teams comes with so many features. Use this state-of-the-art collaboration tool to energize your staff by offering kudos and recognition in real time. Instant recognition goes a long way in keeping your employees motivated and striving for excellence. Share positive feedback about a team member once a week or once a month and you’d be amazed how much it improve the commitment of each team member.
5. Leverage LinkedIn’s Sales Navigator
A paid service offered by LinkedIn, Sales Navigator helps you find new targets and contacts, gives you a new way to reach out to existing prospects, and keeps you “in the know” about company changes. If you’re following your hotlist on LinkedIn or looking for new leads, learning that ABC Corp is expanding, buying a competitor, or has a new product offering might be all the information you need for an opening. Sales Navigator can also be used to help you find experts, consultants, or new employees with the skills you’re looking to add to your team. Perhaps most importantly, the tool significantly simplifies the process of finding, contacting, and staying up-to-date with prospects, referrals, and customers.
6. Meet 1x1 With Your Team Members
This meeting isn’t about performance, it’s about getting new ideas. You don’t need to spend a lot of time or make this a formal meeting. Present the 1x1 meeting as an opportunity to brainstorm ideas for improvement in 2020. Ask them to come prepared with a list of suggestions. Maybe they have a new product offering suggestion, an idea for a company outing, or see potential to improve upon a business process that has been inhibiting their efficiency. You’ll get some fresh ideas, and your employees will feel valued and appreciated.
7. Get Networking!
Regardless of your industry, networking can benefit your company’s growth. Go to events honoring fellow business leaders, contribute to the community by attending fundraising events, and join business groups that align with your strategies. While some events don’t seem to have the right buyers around, getting your name out there and meeting new people can lead to opportunities in unexpected ways. Social media, and the ability to remain connected after an initial meeting has really taken old fashioned networking to a new level. Think 6-degrees of separation; someone talked to someone who’s asking if they know someone that makes/services/sells XYZ. People in completely unrelated fields might be inclined to drop your name if they’ve met you a few times and you left a good impression .
8. Give Your Office a Facelift
While it seems silly, the fact is, your conventional fluorescent bulbs dim over time, giving your office a depressing mood. Consider switching them to LED Florescent bulbs which can save you money while providing warmer light that is sure to perk up employee morale. Likewise, you can consider other inexpensive office makeover options like fresh paint, new blinds, or a new piece of technology. Even a plant can give a renewed feel to your office and make it a more inviting place to work!
9. Upgrade Internal Software
Chances are you have software that tracks customer interactions and internal production, but many antiquated systems lack mobile connectivity. As such, outdated systems may not capture pertinent information in real-time. With easy web-based connections to smartphones and tablets, modern software offers increased productivity, even remotely, which boosts morale and productivity.
10. Offer Opportunities for Remote Work
With a cloud-based system, like Microsoft Dynamics 365, team members can do their job from anywhere. Set expectations, measure results, and offer tools for the modern workplace, and you’ll see your team members soar! Trust your employees to manage their own time and deliver on the promises they’ve made to you and the company. You’ll be impressed with the outcome.
At SYNACT, our all-inclusive service model ensures your team can reach out whenever needed, at no additional charge. Our service delivery team is at the ready anytime problems arise, but we also provide ongoing configuration support, write reports as needed, and provide unlimited, one-on-one, live training. Everyone learns differently, and SYNACT believes user-specific training is the keystone to creating confident users! If you are interested in learning how SYNACT can help your organization adopt the solutions you need to ensure the quality of your customer’s journey, get in touch by emailing Jordyn Woods at jordyn.woods@synact.net or click here.