I s s ue37•Nov e mbe r / De c e mbe r2019
bus i ne s spa r t ne r t hema ga z i nef ors ma l l bus i ne s sowne r s
www. bus i ne s s pa r t ne r ma ga z i ne . c om
Cont e nt s 0 2 MessagefromtheEditor ulv a t eaWe a k ne s s-WhyF l a wsa r eMor ePowe r f ul t ha n 0 3C S t r e ng t hsi nBus i ne s s
0 7 WhatInfluencesPeopletoTrustinaBrand? 0 9 LeadershipInsightsYouCan’tAffordtoMiss 1 3 Brexit:Accep ngtheInevitable 1 5 LeadershipInsightsYouCan’tAffordtoMiss
7 WhyisBusinessCoachingSoImportantin2019/20 1 1 9 TechInnovaonsThatWillChangeHowYouDoBusiness
www. bus i ne s s pa r t ne r ma ga z i ne . c om
01
E di t or S a ndr aHi ns he l wood
L a y out&De s i g n S a ndr aHi ns he l wood& J a s mi neHi ns he l wood
Me s s a g ef r omt hee di t or We l c omet oI s s ue3 7 , t hel a s toneof2 0 1 9a ndwha tay e a ri tha s be e n–onet ha ti st oe ndwi t haDe c e mbe rg e ne r a l e l e con–i nt he hopet obr e a kt hepol ic a l i mpa s s eov e rBr e x i t .T hedi s put e s be t we e nt hepol ic a l pa re sc on nue s , buti si t met os t opfig h ng Br e x i ta ndt oa c c e ptt hei ne v i t a bl e ? Ma l i kMuha mma ds t a t e s“ Ac c e pt a nc ei st hefir s ts t e pa ndmos t r aona l wa yt ohe l py ourbus i ne s st hi nkc r ic a l l ya bouty ourma r k e t s ha r e , r e v i e wy ouri nt e r na l s y s t e mpr e pa r e dne s sa ndc r e a t e oppor t unie sf org r owt h. ”Re a dmor ei n“ Br e x i t : Ac c e p ngt he I ne v i t a bl e . ” I nt hi si s s ueweha v eaf ur t he ra rc l e st ha twi l l ha v ey oua s k i ngi fa ne wa ppr oa c hi sr e qui r e d. I nhi sa rc l e , Al e xS mi t hl ook sa twhyfla wsa r emor ei mpor t a ntt ha n s t r e ng t hsi nbus i ne s s . Hede mons t r a t e showe s t a bl i s hi ngt r ue c ompe v ea dv a nt a g ei sha r d, a ndhowi ti sfla wst ha tg i v ey ou l e v e r a g ei ny ourc a t e g or y .
Bus i ne s sPa r t ne rMa g a z i ne i si s s ue dbi mont hl yby S a ndr aHi ns he l wood/ E ffe cv eWe bs i t eMa r k e ng + 4 4( 0 ) 7 7 8 23 1 0 0 5 8 Arc l e si nBus i ne s sPa r t ne r Ma g a z i neha v ebe e n r e pr oduc e dwi t ht he pe r mi s s i onoft hea ut hor s . T hev i e wsr e fle c t e ddonot ne c e s s a r i l yr e fle c tt hev i e ws a ndopi ni onsoft hee di t or .
Notc onv i nc e d?Ha v ear e a d, wha thes a y sma k e sal otofs e ns e . I nbus i ne s swea r ec ons t a nt l yr e mi nde doft hene e dt oi t e r a t ea nd i mpr ov eourpr oduc ta ndoffe r i ng . Butc oul dt hi sbeda ma g i ngt oour br a nds ?T hea rc l e“ Wha tI nflue nc e sPe opl et oT r us ti nABr a nds ? ” s ug g e s t st ha ti ti spe r ha psbe e rt ooffe rc ons i s t e nc ys ot ha tour c us t ome r sc a nde v e l opc onfide nc ea ndt r us ti nourbr a nds . Wehopet hi si s s uepr ov i de sy ouwi t hs omef oodf ort houg hta sy ou t hi nka bouty ours t r a t e g i e sf ort hef or t hc omi ngy e a r . T oy ours uc c e s s , S a ndr a
www. bus i ne s s pa r t ne r ma ga z i ne . c om
02
Cultivate a Weakness - Why Flaws are More Powerful than Strengths in Business Quite understandably, most businesses spend an inordinate amount of time focusing on what they’re good at. Our strengths, we believe, are the source of our most powerful competitive advantage - the special ingredient that sets us apart, and draws people to us. On a superficial level this is all true enough - but if it was that easy, and all we needed for a powerful business was to be “better� than the other guy, then
everyone would be doing it. The fact is that establishing true competitive advantage is hard, and most businesses (despite their efforts) end up no more remarkable than any other company in their sector. So how is it that a few special businesses succeed in creating space between them and their competitors so spectacularly? How do some businesses manage to develop attributes that truly set them
03
apart, and which render other options almost meaningless?
The Answer Lies in the Weaknesses The answer lies not in their strengths, but their weaknesses. It is flaws that give you leverage in your category, not attributes. It is a willingness to be bad at things your competitors are good at which puts you into an advantageous position. If you want to create a monopolistic “walled garden” in your category, don’t start by focusing on your strengths: instead choose which weakness you want to cultivate. What are you prepared to be the worst at in your entire category? This may sound counter-intuitive, but the reason it works is quite simple. Underperformance in certain areas often gives you the space to massively overperform in others. Most businesses aren’t prepared to underperform in any area - and this leads to them gradually clustering with their competitive set, as nobody is prepared to give up on any portion of the market. This “all things to all people” approach ultimately creates businesses that aren’t bad at anything, but aren’t especially good at anything either - and this makes them highly vulnerable to attack from a business that is more willing to specialise.
Give Away to Your Competitors: The Example Of Southwest Airline
Consider, for instance, the state of the US airline industry in the 1990s. For the past 50 years, every carrier had focused relentlessly on being “better” than their competitors at serving the highly lucrative business traveller segment. By and by, this had resulted in them slowly becoming more and more alike, until air travel essentially became a commodity industry, with brands being forced to spend more and more on marketing, and continually cut prices in a race to the bottom. The airline that broke this cycle was Southwest. Southwest didn’t do this by trying to be “better” than the other airlines however - they did it be deliberately being worse. They chose to completely disregard the business traveller segment, and to massively underperform on everything those customers valued thus essentially gifting that portion of the market to their “competitors”. However, in return for this sacrifice, they released the wiggle room to adjust their business model, and in effect invent the low-cost airlines category. This meant that this portion of the market - which had formerly been shared between the legacy carriers - fell into Southwest’s arms: a prize that was well worth the loss of measly share of the business market. As a result Southwest became by far the most profitable American airline - and were in fact the only major carrier not to go bankrupt at some point around the turn of the millennium. You can see then how the development of
04
“competitive advantage” had to begin, perversely, with gifting a huge swathe of the market to their competitors. They actually did their competitors a favour choosing to divide the market up, and not compete for different parts of the pie rather than trying to compete for the whole thing.
How to Become a Hyperprofitable Business: Repel First in Order to Attract Wherever you look, if you find a remarkable, dominant, hyper-profitable business, you will find that the one thing they have in common is being the worst in their market at something. The iPhone, for instance, is a closed system, extremely fragile, has the worst battery life, and is the most expensive. This means they only have 14.7% market share. But the leverage these things give them allows them to equate that market share to 79% profit share: handsome reward for being “the worst”. Monster
energy drinks, now valued at over $1billion, are hideously unhealthy, ludicrously oversized, and have a brand which is extremely off-putting to the majority of the soft drink market. These brands, like many others besides, had the courage to repel first, in order to attract. In other words they had the courage to actually help their competition; to drive people into their arms; to refuse to compete at all. Refusing to compete by adopting your competitors’ strengths as your weaknesses is highly practical strategic trick, which is worth exploring even if only as a thought experiment.
For a deeper view on this approach, you can watch my talk below on the benefits of refusing to compete - and hopefully, even if your strengths remain your focus, you will give perhaps an extra moment’s thought to becoming worse. https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=RZBfUkMhZdQ
Alex Smith is the founder of Basic Arts and is well known in the strategy industry for his counter-intuitive takes on business future. Having spent his career advising brands such as The Economist, Innocent, and Hello Fresh on their positioning, he began to see flaws in the normal way we approach strategy, and so developed a new way of doing things by distilling the lessons of the elite few brands who get it right. He now works with some of the best talent from a combination of backgrounds to bring these ideas to every business. You can keep up with his writing by checking out his blog on BasicArts.org, following him on Twitter, or just say hi on LinkedIn.
05
J us twhent he cat er pi l l ar t houghtt he wor l dwas over ,i t becamea but t er f l y. www. s andr ahi ns hel wood. com
What Influences People to Trust in a Brand? Confidence and trust are two of the most important things that make a brand more profitable. When people trust a brand, they will choose it over its competitors. Most of the time, people choose brands that they are already familiar with. Using a brand for so many times would develop trust between the consumer and the company that manufactures the product. It happens most of the time, especially if the individual who uses the product is satisfied with it. Confidence and trust is the main reason why entrepreneurs who want to franchise a brand are choosing established ones that have been known for years. Franchise Direct, a company that offers franchising
opportunities to the public, has a list of all trusted brands that are open for franchise. Relying on a trusted brand would ensure that the business will keep on going because people are familiar with it. Another thing that businesses should always keep in mind would be the company history that they have. They should avoid being involved in controversies because people remember it. When a brand is tainted with controversy, people tend to walk away from it. This will hurt the company’s income in the long run. If you are a business owner, make sure that you follow these tips to ensure that the people will always rely on your brand.
07
YOUR BUSINESS PROVIDES CLEAR SERVICE Explain why you created the product and why you want to help people. Customers will choose a brand that specifically states why it was made and what its primary purpose is. Established companies have stayed in business for decades because of their clear service to the public. When people are looking for specific products that they need to use, companies start offering them a lot of options. This made life easier for people back then because they knew what they are looking for.
YOUR BUSINESS HAS RELIABLE CONTACT INFORMATION PRINTED ON THE PRODUCT Contact information is important in every business. If you are manufacturing a certain product and you have a brand to protect, make sure that the people can contact your office easily. Print the corporate telephone numbers, email, and social media pages on the product so that the people can contact you easily when they have complaints. Answering everyone’s message is important because people think that your business cares about their welfare. Make sure that you have a dedicated department that will answer the calls, texts, emails, or chats from the customers. When customers can’t find your contact information on your product, they will start thinking negatively about your company. When you have a piece of reliable contact information, it can boost the trust of your brand, and it will have a positive effect on your sales.
AVOID BEING CONTROVERSIAL
tend to stay away from controversies because they know that many people could start being dissatisfied with them if they found out about these issues. If you are a business owner, avoid posting controversial statements on your website or brand page. You also need to make sure that the advertisements you create would never offend someone. When someone gets offended by the advertisement you post, they tend to overreact and transform it into a national concern. When many people see the negative side of your brand, they will disassociate themselves from it and your business will be affected negatively.
MAKE SURE THAT YOUR PRODUCT IS CONSISTENT Being consistent when selling a product to the public is important, especially if you have a brand to protect. When the brand undergoes changes so many times, people will start developing trust issues. Those who are satisfied with the old formulas might find the new versions unappealing and they might transfer to other brands. A business that has been around for a while knows this fact, and they are doing their best to preserve the formulas known to the public for years. For example, the top food manufacturers are not changing the ingredients in their products that have been selling for decades because a sudden change in taste might draw flak from the public. Consistent products make people trust the brand because they know that it has stood the test of time, and the older generations are recommending it because of how good the brand was.
Businesses who have established brands
08
Leadership Insights You Can’t Afford to Miss What’s the difference between a leader and a manager? The going consensus is that managers keep the work flowing and leaders inspire the work to be done in the first place. Managers manage work and leaders lead people. There are countless courses, seminars, conferences, and resources available for either avenue, but the truth is that that there is a great deal of overlap between managers and leaders and it is also not uncommon for them to
be one in the same. It’s easy to measure management efforts, though, because they result in a tangible product or service. If a company is poorly managed, it will fall apart. If a company has excellent management but poor leaders, there may be people around to pick up the slack. You can have one without the other, unfortunately. And, “good” management and “good” leadership is subjective. There
09
is no going rate for leadership or what makes a manager good. We all have our own opinions on that. There are, however, some insights that can’t be ignored on either front. If your company isn’t paying attention to these leadership components, you’ll pay dearly with people, resources, and contribution.
Communication Any good leader will tell you that they didn’t start out that way. We generally accept the notion that leaders are born while managers are made, but it’s simply not the case. People who start out leading companies or groups of people aren’t naturally good at this kind of thing. What makes them leadership material is that they ask for feedback and continue to keep the lines of communication open so that they can hear people out and make adjustments accordingly. Consider what a 360 degree feedback loop might look like. We all have the ability to listen and communicate with one another more often, but we choose not to. For one reason or another, humans are becoming more closed off from each other, but leaders are working to bring that communication back to center. They struggle at first, but always continue to try to engage others. They aren’t good at it right off the bat. It takes practice. If your company operates under closed-door policies, it’s time to open them up.
Interaction Leaders don’t just stand by idly waiting for a job to be done. Managers might, although, you’d be hard pressed to find anyone just standing around doing nothing these days. Most businesses are so short-changed that people at every level are pitching in to get the work done. Some managers who believe themselves to be above this allhands-on-deck approach may have their feet up on the desk, but the leaders are pushing boxes and getting their hands dirty along with everyone else. If your company insists on separating the visionaries from the doers who bring that vision to life, you’re missing out on a real opportunity to get people invested in the work they are doing. Good leaders always get in there and offer help, whether it’s physical or mental support. It might feel awkward at first, but it’s worth the effort to connect and interact with people in a way that makes them feel like part of the team, and not just a cog in the wheel.
Accountability Leadership blurs the lines of accountability so that the fault is not landing with one division or level of operation. Managers are thought to be in charge of their own work, people and product, and if one person messes up, it is easy to single them out. Leadership approaches to work, on the other hand, have everyone coming together
10
to discuss how to do things better next time, not necessarily focus on what went wrong or whose fault it was this time. Managers create corporate ladders and leaders helps to level the playing field. Yes, you can be both a manager and a leader, but the only way to tell the difference is to ensure that everyone is on board and accountable to one another, not just to the manager who is reporting to another manager, in another building, or city, or state or country even! Leadership is about what is going on right now and dealing with it in-house, in a way that makes sense for everyone involved. If your company is reporting up the chain, it might be time to start reporting amongst yourselves.
Vision A manager's purview of a company vision is relevant within their department only. Even when their department moves parts or products to another department, the buck usually stops with them when the product leaves the work area. Leadership, on the other hand, sees that product as a stepping stone toward the vision of the company
overall. It’s not that your company makes plastic bottle caps - it’s that your company provides a service to the water bottle industry that ensures economical options for bottling water. That’s a vision. Leaders focus on that vision. The “how” usually falls into the laps of the managers, but when managers own that vision like it was their idea, leaders are born of those managers and even the most mundane products can become inspirational to a group of people inspired into action by a great leader. The bottom line: it doesn’t matter what your leadership team or management team calls themselves, or what you call them for that matter. What matters is that you are digging into the roles and responsibilities to see how the vision translates, the accountability stacks up, the interaction of your employees is fueling the communication. Insights into these four areas of your operation will ensure that your company succeeds at creating a great place to work for everyone involved. That’s leadership.
Need help with your marketing? Get marketing help from an apprentice as part of their training. They will assist you to grow your business. Get instant access to a talent pool of trained marketing apprentices.
11
Nevergi veupona dr eam becaus eof t het i mei twi l lt ake t oaccompl i s hi t . Thet i mewi l lpas s anyway. Ear lNi ght i ngal e www. s andr ahi ns hel wood. com
Brexit: Accepting the Inevitable Malik Muhammad Brexit, the coined term that represents all matters concerning Britain’s exit from the European Union, will directly impact your business wherever you are based in the global economy. British based businesses must directly adjust because sterling is the primary trading currency and globalisation guarantees that the relative strength or weakness of sterling will affect how businesses compete in terms of exports and on the stock market. It is prudent, therefore, that all businesses accept the reality of Brexit.
Britain will leave the European Union, so the issue is more about when and how rather than if or why. Reinhold Neibur is the American theologian credited for having written the Serenity Prayer. If one may sensitively adapt aspects of the opening paragraph; he speaks of the value of accepting the things one cannot change, the courage to change the things one can and the wisdom to know the difference (between the things one can change and the things one cannot). Brexit is one such thing that cannot be changed.
13
Acceptance is the first step and most rational way to help your business think critically about your market share, review your internal system preparedness and create opportunities for growth. Acceptance will influence your company strategy as you navigate any global changes in your industry as a natural repercussion of Brexit. Building your inner focus is another step that is useful considering the inevitability of Brexit. You know why you started your business. You know why you are managing or working for your business. You know why you are trading in particular markets/ industries or regions. This is the time to zero in on opportunities that will inevitably arise and in this sense the early bird catches the first worm. Strive to attend seminars and subscribe to intelligent publications about business, network within your industry plus invest in your team and keep up to date with the political discourse concerning Brexit. Compliance is the final concept that is suggested for your consideration. Ensure
that your business is up to date on the laws, standards and regulations that come with Britain’s exit. You are reminded that this applies whether or not you are based in Britain because globalisation affects all businesses. Some of the practical ways to raise your awareness and solidify your preparedness are visiting websites such as www.gov.uk/brexit, iod.com and businesspartnermagazine.com. Acceptance, building your inner focus and compliance are three strategies that will benefit your business to navigate the changes that Brexit will bring to the global business landscape. You have already experienced shifts in your industry such as the challenge of the cost-effective tactics in emerging markets, the perceived threat of artificial intelligence and shifts in consumer spending habits. Brexit is another such change. This may be either the best of times of the worst of times depending on your approach. Remember you have the wisdom to take the strategic actions to make the difference for your business.
About the Author Malik Muhammad was raised and educated in Jamaica, read law in London and the author of ‘Empower Yourself to Succeed’. He created The Empowerment Mastery System to influence, help and inspire businesses to cultivate their visions in a specific time frame. Malik enjoys vegan cooking and quad biking. He is an after-dinner speaker, event host and convenes empowerment seminars internationally. LinkedIn | Instagram | Twitter | Website
14
Are You Wasting Money on Paid Traffic? When it comes to marketing a website or business, you can’t just throw money at the problem. Lots of businesses assume that spending more on their marketing will lead to better results but this is not necessarily the case. The quality of your marketing and the ways that you draw in new users are just as important as the amount you invest in it.
click (PPC) advertising. However, most people use a broader definition that also includes banner ads and other forms of paid digital advertising that links directly to the site in question.
There are plenty of ways that websites can exchange cash for more traffic. But are they really worth it or is there a better solution?
For the purposes of this article, we consider any traffic generated directly because of something that you spent money on to be paid traffic. This doesn’t include the traffic generated after you invest in your SEO, as this traffic is organic and your SEO only makes it more likely that they will find you.
Paid Traffic Sources
Advantages of Paid Traffic
The term paid traffic can mean different things to different people. Some people only class paid traffic as traffic from pay per
The biggest advantage of paid traffic is that it is simple and all but guaranteed to work. If you can put your adverts in front of
15
enough people, some of them will inevitably click on them. Setting up a PPC or PPM campaign is easy and once it’s set up it more or less runs itself. This makes paid traffic a cheap and easy way of increasing traffic to your website.
Drawbacks to Paid Traffic Because of the relatively low costs involved, many businesses are giving little thought to the money they’re spending on paid traffic. Small businesses often see paid traffic as a guaranteed win, but this is not the case. For one thing, even if someone does click through to your website, it doesn’t mean they will engage with you in the long-term. Another serious problem with paid traffic is the growing prevalence of non-human internet users. For the most part, an advert has no idea whether an impression or click is coming from a person or a bot. No matter how much you spend on paid traffic, you won’t be able to control the quality or usefulness of that traffic.
Organic Vs Paid Traffic Both organic and paid traffic can be useful for growing your website. A healthy growth strategy will use both organic and paid traffic to increase the visitor count and maintain a steady growth rate. However, it is important to understand the difference between the two types of traffic and what you can expect from each in terms of user engagement.
Paid traffic will give you a noticeable spike, usually soon after you initiate your campaign. However, while paid traffic will produce results quickly, it isn’t as effective at producing long-term visitors as organic traffic is. Organic traffic is traffic generated through techniques like SEO, or even through approaching people directly. When you court paid traffic, it is always impersonal and artificial. But with organic traffic, you can make things more personal, thereby raising the chances of long-term engagement. SEO enables people who are looking for a business like yours to find you, but it is also worth reaching out to people directly. Instead of blowing a large chunk of your marketing budget on paid traffic, you can use something like this resource for B2B leads to identify potential leads and target them directly. Making in-roads with the right B2B contact can be cheaper and far more fruitful in the long run than any paid traffic. Paid traffic has its place in website marketing, but you shouldn’t be relying on it entirely. There is a difference between getting someone to visit your website and getting them to become a loyal user. Think about the quality of your traffic, not the quantity.
About the Author Tim Backes is a digital professional that has spent the last three years working without socks or shoes whenever possible. He enjoys traveling, and working from a laptop instead of in an office enables him to take advantage of all the credit card miles he chases obsessively. And, he loves helping others reshape their lives so they can do the same thing.
16
Why is Business Coaching So Important in 2019/20 Running your own business often presents a series of challenges that you have to rise to and there are bound to be scenarios and problems where you encounter gaps in your knowledge or could do with a second opinion before making a decision. You can read all about business coaching options here to get an idea of what you can expect from pursuing the strategy of using a business mentor and, in the meantime, here are some pointers on why it could prove to be so important to your business this year.
The reassurance that comes with confidence There is no getting away from the fact that having faith and confidence in your ability to run a successful business can make all the difference. One of the fundamental reasons why business coaching can be viewed as so important is that the support and input you derive from a professional coach can really inspire you and give you the confidence to meet challenges head-on.
17
Having someone who knows how to handle a certain situation and will be able to guide you toward a viable solution or confirm your thinking is correct will build your confidence levels.
Play to your strengths There is no rulebook that you have to follow when it comes to running a business and your personality and leadership qualities may prove to be very different from someone else’s, but just as successful. A good business coach should be able to show you how to gain a greater understanding of your specific management qualities and provide some valuable pointers to broaden your skills so that you are able to work with a variety of different people. Learning how to hone your skills and play to your strengths can strengthen your overall business qualities and attributes.
An outsider looking in A common issue that many business owners experience is that they are too emotionally attached to the inner workings of their company and can develop blind spots as a result of being so involved.
they don’t have that emotional attachment to hinder their thinking. This means that they could come up with solutions or strategies that mind not have been on your agenda, which is what you can get when you have a professional outsider looking in.
Challenging you to take a critical view of your business What you should discover is that a good business coach will be prepared to ask the sort of searching questions that will make you think critically about your business. Sometimes, it can even prove useful to have the input of a business coach who has experience of a different industry altogether. This is because they apply their business acumen to look at things from a different perspective and then challenge you to adopt a more critical and detached view of your strategy in order to find a solution. These are just some prime examples of why your business might be able to move to the next level when you have the guidance of a business coach to help you get there.
A distinct advantage of using a business coach is the fact that you are getting the insights of a mentor who will have a more detached overview of a problem because
18
Tech Innovations That Will Change How You Do Business Technology is constantly improving, and the industry evolves at a rapid pace. There are always new innovations on the horizon, so it’s hard to know which trends we should pay attention to. Is this really the next big thing that will change the way we think and live forever, or will it simply be forgotten by next week? The truth likely lies somewhere in the middle of those two extremes, but if you’re a business owner, it’s worth looking into what technologies actually can make your business better. Naturally, depending on your demographics
and the scope of your business, you may not need the most advanced solutions for your business needs, but you may be surprised by how much even a small business can benefit by thinking outside the box. The following are just three tech innovations that will help improve your business.
Big Data When hearing about big data, many will likely picture enterprise companies employing scientists and data researchers
19
to manufacture machine learning and artificial intelligence solutions. While this picture isn’t necessarily wrong, there are ways smaller businesses can use big data tools to better collect and analyze the data at their disposal.
important to check numbers against the national DNC list as well as any state registries. Voicemail drops may be prohibited in select states, and leaving them on numbers in a DNC registry can be a bad look for a company in any state.
This mostly hinges on using tools and services from other businesses, but it doesn’t necessarily require any complicated software. Google Analytics is free to use, and it can help a business of any size use its website to identify sales trends, parse traffic data, analyze audience engagement, and more. This data alone can help you make more informed decisions and help focus your goals moving forward.
Blockchain
Voicemail Drops Voicemail drop, also referred to as ringless voicemail, is a process that allows you to deliver a prerecorded message directly on a recipient’s voicemail server. This bypasses the conventional calling process completely. Some tech marketing companies may offer service packages with free ringless voicemail, but the potential for this service can go beyond marketing. Your business could use it to deliver important information or personalized messages to subscribers. Doctor’s offices, financial institutions, or collection agencies can use it to send reminders to contacts. There are a wide variety of potential applications, and voicemails that can be sent with a single click free up employees for other tasks.
You may have seen the term “blockchain” online for years now due to its association with cryptocurrency, but that’s only one of the potential uses for blockchain technology. At its core, blockchain doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with currency. Rather, it’s a technology that records transactions across multiple computers. It essentially prevents each involved record (block) in the overall chain from being altered retroactively. This means that records are trustworthy, which can increase safety in many industries, and plenty of businesses already use blockchain technology. Blockchain is naturally more attuned to some industries more than others, and not every business will need it. You might heavily consider its usefulness, however, if you consider it important for your customers to be able to track and verify your products, if you accept cryptocurrency as payment, or if you are in an industry that needs to keep complex and confidential records, such as healthcare or accounting.
Care must be taken when using voicemail drops for sales/marketing purposes, however. While most states don’t consider voicemail drops to be “phone calls,” it’s still
20
Cont r i but e I fy ouwoul dl i k et oc ont r i but et of ut ur ee dionsofBus i ne s sPa r t ne rMa g a z i neďŹ nd outmor ea th ps : / / www. bus i ne s s pa r t ne r ma g a z i ne . c om/ wr i t e f or us /
Ge ti nT ouc h Wewe l c omey ourf e e dba c k , c omme nt sa ndque sons . Pl e a s es e nda ne ma i l t oi nf o@bus i ne s s pa r t ne r ma g a z i ne . c om
Phot oCr e di t : Phot ok a nokwww. f r e e di gi t a l phot os . ne t