Business

Working in a call center can be a great way to increase your income while providing valuable services to a company and its customers. With the average call center employee making about $30,000 a year, with the potential to earn more, there are many reasons why you might decide to start working in a call center. If you aren’t sure what to expect from the job, here’s what you should know.

What are call centers for?

There are two different types of call centers: inbound call centers and outbound call centers. While there are a few key differences between each type of call center, both play a role in streamlining operations of a business.

Inbound call centers field communications from customers like returns, orders, and troubleshooting requests. Outbound call centers are more sales-oriented and entail an agent making a call to a customer.

What do call center agents do?

Whether you work in an inbound call center or outbound call center, your job function is generally the same. Using inbound or outbound call center software and other tools like a microphone, you will interact with customers to either make sales or resolve problems. While some call centers operate primarily through voice, many companies are switching to an omnichannel approach to providing customer service.

An omnichannel software solution allows you to interact with customers through a variety of channels like web chat and even SMS messaging. So just because you’ve taken a job in a call center, it doesn’t mean you’ll only be talking on the phone. No matter what tools you’re using, at its heart, your top priority as a call center agent is to provide a great customer experience each and every time.

What is the general process for fielding calls?

Fielding calls in a call center can seem overwhelming at first, but there are a variety of safeguards in place to make answering a customer’s questions as simple and efficient as possible. In an inbound model, you receive a call from a consumer and gather information about the client in order to find them in the system; then, verify that you have access to their customer records. This allows you to provide much more specialized support.

Once you’ve looked the client up, you use a knowledge base to walk the customer through various steps in order to try and resolve their problem. In cases like scheduling a return or issuing a refund, you may have to verify other aspects of their order.

If keeping track of the wide range of interactions you may have has you a bit concerned, don’t fret! It’s important to remember that you will have the resources you need to understand and implement best practices for your business when you speak with a customer. Plus, with modern software solutions, you have powerful tools at your disposal.

The benefits of working in a call center

Although working in a call center may seem straightforward, there are plenty of challenges that await you should you pursue a career in this fast-developing field. In addition to building up your customer service and communication skills — traits which transfer to almost any job — it’s easy to make a competitive wage working in a call center.

This makes becoming a call center agent a great choice for recent graduates or those looking to switch careers and still make a living wage. Some positions even allow you to work remotely if you have the right computer setup and fast internet, making it even easier to get a job as a support agent.

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

It’s a tricky one: how do you tell if your content marketing strategy is working? You’ve spent time planning, designing and writing your content, you think it does a great job of distilling your brand’s key messages, and you’re sure that your audience will love it. Look out for these five key signs that your content marketing strategy isn’t working as well as you’d hoped, and follow the accompanying tips to improve the issues and drive your content to success.

Problem 1: Your audience isn’t engaging with your content

When you publish a piece of content, you should be measuring KPIs like social shares, comments, scroll depth and time spent on the page. If you’re not hitting these KPIs, it’s a sure-fire sign that your content is missing the mark somehow.

Solution: Seek assistance from professionals

Working with a copywriting agency will take your content from lacklustre and under-performing to memorable and effective. Agencies can offer years of experience within your business’s niche, meaning that they already know how to connect with your audience and drive key messages home.

Problem 2: Your content isn’t getting any links

For your content marketing to really shine, it’s important that important influencers and publishers want to share it within their networks. If you’re not getting any traction from key names in your industry, it’s time to wonder why.

Solution: Refine your approach to meeting your audiences’ needs

Your content should above all things be useful, interesting, helpful or important to your industry. Think about your audience – what questions and problems do they have that need solving, and what valuable insight or information can you give them? Meet their needs and you’ll earn authentic shares and links to your website.

Problem 3: Your content isn’t ranking in Google

61% of marketers say that growing their SEO presence is a high priority – and if it’s top of their list, it should be top of yours. If your content isn’t ranking well for any of the keywords that matter to your business, there is a problem with your content marketing strategy.

Solution: Optimise your content for search

Google wants to see useful, relevant content that answers the questions or intent behind a person’s search term. The more helpful and relevant your content is, the higher you’ll rank. Use natural language that includes the keywords in question plus lots of supporting, related language. Make sure your content is technically optimised, too.

Problem 4: Your content isn’t designed for mobile

Test your content on your mobile device and ask your colleagues to do the same on theirs. If it’s slow to load or not designed responsively, your audience (and Google) will immediately black-mark you.

Solution: Always design your content mobile-first

Your content has to provide a fast, simple and pleasing mobile experience to be taken seriously in the modern, digital landscape. Use Google’s free tool to test your existing content and if it’s not fit for purpose, fix it immediately.

Problem 5: Your content isn’t driving leads or sales

The ultimate goal of your content marketing strategy should be to drive business growth. If you aren’t growing your lead or customer base through your content, something is wrong.

Solution: Use data to shape your strategy

Talk to your customers, review what your competitors are doing, listen out for the latest industry news and trends. Use this insight to create data-driven content, then use an analytics package to track key metrics and learn which pieces of content drive more growth than others. Take these learnings and apply them to your upcoming pieces.

Your content marketing strategy should be a work in progress, always open to optimisation, iteration and improvement. Don’t get disheartened if your content is suffering from the issues above. Follow the solution tips, take note of what you learn in the process and steer your strategy towards success.

 

If you don’t care about the customer experience, then you’ll never see an increased revenue on your products and services. The sooner you focus on it, the better your brand will perform. Increased customer experience will help win your customers over and make you stand out among the competition. Here are five ways why the customer experience is important for maintaining your brand.

1. Treasure Your Loyal Customers

You should treat both your new and existing customers in the same way. Don’t value your new customers over your existing customers. Loyal customers are ten times more valuable from their first purchase, according to the White House Office of Consumer Affairs. Research has shown that it’s six to seven times more expensive to attract a new customer than it is to keep your existing customers around.

So, go above and beyond for your loyal customers. You’re more likely to keep them around. It’s better to have a customer who’s satisfied with your products or services than to have a new customer who’s willing to jump ship. Take this information into account when working on the customer experience and do your best to engage with them.

2. Customers Could Leave Your Business for Another

As stated before, those new customers are more likely to jump ship. This is usually caused by poor customer service. Customers who wait forever to get a response are more likely to switch to another brand. It can take up to 12 positive experiences to gain your customer’s trust to make up for an unpleasant experience.

You have to find unique and clever ways to gain their trust back. Engage with them, instead of talking at them. Ask questions or offer support. You can also use e-mail newsletters, online surveys, and personalised messages that allows you to engage with your customers. Then you can reward them for their time with an offer or discount. This can help improve the customer experience.

3. Customer Experience is Reflected in Your Revenue

Customer experience is seen in your revenue on a monthly basis. How your customers feel about your products or services can create a positive or negative experience that’s reflected in metrics and transactions. Satisfied customers don’t consider leaving your brand for another. They will make more happy returns and future purchases.

If you satisfy all of their needs and meet their requirements, then they will come back. It’s that simple. Analysing the customer experience should become a part of your daily efforts. It’s not something you should do once in a while to prevent a customer from jumping ship. If you don’t know how to measure the customer experience, use customer success software to help you out.

4. Customer Experience Makes You Stand Out

Your competitors want you to make a mistake so they can scoop up your customers. Sometimes being prepared is not enough. You need to know how to deal with negative backlash and a ruined reputation. If you consistently provide exceptional customer service, then you don’t have to worry about this problem from happening.

5. A Positive Customer Experience Can Elevate Your Brand

Customer experience can take your brand places you never thought you could go. The value of customer experience should never be underestimated. This is an important factor to consider when planning your marketing and sales campaigns. Loyal customers are more likely to recommend your brand on social media and to their family and friends.

They’re also more likely to engage with your posts. They may leave some glowing reviews behind. You can use these reviews for your case studies and success stories. Every brand should work hard to strive for excellent customer experience. Getting your business on Google and social media have both become crucial factors for gaining feedback from customers and identifying areas where you can improve.

Offering great customer service will satisfy your business and your target audience. They’ll receive the service they want, and you’ll get increased revenue as a result. The sky is the limit — your brand can always find ways to improve.

 

No matter what industry you’re in, you will need creative thinkers to move your business forward. By encouraging creating space for safe self-expression, you give your employees a place to express ideas that may seem out of the scope of their jobs. From these thoughts may come your best opportunities.

The Power of Safe Self-Expression

When your employees feel safe expressing their thoughts and emotions, you provide a base of shared support that everyone in the firm can access. Not only can this bring some great ideas to the surface, but you can give those employees who may struggle with mental disorders like depression the flexibility to;

• arrange their days so their best mental energy can be shared effectively
• provide those who need some quiet time a much-needed break
• promote authentic engagement in the workplace, and
• reduce mental fatigue

Creativity in the Workplace

None of your employees, even yourself, are robots forging ahead for the sake of business alone. People need the ability to express themselves occasionally and to take some time to care for themselves to move ahead, in much the same way they would need time to consider and tackle new business ideas, so they can fully contribute.

Encouraging your employees to be creative in the workplace is also a great way to encourage employee engagement. Fully engaged employees are;

• more likely to stick around, putting your training dollars to the best use
• willing to buckle down and do what it takes to get through the tough times
• put company resources to the best use
• celebrate their wins, and
• give themselves a break when things go wrong.

How can you encourage self-care in the workplace daily? First off, start at the top. Owners, leaders and managers need to learn to take a mental health break and share that they are doing so.

Mental and emotional rest is the best way to refresh yourself and come up with better ideas than you had the day before, so – demonstrate this to your employees. A of people learn by example, so having owners and managers actively promoting self-care at work, even in small steps, will encourage employees to follow suit.

Secondly, encourage employees to take a break. If you know that an employee is struggling, suggest a long lunch or a walk around the block. Encourage your employees to let people know what their triggers are and what times of the day they are most or least energised. Respect these boundaries.

Simple Means of Self Expression

Allowing some free decoration of the workspace is critical to encouraging self-expression. Also, consider letting employees create a “door closed” sign for when they’re very busy or struggling to focus. This can be anything from a laminated poster to stick to the cubicle wall to a hat or set of headphones that let co-workers know that this employee needs time to think!

This is particularly crucial for new employees. Focusing on the personality of new employees and allow them to express themselves leads to better retention and engagement, for example.

 

Attending trade shows is an excellent way of keeping in touch with your existing clients, expanding your customer base, and even introducing a new product or product line to the market. However, it is imperative for you to understand that your success in a given trade show will, to a significant extent, depend on the quality of your trade show booth. Therefore, for you to achieve desirable results, you have to get things right from the moment you are picking your trade show display vendor. Below is a rundown of tips you can count on for you to pick the most appropriate trade show display company to work with as you prepare for your next trade show.

Manufacture Location

The location where the booths are manufactured will affect their cost, quality, and shipping duration. For instance, booths manufactured in foreign countries such as China may cost less than those built in the US due to the lower cost of labor and raw materials in China. However, their quality may be inferior, and they can take longer to ship. On the other hand, trade show booths manufactured in the US are likely to be of better quality, and shipping will most likely take a relatively shorter time. Therefore, depending on the quality of trade show display that you want and the amount of time you have to wait for the shipment, then you have to consider where the trade display company of your choice will do the manufacturing.

Communication

Before picking your trade show display company, remember that you are going to need their services in designing, manufacturing, and installation. Therefore, you need to choose a company with people who are ready to work closely with you and communicate seamlessly. If a trade show display company is taking too long to respond to your emails, then that is an early telltale sign that they are not the right partners to work with. Reliable trade show companies such as ExpoMarketing are known for highly effective communication channels. For instance, you can call them or contact them through a live chat on their website any time.

Product Knowledge

If you are new to trade shows, then you need to work with a trade show company that can answer all the questions that you may be having. In other words, your trade show display vendor should have the necessary knowledge to get everything ready for you. For instance, ExpoMarketing has been in the industry for many years, and you can count on their experience and technical know-how to have a trade show display that can help you to achieve your intended results.

Variety of products

If you are attending a trade show for the first time, you need exposure to a wide variety of trade show display products. Therefore, you should go for a trade show display company with trade show booths of many different sizes, designs, and shapes. This will increase your odds of landing the best trade show display possible.

The Takeaway

Overall, it is apparent that trade shows can go a long way in enhancing your marketing approach. If you are looking for a reliable trade show display company to help you with designing, fabricating, and installing a trade show display of any magnitude, ExpoMarketing is the answer. Get in touch with them today for more information about their products and services.

 

Advertising through mobile is a fantastic way to get the attention of your customers. When people spend so much time on their phones and mobile devices, you’re bound to reach them this way. How do you get the most out of your spending on advertising? Here are 6 tips to help you reach your audience:

Do Your Research

Before you do anything else, you’ve got to find out who your audience is.What are they looking for? Where are they spending their time? If you know these things, you can tailor your advertising to them personally, which should lead to more conversions. Don’t start on an advertising campaign before you do this.

Pick Your Location

Where’s the best place for your ad? It very much depends on your audience, where they hang out, and what you’re advertising. For example, say you’re marketing a mobile app game. A great place to advertise it would be in another game that’s marketed to a similar audience to yours. No one can act on your ad if they don’t see it, so make sure it’s in the right place.

Get Help with Your Advertising

Whatever you’re looking to advertise, it’s best to choose a company with the experience to help you do it. Companies like Broadplace have ample experience in mobile advertising, so they’ll be able to help you put together a great campaign. They’ll also be able to track metrics such as who’s clicking on your ads to help you narrow down your focus and see who you’re reaching.

Try Geo-Targeting

Geo-targeting is directing your adverts towards users in a certain area. This is perfect if you’re trying to attract local customs, or if your audience is mostly located in one area. This helps you get the most out of every impression. This will become more common soon, so use this chance to get on board.

Use A Call-To-Action

A call-to-action is something that compels the customer to click on your advert. This could be a money off deal, a limited time offer, or a buy-one-get-one-free deal. Whatever you use, tell the customer to take advantage of it right now. This helps you get more clicks and more conversions.

Make It Social

Did you know customers are three times more likely to share a post online through their phone than their computer? This is the best time to encourage your audience to share your message. Many companies do this by offering prize draws, entering anyone who shares or tags friends in their posts. Give this a try with your next campaign.

These are some tips that will make your next mobile advertising campaign a smash hit. Do your research, get help from a professional ad company, and encourage your audience to share your message. You’ll be reaching a whole new group of people in no time at all.

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

In order to discover a few new marketing techniques will can increase your business’ sales and profit, simply continue reading.

6 Business marketing tips that are well worth trying out:

1. Reuse information from your previous marketing campaigns

As an example, you may want to reuse information from one of your business’ blog pieces to create a marketing video. Or you may want to reuse well shot images of your business’ products and services which you’ve posted on your website, to create new social media posts for your business’ various social media accounts on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

2. Use competitions to attract attention

An easy way to attract attention to your business’ social media accounts is to use simple competitions, to encourage individuals to follow your accounts or to make purchases on your business’ website.

As an example, you may may want to run a competition which offers individuals the chance to win a new product which is due to be released in the coming weeks or you may want to offer your customers the chance to win the back the value of their last purchase with your business. You may even stipulate that entrants must follow your business’ social media pages or sign up to an email subscription list.

As most individuals have a tendency to be tempted to win something for nothing, you should have no trouble attracting plenty of entries. You may even be interested in offering double entries for individuals who share your original social media post on their own social media account.

3. Try to win an online business award to post on your social media pages and website

If you manage to win an online business award in your industry, you may may be able to advertize your award on your social media accounts and your website. If winning an established business award seems a little far fetched for your business, you may want to start up your own business awards for businesses in your city or area.

As a bonus, if you start your own business awards, you may form valuable industry contacts with other businesses in your industry who aren’t in direct competition with your business and offer different services or products to your business.

4. Carefully use guerrilla marketing techniques

If you haven’t heard of the term guerrilla marketing, it involves using street advertising to market your business’ online presences. As an example, you may want to use chalk to write your business’ social media handles on the pavement outside your real life store. Or you may want to put up give out business cards that have your business’ website and social media links, printed on them.

5. Create a monthly or weekly newsletter

One way to keep your customers well informed of new products and services as well as sales is to create a monthly or weekly newsletter, which you can encourage your customers and followers to sign up to.

6. Make sure that your emails and newsletters offer valuable content

If your emails and newsletters offer valuable content, individuals will be far less likely to unsubscribe from your business’ marketing emails.

Hopefully you’ve discovered at least one new marketing technique which you believe can increase your business’ sales and profits.

In order to take control of your business’ finances, it’s a great idea to work on budgeting for your business’ future.

7 Business budgeting tips:

1. Overestimate your business’ operating costs

One of the worst mistakes which you can make, when it comes to creating a realistic, workable budget for your business is to underestimate your business’ operating costs. Remember that it’s always a better idea to slightly overestimate your costs than to underestimate your business’ costs and to run out of funds to run each area of your business effectively.

2. Make sure that your business has an emergency fund available

It’s well worth ensuring that your business has a healthy emergency fund, which is kept seperate from your business’ day to day accounts. Having an emergency fund available, may come in handy if any unexpected costs arise or if you want to upgrade your business and to take your business to the next level.

3. Make sure that you’re not getting overcharged by your current supplier

Even if your business has a long term supplier, who you’re used to dealing with, it’s always a smart idea to get quotes from other suppliers who may be able to provide your business with the same quality product as your current supplier for a much lower price.

4. Try and predict how your sales numbers may change in the next 12 months

One way to create an accurate budget is to try and predict how your sales numbers may change over the next 12 months. As an example, when you look at your business’ sales statistics for the last 12 months you may notice that your sales increase in the months that lead up to Christmas or that you sell more products or services during a particular season such as summer.

5. Save a set percentage of your profit

It’s well worth deciding on a set percentage of your profit, which you’ll save in your business’ emergency fund, each year. If your profits are particularly healthy one year, you may also want to increase the amount of money which you save for a rainy day or to take your business to the next level.

6. Make sure to work on paying off your business loans

Your end goal should be to have zero debt. As you know it’s also wise to pay off your loans as quickly as possible, in order to avoid paying high levels of interest on your business loans. So it’s a great idea to invest a fair amount of your business’ profits in to getting on top of your business debt.

7. Make sure to review your business’ budget on a monthly basis

instead of setting a year long budget and not looking at your budget for 12 months, it’s a wise idea to review your business’ budget on a month to month basis. As you may have to tweak your budget, multiple times over a calendar year.

So if you’re a business owner who is looking to budget for the financial future of your business, it’s a great idea to implement many of the budgeting tips listed above!