In today’s highly interconnected world, there are lots of business opportunities, but it takes a well-thought-out strategy to be successful. The internet has given rise to new business models, which were implausible some decades ago. Today, people run virtual businesses in front of their computers. And the best part is that these businesses help close gaps and unmet market demands.
If you want to boost your business performance in the digital world, you’ve got to be smart and think radical, not incremental. Things are moving super-fast, and you need to catch up sooner rather than later. We’ve highlighted some helpful tips below.
Have a Solid Online Presence
Your social media profile and other online channels are a great resource in today’s digital economy. How well you organize and optimize this digital real estate determines your level of success. Your website, for instance, can do more than just display your business. You can use it to sell products, book appointments, engage clients and customers, network with peers, etc.
Social media platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc., are also great for engaging your prospects, building your brand, and generating leads. To make a huge impact, you should focus on using these resources to boost your service offerings instead of being some “nice-to-haves” or another check on the box.
You can hire virtual assistants to run your online accounts and engage your customers as you concentrate on the more crucial aspects of the business. Another important consideration is to rethink the quality of content you post on your online channels. Where possible, focus on producing quality video content and informative articles that add value to the consumers.
Leverage Data
Over the years, several businesses have witnessed an upsurge in the amount of data collected, thanks to the shift to digital. Basically, every business touchpoint, i.e., whether with customers, employees, or partners, serves as a data source. This data can be grouped into two, i.e., structured and unstructured data.
Structured data is more organized and can be presented in excel or a spreadsheet. They include customer names, contact information, items purchased, etc. On the other hand, unstructured data are random data sets obtained from different sources with no specific format or structure. Sources of unstructured data include customer or employee surveys, chats, emails, web forms, quality evaluations, etc.
This data can give critical insights into what customers, employees, or partners want to boost business relationships and performance. A rule of thumb is to leverage both the structured and unstructured data to give real-world insights that can help with customer retention, employee engagement, competitor sentiments, etc.
Solicit Customer Feedback
Not many businesses are comfortable asking their customers to give feedback about the quality of their products/services. Some are afraid that the customers may demand more than they can offer, while others try to avoid criticism. However, the truth is customer feedback is essential for business success.
There are two ways you can ask your customers to leave feedback after an interaction. One is through customer surveys often given at the end of online or physical interaction. This seeks to rate the quality of support or their overall experience with the business. The other technique is customer reviews, where you ask them to give an opinion about the product or services they just bought.
Customer reviews often carry more weight in the business world since they can be published on third-party sites; hence other customers, prospects, and even competitors can easily access them. Here, you should learn how to ask for reviews to make customers more likely to leave genuine reviews without feeling coerced.
Customer surveys and reviews play a critical role in improving the quality of business operations; plus, they are free and more accurate than data obtained from third parties.
Observe the Market Trends
The current business landscape, characterized by shifting customer demands and increased uncertainty, makes flexibility a critical competitive advantage. You will need to keep up with the market trends and adjust your business strategies to accommodate shocks and uncertainties.
An excellent place to start is to ask your customers what they want. Chances are, their preferences and expectations are constantly changing. You should also check your competitors and see if there’s something new they are doing.
Additionally, pay attention to your employees and ensure you meet their needs. Offer flexible work models and deploy smart analytics tools to gauge their engagement and productivity.
Sell Stories, not Products
All the tips we have highlighted above are great. But your business won’t pay the bills or make any profit without making a sale. Here, the goal is to “sell stories about your products, not your products.” You have probably heard this phrase multiple times, but have you implemented it yet? If yes, how did you go about it, and what were the results.
More often, businesses focus on closing their prospects and updating their list of customers for retargeting campaigns. This is just a poor way of doing business. What you should do instead is create stories that click.
The goal is to be a magnet that attracts the customers’ attention. This should be reflected not only in your sales copies, landing pages, or sales emails but even on your home page, about us page, and social media channels.
Nobody wants to feel they are being closed or sold. But people do like stories, and they will buy into your story if you win them over. If you cannot write a great story about your products, hire someone who does, and see your sales go through the roof.
The Bottom Line
Your small or large business is unique, and so should your business growth and performance strategy. Instead of deploying off-the-shelf marketing, sales, or customer engagement campaigns, take the time to understand the five aspects we have highlighted above. If you do this right, you’ll realize that you don’t need to copy your competitors’ business strategies anymore. You can be an artisan of your craft and make what you have/know work for you.
