Providing products and services that continue to offer value to your customers and clients is your main priority as a business owner. By modernizing your business, you can continue to achieve your growth goals and improve business operations and performance. Modernizing your business is getting rid of the old and using the new to your advantage. Here's how you can modernize your business.
Use Technology
Modernizing your business is about more than using computers. Instead, you should aim to discover solutions and software that improve your business' efficiency and your employees' work. Your ability to use modern technology can help you become more productive daily. For example, HR software can help improve your recruiting and hiring process by helping you post job listings online and schedule interviews.
Using modern technology and software can benefit all of your departments by allowing them to collaborate better and make time-consuming tasks simpler.
Prioritize Value
While your business may have started off paying attention only to generating revenue and cutting costs, modern businesses aim to provide value to their customers. You can offer better value than the competition by speeding up product delivery, reducing your prices, and upgrading your products.
Offer Better Employee Benefits
Modern businesses know to retain top talent, they need to be able to provide benefits that other businesses can't. Everything from life insurance to childcare can make your employees feel appreciated and more likely to be happy in the workplace.
If you truly want to modernize your business, try offering remote work opportunities for those who qualify. You can set a system in place for what qualifies an employee for remote work. For example, your entire office staff might be able to work from home while your warehouse workers need to be in person.
No matter which benefits you include in your employment packages, make sure they entice top talent to apply for open positions and stay at their jobs for years to come.
Improve Data Security
Onsite, obsolete IT infrastructure can be a target of data breaches. Cybercrime continues to evolve just as fast as technology, so your business needs to stay ahead to protect your partners, employees, customers, and your reputation. You can easily modernize your data security systems by using SaaS solutions that will send an automatic security update.
Modernize Your Marketing
If all of your marketing budgets are going to traditional marketing practices, it might be time to shift to some digital marketing. While your traditional marketing effort may have proven effective for growing your business, digital solutions can help you keep costs down while reaching your customers where they spend most of their time – online.
- Popular digital marketing strategies include:
- Search engine optimization
- PPC advertising
- Social media marketing
- Blogging and content marketing
Improve Customer Engagement
Customer service is no longer about answering phones in a call center. Modern businesses need to be available for customers as soon as they are contacted. You can modernize customer service and customer engagement by being more active on social media platforms. Customers immediately want an answer to their questions, so they hop on social media and will send your business a question.
Instead of sending customers an auto-reply back asking them to call your customer service number, have your customer service representatives respond directly on Facebook. When your customers want answers, they want them now, so make sure someone is available on social channels to avoid losing potential customers.
Focus on Company Culture
Company culture is important to millennial employees, so you should spend time creating a positive work environment. The better your company culture, the more productive and happy your employees will be.
Company culture can also affect your reputation. Your employees will tell their friends and family about their experience working for you, so it's important to foster an understanding and fun culture.
Show Your Values
There's no reason for your business to keep quiet about its values. Show your support for the causes and movements that align with your company's values. You can do this by making donations, hosting or sponsoring events, or asking your employees to volunteer their time to causes.
Update Your Office
If your office is old and outdated with cubicles that don't promote collaboration and team building, it's time to put your furniture in storage and renovate. Knock down those cubicle walls and redesign your office so teams can easily work together and with fewer roadblocks. Modern offices are open spaces with desks, tables, and even recreational areas where employees can get together during breaks.
Show Your Personal Side
Your business is not a faceless entity. Consumers want a more personal experience when they deal with companies. Instead of including stock photos on your social media and website, consider using real company photos so customers can get to know you. Using real photos and showing your personal side can help your business build trust, which consumers need to see with any business.
Offer More Flexibility to Employees
Instead of forcing your employees to work at certain hours, try to become more flexible. For example, you can offer more remote working opportunities or flexible hours depending on your employees' tasks. While you may believe your employees are more productive when they work nine to five Monday through Friday, that's not always the case.
Every employee is different. Some of your employees get their best work done in the morning and will want to come in early, while others will appreciate the opportunity to sleep in. No matter what flexible solutions you put in place, make sure they're fair. For example, you should never allow an employee to come in late and leave early every day when all of your other employees are working forty hours a week.
Modernizing Your Business
Making your business more modern will take work, especially if you're set in your current ways. Many business owners make the mistake of thinking that their way is the only way rather than listening to the needs of their employees. You can build better relationships with the public and employees by modernizing your business, making your company a great place to work.
Author Bio
Matt Casadona has a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, with a concentration in Marketing and a minor in Psychology. Matt is passionate about marketing and business strategy and enjoys San Diego life, traveling, and music.
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