Business

Why do some companies outsource customer support services? Are only financial reasons in the middle or just the majority of companies fail to maintain an internal customer care department?

What is outsourcing?

A simplified definition of outsourcing indicates that a firm or corporation can select a section of its business – in our case, the customer service department – and choose to pass on the responsibilities of that department to another company specializing in providing that service, usually an answering service such as Answering 365.

In addition to being a good idea for a company to outsource customer service department to reduce costs, outsourcing firms gain additional benefits such as the ability to focus on more critical areas of the business, for example, software development or marketing campaigns.

So is it a good idea for companies to choose outsourcing customer support services? We’ve gathered some points from different companies who have hired some of the best answering services in Los Angeles. Read on to know the benefits.

1. It is profitable to choose the outsourcing of customer support services

This is the main reason that most companies invoke when choosing outsourcing services. Although it is closely related to the amount of work required, a company must always compare the costs of setting up a private customer service department versus the option of choosing a call center company to outsource its services.

So if you want to calculate how much your company has to pay to maintain a customer care department, then to compare the price of a call center, do not forget to consider the following factors and answer the following questions:

• What is the salary level of employees? If you own a large software company that hired a large number of engineers and programmers with high salaries, a generous salary grid is imposed on the company for all employees, including customer care representatives. If things are the same, and the company is going through a difficult time, or you need to save for other reasons, choosing the outsourcing services of a call center company can be a good idea.
• How much do you invest in employee training sessions? Spending on employees’ abilities is not a negative thing, but an obvious question arises: How much are you willing to invest in a customer care department? Maybe other departments, such as Marketing and Sales, need to receive the funds required to grow. If a company chooses the outsourcing services offered by a call center, one of the tasks of a call center is to prepare as much as possible the necessary teams, so training sessions become a daily routine and not an unexpected expense.
• Does your company have the resources for a team that provides customer service? Keeping an operational team offering the best services to market customers is not an easy thing to do. A well-maintained customer care department needs the best equipment to ensure a good phone and Internet connection to customers. Is the company prepared for these extra costs? If the answer is negative, the idea of ​​choosing the outsourcing services of a call center might be appropriate.
• Does your company have the space needed for several customer service teams? Large corporations and generally international companies in need of customer service have to hire a large number of people to provide the necessary commercial and technical support. For this reason, companies need to find generous spaces to create the required infrastructure for the smooth running of the business. Do all companies have the space required and are they prepared to pay high prices for renting new spaces? See here.

Clients have access to a specialized commercial and technical support

A large company may need a well-developed commercial and professional support service, which involves hiring a large number of people.

By choosing a call center company that offers access to specialized support through well-trained commercial, technical or other representatives, this problem is easy to solve. We must not forget that call center firms have many years of experience backing to provide the necessary support for many companies in different areas and industries. Thus, a call center can provide a number of dedicated teams for a particular project

To read more on topics like this, check out the business category.

It cannot be denied that social media has made a lot of difference in people’s lives. There are a lot of people right now who cannot live anymore without checking their different social media websites every day.

A lot of people who browse for fun know this and business owners know this too. If they want their brands to get noticed, they should advertise through the social media website that their target market uses the most. Let us say that your business targets people who often check out the profiles of different people. Instagram may be your best option in order to advertise and stand out.

A lot of business owners used to ignore Instagram because they do not think that this is the best social media website to advertise. Just imagine how much Instagram can help you. This will allow you to tell stories visually so you can get the attention of various people. There are details that you can know if you check out the view of Emma regarding Instagram advertising. It is not going to be easy but it does not have to be too complicated either.

The most important thing that you can do right now is to stand out.

1. Create a page about your company and make sure that you will post quality content that people want to see. Let us say that you are selling clothes. You want to show your items the best way possible. The more that you show people how appealing your items are, the more that people will contact you.
2. Always create content that will be appealing to a lot of users. What is the purpose of selling items that people are not interested in? They will not bother checking out your items at all. What if you would create OOTDs using the clothes that you are selling. When people are inspired to use your items, they would truly like to purchase from you.
3. Become more specific about your targeting. There are different markets that you can target when you go on Instagram. You need to be specific and know the age group that you want to target because this will make a lot of difference for sure.

One of the things that you should not forget doing is to promote through videos. Create simple videos that will make people look and watch.

A business spends on average 1% of its revenue on advertising. This number has been steady across the board, but inbound marketing increases the ROI businesses can expect when putting out money to bring in customers.

What is inbound marketing? Understanding what inbound marketing is and how it can help your business is necessary. Continue reading this article to find out what to expect in 2019 and how you can benefit from inbound marketing.

What is Inbound Marketing in 2019?

Implementing inbound marketing has changed the way many businesses bring in new customers. Even if you currently use inbound marketing strategies likes a blog currently, 2019 will bring changes. Below are some of the top changes you need to pay attention to maintain and increase the results you get from inbound marketing.

1. Further Personalization

As more information becomes available to marketers, users expect further personalization. Vague ads, website visits without a welcoming message and other generalities no longer offer the expected user experience in 2019.

If your company isn’t using methods to personalize email marketing, ads, promotions and other communications with customers, now is the time to start by gathering the necessary information from analytics.

2. Voice Search Takes Over

More people are talking to their smartphones and home devices to get the information they need. If your website isn’t optimized for voice search, you will miss out on a lot of traffic. Voice search doesn’t give users a top ten results either so you need to make sure you rank number one.

If you want to optimize for voice search, you need to answer questions easily, so Google knows your website is the best result for its users.

3. Images

We’ve all heard the saying that a picture is worth a thousand words, but users are more demanding when it comes to images. Images need to be big, bright and beautiful. If you have a website with few images or if your images are low-quality, you won’t retain visitors as well as websites with these elements.

Adding images will attract more visitors, retain them and even cause people to share your content on social more than plain text.

4. Video Marketing Is Vital

If your company isn’t using video marketing yet, you haven’t missed the boat. While you haven’t missed the boat, you need to get on right away if you want to make it in 2019.

People have so many options for video content that your video has to be high-quality. High-quality resolution and high-quality content are vital if you want to get attention online.

If you upload your videos on video sharing sites like YouTube, you need to have clean, catchy thumbnail images that make people want to click. One of the no-nos to long-term inbound marketing success with video is click bait. Your video thumbnails should line up with the topic and quality of your video.

5. Marketing & Sales Working Together

Most marketing and sales teams do not work together. When marketing and sales do not work together to give feedback, and in-depth information on the leads, both the sales and marketing process suffers.

Companies now see how important it is to have sales and marketing teams that work together. Marketing teams set sales teams up for success by letting them know what actions the lead takes on the website and what their interest level looks like. Marketing teams help the sales teams by giving them feedback on how the sales process went and how to be more effective in the marketing processes.

6. Chatbots

If you’ve tried to get support from most large companies these days, it is likely you’ve been greeted by chatbots. Some chatbots are smart enough to carry on a human-like conversation.

When you use chatbots for your inbound marketing efforts, you are able to have support available around the clock. Hiring a human to sit and monitor the computer for long periods of time can get expensive.

You can use chatbots for different parts of your business’ communications process from lead generation, support, sales and more. Chatbots aren’t a replacement for humans in your inbound marketing process, but they can be available when humans aren’t able to be available.

7. Conversational Marketing

People want to get answers to their questions, and while they do their own research online, they want to be able to have a conversation with your company. You can use social media to have conversations with your potential customers.

Facebook and Twitter allow you to comment back and forth to your customers. Whether the comments are negative or positive, you need to respond and help your potential clients. Never be adversarial when people interact with you online and try to take them to the next step in the communication process.

Think about ways you can implement conversational marketing in your business. Will it be on Facebook, Twitter or another social media platform?

Prepare for New Inbound Marketing Trends

Look at the new trends and see which areas you want to work on first. While you might not be able to focus on all of these areas at once, you need to pick one or two to get started on so you can stay in the game.

All businesses either live or die by leads. You should feed your sales team leads as much as possible since outbound marketing tactics are becoming less and less effective.

You know cold calling is a thing of the past and non-effective, but you should also know that content marketing is becoming a standard. While content marketing may have been enough to get attention in the past, 2019 is the year you’ll have to go above and beyond putting out high-quality content.

All top businesses are putting out great content, so you need to use the new trends to get ahead of the pack.

Make 2019 a Marketing Year to Remember

Now that you have the answer to the question, “What is inbound marketing?” you can continue your business education. Read our blog about lowering business overhead today.

Want to make sure your business is secure?

Looking for the best cyber security tips for your small business?

While you may think that only large businesses are targets for security breaches and cyber threats, the truth is that smaller businesses are targets as well. Because of this, it’s important that you take the necessary precautions to keep your business protected.

Luckily, we’re here to help. Below we’ll look at the 10 things you need to do to improve your cybersecurity.

1. Make Your Networks Secure

The first thing you need to do to protect your business from cyber threats is to ensure that you have great network security.

Make sure you’re using a firewall to protect your internet connection and to encrypt business information and data. Additionally, if your business uses a WIFI connection you need to make sure that it is password protected. You should also hide your network’s name, or SSID, to make it harder for anyone to see.

Additionally, make sure to check out some more info about preventing network cyber attacks if you want to ensure your data is safe.

2. Use Antivirus and Spyware Protection

Another step you need to take to protect your business from cyber threats is to install antivirus software on your network and business computers. While it won’t be able to stop every threat under the sun, a great antivirus software can still do a lot and can work as the first line of defense against problems such as spyware, malware, and malicious viruses.

Look for an antivirus software that is always active and monitors your system for threats and changes. Also, run a full scan every now and then as well to make sure your systems are secure.

3. Back Up Your Data

It’s crucial that you keep your business organized and that you’re prepared for a disaster scenario. You need to back up your data often so that if something happens you don’t lose all of your important business data.

important documents, spreadsheets, financial records, and databases should be backed up weekly. It should also be stored somewhere besides on your main computers such as in the cloud or elsewhere else off of business premises.

4. Use Stronger Passwords

Another big way you can improve your security and protect against cyber threats is to make sure you’ve implemented strong password rules and guidelines for employees.

All employees use strong passwords that are complex and longer in length. They should use a combination of letters, numbers, and other special characters in their password as well.

Additionally, you may also want to look for ways to enable multifactor authentication so that more information besides just a password will be required to log in.

5. Create Standard Security Policies and Practices

One of the best ways you can improve your cybersecurity is to simply think long and hard about your policies and best practices. Make sure that you’ve come up with standardized policies that apply throughout your business and that are meant to protect sensitive information.

Outline the ways that every employee in your business should handle secure information and what consequences they may face if they don’t follow procedure.

6. Educate Your Employees

Great cybersecurity is not a one person job but requires the cooperation of your whole team. Make sure you take the time to brief your employees about security threats and how they can help your business to be protected against them.

Look for ways to educate your employees on the importance of security policies and safety standards that your business has put in place. Only with their cooperation can you keep your entire business safe from threats.

7. Keep Software Up to Date

New security threats, viruses, and attack methods are being developed regularly. The software you use in your business is often supported by the people who created it and they regularly release updates to repair vulnerabilities and protect against new problems.

Make sure that you’re keeping all of your business software up to date and that you’re always using the latest version of any software you use.

8. Be Careful With Mobile Devices

Mobile devices and phones can be a potentially dangerous cybersecurity vulnerability. Unfortunately, very few businesses have enough mobile security in place. Because of this, you need to have a plan for keeping your network and company data secure when employees use their mobile devices.

If employees access your network with their phones or if they keep any important data on their phones, you need to set some standards for security.

Criminals can get access to business data through these devices, so make sure that your employees are using password protection on their phones and are encrypting their data. If a device is stolen you should also make sure that they report it right away.

9. Utilize Payment Best Practices

Another thing that you should do to prevent security threats is to do ensure you’re being as safe as possible with credit cards and other payment methods. Make sure you employ best practices when it comes to how you or your employees handle credit card transactions.

Check with your bank to make sure you’re using all of the latest anti-fraud features and that your cards have the highest security possible. Be careful how you use the card as well and ensure that you never make online purchases with it on a system or device that has spyware or viruses on it.

10. Restrict Physical Access

A lot has already been said about keeping your internet connection, network, and software safe and secure. However, you also need to make sure you control and limit physical access to computers and network devices as well.

Make sure that nobody outside of your trusted employees can access your computer system or network. Also, make sure you keep a close eye on mobile devices and laptops as these can often be easily stolen by criminals who want access to your business data.

Improving Your Business With These Cyber Security Tips

If you’re trying to protect your business from security threats, you need to use the tips listed above. These cyber security tips can help you ensure you’re using the best practices to keep your company safe and to improve business security.

Need help creating an effective and secure business website? Click here to check out our best tips for small business website design.

The first thing that you need to consider when buying a franchise is if you will feel comfortable with the franchise. If you think that it is a good match, it will be easy for you to move forward. On the other hand, if you face issues with your relationship with the franchisor even during your initial meeting, it might only get worse. Here are signs telling you that the franchisor you are talking to is not the best choice, and you need to keep exploring other options.

You don’t get answers

You want to know all the answers first before you decide to buy the franchise. You want to consider all the responses before you decide it is worth buying. If the franchisor does not return your calls or reply to your emails, you will have a hard time. You don’t want to keep running after the franchisor to spare some time to explain some things to you. In the future, if you become a franchisee, you might also find it difficult asking for support when you are in trouble.

You get inconsistent responses

When you don’t get consistent responses, it shows that the franchisor is not yet ready for a franchise. The company needs to have more time to finalise the details before they start franchising. They might not even be sure if franchising is the right move for them. Given how unstable the company is, you won’t succeed if you partner with them.

The franchisor seems too eager

Although some franchisors seem too lazy to respond to your enquiries, you will find others who are incredibly excited. They keep calling you back or sending you emails even if you did not ask about anything. They keep following up even if you already agreed that you would call them when you make up your mind. If the owner does this, it shows that the company is not in good shape, and franchising is the only way for the business to survive.

You don’t receive the disclosure documents

You need this document to decide if you will pursue the transaction. Regardless of where the headquarters of the company is, you need to receive the actual documents. You can get the ideas you need from the documents. If you do not get them, it shows that the franchisor is not taking you seriously. Worse, the franchisor might be hiding something from you.

You receive negative feedback from other franchisees

The best method to know if you are heading in the right direction is by asking other franchisees. They went through the exact same steps, and they know the franchisors well. If they give negative feedback about the franchise, you need to drop it.

Given these possibilities, you need to be cautious about making a decision. If you want to be safe, you can look at the choices at https://startyournewfranchise.com. Take your time before deciding, to avoid regrets.

Image: Unsplash.com

The best things in life may be free but in business, it’s all about the money. Yet businesses often struggle to find that sweet spot that allows them to spend on needed expenses without breaking the bank.

If you’re trying to work out how to keep costs low but bring in the moolah, then you’re in the right place – we’ve got you covered. Here are 5 smart cost cutting strategies to help get you started.

1. Track Your Expenditure

To find out where to reduce expenses, you first need to know what those expenses are. If you’ve been a bit remiss with this point, you’ll need to start from scratch.

Sit down with your notepad and pencil, and write down all the things your business spends money on. It’ll likely be a pretty long list but stick with it. Then, you’ll need to go back and find out how much you spent on them in the last 12 months or so.

Now you have a clear picture of what you’ve spent and where, in the last year. Moving forward, make sure your Accounts Department plugs in all those receipts, so you know just where your company money’s going.

2. Go Paperless

Using paper in your office costs you way more than you might think. The average office worker prints 10,000 pages a year and spends $725 doing it. By going digital, you’ll automatically save thousands each year.

On top of that, paper costs money to buy and store. By drastically reducing your paper usage, you may even be able to reduce your space requirements. This’ll leave you free to lease this excess space or even move to a smaller, cheaper office.

3. Revisit Your Company’s Contracts

This is an easy one, though it does require some legwork.

Compile a list of all your current contracts – insurance, suppliers, vehicle rental, etc – and see when they’re up for renewal. Then call up each company and see if you can get a better deal.

4. Implement a Remote Working Strategy

Working from home saves companies money, and it also saves their employees some dough, too. From their home office, your employees will be saving on their commute, while saving you money on your office space, energy bills and more.

If you write remote working into your employees’ contracts, you’ll be able to keep tabs on who will be in the office, and when. This’ll help you save on space, and even allow to you reduce expenses by moving to smaller premises.

5. Shop Smart

Another great way to cut costs is through shopping smarter. If you definitely need more office furniture, for example, look for discounts on websites like https://www.winc.com.au, and for savings wherever possible.

And second-hand doesn’t always mean second-class. Try auction sites and watch out for office clearance sales near you. You’ll probably find something that’s better quality than you could afford brand new.

Cost Cutting Strategies

The cost of running an enterprise can start to add up pretty fast, but our cost-cutting strategies will help keep your business hat firmly in place.

Record what you spend your money on. Go paperless – you’ll do the world a favor while saving money along the way. And when you shop smart, you’ll be able to have your office-shaped cake and eat it, too.

Another great way to save money is by keeping your organization skills on point. Check out this article to find out how to do it.

Money makes the world go round, it’s true – but what happens when you’re out? The world won’t stop spinning but being broke and looking at bills will make your head start.

What should you do when those due dates are fast approaching? Check out these easy side jobs to make that extra cash.

1. Affiliate Sales

There are a few ways to start an affiliate selling program, so we’ll go through all of them in this post.

First and most traditionally, you can start a blog that lists affiliate links. That’s probably the most time intensive method since you’ll have to write blog posts or create content that uses the link.

You’ll also have to find products or shops that allow affiliate links and set up an account with them.

You’ll have to set up an account if you want to show affiliate products on Instagram too. Featuring the product on Instagram is one of the easiest ways to get eyes on it – but it’s hard to get people to click through.

Facebook has a little more of a click-through rate for affiliate product posts, but there’s a lot of competition. You’ll have to fight with other people trying to make money on the platform too.

2. Coach or Create a Course

Online learning is all the rage these days, with sites like Udemy offering thousands of courses. If you have a specific skill set that you can shape into a course, then you’re set.

People easily spend $200+ on a course. Udemy takes a cut, but this is something you only have to create once. Once you post it, it’s like making passive income.

Sometimes, depending on the course, it’s not completely hands-free. Your customers may have questions they want to run by you during their learning session.

If you do choose to create a course, make sure you have email notifications turned on, if your students need you.

3. Drive Uber/Lyft

Yes, for a while there was some controversy about if driving for either of these companies was worth it, but that was a while ago. Both Uber and Lyft have revamped their driving/employment to feature better treatment.

This is an especially good idea if you live in a college town or near a popular destination. Surge rates go up on Game days and during the later hours of the night.

4. Random Tasks

Do you have time on your hands and need money, now? Well, then you can check out apps like TaskRabbit. This is where people hire willing parties to run errands for them or do little home projects.

Tasks can be anything (legal) like picking up dry cleaning, helping someone mount a large frame, or even cleaning. You can set up an account on the app in minutes and get started working once you’re approved.

Someone may even ask you to pick up a lottery ticket (view here) and maybe they’ll even share the prizes with you!

5. Become a Tutor

What are you really good at that would have been helpful in high school or college? Maybe you’re a whiz at geometry now, since you’re in architect school.

Whatever your skill is, if it’s based in an academic realm (math, reading, science) it qualifies you to be a tutor. There are websites that hook you up with potential tutor clients and process billing for you.

6. User Testing

Remember a few years ago when everyone was obsessed with the idea of “secret shoppers”? It was and still is a legitimate business, but a lot of people didn’t do their research and got scammed.

Secret shoppers are less useful now that we shop for everything online. So, now stores need user testing for websites instead. You’re getting paid to go through some tasks on the website and tell the developers how it worked.

You can earn $10 per site, but it will take some time to go through each task.

7. Event Planning or Cleanup

There’s a service in large cities that will bring you Gatorade and clean up from a party you had. They’ll even stop at McDonald’s for you if you’re hungry.

Why not advertise yourself as a party cleaner and hangover helper? You could do that alone or make it part of your event planning services.

You’re the event planner that not only plans and makes sure the event runs smoothly but helps with the aftermath. You will need some strong organizational skills to pull this one off and a platform to advertise on.

8. Rent Yourself Out

No, not sexually. Let’s get that off your mind right now. You can provide someone a barrier from questions about why they never bring home a girl (or boy) for money.

These are platonic, no sex is expected or allowed (unless you really hit it off, we guess) but even if you meet your soulmate – that needs to be off the clock.

Rent-a-Friend is a hit in big cities, so don’t expect to find someone needing a date in a small town. Maybe in the future though – you never know.

9. Temping

Is there a temp-agency around where you live? Some of them garnish your paycheck a little in reward for getting you a gig. But, if you have free weekends and can’t seem to find a regular job, this is a good compromise.

Temp jobs are good for people in-between careers or on a break from school. Check out places like Kelly Services or find a local employment agency.

Easy Side Jobs: The Nitty Gritty

There’s rarely such thing as easy money, but these easy side jobs are as close as you can get. When you think back to the kind of labor our ancestors did, suddenly driving strangers around seems like a piece of cake.

Did you see anything on this list that interested you? Who wouldn’t want to make some extra cash?

Think you want some options that are a little more… green? Click here.

Did you know that more than 500 new websites are created every single minute? As an e-commerce store owner, how can you stand out from the crowd so you can increase sales?

While there are lots of ideas out there about growing your bottom line, it can be hard to know which sources to trust. That’s why we put this guide together outlining some helpful tips.

After all, learning how to grow sales during the holiday season is great, but these 8 tips will help you increase sales all year round.

1. Invest Time in Brand Awareness

Your goal with brand awareness should be to make sure your customers associate your brand with quality and reliability. Those two characteristics are what drive repeat sales.

Evaluate your customers’ experience with your product or service by spending time on your product reviews.

If you have a collection of positive reviews, then make sure they are displayed and readily available on your website. If you have mostly bad reviews, then set aside the time to respond individually to and resolve as many as you can. If you don’t have any reviews then make an opportunity for your customers to leave reviews through emails, webpage widgets, etc.

Ideally, you’ll have an employee who can be responsible for managing brand awareness. But if not then schedule a few hours at a set time each week that is devoted to responding to reviews and fostering the growth of brand awareness.

2. Update Your Website

One of the simplest and most effective ways to boost sales is to evaluate your website traffic and customer journey and then update your website.

Consider these questions:

• How do customers reach my website?
• How much time do they spend on the homepage?
• Which page do they travel to next?
• How long does it take a customer to reach a product page?
• What’s the total amount of time a customer spends on my site?

Through site mapping, you can answer these questions and determine some areas of improvement.

Simply evaluating your customers’ journey through your website can help you determine if certain pages, links, etc. are confusing, distracting, ignored, and more.

This will likely prompt some changes to the design and flow of your site. This practice will make it easier for customers to be directed to product pages, and spend more time overall on your website.

This is a practice that should be repeated often.

3. Social Media Marketing

Who is your target customer? How old are they? Where do they live? And most importantly, which social media platform do they use most?

These questions will help you know how to market to your target customer the most effective.

If your market is 15-30-year-olds then Instagram should be your focus for social media ads. 25 years+ target customers spend most of their social media time on Facebook.

Consider Twitter, Snapchat, and any other relevant social media platforms and devote a portion of your marketing budget to ads on your target platform.

4. Grow Sales Through Email Marketing

Grow that email list and then use it! Social media platforms have varying stamina and popularity, but email is forever.

If you need to grow your email list, consider creating a popup window that offers email subscribers a free eBook, a discount off their first purchase, or a month free for a subscription service.

Make sure the employee responsible for marketing has a calendar scheduled out in advance of emails that go out on a regular basis.

5. Improve Customer Service

No matter how much you already spend in time and money, customer service can always be improved. Take some time to evaluate your customer service standards.

You should devote time and budget to ensure that each customer who contacts you for help receives it. You can also begin evaluating what your most common customer service issues are and spend time preventing those issues with future clients.

You should have a devoted customer service representative who is responsible for responding to and resolving client complaints in a timely and respectful manner.

Remember that customers are likely to spend more money just to get a product from a brand they like and have good experiences with.

6. Make Sure Sellers Are Abiding by Contracts

If you have outside sellers marketing and selling your service or product, then it’s important to make sure that you have a clear and direct contract that protects and benefits both parties.

Most entrepreneurs don’t have time to monitor contracts or minimum advertised price agreements. You can use FrigginYeah MAP Monitoring to make sure no one is undercutting your prices and stealing sales.

Some sellers might be violating MAP guidelines which could be funneling sales away from you. Maintaining and monitoring your contracts is key to driving sales and growing your business.

7. Create a Secure Shopping Environment

Displaying security icons is a key opportunity to making your clients feel more comfortable spending money and time on your website. You can make sure the web hosting site provides a lock icon next to your URL.

Display security badges for services you provide to ensure cybersecurity.

8. Make Shipping an Advantage

Free shipping is often more motivating than a percentage off. That’s part of the reason that Amazon Prime has had the success it enjoys.

Use shipping confirmation emails to your advantage. Make sure an automated email confirmation with shipping details is sent within a minute of purchase. Provide tracking details and send other emails when packages ship and are delivered. Send a follow-up email to ask for a review.

These shipping related interactions will create positive associations and experiences for your customers as they look forward to their package.

Now What?

Now that you have the best 8 tips to grow sales in the coming year, it’s time to get started.

Choose some of these tips to start implementing immediately and visit our business feed for more on business tricks.

Have you considered adding background checks – also known as pre-employment screenings – to your organization or business’s hiring process?

While some might see it as an unnecessary business expense, it’s actually a vital step to take to ensure you choose the right candidates. After all, your company is only as good as the people that work there.

Background checks can help you determine that the candidate’s education and certifications are as they appear on a resume. Background checks can also help ensure that your team is consistently safe and productive.

Here is a list of five smart reasons that employers should never a pre-employment background check.

1. Protect Your Brand

We’ll say this again so that it sinks in – your company will only be as good as the people that represent it. If you make a hiring mistake and ultimately have to let the employee go, will that person turn around and flame your brand?

In today’s age, it’s almost too easy for a disgruntled former employee to unfairly smear a business or brand on social media and the internet. A background check that keeps you from hiring the wrong person can help prevent this from becoming a costly PR nightmare.

2. Save Money

Although there will be an upfront cost in order to perform pre-employment screening, consider the ways it’s a worthwhile investment.

The hiring process itself requires substantial money, energy, and time. The less often you need to go through the process of advertising an opening, interviewing, onboarding, and training a new hire the better.

By doing a background check before you make hiring decisions, you help avoid the costly mistake of hiring the wrong person for the job and then needing to turn around and start the rehire process over.

3. Protect Your Customers’ Info

A complete background check will look at a candidate’s criminal history. This helps catch past issues (including fraud, forgery, or theft) that might raise a red flag as to how a person will behave on the job.

This type of criminal screening is especially important if the employee will be handling sensitive personal or financial information provided to you by your customers or clients. Don’t risk the damage it could do to your company’s reputation if that information were to fall into the wrong hands.

4. Consider Workplace Safety

Background checks can also catch previous problems that may present a safety hazard to you or your other employees – think drug or violence charges.

Past problems with substance abuse aren’t necessarily an immediate dealbreaker; however, if the position for which you are hiring entails using heavy equipment or tools, it might warrant some additional testing or discussion.

A past that includes violent behavior is a red flag. It’s your duty to protect the safety of your other employees by avoiding bringing a violent member onto your team.

5. Get a Feel for the Integrity of the Candidate

A resume and an interview can tell you quite a bit about a person, their skills, and how they will fit in with your company. But, to be safe, don’t take all you’re seeing and hearing at face value.

A background check will most likely prove that your instincts are right and the candidate is great. But, in the event that they have fabricated or embellished any of their past experience, it’s much better to find that out before you welcome them to your team.

There’s a reason that teacher, doctor, and government background checks are always performed – the hiring teams need to know with 100% certainty that everything stated on a resume was factual.

The Bottom Line on Pre-Employment Screening

The relatively small upfront cost of investing in thorough pre-employment screening will pay for itself faster than you think. Protect your brand, image, employees, and bottom line by pre-screening candidates before you hire!

Check out the rest of the helpful articles in our business blog section to help you run a streamlined, efficient business.