business automation Archives - Striven

Tag: business automation

Key Strategies For Business Growth in 2024

Posted on by Amit Raj

Let’s begin by understanding the concept of business growth strategy. In simple words, it is a plan of action designed to help a business increase profits, revenue, and market share.

It’s a detailed process influenced by multiple factors, such as identifying opportunities, making product or service adjustments, investing in more than one marketing channel, and reaching new markets.

So, whether you’re a small business or an international brand, aiming for business growth is essential to staying relevant.

In this article, we will explore the crucial business growth strategies you should consider in 2024.

Preparation To Implement Business Growth Strategies

Before you start coming up with strategies to implement, it’s important to organize your company’s tasks and team to accommodate these changes.

These are some key areas you should start preparing:

Get Your Staff On Board

The professionals on your team are the primary driving force of your company’s basic functions. If you want to implement a business growth strategy, it’s important to ask for their input by asking some questions.

Start by identifying better ways to communicate as a team, streamlining internal processes, and familiarizing yourself with common growth strategies. Once you’ve established this connection, it’s time to start developing ideas together.

Brainstorming

We know that regular business activities are the first priority for keeping the company running. Still, it’s also important to set aside some time for you, your management, and your sales team to exchange ideas about understanding your niche’s marketplace, finding opportunities, identifying challenges, and executing strategies.

This is a crucial stage for agreeing on specific actions and monitoring what works and what doesn’t. It’s also important to consistently update and involve the team even after the discussions because it shows that you appreciate their input and keeps everyone aligned about the business growth expectations.

Market Forces Affecting Your Growth

Analyze what the market looks like for you and your customer base. You can start by identifying social demographic trends in your region and the economic or political factors affecting their purchasing preferences.

Similarly, people spend most of their time online, and assessing patterns and data from social media platforms can give you detailed insight into buying habits and changing processes. For example, it’s becoming common for businesses to open an online store to reach a larger customer base.

Customer Base

Study your current customer base and identify the demographic concentration by age or sex and the industry sectors they operate in. This will give you an idea of potential customers, and you can start targeting them with revised strategies. Plus, improving your current offerings will also help with customer retention.

Similarly, communicate with your customers; ask them what they like, dislike, or face challenges when dealing with your company. Take their suggestions on what they’d like to expect from you in the future and work on it.

Profit Concentration

Take a look at your different revenue streams and total sales revenue to review which product line or service offerings are bringing in the most profits to your company, deliver the highest gross margins, and cover costs. Try to gauge what factors are affecting these differences; for example, outsourced and in-house labor would have created different prices.

Once you’ve identified these, highlight products or services that generate higher margins, so you know which ones you must promote and sell more. The ones that don’t generate enough profits reevaluate their prices to see if there’s something you can change; if not, save your resources on promoting them if it’s to obtain better opportunities.

Sales Forecast

For each trading month, set a realistic sales target based on your products or services and generate separate invoice codes to help you track what’s affecting your overall sales.

Analyse key customers’ purchase trends to predict what other products or services they could buy in the future; use this to plot sales revenue but also keep a record of these monthly sales.

Key Strategies For Business Growth In 2024

Referral programs, customer rewards, digital advertising, etc., have been part of business growth strategies for quite a while, and there’s no doubt that these tried and tested methods work.

However, with 2024 already here, it’s time to up your game and explore more effective and up-to-date ways to grow your business.

So, how what should you consider? Let’s find out.

Market Penetration

The market penetration strategy involves “growing” your business by increasing your supply of your product line or services. You can achieve this by encouraging current customers to buy more, grabbing the attention of your competitor’s customers, and converting non-buyers in the same market space into buying customers.

The aim is to focus on markets in which you already have a presence so you can leverage that presence as a foundation for cost-effective business growth. Common tactics for market penetration include increasing the marketing budget, making price adjustments, offering promotions or rewards, and improving products.

Online Presence

Start by optimizing your website to improve its visibility among search engine results so you can reach a relevant target audience with queries similar to what you offer. While hiring an SEO professional to guide you is best, the process usually starts with keyword research to find terms used by potential customers.

After assessing the keywords’ search volume and difficulty, you can start creating content about those topics to appeal to users who are looking for them. Similarly, building your website’s backlink profile indicates that you’re a trustworthy source since other websites are linking to your site. While building links is a long process, it’s worthwhile once you start seeing the results.

Social Media

It may sound cliche, but the power of social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn, etc., is truly unmatched; it’s because you don’t just get to share your products or services but also educate your audience about its USPs, communicate with your customers and answer their queries, and also stay connected with other leading brands in your industry.

Similarly, you can launch marketing campaigns and track their effectiveness based on engagement, conversion, audience growth, and click-through rates. It’s all about finding the right balance between attractive content, audience engagement through quizzes, polls, etc., contacting influencers, cross-promoting collaborations, and maintaining consistent branding across different platforms.

Market Segmentation

Market segmentation involves identifying small groups within a broad market based on specific characteristics, needs, and behavior patterns; this allows you to take a personalized approach and make the right offers to specific customer types.

You can also adjust your marketing efforts to appeal to these subgroups based on location, media preference, demographics, and psychographics. Therefore, segmenting is an effective growth strategy for your sales, product, and marketing development because it helps you capitalize on strategic growth opportunities.

Product Development

The oldest trick in marketing efforts has been creating new products or innovating existing offerings to better fulfill customers’ needs. These developments ensure customer satisfaction and help your company stay relevant to changing trends.

For example, the emerging awareness about animal cruelty led to many people choosing the vegan path. While many others may not support it, major franchises like Starbucks, Burger King, Dairy Queen, Subway, and many more have included vegan menu options to cater to these new trends even though they already have a devoted customer base for their non-vegan products.

Business Expansion

A central part of any growth strategy is business expansion; the goal is to go beyond your business’s current market capacity by targeting new markets or tapping into different demographics with potential customers. This also includes expanding internationally, especially if you’re looking for large-scale growth opportunities.

It’s important to note that this process is more challenging than it sounds. You must conduct market research to understand and adapt to customer preferences while also complying with the quality standards and regulations of the country or state you’re expanding to. You will also have to develop strategic partnerships in the region to understand the local audience better. After launching your plans, it’s crucial to monitor the response of market trends to cultivate a local presence online as well as offline.

Diversification

Branching into other industries and markets while creating new products and services to serve them is part of the diversification strategy. It involves exploring opportunities beyond your existing market and entering industries with fewer competitors but higher growth potential.

Apart from the opportunity to capitalize on new markets, diversifying also improves your company’s resilience by teaching it how to adapt to different industry settings, changes, and consumer preferences. For all you know, this new business vertical might prove to be a more successful business growth strategy than any of your previous ones.

New Sales And Distribution Channels

Finding new distribution and sales channels is solely to improve your business’s reach and revenue and, eventually, increase sales. This also teaches you how to cater to changing preferences; for example, some people prefer online shopping while others enjoy shopping in person.

You can explore other distribution channels by launching pop-up stores, creating online marketplaces like Etsy or Amazon, forming partnerships with retailers, and participating in industry-relevant workshops, trade shows, events, etc. Using these methods will also create opportunities for word-of-mouth promotion.

To Conclude

In 2024, business growth strategy is more than just having a great product or service—it requires a multifaceted, strategic approach that considers the demands of changing times and adapts to new markets or preferences.

From utilizing data analytics to taking constructive criticism from customers, it’s a lengthy process but one that will amplify the business you worked so hard to build.

Unlocking Conversion Potential: Strategies to Drive Results Through Email Marketing

Posted on by Eleanor Hecks

Email marketing can still be one of the most effective ways to reach customers and build brand loyalty. While there are pros and cons to keeping an email list, the conversion potential is far greater than through almost any other method. You’ll have a direct line to people who have expressed enough of an interest in your product or service to subscribe.

Here are some of the best strategies to drive higher conversions through email marketing.

1. Choose the Right Newsletter Provider

According to research, emails are the leading reason people buy something, with 44% of surveyed consumers citing it as a motivator. Therefore, investing in creating a newsletter can be a notable strategy for your brand.

However, the way you send a message can make a difference in conversions. Some email newsletter providers garner higher delivery rates than others or provide more extensive feedback on user habits.

The right newsletter provider is the one that you can afford the monthly fee for and has the elements you most want and find useful. Additionally, it must be user friendly. Anyone in the company should be able to schedule a message without a huge learning curve to figure out the system.

2. Build Your List

Email marketing is most effective when you collect a list of people highly interested in what you offer. Building your mailing list may be as crucial as what you actually send out. You want people who are highly engaged and in the market for what you sell.

How do you find them? Start by creating buyer personas listing out the qualities of your typical customer. You can run ads on social media offering a perk if they sign up for your mailing list — perhaps a slight discount, free shipping or other freebie.

3. Set Up Drip Campaigns

Once someone signs up for your mailing list, what happens? The goal is to keep only those people who are highly engaged and likely to convert. In most cases, email marketing service providers base their fees on the number of subscribers. So, while having many subscribers often leads to higher sales, you want to ensure the majority of your subscribers are actually interested enough to convert in the first place.

The best way to narrow down your list is by setting up a drip campaign that starts when they subscribe. Send a welcome email explaining what you do. Throughout a few days and several emails, offer insight into what they gain by being on your list.

In each message, include an easy way to opt out and unsubscribe. Providing an easy out, even after downloading a freebie or other offer, ensures you keep only highly engaged customers and don’t pay for those who never open your emails.

4. Segment Your Audience

Another way to improve your email marketing is by segmenting your audience. By splitting your users into groups, you can highly personalize the offers you send. There are many different segmentation methods, such as demographics or past buying behavior. 

For example, if your analytics show that a group of people click on a particular offer every time you send it and you get in a similar product, you can send a message to the segment of people who loved the initial item.

5. Schedule Emails

While it’s impossible to pinpoint the best time to send emails, your audience will help you see the prime moments for them to receive a message from you. Pay attention to your open rates. If you send a message in the morning, are open rates higher? What about in the evening?

You may find that a particular day garners more click throughs than another. Your email service provider should have an analytics system you can study to figure out timing. The only way to know the best time for your subscribers or even different segments of your audience is by testing and tracking results.

6. Improve Subject Lines

People get numerous emails every day. As they look through their inboxes, it’s easy to click the delete button. Your goal is to get them to open your email and read a bit more. Your subject line is the first impression they have of the campaign. You want to create such an interesting headline that they can’t resist clicking on it.

Some of the things to focus on as you’re formulating a subject line include:

  • Being short and to the point
  • Including action words
  • Being relevant to the offer
  • Making it clear who the email is from
  • Avoiding words or phrases that could be seen as spam

7. Create a Sense of Urgency

The way people generate email marketing is changing, and artificial intelligence (AI) plays a big role in email today. Around 33% of marketers surveyed stated they use AI “to some extent” in their email campaigns. Another 24% said they use it “extensively.”

One thing AI can help with is creating wording that creates a sense of urgency. Titles such as “Limited Time” or “Offer Expires in…” can encourage people to read your message today instead of letting the deal expire before they get a chance to use it. 

How Can You Improve Email Marketing Efforts?

Email marketing is something you should consistently improve until you hit the goals you’ve set for open rates and conversions. Tapping into the power of modern technology gives you a chance to compete with others in your industry and find success more quickly than going into a campaign without the data needed to succeed.

How Should You Effectively Communicate Change in the Workplace?

Posted on by Adela Belin

Change is an ever-present reality in the workplace, requiring businesses to constantly adjust to many factors, including technological advancements, market dynamics, and internal restructuring. Within the workplace setting, these changes can disrupt established routines, generate a sense of uncertainty, and evoke resistance among employees.

However, successfully navigating change requires more than just implementation. It necessitates effective communication. Therefore, establishing a robust communication strategy becomes crucial to mitigate these challenges and foster a smooth transition. 

This article explores the importance of effective communication during workplace change, highlighting how it promotes understanding, builds trust, encourages engagement, and ultimately contributes to successful change implementation. 

1. Understanding the Change

Change in the workplace encompasses various types and is driven by different reasons. 

  • Organizational changes can include structural changes, such as mergers, acquisitions, or reorganizations, aimed at improving efficiency or responding to market demands. 
  • Process changes involve modifying workflows or implementing new technologies to enhance productivity and streamline operations.
  • Policy changes may occur to comply with legal requirements or address evolving industry standards.
  • Leadership changes, such as executive transitions, can bring new strategies and direction.
  • Economic factors, market trends, competitive pressures, or the need for innovation are common catalysts for change.

Understanding change is essential for maintaining a positive employee relationship. Organizations can address concerns, alleviate resistance, and foster a sense of trust and transparency by comprehending the reasons behind the change and its potential impact on employees.

Not to mention that recognizing common reactions to change, such as fear, uncertainty, and loss, makes it much easier for organizations to tailor their communication strategies effectively, promoting employee engagement and cooperation throughout the change process.

2. The Role of Leadership In Communicating Change

Leadership plays a pivotal role in effectively communicating change in the workplace. Leaders must demonstrate active involvement and unwavering commitment to the change initiative. 

By embodying thought leadership, leaders inspire confidence and create a sense of purpose among employees. Fostering trust and transparency is equally important. Leaders should clearly articulate the vision and goals of the change, openly addressing concerns and providing regular updates. 

Establishing open lines of communication and active listening to employee feedback also helps build trust and encourages a collaborative approach. When leaders effectively communicate change, they foster employee engagement, minimize resistance, and drive successful change implementation.

3. Crafting The Message

Crafting the message for communicating change in the workplace requires careful consideration. It involves identifying key messages and objectives that align with the company culture and resonate with employees. 

Effective and concise communication, utilizing formal writing words and language, plays a vital role in conveying professionalism and establishing credibility. It is crucial to tailor messages to different stakeholders, taking into account their specific concerns and interests. 

By customizing the message, it becomes more digestible and engaging. The message should clearly and articulately outline the purpose, benefits, and expected outcomes of the change while also addressing potential challenges. This, in turn, can create a shared understanding and foster a sense of unity among employees.

4. Choosing The Proper Communication Channels

Selecting the proper communication channels is essential to captivate the audience and effectively convey change in the workplace. The choice of channels should align with the nature of the change and the target audience. 

Channels such as company-wide emails, intranet portals, or town hall meetings may be appropriate for broad announcements or updates. Platforms like team meetings, small group discussions, or online forums can be utilized for more interactive and personalized communication. 

Social media platforms and digital newsletters are effective for reaching a wider audience. By carefully selecting communication channels, organizations can ensure the message goes to employees compellingly and engagingly, fostering better understanding and buy-in during times of change.

5. Creating a Two-Way Communication Process

Creating a two-way communication process fosters meaningful engagement, empowering employees to contribute their ideas and perspectives actively. 

By creating an open dialogue, organizations facilitate a smoother transition by ensuring that employees feel heard and valued. It promotes a sense of ownership and involvement, as employees are given opportunities to share their insights and suggestions.

This collaborative approach strengthens employee morale, enhances problem-solving capabilities, and cultivates a supportive environment where everyone is invested in the success of the change. 

Ultimately, the two-way communication process drives positive outcomes and facilitates a seamless transition throughout the change journey.

6. Training and Support

Identifying training needs is crucial to equip employees with the necessary skills and knowledge to adapt to the change effectively. Organizations should provide resources such as training programs, workshops, or online learning platforms to address these needs. 

Additionally, establishing a support team or mentorship program can offer guidance and assistance to employees navigating the change process. 

Investing in training and providing comprehensive support can empower employees to embrace the change, reduce anxiety, and build confidence in their abilities. This contributes to a better transition and enhances overall employee performance and satisfaction.

7. Overcoming Resistance and Conflict

Overcoming resistance and managing conflict is crucial for successful change implementation in the workplace. Organizations can employ several strategies to address opposition and handle conflicts effectively. These include:

  • Actively listening to employees’ concerns and empathizing with their perspectives.
  • Providing clear and consistent communication about the change, addressing misconceptions, and highlighting the benefits.
  • Involving employees in decision-making processes to foster a sense of ownership and engagement.
  • Offering training and support to help employees adapt to the change and build necessary skills.
  • Implementing conflict resolution techniques, such as mediation or negotiation, to address conflicts constructively.
  • Recognizing and celebrating small wins and positive outcomes to motivate employees and promote a positive change culture.

8. Monitoring and Evaluation

Collecting feedback from employees and stakeholders provides valuable insights into the effectiveness of communication efforts. By implementing surveys, focus groups, or one-on-one interviews, organizations can gather feedback on the communication’s clarity, relevance, and timeliness. 

Additionally, measuring the impact of communication on employee engagement, morale, and understanding can be achieved through metrics such as employee satisfaction surveys or communication effectiveness scores. 

For example, a study found that organizations with high levels of employee engagement during change initiatives experienced 22% higher productivity and 25% higher profitability than those with low engagement. 

Monitoring and evaluation allow organizations to make data-driven adjustments and improve communication strategies, ensuring continuous improvement throughout the change process.

Conclusion

In conclusion, effective communication is a crucial element in successfully navigating change in the workplace.

By implementing the strategies discussed in this article, organizations can create a supportive environment where employees feel engaged, informed, and empowered during times of change. 

Prioritizing effective communication during change will allow organizations to navigate transitions successfully, foster a positive work environment, and drive positive outcomes for both employees and the organization. As a result, employees can work better, increasing productivity and achieving organizational objectives.

Why Inventory Software Is Crucial To Business Management

Posted on by Matt Bernot

Every successful business needs to know its stock levels for all of the different products it sells. In a digital landscape, business management software makes the process of inventory management more efficient and accessible to business owners. Inventory software syncs data in real time and integrates processes to ensure the business owner’s peace of mind when it comes to tracking orders. 

Different industries demand different requirements from businesses. It is important to look for the inventory software that serves you and your business the best and most fully. Once you integrate this kind of software into your business, you will find that not only are you improving the accuracy in tracking quantities, shipments, and materials, but also saving valuable time that your business can use to increase profitability in other areas.

Important Features of All-In-One Inventory Management Software

In order to find the right inventory software that serves the specific needs of your business, it is important to take into account some of the key features of inventory software. These include but are not limited to:

Inventory software keeps you on top of your orders and sales in an organized fashion while keeping you informed about all of your crucial KPIs in real-time. This is a proven method to avoid errors and discrepancies. For example, with the right business management software, you can improve your manufacturing processes by creating a bill of materials and labor, easily calculate material costs, update your inventory with new items, and create tasks for your staff.

inventory software

In terms of order management, you are able to instantly create purchase orders, control vendor costs, record tracking and shipping information, and add images and notes to items. Integrating an inventory management system within all of the departments of your business can assure you understand all of the ins and outs of your finances in real time, most importantly your profitability.

On top of these features, a great business management software is able to be customized to suit your specific needs, allows your customers and vendors to communicate with your business representatives, provides an intuitive applicant tracking system and a complete inventory management system. It is recommended to look for an inventory software that is both comprehensive with optimized tools and can automate many routine and repetitive tasks. Also, it is important to consider the usability of the program to ensure that the management of your inventory becomes seamless and largely automated.

You may find that some software is easier to use than others. Some software focuses on enhancing work orders and B2B sales channels, while others adapt to a variety of business types. Automating processes and reducing costs to maximize profitability should be a staple of any easy-to-use inventory management software. Business management software systems can reduce operational costs as well as administrative costs, while increasing on-time deliveries.

Wrapping Up

Decisions about software are difficult when taking into account all of the seemingly unpredictable variables that may arise over time. For this reason, it’s crucial to know what your business needs and seek solutions that serve it best now and in the future. The best inventory software will support your process of buying and selling products to help your business succeed. The tools a business management software brings to the table allows you to operate your business more efficiently using automated real-time updates to quickly sell products and services while leaving customers completely satisfied. It is a proven way to increase sales and increase profits.

Master Inventory Software to Effectively Manage Your Supplies

Posted on by Matt Bernot

In a competitive market, high-quality businesses and their employees rely on established and practical systems to assist them to rise above the competition. Inventory software continuously improves and monitors, integrates, channels, empowers and monitors warehouse processes to ensure businesses will avoid unfulfilled orders and the misuse of necessary time.

Without tracking the amount of inventory a business has, where each item is located, and forecasting an accurate quantity needed for future sales, a company will fail to turn a profit and generate growth. As a result, inventory management software rids a successful business owner of the tedious time spent tracking inventory with pencil and paper and replaces this process with more efficient technology to track when shipments arrive, where raw materials are, and when products are on the move.

Multiple types of businesses use inventory software, equipment inventory software, or even warehouse inventory management software to raise their business to the level of which they previously only dreamt of doing. In a simplified example, an individual company owner may have various suppliers and could be working on an ad-hoc basis in terms of their supply. How long can they maintain effective business practices under these conditions solely using spreadsheets or other  less efficient methods of inventory tracking? The answer is that it is more effective, both in cost and time, to use an all in one inventory management software that serves you and your business to ensure that inventory is not over-ordered nor under-stocked.

Inventory Management via Inventory Software

The first step for small and growing business owners after acquiring their inventory is to sell their product to the market. However, this process may be overwhelming, especially when attempting to manually input and interpret your inventory levels and order flow. Having a clear and accurate view of your ROI is integral for all businesses, so inventory software is an obvious choice for any type of business owner that is looking for a better way to track this data. Inventory software controls stock levels, saves space, maximizes the value of labor, satisfies customers, and reduces the use of other fixed assets to also save you and your business from unnecessary costs.

The Cost Of Inventory Software

Most inventory management software is cloud-based and will not necessitate the individual to maintain servers, hire an IT staff, or make other excessive hardware purchases. All of the servers and necessary equipment are managed by the software company itself, saving companies a lot of money, time and energy.

The cost of cloud-based inventory management software is based on a monthly subscription rate, but it is also determined by several other factors, including the size of your business. Retail point of sale software (POS) may be a starting point for most businesses, but when your business is ready to grow and scale, many businesses find that POS software alone is insufficient.  This is because POS systems solely keep track of sales and accept payment from customers, which ignores tracking inventory, establishing the quantity and time that inventory needs to be reordered, effective inventory turnover, and does not mitigate human error by automating tasks that help to fulfill sales quickly.

Approximately 46%  of the businesses surveyed in Wasp Barcode’s State of Small Business Report fail to track inventory and/or  use manual processes. Those companies are not receiving the same benefits in relation to maintaining competitiveness in the marketplace, increased efficiency, saving money in the long run, and freeing up employees to do less monotonous tasks.

Inventory Software’s Role in Inventory Turnover

A key metric for all businesses is inventory turnover: the cost of goods sold divided by the average inventory on hand. If the rate is too low or too high, a business is in danger of overstocking, not meeting consumer demand, and dealing with the deteriorating value of stagnant products on a shelf.

Podium LLC, a manufacturer based out of South Carolina, saw their inventory counting time decrease by 90% when taking advantage of an inventory management solution. 

Inventory software helps businesses meet their desired inventory turnover ratio by providing inventory tracking, effective and time-efficient reordering, and accounting integrations which serve to prevent double-entry of data and automate yet another task that can free up time to focus on other needs for your business.

Takeaway

Inventory software is the most effective manner in which a business can successfully manage maintaining proper inventory levels while maintaining high levels of customer (and employee) satisfaction.  It can provide business  owners with the ability to spend their time doing other tasks besides manually organizing their spreadsheets or over ordering products that are not necessarily needed in bulk at the time. Inventory management software  acts as a digitized assistant, allowing for professionalism, profitability, and efficiency to shine through where, without it, only ambiguity and indecisiveness are present.

Mapping The Field Service Customer Communication Journey

Posted on by Cristina Maria

In any relationship, communication is key and your customers are no exception. 

Before communication technology made targeted advertising easy, trying to attract and speak to customers followed a fairly straightforward strategy, albeit with inconsistent results. For instance, field service companies would bombard prospects with generic fliers, billboards, Yellow Pages ads, etc, and all in the hopes that somewhere in the midst of it all would emerge someone who, not only needed a plumber or an electrician, but who’d then take the time to engage, and hopefully transition into a customer.

There’s little need to point out why this strategy wasn’t the most efficient.

Of course, things are completely different these days. Service companies now have the option to speak to customers more directly, and send them highly personalized offers, and, as a result, many have seen an increase in sales by 10% or more. Thanks to effective digital technologies and the ability to map customer communication journeys, hundreds of thousands of companies have found success and reached their audience, even if they run a niche service business.  

There are still challenges to overcome, but to help you get a grasp of your own communication strategy, we’re going to look at it from the customer journey point of view. We’ll break it down into a few touchpoints, and explore how you can improve your own journey. Let’s get started! 

Define The New Communication Customer Journey 

Customer journeys have become more and more complex, especially in the field service industry. Buying a service isn’t simply a matter of a person walking into a store and picking up a product from a shelf. 

field service management software

Between local Google search results, 3rd-party review websites, paid ads, personalized emails, review requests, and all the other interactions now available to business owners and managers, it’s no wonder businesses can feel overwhelmed. 

The new communication journey is a reciprocal process, where the customer gets to have a say throughout, rather than simply voting with their wallet during an exchange of services for money. Nurturing a customer is an essential part of an ideal relationship, one that leads to higher-value jobs and repeat business. And like nurturing anything else, the customer wants 3 things, to be: 

  • Valued as an individual, through personalized communication 
  • Taken seriously, by using a suitable and consistent tone of voice in all your communications
  • Feel in control, which is where customer self-service comes into place

At the same time, keep in mind that communication doesn’t refer just to actual messages and emails; everything you do in order to convey information about your business to the customer is a form of contact, from your brand identity, company logo, to your website, to your invoices. 

Why Do Field Service Businesses Need To Look At Their Communication Journey? 

Have you ever tried hiring another field service business? Or, even better, have you tried hiring yourself? How did the experience compare to other services you use in your day-to-day life, like booking a vacation or ordering a meal? Is there anything they do that you don’t?

It’s tempting to think this exercise is silly because you’re not selling vacation packages or meals. But the fact of the matter is that the average customer won’t compare you to other plumbing or HVAC companies; they’ll compare the booking experience you provide to those they know: Booking.com, JustEat, Amazon, and other big companies. 

If you do a deep dive into field service reviews, you’ll notice a trend with many customers saying something along the lines of:

“They did a good job installing my ventilation unit, but I never got a booking confirmation so I had no idea when they’d arrive. Then the installer wouldn’t take card payment on the spot so I had to wait for weeks to get an invoice letter. And no one asked for my feedback at the end of it all.” – 3 / 5 stars

It’s hardly what field service owners and managers want to hear, but the cold hard truth is that if you deliver 5-star work with 1-star customer service experiences, the average review score won’t be in your favor. And are you really a 3-star company? Of course not!

Understanding where your customer communication strategy is lacking is what will push you to go from good to great.

How To Map The Communication Customer Journey

Customer journey map, process of customer buying decision, a road map of customer experience

Mapping the communication journey goes back to the scenario where you try to hire yourself. List every individual touchpoint, then award yourself a rating based on how satisfied you’d be if, as a customer, a service provider treated you the same.

1. Company persona

You might be familiar with building a customer persona, but having a detailed understanding of your own company is just as important. It could be that you’re the owner and you identify the company with yourself, but even then, writing it down and turning it into a fleshed-out character will help you understand what your customer expects from you. 

For example, if your company persona was called Gary, the friendly neighborhood plumber who’s always there to fix a leak or put in a new sink, that would mean the rest of your communications have to stay consistent: a bright and cheerful website, technicians who wear short sleeve t-shirts, and budget or mid-level prices. On the other hand, you could also be a Gaspard, the artisanal plumber who’s a specialist in visible drain welding & soldering and often works with museums and installation artists. 

The expectations would be completely different, so the final question is: would your customer hire Gary or Gaspard?   

2. Visual Communication

Once you’ve decided on the kind of field service personality you want to relay, it’s time to make it visual. Visual communication includes:

  • Company logo
  • Company colors
  • Employee attire (either uniform or dress code)
  • Website graphics
  • Website videos

Once you’ve decided on the first two, the rest need to stay consistent, otherwise, you risk confusing the customer in regard to the message you’re trying to transmit.

If you’re targeting premium customers and have tailored your logo and website colors to match (e.g. by using more elegant colors like navy and silver), but your employees show up either sans uniform or in bright yellow t-shirts and muddy boots, the customer won’t feel like they’re getting the premium experience they paid for. The same goes for your website and other visuals you might want to create (or commission), the expectation you set should be met by reality.

3. Written Communication

The final step in your communication customer journey is to highlight the smaller touchpoints and ensure they also have a cohesive feel and, especially, carry the same tone of voice. Written communication includes but is not limited to:

  • Booking request confirmation
  • Service reminders (for more on these, check out this service reminder guide) 
  • Price book
  • Invoice emails
  • Certificate emails
  • Debt chasing emails
  • Review requests
  • Review answers
  • Website about & team page 
  • Contact page

Similar to the situation we’ve described above, your written communication style should also fit your company persona.

If we go back to the Gary/Gaspard comparison, imagine that Gary would open his emails with: “Hey, Matt! How’s your week been?”, while Gaspard would be more of a “Dear Madam Spencer, I sincerely hope you’ve been well.” Mixing them up would leave Matt scratching his head and Madam Spencer tasking her butler with firing someone. Written communication is all about delivering on your brand promise.  

The Value Of Having Everything On One Screen

field service management software

If all this sounds like a lot more than you expected, we don’t blame you. Customer communication journeys are complex relationships that require time and effort, at least, they are if you want to do them well. 

A lot of this complexity is due to communication technology advancing so rapidly and creating more and more avenues to interact with people. However, this should be seen as an opportunity, rather than an obstacle. That’s because field service management technology also allows you to harness more efficient strategies that come at a lower cost than, say, traditional advertising and branding. 

Keeping track of your communications starts with recording customer information in a centralized database. The more you learn about them, the better you will be able to personalize your messaging and expand your brand. The next step is to combine your database with a message/email automation tool so that you can send out personalized communication as efficiently as possible. 

Finally, an all-in-one field service management software will keep all this, along with calendar appointments, employee shifts, quotes, and more, all on a single screen. From there your business is in a better position to grow sustainably and it’ll help you implement more and more complex customer communication strategies down the line. 

The Takeaway

All in all, customer communication journeys are all about knowing who you’re targeting and having a good grasp of the tools you have access to in order to reach this person. Technology has made things more complex, but, at the same time, it has also made amazing strategies widely available to companies of every size and budget. Make sure you’re not missing out and start investing in your communication strategy today!