How to Improve Revenue Growth While Ensuring Maximum Customer Experience

How to Improve Revenue Growth While Ensuring Maximum Customer Experience The difficulties UK SMEs and larger businesses face are well documented but luckily there is plenty advice and tips to make sure you overcome them with ease. Managing Director at Love Energy Savings, Phil Foster, works to implement sustainable improvements to ensure revenue growth and optimum customer experience: Focusing on your customers wants and needs is the first step to improving revenue growth. Instead of immediately looking to your profit margins, it pays to consider your customers are well served. Once you understand your customers well enough, you’ll become familiar with their buying habits. You can then adapt your strategies accordingly. What you can learn from other businesses We spoke to three leaders of businesses of different sizes and fields to gauge the revenue growth lessons we could learn from their experiences. 1. Challenge the status quo by innovating Mark Bridgeman, UK Managing Director at  EON Reality, says it’s all about challenging the status quo: EON Reality has scaled globally through innovation. As an organisation, we have conquered revenue growth management globally by constant process improvement. An approach which helped us to not just meet but exceed our clients’ expectations. It is mission-critical for businesses to constantly challenge the status quo with new, innovative ideas. Its great if something already works, but can it work better? More quickly? More cost effectively? Even small things like cloud storage and file transfer add up, and ultimately make you more world-ready. 2. Be systematic â€" test and refine Scott Phillips is the Founder of  Rise Art. He reveals the revenue growth challenges his business faced and the market specific hurdles that he had to overcome to achieve best practice management: When we started Rise Art, generating revenues was initially a tough task. We are reliant on having great artists and customers interact on our platform. Without great artists, we don’t have a ton of inventory to promote. And without customers, artists would leave. We first focused on getting great artists to the platform, and where needed, generating income for them to stick around by creating demand internally or via charity partners. Once we had a base line of artists, we then focused on the customer. By monitoring buying habits, we were able to develop channel partnerships, focus on customer relationship management and engage growth across multiple marketing channels. So what can your business learn from Rise Art’s approach to revenue growth management? Whilst nothing is easy, taking an extremely systematic approach to how you test channels and developing a rigorous set of key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure them is what worked for us. Engaging team members at all levels is something we’d certainly recommend. Ask your staff how they would define success on each campaign, then test, measure and learn from those findings. It’s a process that takes time but ultimately has driven great results. 3. Keep your brand fresh, maximise reach and invest in your staff William Scott Forshaw, Founder and CEO of York-based high-end leather goods brand  Maxwell Scott, states that expansion taught him a number of revenue growth management musts: Growing into new markets is necessary to get your brand out there and develop your business. We now have seven websites across the world â€" namely in the UK, US, Germany, France, Australia, Switzerland and Austria â€" and are preparing to expand into the east in the future. To manage revenue growth through these various global launches, we invested heavily in Pay Per Click (PPC). The ongoing maintenance of the backend of our website was also incredibly important, and allowed us to enhance customer experience and fine-tune stock management. As well as maximising reach, keeping your brand fresh is key. We rebranded in 2014, and redesigned our leather goods to match ensuring product and service quality was at the centre of every change. Employing the right staff also remains an important aspect of growing revenue and improving your business. After all you need professionals who are skilled at their trade and willing to work hard to get results.

Self-Assessment Examples by Job Title - Algrim.co

Self-Assessment Examples by Job Title - Algrim.co Performance evaluations are regularly occurring retrospectives that happen between managers and workers to ensure they speak to ways to improve. These evaluations often contain a celebration of successes as well. These assessments serve as an opportunity for managers and workers to set goals together. These goals can be individual, team-related, and company-related. When performance evaluation time comes around (normally an annual basis), your manager may ask you to perform a self-evaluation. These are assessments where you have an opportunity to speak to six main topics: your strengths, your weaknesses, your core values, your accomplishments, and your feedback. Sections Within Your Self-Evaluation and What They Mean Your Strengths Your strengths section is an opportunity to speak to what you feel makes you a great employee. From your dedication to taking on additional responsibilities or having flexibility. Spend time to reflect on how you feel you’re providing value to your manager, to your team, and the company. Your Weaknesses This is the part of the evaluation where you can show vulnerability. Listing no weaknesses is not ideal. Spend time to think about situations or areas where you might be able to improve. Your Core Values Core values should be a reassurance to your manager that you believe in certain work culture staples. This would be mentions of teamwork, coordination, cooperation, transparency, team building, relationship building, or any other work culture factors that are conducive to success and results. Your Accomplishments Accomplishments is a section where you can reflect and remind your manager about great successes over the past six months or year. Don’t be shy, it’s okay in this section to highlight your achievements and sound confident. Your Goals Goals should be company related. Are you wanting to become a manager? Do you see yourself needing more adaptability or flexibility within the workplace? Set goals for yourself that are achievable and of benefit to your team or company. Your Feedback Feedback is the section where you get the opportunity to provide your manager ways they can improve. Avoid making this a section where you give contention to your manager. This should be soft feedback and constructive criticism more than an opportunity to suggest strong opinions. Customer Service Self-Evaluation Example Strengths I’m dedicated to our team, challenges that customers provide us and willing to listen to all customer concerns. I’m patient, practice empathy, and place myself into the position of our customers in order to drive success. Weaknesses I can get distracted and lose track of customer support tickets. I can get disorganized when work is overwhelming and find myself having a difficult time recalling where I was with my work, causing some lack of efficiency. Core Values I respect everything our customers have to say. I value the fact that our customer service department is an extension of our products and services. Accomplishments I was able to satisfy more than 500 customer support tickets in the past six months. I was a pivotal part of our new FAQ page. Goals I’d like to develop into a customer service manager position in the future. And provide our employees with the guidance required to drive success. I’d like to satisfy another 500 customer support requests. Feedback It would be wonderful if our team could receive another customer support agent. We have more than 100 customer support tickets being created on a daily basis. It would ideal is our CEO could speak to the customer service department in our all-hands meetings. Administrative Assistant Self-Evaluation Example Strengths Capable of handling multiple operational and administrative tasks on a weekly basis. Comfortable overseeing our company culture along with the Human Resources department and our CEO’s vision for work culture. Weaknesses I can lose track of small tasks and as they accumulate, can cause team delays or executive efficiency issues. I’ve found myself needing a better system for managing larger projects over time. Core Values Administrative tasks allow for our executives to be alleviated from daily tasks that can slow down company progress. Our office culture should be nurtured and cared for. Accomplishments Took board meeting notes every quarter. Assisted our CEO in the end of the year all-hands meeting with more than 1,200 employees listening. Goals I’d like to play more of a pivotal role in the development of our internal culture and values. I’d like to resolve my inability to track larger administrative projects. Feedback It would be more ideal if administrative tasks were provided through a tracking system than through verbal communication. If we can, tracking administrative tasks should be part of our weekly meetings. Nurse Self-Evaluation Example Strengths Attentive to our patients and ensure they have world-class experience in our facilities. Cares deeply about nurse coordination and documentation to reduce error rates and miscommunication between nurse shifts. Weaknesses Can lack personality with our patients and can cause them to feel small levels of discomfort. Can become impatient with other nurses when they’re not immediately responsive to physicians and surgeons. Core Values Provide world-class care to our patients. Ensure our patients feel well cared for and receive proper treatment. Accomplishments Treated more than 500 patients over the past 6 months. Worked closely with our physicians to alter our treatments for those with cancer. Followed all safety protocol. Goals Take more of an initiative to track progress of our patients so that physicians and surgeons can better understand the health and healing of our patients. Consider the feelings of our nurses when providing them feedback during patient care. Feedback Would love to see nurses meet regularly to discuss ways we can work better together. I would like to meet with physicians more frequently to learn how to our treatments are evolving before they are deployed to our daily programs. Teacher Self-Evaluation Example Strengths Driving an enjoyable and well organized in-classroom experience for our students and youth. Works closely with our principal to drive our educational values and tenants to our in-classroom activities. Weaknesses I was late to a few curriculum development submissions this year. I could have been more organized and prepared for upcoming planning sessions. I didn’t receive the best feedback from the last parent-teacher meetings. Core Values Provide world-class education to our youth. Provide world-class in-classroom experiences for our youth. Accomplishments 80% of our students passed their state testing. Received positive feedback from students all year. Goals Plan more curriculums in advance. Anticipate the needs of our students with more clarity and time. Feedback I would like to see more faculty meetings taking place. I would love to see more direction from our principal. Marketing Self-Evaluation Example Strengths Agile and flexible in the work that needs to be accomplished. Always learning about new marketing methods that benefit both our company as well as our clients. Weaknesses Went a little outside our marketing budget when testing new marketing methods. Didn’t budget our PPC campaigns appropriately this year. Core Values Drive customer acquisition as low as we can while driving positive customer experiences. Always be testing new marketing methods and finding innovative ways to be connecting with potential customers. Accomplishments Drove more than $500k in annual sales this year through marketing. Found a new successful marketing channel through social media. Goals Reduce customer acquisition cost over the next 6 months. I would love to move into a marketing manager position over time, helping to guide, direct, and give insight to our marketing team. Feedback It would be wonderful to get feedback from our executive level managers. It would be wonderful to meet with executive level managers to learn about the effectiveness of the marketing team and learn what our core tenants for marketing are in the coming quarters. Engineer Self-Evaluation Example Strengths I’m always on time to our meetings with other engineers and engineering managers. Always striving to develop the most efficient software as well as plan for operations efficiencies. Weaknesses Can become frustrated when not having the opportunity to execute fast enough. I don’t have the best verbal communication habits between engineers and managers. Core Values Use engineering as a way to produce efficiency within the business. Use engineering as a way to find innovation and promote world-class customer experiences. Accomplishments Shipped more than 10 new projects this year both external and internal. Played a pivotal role in hiring more than 15 new engineers. Goals Learn to practice patience when feeling frustrated with the pace that our team is working. Learn more about our business practices and how that might be able to help inform our team of engineers. Feedback I would love to see more meetings between the engineers so we can promote great verbal communication between us. Sales Self-Evaluation Example Strengths I have a unique ability to find quality leads. I have a unique ability to network. I have a unique ability to find potential sales leads through both networking and inbound lead generation strategies. Weaknesses I can lack the ability to connect with managers on the marketing team, customer service team, and other departments. I can lack the ability to track my sales progress when I’m focused on my work. Core Values Educate potential clients on our world-class offerings and show them how our tools can help them produce excellence within their own organization. Always be thinking about revenue and connecting with customers in a positive way. Accomplishments Drove more than $500k in ARR this year. Connected with more than 500 potential leads. Goals Drive $1MM in ARR this year. Work on my internal team communication habits. Work on my project management skills so I can better track progress within my sales efforts. Feedback I would love to meet with other sales team members more regularly. I would love to see opportunities to earn more commission based on successful sales and a great track record of driving results. FAQ’s What is an employee self-evaluation? A self-assessment is still a performance review. But one that is performed on behalf of the employee. This is an opportunity for the employee to self-reflect, consider what their strengths and weaknesses are. Self-assessments are important to the growth of the worker and the employer. How do you write an employee self-evaluation? 1. Take time to consider your career goals and your personal goals within the company. 2. Highlight your accomplishments within your self-evaluation. 3. Mention your core values. These are values that you feel you uphold in the workplace. For example, “never missing a deadline.” 4. Be honest and critical when necessary, assess and mention times where you came up short. 5. Provide your manager opportunities where you can see yourself growing and explain how. 6. Mention that you’ll track your goals in accordance with the self-assessment. 7. Keep your message professional and selfless. How often are employee self-evaluations performed? At a bare minimum they should be performed on an annual basis, along with the employee's performance evaluation. More ideally, they are performed every six months to track the employee's progress. What are examples of goals to write within your self-evaluation form? 1. In terms of professional development and growth, I foresee myself entering into a management position. I’d like to be part of understanding the larger picture of our work and being able to guide my colleagues towards success by providing them the tools necessary to do great work. 2. I’d like to hone in on my adaptability skills. I struggled with being able to adapt to changes in our team earlier this year. I need to stay focused on the wider company objectives and not let change affect me. What sections should I include as part of my self-evaluation? There should be six sections included as part of your self-evaluation: Strengths Weaknesses Core Values Accomplishments Goals Feedback Should I perform a self-evaluation without my manager's permission? Ideally, you should communicate with your manager regarding your desire to perform a self-evaluation. This will ensure you and your manager follow through with your evaluation and your goals once it’s complete. How long should self-evaluations be? Try to keep your self-evaluation to one-page. A self-evaluation that is longer than one-page could make it difficult for our manager to comprehend your message as well as follow-through on your asks within the evaluation. If you feel you need more room to speak to your mind, try performing an in-person retrospective with your manager to go over areas where you can improve or where you feel feedback is necessary. My manager didn’t provide me a self-evaluation form, where should I find one? The best self-evaluation form is simply a Google Document with each section (Strengths, Weaknesses, Core Values, Accomplishments, Goals, Feedback) defined and spoken to. If you’d like a constructive template to start with, Duke University has a simple employee evaluation form which you are free to use. Does my evaluation need to be bullet points only? No. If you feel like you’d like to open the conversation with a short paragraph paraphrasing what you’re about to promote or speak to in your bullet points, you can do so. Keep this paragraph to 4 to 5 sentences at the most. Keep it focused on why you are bringing up the points mentioned in your self-evaluation sections.

Malware Hidden Threat To Start-up Business [INFOGRAPHIC] - Career Geek

Malware Hidden Threat To Start-up Business [INFOGRAPHIC] - Career Geek Malware has affected us all in one way or the other. Sometimes it could be as simple as destroying the 2GB USB stick that holds your final thesis, or worst case, Malware can seriously impact your business with long-term consequences. The most common forms of Malware are Worm, Virus, Trojan Horse. It is important for any business to be backed up by sound security systems and software. But this is also true of a start-up. Entrepreneurs have good ideas and projects, a lot of those using a website. But not all entrepreneurs understand the risk of Malware for their business. The infographic below gives a basic understanding of the effects of Malware and how much it costs businesses affected by it. Please do not go into a buying spree for your website now with some software to keep it safe against Malware attacks. Instead, understand what it does and speak to someone who is knowledgeable on this subject and can give your practical solutions. Created by MegaPath 0

How to Use Twitter to Recruit New Talent

How to Use Twitter to Recruit New Talent Twitter its extremely popular in this modern age of always being connected (were even on it too @UndercoverRec!) but how can you use it to recruit the top talent?  Should you be using direct messages or @mentions to contact prospective candidates? The folks at Akken Cloud have created this handy infographic on using the site for recruitment please leave any other comments, tips or tricks in the comments below or tweet them to use! Takeaways: Over 58% of job seekers use Twitter in their job search, with 76% looking at company profiles for opportunities. Job seekers usage of each social network is slowly growing each year especially for Facebook and Twitter. There are various ways to connect with job seekers on Twitter: via hashtags and tweetchats amongst others. 78% of Fortune 500 recruiting tweets contain a hashtag. Job seekers use Twitter to connect with companies with: 55% following companies. 34% applying for tweeted job postings. 33% using Twitter to communicate with companies and recruiters. To actively recruit well on Twitter: Treat Twitter like a virtual networking event. Retweet job postings at different times of the day, to ensure you reach all followers. RELATED: 5 Top Tips for Finding a Job on Social Media

Do You Know How to Write a Resume?

Do You Know How to Write a Resume?Writing a resume is not as easy as it sounds. In fact, the only way you are going to be able to find a job is if you know how to write a resume. If you don't know how to write a resume, then it is high time that you get yourself up to speed on what you should be putting in your resume.First of all, in order to be successful in the world of resume writing, you need to know what the criteria are. There are many resumes that just do not make any sense. When you start looking at these resumes, you will notice that most of them do not have any relevant experience on them. The people who have these resumes generally do not even have a job!Since so many people do not understand how to write a resume, it is up to you to do so. The first thing that you need to know about writing a resume is that you need to make sure that you do not just jump to the section where you are applying for a job. Instead, go through the rest of the material and make sure that you k now what exactly you want to say. After you have had time to gather your thoughts, you can start thinking about what you would like to include in the rest of the information. You need to make sure that you have a good grasp on the type of job that you are applying for.You can find out about the jobs that are available by doing a little research. It is up to you to put together a resume that is going to stand out from the others. Most people do not have much experience with the type of job that they are applying for, so you need to make sure that you write one that does not look like a resume that has been written by someone who does not know what they are doing. You should also know how to add some good facts to your resume and not leave anything out.Besides having a good career history, you also need to make sure that you put your skills into perspective. You should not write a resume that says that you were a hard worker and did not have any trouble with finishing projects. Instea d, you should put your skills into perspective and make it sound like you did not have any problems finishing the projects that you did. This way, when the hiring managers look at your resume, they will know that you have some skills that they can use.By knowing how to write a resume, you can take care of the process that is involved in finding a job. However, you should also be aware that this is not going to be as easy as just writing a resume. You need to take the time to learn about the tips and tricks that can help you write a good resume.One great idea is to use what is called resume bullet points. You can write a resume and then just put in all of the job responsibilities and duties that you want to include in the resume. Then you can focus on the bullet points and make sure that you put them in the right categories.No matter what you do, writing a resume is a lot of work. While it may seem that you can simply put the resume together and forget it, that is not the case. To be successful in your resume writing, you need to have all of the information in order and then you need to put it into a format that will give the hiring manager a good impression of you.

METRO.CO.UK What to consider before going freelance - Jane Jackson Career

METRO.CO.UK What to consider before going freelance - Jane Jackson Career What to Consider Before Going FreelanceI was interviewed by Layla Haidrani, writer for  metro.co.uk, in November 2017 for this article on what to do when thinking about going freelance.What to do if freelancing goes wrong according to leading Career Management Coach Jane Jackson.Pre-empt problems BEFORE they arise and set out your terms and conditions of service before you agree to start.Create a document that sets out your TC’s of service and get the client to sign it. You may need to negotiate a bit on the terms depending on who you will be providing services to, but this will give you some peace of mind so that you can focus on doing a great job.If you’re working for a client, it’s a good idea to request for a 25-50% down payment as part of your TC’s and then state when the on-going payments will be due as you work through a large project. If your client refuses to pay a deposit to secure your services heed the warning bells.If you’re a creative freelancer, you’ll find that large organisations are unlikely to pay you in advance. But as they have a reputation to uphold, other freelancers who’ve done work for them before can tell you if they stick with agreed payment terms.If it’s too late and you’ve already done the work and want to get paid, call the accounts department and ask for payment. Make sure your payment terms are clear on your invoice and also your account details so it’s easy for them to pay.Read the entire article:  http://metro.co.uk/2017/11/03/all-the-things-to-consider-before-going-freelance-7048531/?ito=cbshareTwitter: https://twitter.com/MetroUK | Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MetroUK/

Revising Small Thinking - Kathy Caprino

Revising Small Thinking In developing my book I Cant Do This, Ive needed to analyze more critically the internal process I use in coaching and therapy to help clients gain empowerment and move down a path of expansion rather than diminishment and hopelessness. Its been a fascinating experiment, attempting to articulate exactly whats happening in me in terms of my thinking, behavior, intuition, assumption, and questions, when Im in relation with another who is wanting help to overcome crisis. I’ve found that a key component of my process is looking for and bringing to light the various forms of small thinking my clients suffer with â€" the limited, negative and hope-crushing ways of perceiving life and oneself, including ones assumptions, beliefs and projections that keep one wedded to the experience of ineptitude, worthlessness, or smallness. Small thinking creeps in constantly for women. I see now how my own small thinking has kept me from pursuing what I dreamed of for myself for many years. In fact, I’m sad about the time I lost in my own small thinking, but realize somehow that all is as it should be. I believe that whats required to release ourselves from the negative effects of small thinking is a hyper-vigilance in weeding out this thinking, and replacing it with larger, self-affirming and possibility-engendering thinking. What we need to focus on are thoughts that make us feel better, give us hope and relief, and support our trust in ourselves and in our own power to make positive change in our world. To assess the tendency for smallness in your thinking, ask yourself these intriguing questions:When/if youve been unsuccessful at a particular endeavor, do you beat yourself up and say See, I knew I couldnt do this? When something is creating a deep challenge for you, do you project onto it a much bigger fear or issue? Do you forget that this too shall pass and that your current situation is NOT forever? Do you believe that when you fail, its the failure that matters (it isnt). Do you become hopeless and resentful when, after trying and trying something, the desired outcome doesnt occur? Do you look for validation and approval in all the wrong places? If so, here are a few tips that I’ve found to be beneficial in moving myself and others away from small thinking: Pick an area you are feeling hopeless or discouraged about now. For the next week, observe closely all of your thinking and questioning about this topic/area. Each time you think about this topic/issue, ask yourself Is this small thinking or big thinking? In other words, does your thinking imply I cant handle this or does it suggest instead “I can and I will be successful in time.” Each time you have an I Cant Do This! type of thought, say to yourself There goes another small thought, and then let it go. Make a mental check mark. (Count up all the small thoughts you’ve had in a day…you’ll be amazed at the number.) Dont judge yourself, or indulge in thinking even smaller thoughts about your small thought. When you notice a small thought, after letting it go, replace it with a thought that is bigger. Examples of big thoughts are:“Despite my limitations, I know I can and will rise to this new challenge.” “I’m working to close my “gaps” and I know that takes some time and inner work.” “For good reasons that I’m not aware of but I’ll know in time, this opportunity did not come to pass as I had hoped. Another great opportunity will and I’ll be ready.” “I’m on a learning curve and it is expected and natural that there will be some bumps.” “Rejection doesn’t mean that I’m not good. It means that the fit wasn’t right at this time.” “That person’s reaction to me is more about him/her than about me. What can I learn from this?” As an example of this process of examining and replacing small thinking, a recent client of mine was experiencing great difficulty around exploring what new directions he might take professionally after years building a long-term successful career in finance. While he loved his field and work, he was itching for something new, exciting, expansive that he could sink his teeth into. We explored all of this dreams, options, talents, gifts, passions, yet when he endeavored to envision something “new” for himself, he couldn’t. We then shined a light on his thinking around taking on something new, and uncovered “smallness” around the area of failure. Longing to validate himself, his work and his career, he had been avoiding an honest examination of where he has truly failed in life and work. Once he was able to look failure squarely in the eye and accept that he indeed has some limitations (don’t we all) that have contributed to failure at times, he was then able to accept and forgive himself for not being perfect. This allowed him to move on to the realization that striking out on his own and starting his own business might just be the perfect next step, and that he could be wildly successful at it. I believe we’re naturally good at big thinking, but have learned through misguidance and fear to limit our thinking and lower our expectations to avoid hurt. The best gift I ever gave myself was the decision to throw small thinking to the wind. In observing those folks whom I truly admire in life, I see concrete evidence of their big thinking. They make it a habit to say to themselves and others as much as possible (and believe it): “Dream and think big for yourself, your life and your work…the world will thank you for it.” Where do you experience small thinking and how have you replaced it with expansive thinking? Whats happened because of it?