Category: Operations

Article Contributed by Dr. Joey Faucette

You’re in a team meeting. Your desk phone rings. Do you read the Caller ID and decide about answering?

You’re working on your computer on an important project. Is your e-mail open? Is it set on automatic?

What if you’re with a customer and your smartphone buzzes with a call? Do you take it?

Marilyn vos Savant says, “Working in an office with an array of electronic devices is like trying to get something done at home with half a dozen small children around. The calls for attention are constant.”

Technology intrudes with a creep, then leaps onto the stage of our productivity; seizing the starring role. Greater productivity is yours when you daily recognize the creep and create boundaries that limit it.

Multi-tasking is a productivity buster. The myth is you do more. The reality is you do less and what you do get done is less well.

Here are three actions to take today to increase your productivity and limit technology’s intrusion:

Establish Technology Schedule

Set up specific times when you employ various technology. Answer email on a schedule—a certain block and time yourself. Turn off the automatic updating and notification features on your computer and smartphone’s email. Forward requests best answered by a team member. Listen to voicemails and return calls on a schedule.

Engage Selectively

Your phone may be smart, but most of us are not when selecting how to engage with it. Social media is a marvelous relationship-building tool. Use it. Monetize it.

But do you really need a notification when someone wants to connect on LinkedIn? Or, posts a picture of lunch on Facebook? Or, tweets a rant about the government?

Engage selectively with those in your primary sphere of influence. Clients, team members, and family members are top drawer. The rest are also-ran’s for your attention.

Your productivity is at stake. Want to increase sales and get out of the office earlier? Create boundaries with your smartphone with categories for interaction. Engage selectively.

Execute with the “OFF” Button

You pay for technology services. They are to serve you, not vice versa. Turn them totally off at designated times to innovate and create. A buzz, bing, or bleep dams up your flow for broadening outcomes and developing a new mindset. Avoid drying up your creative stream by pressing the “off” button. 

Create boundaries around your technology that allow you to focus completely on what is most important and enjoy your increase in sales with greater productivity which gets you of the office earlier to play with your family and friends—your new Work Positive lifestyle!

About the Author

Dr. Joey Faucette is the #1 Amazon best-selling author of Work Positive in a Negative World (Entrepreneur Press), coach, and speaker who help business professionals increase sales with greater productivity so they get out of the office earlier and do what they love with those they love. Discover more at www.ListentoLife.org/speaking.

Article Contributed by Ritesh Sanghani

The mere articulation of the saying “Virtual Office Assistant” is a most recent agitation which has hit the search engine platforms. It can make an entrepreneur ecstatic or apoplectic-all relying upon their experience with this increasingly well-known administrative help. Being a business visionary, you are prone to wear numerous hats to keep up the accomplishment of your business.

There are insufficient hours in a day, and you can’t pick to do everything on your own. The key course of taking your business to new heights – the focus ought to be on your customers, clients and how to get a greater business from them. Effectively dealing with all the core exercises, stress and requiring some investment for yourself is vital to keep away from wear out and the disappointment of your business.

Along all these lines, why are you in any case still clutching the directing wheel so firmly? Let another person handle the preparatory exercises. 

Virtual Personal Assistant (VA) – a Life Saver

The advanced transformation has provided you with a chance to sell to the world; but on the other hand has made the whole world your rival. At present, anyone from anywhere can consume your market share. Outsourcing work to a virtual personal assistant – be it for short-term or long-term, could be one of the best choices a business visionary could make to keep up the accomplishment of your business. Virtual personal assistant are essentially multi-skilled, solid, time conscious and assignment driven experts; their prime destination is to accomplish the task assigned. They are simply everywhere, online on their laptops/tabs, at home or at a café sorting out your inbox, managing your appointment calendars, making formats, updating your website, making your travel arrangements by booking your flights, cab, hotel reservation and most importantly inciting and arranging your daily routine tasks to accomplish things.

When you outsource work to a virtual collaborator it is critical to realize what the best ventures to outsource are. The primary objective of outsourcing is to free up your time, so you can concentrate on the work that gets the best profits. 

Here are the best daily routines that could be outsourced to a Virtual Office Assistant:

Research Task

Just about any sort of exploration might be outsourced to a virtual associate, be it speechwriting or proofreading. You can likewise outsource research that is not identified with your business, for example, writing a speech for a meeting or picking up the best item to purchase in a given specialty. The outcomes are endless. Remember that many virtual office assistant get paid for an hour while doing research, so verify that you have picked up the best one that can rapidly finish the assigned tasks. Additionally, there are considerable measures where you would imagine that no one but you can do the essential examination but in reality – anyone can.

• Sales Leads:

Virtual sales assistant can discover and research people, entrepreneur, and innovations, through social media, blogs, websites, forums or discussion boards. They can arrange reports and briefs to help you figure out whom to contact next. With the right data in hand you can focus on creating new business proposals/partnerships as opposed to your time investment.

• Fact Checking:

To be a strong market player, you require real facts on your side. No one can destroy your credibility faster than wrong data. A VA can cross-check data, offer statistics and reinforcement data, and confirm the information to make sure that you have kept a precise foot forward.

• Products and Services Subscriptions:

Virtual assistant can consider your financial plan and inclination, filter through the alternatives, look at surveys and suggestions, and make short arrangements of the prime contenders for procurement. VA can also stand up in comparison and discover the best arrangements that you lean towards. 

Data Entry Task

Data entry is time and energy consuming tasks that can be effortlessly outsourced. Some tasks like article postings to craigslist are usually outsourced to Virtual Administrative Assistant who is least expensive. Putting data from business cards into your Outlook/address book helps you stay organized and consequently organizes your phone or PDA. To be very honest, who really has the time to do all this? You can easily fax/scan the business contacts you get, or send Excel or Word contact posting to a virtual associate who can organize the data for you.

• Website Registration

Website enlistment additionally falls into this classification – many organizations oblige you to utilize certain websites, for which you need to enroll. Enlisting can be a hectic and time consuming process – so outsource it! Make a list of websites you wish to enroll with, alongside your contact data, and permit your website virtual assistant to deal with the rest. You can likewise ask the Virtual Executive Assistant to research other significant websites you have not recorded, and to sign you up there, as well.

• Web Research

Gathering contact data also falls into this classification. You can without much of a stretch discover the contacts of potential advertisement distributors for an instance. This sort of work requires exact concentration on the assignment, so it could be troublesome for you to finish in the event that you have numerous different assignments to concentrate on. That is the reason that this kind of work is outsourced to a virtual personal assistant. The next step is that you can have the virtual assistant jot down all the contact data as viewpoint entrance – this makes it speedy and simple to send offers to all the contacts without any delay. With a little exploration performed by virtual assistant, you can gather all the information you need, including contact numbers, e-mail id, social networking links, and so on. They can then enter the gathered information into spreadsheets, archives, and address books – whichever is most helpful to you.

Planning Task

Things like scheduling to-do list or arranging travel plan falls into this class. This is one of the region where outsourcing the work could be stunningly better than doing it without anyone’s help. In light of the fact that you may miss paramount subtle elements that virtual colleagues will rapidly recognize. Arranging meeting is most generally outsourced and there are aides that represent considerable authority in it and can finish the undertaking down to the tiny details rapidly. Virtual collaborators can rapidly pick up the best venue for the gathering and in addition reserve a place and carry out bit of an examination on your potential customer or partner. For an instance, if you have taken part in a corporate meeting that has clients you have never met previously and are vital for you to know then this data may be immediately explored by your VA. If you are making some travel plans, than your virtual administrative assistant will help you scrutinize the least expensive and most suitable accommodation as well.

Organizing Meeting Task

An overall arranged and executed lunch meeting with one imperative customer could be paramount to your business as a gathering with 20 or more members. Each corporate meeting can possibly represent the moment of truth for your organization and verify they are arranged faultlessly! A virtual personal assistant can inquire about venues, reserve a place, schedule the meeting with members, and even follow up couple of days early to verify your arrangements are all up to date. Let a VA deal with the points of interest so you can focus on accomplishing your objectives at your gatherings.

Business Assistance Task

This is the task that can free up most of your time. In this classification fall things like e-mail reply and management, voicemail administration, sending token of appreciation and cards to clients and potential entrepreneurs and catch up requests. A great deal of entrepreneurs and representatives fall in the trap of checking e-mail and voicemail, on the grounds that is the most paramount piece of the business could be outsourced. In the wake of outsourcing, it is not unprecedented for entrepreneurs to begin checking mail as less as 2 hours for every week or even less. In the event of checking e-mail possesses the greater part of your workdays, this may appear impossible yet it is genuine. Note down the most well-known e-mail questions you get and compose definite response for each. Than you can undoubtedly give this opportunity to a virtual associate, or make up a programmed auto responder. Follow ups are likewise paramount and include calling the client after a request has been finished. It is one of the most ideal approaches to get rehash business and a considerable profit.

• Voicemail Management:

Do you get a considerable number of voicemails? Do you invest lot of time in corporate meetings and fear having to check your voice messages? A virtual personal assistant can check your voicemail at regular intervals, prioritize your messages, and even e-mail notes to you in the event that you’re not in a position to get calls. A VA can additionally return routine and crisis calls, sparing the essential or delicate calls for you to make when you have the chance to dance.

• E-mail Management:

Regardless of the fact that you get many messages every day, chances are several of them are standard – and on the off chance that they’re normal, that implies a VA can react to those messages utilizing direction you give. At that point all you’ll have to do is respond to unheard messages. You can make it a stride further and have your VA forward messages no one but you can deal with to a different record. That way you’ll never see or need to manage the several messages your VA can deal with for you. You might have an inclination that you write the same reaction-to distinctive individuals -more than once, a VA can deal with the undertaking.

• Gifts and Cards:

Whether they’re our companions or our clients and customers, every one of us need to recollect essential individuals at extraordinary times. Give specifications and other essential data, and your VA can find and parcel the ideal endowments, send online cards, or mail pre-signed welcome cards to everyone on your to-do list.

• Thank You Notes and Follow-Up Calls:

Numerous organizations send notes or make thank-you calls to buyers. It’s an incredible approach to say “thank you” furthermore to answer any inquiries and proactively resolve potential issues. A VA can send notes to say thanks or make post-buy calls to new clients or customers, making a vital approach that can help drive more business and fabricate long term business partnership.

About the Author:

Ritesh Sanghani is a Director at Hi-Tech BPO for the past 15 years. Ritesh has worked with several international clients and has executed BPO projects of varying scales and complexities.

Article Contributed by Karleia

Every business owner has ways to improve the productivity of their employees and endeavors. The goal goal is to work harder and faster without sacrificing quality. Always be aware about the work that you achieve at every new business meeting or sales campaign. Here are seven key ways to increase the productivity of your business.

1. Invest in Useful Technology

Investing in new technology is not good enough because you have to invest in equipment that is actually useful. To shorten the distances between your associates, arrange a video conference using the right equipment. As you expand, you need better tools to stay connected.

2. Make an Agenda

Develop an agenda that includes all of your professional goals. Do not follow agendas and attend meetings that go on endlessly without relevance. Update the agenda every time you have changes. The only way to ensure a company’s success is to develop a plan.

3. Work With a Leader

Hire one leader to coordinate the meetings and events. This person is crucial because he sets the general tone of the discussion so that it does not veer off course. Too many meetings go on forever without getting to the main points. Find a leader who encourages member participation and keeps up on changes within the group.

4. Form Deadlines

Part of creating a good plan is creating deadlines that work. Have the leader monitor when projects get completed. Deadlines steer your employees in the right direction. However, forming deadlines is not good enough if people do not follow them. Offer rewards and punishments for people who follow or do not follow deadlines.

5. Monitor Progress

Have the leader and every employee monitor the progress of a certain project. After you find a leader and set a deadline, evaluate every step you make. It may be useful to create a list of goals, concerns and techniques. Also, there are software programs that allow you to review the analytics of company sales and profits.

6. Reduce Time-Wasting Activities

Weed out activities that waste your time and others. If you do not have hours or days to travel, use long-distance communication tools like emails, video conferences and instant messengers. Wasted minutes lead to wasted hours and then wasted weeks. Place restrictions on the activities that do not lead to productivity.

7. Stay Organized

Staying organized is an obvious tip, but it is more important than you think. The only way to prioritize is to organize. Categorize all assets from computer files to business equipment. Investing in a packing company is one way to be organized. As a business owner who sells products, you want a provider that customizes your packing and shipping needs. Choose the precise ways that you want the valuables handled.

You could waste hours each day without getting anything done. Time is essential when you improve a company’s efficiency. You do not want employees to work hard without going anywhere. Teach them how to become more productive and boost the overall quality of your company.

Author Bio 

Karleia is a freelance blogger. For more information on increasing your business’s productivity, visit Pack All International.

Running a business is like a engaging in an extreme adrenaline sport: often exhilarating and very rewarding but also something that could have potentially devastating consequences at any given moment. An appealing part of business is the thrill of the chase but there are certain areas you cannot afford to be blasé about and top of this list is taking out insurance.

Every business is different and choosing the wrong type of insurance for yours could cost you down the line in more ways than one. Being aware of the common mistakes made by business owners is one small step towards making the right decisions for your company. Put your best business foot forward and avoid falling into the following insurance traps.

Being unaware of the basics

Even an established business will struggle if they fail to have an understanding of the business insurance basics. Business insurance is business insurance with one policy no different from the next, right? Wrong, no two insurance policies fall under the same umbrella and if you are willing to settle for a basic form of insurance that may only cover a tenth of your unique requirements, then you may as well put your assets in the hands of a child.

Taking the time to consider your business from all angles in terms of potential threats to assets and property etc will help you choose the right form of insurance for your business.

Leaving it too late

It is a cruel irony – waiting until the unexpected happens before investing in an insurance solution. It’s easy to assume that you are untouchable, particularly if you are a start up company with a run of good fortune but an expensive lawsuit or company accident may be waiting in the wings. A second consequence of leaving it too late to get insurance is buying poor coverage as a result of playing it safe with a small start up budget. Insurance is something that must be considered in the earliest possible stage to ensure your business gets the cover it needs.

Getting the wrong coverage

You wouldn’t take out home insurance for your car or vice versa, would you? Yet many businesses are content to pay over the odds for an insurance coverage that does little or nothing for them. When all is said and done, it is only up to you as owner to tailor insurance cover to your needs – not what the competition has or whatever the easiest option is but what caters to the interests and progression of your company.

Insurance policies are personal to each business which is why no company should ever need to settle for a one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to relying upon insurance providers. Insurance experts such as Catlin USA pride themselves in providing specialist insurance solutions to clients; sharing their expertise within the banking industry to ensure clients can achieve winning business results.

Anybody that works in the catering industry knows how stressful it can be at times, and that is why you need to be sure that you can rely on all of your equipment. You will need a range of quality catering equipment that won’t let you down and will live up to the tough demands that this industry is known for. No matter how busy you get you need to know that you will be able to serve food and drink of the highest standard in order to run your business efficiently. All kinds of establishments, including sandwich shops, cafés, restaurants, any kind of fast food establishment, bars and even convenience stores that offer food and drink that needs to be refrigerated, need to have confidence in the quality and reliability of their catering equipment.

Providing quality food and refreshments to the public will enhance your reputation and improve your business. The best way to maintain your standards and reputation is to invest in high quality and reliable equipment. In addition, if you own an establishment where your fridges and displays are in front of the customers you will also need to ensure that you have sleek and stylish items, and this is because appearance and cleanliness also accounts for a lot in the catering industry.

Investing in Reliable Catering Equipment

What you will need in your establishment will depend on the food and drink that you offer to customers, but generally it will include fridges, freezers, display cabinets, ovens and other cooking equipment, cutlery, a range of bar supplies and more. You will want high quality items at affordable prices, and for this it is worthwhile starting at reputable supplies such as Fridgeland and others. These companies supply catering equipment to all types of outlets, and by shopping at large and established places it ensures that you are getting reliable items that will last for years to come too.

With all the necessary equipment set up at your business you can be sure that it won’t let you down and you will be able to run efficiently. Busy periods in the catering industry can be stressful, but having high quality, reliable equipment will alleviate a lot of this stress and ensure that you are able to maintain a continuous service to your customers.