13 Fatal Marketing Mistakes That Could Sink Your Business

The right marketing strategies can elevate your brand and give your business positive attention and exposure, while the wrong ones can sink your company. To find out which strategies work—and the ones to avoid—we asked entrepreneurs from YEC Next and YEC this question:

Q: What common marketing strategies should entrepreneurs avoid and what should they be doing instead?

1. Not knowing your target customer

When marketing a product or service, you need to know your potential customer inside out. By understanding the demographics and characteristics of your potential client, you’ll be able to focus your marketing efforts and get new customers efficiently. Start by writing down the benefits your product or service offers. Then write down who would benefit from using your product or service. —Matt Bigach, Nexus Homebuyers

2. Not tracking your data

People are quick to want to run Facebook ads or publish blog posts, but they aren’t ready to manage them. In order to manage the process, you need to have your analytics infrastructure in place so you can track the performance of your paid campaigns and outcome of your content strategy, and make sure you know what your analytics goals are and that you’re tracking them properly. —Jim Huffman, GrowthHit

3. Trying to sell to strangers

The first rule parents teach their kids is to never take candy from strangers. People are trained from birth to not listen to your sales pitch if they don’t know you, so that’s the importance of brand equity. Give value first and build a relationship before you ask anything of someone. Once the sum of your relationship and the need for your product are greater than the cost of action, selling becomes seamless. —Todd Giannattasio, Tresnic Media

4. Focusing on yourself instead of prospects

From ads to web copy, too many businesses put the immediate focus on themselves over their prospects. However, prospects want to know what value can be gained immediately—not what your business has achieved. Your goal should be to appeal to a prospect’s emotions so they’ll want to know more, and only when the conversation continues should you highlight your personal successes. —Ron Lieback, ContentMender

5. Not addressing customers’ true interests

Make sure you have analytics and are looking at them, whether it be on the back end of your app or website, or through Google Analytics, or both. We like to see what piques our members’ interest and give them more of it. Also, knowing what makes them move on from us to surf elsewhere is equally as important in order to figure out what needs to be adjusted. —Jessica Baker, Aligned Signs

6. Not letting your website be indexed properly

• I deal with a lot of clients and get the question, “How can I generate more traffic and rank better?” One issue I see, more common than I would like, is when someone develops a new website and the developer forgets to remove the no-index tag, which tells the search engine not to index their site. For any new site, make sure your robots do not have the no-index tag so your site doesn’t vanish from search. —Bryan Driscoll, Think Big Marketing

7. Doing too much content and not enough promotion

“Content is king” is frequently repeated in marketing strategies, but no matter how great the quality of your content is, it isn’t going to matter if no one is reading it. Not promoting the content enough is a cardinal marketing mistake that is far too common. Time spent promoting should be thrice it took to create it. Use social media to reach out to your target audience and promote content. —Rahul Varshneya, Arkenea

8. Buying email lists

Purchasing email lists may seem tempting to the entrepreneur starting out, but they are not a good investment due to its low conversion. Instead, build your own email list using highly targeted content to attract your ideal customer to your site. Once your site has traffic, use exit-intent popups and content upgrades to capture their email addresses. —Jared Atchison, WPForms

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9. Doing paid ads without landing pages

Don’t spend money on Facebook or Google Ads before you’ve built a great landing page, optimized your conversion funnel, and installed remarketing pixels to retarget your website visitors—that’s the horse before the cart in digital marketing. It is really easy to jump the gun on ads and become excited by metrics; however, metrics are meaningless without a clear path to conversion for your clients and customers. —Matthew Capala, Alphametic

10. Ignoring the 80/20 rule

We all have probably heard about the Pareto Principle: 80% of the effect comes from 20% of the cause. But it’s easy to forget to use it in our marketing. Regardless of your type of marketing (social media, email, or content), about 80% of your effort should be providing value to your audience, while about 20% should be promotional activity. This ratio will help your marketing sizzle. —Shu Saito, Godai Soaps

11. Having great sales, but poor support

I always tell my clients that marketing will backfire if they don’t take care of clients who actually have bought their product or service. There is no point in scaling up marketing efforts if customers are unhappy. You’ll just end up with a sea of negative reviews and your brand’s reputation will gradually fall apart. Clients should scale their marketing in parallel with their support capabilities. —Amine Rahal, Little Dragon Media

12. Lacking in consistency 

No matter what marketing strategy you have and what channels you use, you always have to be consistent in your efforts. This means that all your content has to maintain the same brand language, tone, look, and feel. The coherence and harmony of your messages make up the digital image of your brand, and it will be very difficult to achieve good results without those qualities. —Solomon Thimothy, OneIMS

13. Not creating buyer personas

If you want to sell a product, you need to know who you’re selling to; that’s why it’s so important to create buyer personas. There are a lot of free buyer persona templates available online, and filling them out in detail will help you determine the needs and pain points of your ideal customer, as well as other characteristics, so you can better market to them. —John Turner, SeedProd LLC

RELATED: 6 Tips for Enhancing Your Company’s Marketing Plan

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How to Use Location-Based Mobile Marketing to Promote Your Restaurant or Bar

Location-based mobile marketing is a growing trend—and for owners of independent restaurants or bars, it can be a great way to reach your customers when they’re on the go (and hungry or thirsty). This year, 2.18 billion people are expected to use mobile phone messaging apps and that number is expected to grow to 2.48 billion in 2021. As text-addicted Generation Z grows up, mobile marketing will become indispensable for small business owners.

Location-based mobile marketing basics

Location-based mobile marketing taps into geographic information about mobile phone users’ locations, then delivers messages relevant to them. A restaurant might message a customer passing by with an offer for a free appetizer, for example.

There are several different ways to send mobile messages: You can use text messages, push notifications, or in-app messaging (such as within Facebook Messenger). Whichever mode you choose, be sure you’ve obtained customers’ permission before sending them messages.

Using “geofencing,” location-based mobile marketing draws a perimeter around a certain area, such as within a one-mile radius of your bar. When customers enter the perimeter, a message is triggered. This ensures you only message customers at relevant times. (Messaging a customer about your lunch specials when they’re out of town on a business trip will only frustrate them—and they might stop coming to your restaurant.)

Location-based mobile messaging can also be used to make customers feel welcomed as they come in the door. You can greet them via message and point out some new menu items they might like based on past orders. Getting a message like this enhances customer loyalty by making them feel special. Just make sure your staff is welcoming in person, too!

Want to try something a little bit devious? Geo-conquesting lets you target customers who get within a certain range of your competition. Is your pizza parlor in a battle for supremacy with the other one in town? Next time customers get within a few blocks of your competition, send them an irresistible offer and watch them make tracks for your pies.

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Best practices for location-based mobile marketing

Try these tips for more successful location-based marketing:

• Offer free stuff. A free dessert or appetizer with an entrée is usually more appealing to customers than a percentage off. It also benefits your bottom line because the diner is still paying full price for the meal.
• Boost traffic during slow times. You don’t need more people in your bar on St. Patrick’s Day, but on a random rainy Tuesday night, you may wish for more customers. That’s when limited-time offers delivered by mobile messaging can pay off. Try a two-hour window for the special deals to get customers hurrying in.
• Tempt to customers’ appetites. Go beyond plain text: A mouthwatering image of a yummy menu item or specialty drink can drive customers in the door.
• Design your messages for the weather. Offer hot soup on a rainy day or an ice-cold beer in the dog days of August to attract more customers.
• Don’t overwhelm them. If you message too often or send offers of too little value, customers will decide your communications aren’t worth it. Choose a solution that lets you track customer response and set the perfect messaging cadence for the individual customer based on how they interact with your messages.

Get help with location-based mobile marketing

Search online for companies that provide location-based marketing services for small business. Another option: Use existing messaging apps such as Facebook Messenger to communicate with customers.

Bigger small businesses (such as multilocation bars or restaurants) might decide to invest in building a mobile app. This can help grow a restaurant business by enabling quick and easy online ordering and even letting customers pay within the app.

RELATED: Business Lessons Any Entrepreneur Can Learn From a Failed Restaurant

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Supercharge Your Sales With the Help of Sales Enablement Technology

It’s no secret that sales funnels and content marketing strategies are becoming more automated than ever. As they do, the potential for misalignment between sales and marketing grows as well, potentially costing your company time, morale, and, most important, revenue.

But using sales enablement solutions with the support of smart technology puts the power back in your hands, improving the effectiveness of your sales team and process, and positively affecting your bottom line. Sales enablement is all about empowering your sellers with the support, resources, and systems they need to find and compel the right buyers. Most companies, for good reason, turn to their CRM for this purpose.

However, this system is not scalable, and it doesn’t often allow for the analysis and analytics that would optimize your sales process. It frustrates salespeople, makes for siloed content, and often excludes the 60% of content created by those outside the sales team. So what is the solution?

What is sales enablement technology?

The term “sales enablement technology” refers to a software or system that allows the sales team to access content that is relevant to their target consumer and appropriate for the consumer’s position in the sales funnel. Furthermore, it ensures that content related to training, support, and analysis is accessible to salespeople and their managers so they can learn and improve over time.

Effective sales enablement technology is also incredibly smart. It uses AI-powered analysis to determine what content is the most relevant and most likely to compel the target consumer at any given point, not just what marketing says belongs at that point in the funnel. By putting the consumer first, it also makes the sales process more intuitive and effective for that consumer, building brand trust.

One of the most important roles of sales enablement technology is its ability to fill gaps in your sales and marketing content strategy. By using smart analysis, it can offer data-driven recommendations to help you make your content pool more comprehensive. It can also offer suggestions as to which pieces of content should be reevaluated based on performance so that the consumer experience becomes even more seamless and intuitive. This allows you to review labor and budget spend, allocating more resources to filling gaps and promoting effective content.

How can sales enablement technology improve the consumer experience?

If your audience is serious about a purchase, you’re unlikely to be the only brand vying for their attention. Whether they’re actively speaking to other sales teams or simply browsing on social media, they will have content in front of them telling them why a competitor’s product or service is superior.

The right technology can help give you a competitive edge by identifying the most relevant content available and recommending the optimal time to introduce it in order to move customers through the funnel as smoothly as possible and to make sure you’re not wasting any opportunity for additional content touch points. Ninety-five percent of customers buy from someone who gave them content at every stage of the sales process; sales enablement technology can help you identify if you are missing any of that crucial content.

Points of friction in the user experience can be identified through both manual and AI analysis as enabled by the right technology. Inconsistencies in brand, poor conversions, and misunderstandings of a consumer’s needs and behaviors can all be identified, fixed, and monitored in a centralized and efficient system.

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How can sales enablement technology improve my sales team?

One of the biggest barriers in sales, particularly in high-value transactions, is a misalignment of sales and marketing. The tension between marketing qualified leads and sales qualified leads is well documented. To avoid this conflict, sales enablement technology prevents siloed content and instead empowers the sales team to manage the process and the relationship with consumers. Instead of assuming that a piece of content is appropriate, each seller can confidently select the right content to share at the right time.

At its core, sales enablement solutions do exactly as the name implies: they enable sales. This means efficiency, training, and collaboration must all be prioritized in order to make the most of the technology. By integrating as many sales-related portals and platforms as possible, salespeople no longer need to look in multiple places for the content they need, regardless of its purpose. It is all right at their fingertips, allowing them to jump easily from instructional materials like playbooks and scripts to consumer-facing content. They can also contribute to the 60% of content that doesn’t come from marketing, growing the wealth of information for the team and for the purpose of data and analytics.

What should I look for when researching sales enablement technology?

Investment in sales enablement doesn’t automatically mean positive ROI; the solution has to be fit for purpose. So when selecting technology to implement, it’s important to remember its primary functions of integration and analytics. Does it align with your current CRM and other platforms? Can it seamlessly bring together your marketing and sales content in one place? Is it easy to access and navigate? Are there AI or machine learning programs in place to help you make the most of your investment? Can it both evaluate existing content and sellers, and identify gaps in the strategy? Does it provide content analytics to give you a better understanding of who is consuming what content. An effective sales enablement solution should answer “yes” to all of these questions.

Sales enablement technology has the power to transform your entire organization. Empowered sales teams work more efficiently and effectively. Optimized content strategies reduce friction in the experiences of both consumers and sales teams. But most importantly, identifying and rectifying areas that need improvement will result in more revenue.

RELATED: 3 Easy Ways to Automate Your Marketing

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Simple Tips on Transforming Employees Into Powerful Brand Advocates

A key part of the marketing process is getting the word out about your brand, and your best brand advocate is your staff. What’s the best way to encourage employees to talk up your company? To find out, we asked members of YEC this question:

Q. Getting employees to help with company branding can be a huge boost for your business, so what is the best way to encourage employee participation without being demanding?

1. Take an organic approach

Create a culture where your business is not just a place to earn a paycheck, but a place where you grow, help the community, make friends, and have fun. By hosting a company charitable event, hosting a monthly employee contest, or serving hot chocolate on cold Fridays during the winter, you are giving employees natural opportunities to share what your business is about. —Blair Thomas, eMerchantBroker

2. Invest in branded apparel

One easy way to encourage employees to participate in branding is to invest in branded apparel. Our company gets branded T-shirts made every year to hand out at our company retreats. Make sure you’re investing in quality apparel so your employees will want to wear their shirts outside of work. You could also do pens, notepads, laptop stickers or covers, etc. —John Turner, SeedProd

3. Focus on being organic

Employees may feel their companies are being very intrusive to ask for shout-outs on social media. I know when people go home, they don’t want to think about work, so you should focus on being organic. For example, if you have a Halloween party and there’s a funny scene of people in costumes working at their desks, photos will wind up on your social media and you won’t even have to ask. —Derek Broman, Discount Enterprises LLC (DEGuns)

4. Set aside team-building time

Set aside team-building time to have employees help you detail out your brand. Come prepared with questions and ask individuals for their opinions and insights. “Whiteboard” responses, and build upon each other’s thoughts. Explain that each team member’s input and opinions are a vital component to your company’s brand and vital to the growth plan. —Stephen Beach, Craft Impact Marketing

5. Treat employees like customers

Treat your employees like your customers and you’ll never go wrong. Think about it. Would you be demanding of your customers? Would you want them to be dissatisfied with your service or product? Obviously not on both these fronts, so if you’re providing access to the products or services that you promote, then inevitably a satisfied employee (customer) will promote it. —Zev Herman, Superior Lighting

6. Just send a simple email

Getting the word out in a simple company-wide email is a good way to allow people to feel that their contributions are appreciated but not forced. Openly calling people out to take action will do the opposite. —Nicole Munoz, Nicole Munoz Consulting

7. Invite them to conferences and events

Conferences and networking events are naturally great opportunities for branding and interacting face-to-face, so to get employees more involved with branding, invite them along. These events will give them time to practice networking and they’ll learn how to get your company brand out there, plus they can further their education and have a fun outing to attend. It’s a win-win for everyone. – Chris Christoff, MonsterInsights

8. Lead by example

Enthusiasm is contagious, so set the example by posting on your own social media. Enthusiastic employees will follow your lead and see the logic in helping the brand, i.e., the business. Stick to professional platforms like LinkedIn, and when you post, tag your employees. It will set the tone. If you are feeling really adventurous, check out the Twitter page of John Legere, the CEO of T-Mobile—he definitely leads from the front. —Codie Sanchez, Codie Ventures LLC

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9. Appeal to their expertise and vanity

Have you ever been quoted as an expert, or featured on social media or in a news publication? It’s an awesome feeling! Now do the same thing with your employees and see what they might say about your company and the products it offers. Then make some nice visuals and content around this same input. You might be surprised at how much they go out of their way to share such a publication with others. —Zac Johnson, Blogging.org

10. Invest in company culture

You need to play the long-term game and get the company culture right. By engaging with your employees, involving them in decision-making, and ensuring a cohesive team, you will have a team willing to promote your brand without even asking. Enthusiastic and passionate employees are the best brand ambassadors you could ever ask for. —Ismael Wrixen, FE International

11. Give them your products for free

If you have physical products that you sell and you want your employees to help market them on social media, you can give them products for free, just like you would an influencer. This will help your employees become more familiar with your products and then you can ask them to use a specific hashtag to help promote the hashtag and products. —Syed Balkhi, WPBeginner

12. Set the expectation

When I bring on a new hire, I let them know right away what my values are as a CEO, how my employees and I act on those values, and my expectations for their energy and attitude in working toward accomplishing our goals. By letting them know this during their interviews, I’ve seen a distinct focus on and even excitement about our company values and culture from long-term employees. —Stanley Meytin, True Film Production

13. Always make it a win-win

Have your employees reach out to the clients they are closest with and have helped the most for video testimonials. This will boost your company’s brand and the employee’s name as well. It allows for new customers to ask for this employee directly, so it’s not just good for you, it’s good for them too. Making something a win-win is the best way to approach any business scenario. —Jared Weitz, United Capital Source

RELATED: 5 Ways to Turn Your Customers Into Brand Ambassadors

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Small Business Finances: Costs to Consider When Hiring a Bookkeeper

Think you’re at a place with your business accounting where you might want to hire a bookkeeper? That’s fantastic—you’re taking a huge step toward getting your business as financially healthy as possible.

Bookkeepers can do a lot of things that you may not be able to do with general financial knowledge. Even if you consider yourself very financially literate, bookkeepers are trained to save you money by spotting inefficiencies and redundancies, making sure your affairs are in order for tax time, and ensuring your bills are paid on time so you don’t get charged late fees.

These financial professionals do come with a cost, however. Depending on the extent of their duties and expertise, fees for bookkeepers vary. Still, it’s worth considering enlisting the service of a bookkeeper—especially since you might end up saving money in the long run.

Here’s what to expect.

What you should expect to pay a bookkeeper

As we briefly mentioned, there’s a range of fees associated with hiring a bookkeeper. That range will be contingent on how much experience you require, whether or not you want that person onsite, the breadth of their duties, and more.

You’ll want to keep in mind whether you have a certain goal for your bookkeeper, such as overseeing your books to ensure you’re organized and tidy with your finances, or whether you’re hoping for someone to keep a strategic eye on your records for the long term.

You also may want to consider whether or not you have a preference as to which kind of software they’re using. Some will have expertise in, say, QuickBooks, while others will prefer Xero, Bench, Zoho Books, or something else entirely.

Part-time costs for bookkeeping

Some small businesses take the first step with a bookkeeper on an hourly basis. It’s a good choice for many, especially because you’ll be able to choose which side of the range you want to pay.

Hourly fees for bookkeepers generally range between $40 and $60. You could also hire a certified public accountant (CPA), who can do your taxes and act as a controller or financial analyst for your company. As you might expect, they come with a higher cost; some CPAs run about $75 per hour, while others can charge $200 per hour and up.

Besides looking at hourly rates, you also will want to figure out how many hours you anticipate this person will be spending on their work. Some businesses will only need a few hours a week; others with more complex finances may need a bit more attention.

If you’re not sure about this number, write out a list of the duties you’ve been performing, and add in any other wish-list items. You can either track the time you spend doing all of these tasks, or ask a fellow business owner how long their bookkeeper works on similar work.

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Salaried or full-time costs for bookkeeping

You may get to a point at which your hourly rate surpasses a flat fee or salaried position. In that case, you can negotiate with a bookkeeper to see if they can work on a set retainer (a flat fee for a scope of work), or pay someone to join your staff.

According to a recent salary estimate at Glassdoor, bookkeeper salaries  can range between about $25,000 and $49,000, depending on a person’s level of expertise and location. You’ll also want to factor in what benefits cost to your company if you’re thinking of bringing on someone full time.

Software costs for bookkeeping

Let’s come back to software now. You may be at a place where you already have a good foundation of accounting software, and you’ve already factor in your fees. But if you don’t, or your bookkeeper has a different preference for the ideal software for your company, then you may need to factor in the cost of these programs.

Some accounting software is a one-time, flat fee. This generally ranges from about $200 to $350, depending on the kind of features you’re hoping for. Other software is billed monthly, generally with tiered pricing. In those cases, you can plan to budget about $10 to $50 per month, with a few exceptions here and there.

One thing is nearly universal: Professional business accountants generally don’t find enough function with free accounting software.

Places a bookkeeper will help you save money

Remember that although a bookkeeper or accountant is an investment, you may find that the savings associated with having a professional do your books is greater than what you’re paying for the help.

Pros can help you save the following costs:

• Late fees on bills
• Mistakes on taxes and withholdings
• Cost inefficiencies and redundancies
• Supplier discounts for early payment
• Collecting on delinquent payments

And much more.

Weigh the costs and benefits of hiring a bookkeeper

Before you enlist the help of an accountant or bookkeeper, do the same diligence you would do for any other employee. Figure out whether you can afford it, then get quotes from a few different candidates. Make sure you also do an audit of the time you’re spending, and duties you think you need; consider also getting a second opinion. Remember that you can also hire someone for a one-time project to get your books in order. This can serve as a test run.

With all of this information, you should be able to get a clear sense of whether or not you can afford a bookkeeper. Don’t forget that even if you can’t see all of the benefits now, you may be looking at a great investment down the line.

RELATED: 9 Smart Bookkeeping Tips for Small Businesses

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7 Smart Reasons Why Your Company Should Be Hiring Veterans

By Adae Fonseca

The sheer rate at which new products, services, and updates are launched means that the already-competitive job market is struggling to keep up, creating a skills gap that widens with each new development and release that is announced. Any business looking to not only stay relevant, but truly compete in today’s tech-driven climate must tap into some of the best—yet often overlooked—tech talent in the country: our military veterans.

The United States has one of the largest military forces in the world, with more than one million troops in active duty and another approximate 800,000 in the reserves. While a recent drop in veteran unemployment marks a positive shift, there remains a significant amount of work to be done to minimize those figures and increase veteran visibility in the civilian job market.

As employees, veterans bring to the table a unique skill set and expertise that can only be acquired in service, and can add value to your company in ways that you might not otherwise expect of your employees.

Here are a few more reasons why you should hire them.

Highly trainable

Like the tech industry, the military is a sector synonymous with continuous development. From the moment service members join up, they’re encouraged and expected to learn and grow every day.

Veterans are pros when it comes to adaptability. From learning how to follow orders and complete tasks to knowing when to trust their instincts and take responsibility, the military environment is one where trainability and a learning mindset is central to success.

Effective leaders

Veterans often find themselves in leadership roles quite early on in their careers. Leading and learning by example is the order of the day, and veterans will have experienced a vast range of roles and responsibilities that you’d struggle to find elsewhere in the candidate market.

Teamwork perfected

Veterans are taught to value teamwork from day one, and truly appreciate how working as a single, cohesive force is essential to getting the job done. They generally have developed razor-sharp critical thinking skills and can see the bigger picture in order to know what course of action is best for the team and what needs to be done by each member so everything goes smoothly. When it comes to collaboration and creating a strong company culture, veterans can contribute to companies in a meaningful way.

Other Articles From AllBusiness.com:

• The Complete 35-Step Guide for Entrepreneurs Starting a Business
• 25 Frequently Asked Questions on Starting a Business
• 50 Questions Angel Investors Will Ask Entrepreneurs
• 17 Key Lessons for Entrepreneurs Starting a Business

Experienced in complex tech

There’s a reason why veterans thrive in the tech sector: the military is a huge investor in cutting-edge tech, and members of the military gain practical experience in state-of-the-art technologies from day one. Veterans are also sought-after in the tech industry due to their self-discipline, detail-oriented approach to tasks, and their unbeatable ability to work well under huge amounts of pressure, using their problem-solving skills to handle anything that comes their way.

Security

The vast majority of veterans have been through highly detailed background checks spanning several strata of security clearance. In an age where cybersecurity is a major concern all over the world, that’s a huge plus. When you hire a veteran, you gain an employee who truly understands and values security and confidentiality. In addition, if your company requires individuals with security clearance, having a veteran on your team will save you time and money on specialized background checks.

Know how to take constructive criticism

In the civilian world, regular assessment of individual performance is a great way for companies to sharpen employee skills and stay ahead of the competition. It also gives employees the opportunity to identify and overcome problems, learn from their experiences, and work towards a better outcome in future projects.

Any team stands to learn a great deal from those with experience in the forces, especially when it comes to taking constructive criticism. The military uses after-action reviews (AARs) to analyze missions and improve on performance in the future. These reviews are rigorous but necessary, and teach troops to be receptive to constructive criticism and use it to grow, strengthening the organization as a whole in the process.

Unbeatable work ethic

Veterans have a natural talent for knowing how to get the job done, allowing them to complete tasks in the most effective way possible. Having a solid work ethic is essential, and plays an integral role in learning how to trust and rely on each other in high-risk circumstances.

Veterans know better than anyone that slacking off simply is not an option. Every task has a purpose and needs to be done, and those in the military are hardwired to understand and act on that.

Hard work is a part of day-to-day life for those in the forces, and that’ll reflect in the work veterans do after transitioning into civilian roles.

RELATED: Veteran Business Owners: Help Is Out There

About the Author

Post by: Adae Fonseca

Adae Fonseca is a veteran of 23 years and now leads the Veterans’ Program at Nelson Frank Tech Academy.

Company: Nelson Frank
Website: www.nelsonfrank.com
Connect with me on Twitter and LinkedIn.

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Supercharge Your Sales With the Help of Sales Enablement Technology

It’s no secret that sales funnels and content marketing strategies are becoming more automated than ever. As they do, the potential for misalignment between sales and marketing grows as well, potentially costing your company time, morale, and, most important, revenue.

But using sales enablement solutions with the support of smart technology puts the power back in your hands, improving the effectiveness of your sales team and process, and positively affecting your bottom line. Sales enablement is all about empowering your sellers with the support, resources, and systems they need to find and compel the right buyers. Most companies, for good reason, turn to their CRM for this purpose.

However, this system is not scalable, and it doesn’t often allow for the analysis and analytics that would optimize your sales process. It frustrates salespeople, makes for siloed content, and often excludes the 60% of content created by those outside the sales team. So what is the solution?

What is sales enablement technology?

The term “sales enablement technology” refers to a software or system that allows the sales team to access content that is relevant to their target consumer and appropriate for the consumer’s position in the sales funnel. Furthermore, it ensures that content related to training, support, and analysis is accessible to salespeople and their managers so they can learn and improve over time.

Effective sales enablement technology is also incredibly smart. It uses AI-powered analysis to determine what content is the most relevant and most likely to compel the target consumer at any given point, not just what marketing says belongs at that point in the funnel. By putting the consumer first, it also makes the sales process more intuitive and effective for that consumer, building brand trust.

One of the most important roles of sales enablement technology is its ability to fill gaps in your sales and marketing content strategy. By using smart analysis, it can offer data-driven recommendations to help you make your content pool more comprehensive. It can also offer suggestions as to which pieces of content should be reevaluated based on performance so that the consumer experience becomes even more seamless and intuitive. This allows you to review labor and budget spend, allocating more resources to filling gaps and promoting effective content.

How can sales enablement technology improve the consumer experience?

If your audience is serious about a purchase, you’re unlikely to be the only brand vying for their attention. Whether they’re actively speaking to other sales teams or simply browsing on social media, they will have content in front of them telling them why a competitor’s product or service is superior.

The right technology can help give you a competitive edge by identifying the most relevant content available and recommending the optimal time to introduce it in order to move customers through the funnel as smoothly as possible and to make sure you’re not wasting any opportunity for additional content touch points. Ninety-five percent of customers buy from someone who gave them content at every stage of the sales process; sales enablement technology can help you identify if you are missing any of that crucial content.

Points of friction in the user experience can be identified through both manual and AI analysis as enabled by the right technology. Inconsistencies in brand, poor conversions, and misunderstandings of a consumer’s needs and behaviors can all be identified, fixed, and monitored in a centralized and efficient system.

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• The Complete 35-Step Guide for Entrepreneurs Starting a Business
• 25 Frequently Asked Questions on Starting a Business
• 50 Questions Angel Investors Will Ask Entrepreneurs
• 17 Key Lessons for Entrepreneurs Starting a Business

How can sales enablement technology improve my sales team?

One of the biggest barriers in sales, particularly in high-value transactions, is a misalignment of sales and marketing. The tension between marketing qualified leads and sales qualified leads is well documented. To avoid this conflict, sales enablement technology prevents siloed content and instead empowers the sales team to manage the process and the relationship with consumers. Instead of assuming that a piece of content is appropriate, each seller can confidently select the right content to share at the right time.

At its core, sales enablement solutions do exactly as the name implies: they enable sales. This means efficiency, training, and collaboration must all be prioritized in order to make the most of the technology. By integrating as many sales-related portals and platforms as possible, salespeople no longer need to look in multiple places for the content they need, regardless of its purpose. It is all right at their fingertips, allowing them to jump easily from instructional materials like playbooks and scripts to consumer-facing content. They can also contribute to the 60% of content that doesn’t come from marketing, growing the wealth of information for the team and for the purpose of data and analytics.

What should I look for when researching sales enablement technology?

Investment in sales enablement doesn’t automatically mean positive ROI; the solution has to be fit for purpose. So when selecting technology to implement, it’s important to remember its primary functions of integration and analytics. Does it align with your current CRM and other platforms? Can it seamlessly bring together your marketing and sales content in one place? Is it easy to access and navigate? Are there AI or machine learning programs in place to help you make the most of your investment? Can it both evaluate existing content and sellers, and identify gaps in the strategy? Does it provide content analytics to give you a better understanding of who is consuming what content. An effective sales enablement solution should answer “yes” to all of these questions.

Sales enablement technology has the power to transform your entire organization. Empowered sales teams work more efficiently and effectively. Optimized content strategies reduce friction in the experiences of both consumers and sales teams. But most importantly, identifying and rectifying areas that need improvement will result in more revenue.

RELATED: 3 Easy Ways to Automate Your Marketing

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7 Smart Reasons Why Your Company Should Be Hiring Veterans

By Adae Fonseca

The sheer rate at which new products, services, and updates are launched means that the already-competitive job market is struggling to keep up, creating a skills gap that widens with each new development and release that is announced. Any business looking to not only stay relevant, but truly compete in today’s tech-driven climate must tap into some of the best—yet often overlooked—tech talent in the country: our military veterans.

The United States has one of the largest military forces in the world, with more than one million troops in active duty and another approximate 800,000 in the reserves. While a recent drop in veteran unemployment marks a positive shift, there remains a significant amount of work to be done to minimize those figures and increase veteran visibility in the civilian job market.

As employees, veterans bring to the table a unique skill set and expertise that can only be acquired in service, and can add value to your company in ways that you might not otherwise expect of your employees.

Here are a few more reasons why you should hire them.

Highly trainable

Like the tech industry, the military is a sector synonymous with continuous development. From the moment service members join up, they’re encouraged and expected to learn and grow every day.

Veterans are pros when it comes to adaptability. From learning how to follow orders and complete tasks to knowing when to trust their instincts and take responsibility, the military environment is one where trainability and a learning mindset is central to success.

Effective leaders

Veterans often find themselves in leadership roles quite early on in their careers. Leading and learning by example is the order of the day, and veterans will have experienced a vast range of roles and responsibilities that you’d struggle to find elsewhere in the candidate market.

Teamwork perfected

Veterans are taught to value teamwork from day one, and truly appreciate how working as a single, cohesive force is essential to getting the job done. They generally have developed razor-sharp critical thinking skills and can see the bigger picture in order to know what course of action is best for the team and what needs to be done by each member so everything goes smoothly. When it comes to collaboration and creating a strong company culture, veterans can contribute to companies in a meaningful way.

Other Articles From AllBusiness.com:

• The Complete 35-Step Guide for Entrepreneurs Starting a Business
• 25 Frequently Asked Questions on Starting a Business
• 50 Questions Angel Investors Will Ask Entrepreneurs
• 17 Key Lessons for Entrepreneurs Starting a Business

Experienced in complex tech

There’s a reason why veterans thrive in the tech sector: the military is a huge investor in cutting-edge tech, and members of the military gain practical experience in state-of-the-art technologies from day one. Veterans are also sought-after in the tech industry due to their self-discipline, detail-oriented approach to tasks, and their unbeatable ability to work well under huge amounts of pressure, using their problem-solving skills to handle anything that comes their way.

Security

The vast majority of veterans have been through highly detailed background checks spanning several strata of security clearance. In an age where cybersecurity is a major concern all over the world, that’s a huge plus. When you hire a veteran, you gain an employee who truly understands and values security and confidentiality. In addition, if your company requires individuals with security clearance, having a veteran on your team will save you time and money on specialized background checks.

Know how to take constructive criticism

In the civilian world, regular assessment of individual performance is a great way for companies to sharpen employee skills and stay ahead of the competition. It also gives employees the opportunity to identify and overcome problems, learn from their experiences, and work towards a better outcome in future projects.

Any team stands to learn a great deal from those with experience in the forces, especially when it comes to taking constructive criticism. The military uses after-action reviews (AARs) to analyze missions and improve on performance in the future. These reviews are rigorous but necessary, and teach troops to be receptive to constructive criticism and use it to grow, strengthening the organization as a whole in the process.

Unbeatable work ethic

Veterans have a natural talent for knowing how to get the job done, allowing them to complete tasks in the most effective way possible. Having a solid work ethic is essential, and plays an integral role in learning how to trust and rely on each other in high-risk circumstances.

Veterans know better than anyone that slacking off simply is not an option. Every task has a purpose and needs to be done, and those in the military are hardwired to understand and act on that.

Hard work is a part of day-to-day life for those in the forces, and that’ll reflect in the work veterans do after transitioning into civilian roles.

RELATED: Veteran Business Owners: Help Is Out There

About the Author

Post by: Adae Fonseca

Adae Fonseca is a veteran of 23 years and now leads the Veterans’ Program at Nelson Frank Tech Academy.

Company: Nelson Frank
Website: www.nelsonfrank.com
Connect with me on Twitter and LinkedIn.

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Simple Tips on Transforming Employees Into Powerful Brand Advocates

A key part of the marketing process is getting the word out about your brand, and your best brand advocate is your staff. What’s the best way to encourage employees to talk up your company? To find out, we asked members of YEC this question:

Q. Getting employees to help with company branding can be a huge boost for your business, so what is the best way to encourage employee participation without being demanding?

1. Take an organic approach

Create a culture where your business is not just a place to earn a paycheck, but a place where you grow, help the community, make friends, and have fun. By hosting a company charitable event, hosting a monthly employee contest, or serving hot chocolate on cold Fridays during the winter, you are giving employees natural opportunities to share what your business is about. —Blair Thomas, eMerchantBroker

2. Invest in branded apparel

One easy way to encourage employees to participate in branding is to invest in branded apparel. Our company gets branded T-shirts made every year to hand out at our company retreats. Make sure you’re investing in quality apparel so your employees will want to wear their shirts outside of work. You could also do pens, notepads, laptop stickers or covers, etc. —John Turner, SeedProd

3. Focus on being organic

Employees may feel their companies are being very intrusive to ask for shout-outs on social media. I know when people go home, they don’t want to think about work, so you should focus on being organic. For example, if you have a Halloween party and there’s a funny scene of people in costumes working at their desks, photos will wind up on your social media and you won’t even have to ask. —Derek Broman, Discount Enterprises LLC (DEGuns)

4. Set aside team-building time

Set aside team-building time to have employees help you detail out your brand. Come prepared with questions and ask individuals for their opinions and insights. “Whiteboard” responses, and build upon each other’s thoughts. Explain that each team member’s input and opinions are a vital component to your company’s brand and vital to the growth plan. —Stephen Beach, Craft Impact Marketing

5. Treat employees like customers

Treat your employees like your customers and you’ll never go wrong. Think about it. Would you be demanding of your customers? Would you want them to be dissatisfied with your service or product? Obviously not on both these fronts, so if you’re providing access to the products or services that you promote, then inevitably a satisfied employee (customer) will promote it. —Zev Herman, Superior Lighting

6. Just send a simple email

Getting the word out in a simple company-wide email is a good way to allow people to feel that their contributions are appreciated but not forced. Openly calling people out to take action will do the opposite. —Nicole Munoz, Nicole Munoz Consulting

7. Invite them to conferences and events

Conferences and networking events are naturally great opportunities for branding and interacting face-to-face, so to get employees more involved with branding, invite them along. These events will give them time to practice networking and they’ll learn how to get your company brand out there, plus they can further their education and have a fun outing to attend. It’s a win-win for everyone. – Chris Christoff, MonsterInsights

8. Lead by example

Enthusiasm is contagious, so set the example by posting on your own social media. Enthusiastic employees will follow your lead and see the logic in helping the brand, i.e., the business. Stick to professional platforms like LinkedIn, and when you post, tag your employees. It will set the tone. If you are feeling really adventurous, check out the Twitter page of John Legere, the CEO of T-Mobile—he definitely leads from the front. —Codie Sanchez, Codie Ventures LLC

Other Articles From AllBusiness.com:

• The Complete 35-Step Guide for Entrepreneurs Starting a Business
• 25 Frequently Asked Questions on Starting a Business
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• 17 Key Lessons for Entrepreneurs Starting a Business

9. Appeal to their expertise and vanity

Have you ever been quoted as an expert, or featured on social media or in a news publication? It’s an awesome feeling! Now do the same thing with your employees and see what they might say about your company and the products it offers. Then make some nice visuals and content around this same input. You might be surprised at how much they go out of their way to share such a publication with others. —Zac Johnson, Blogging.org

10. Invest in company culture

You need to play the long-term game and get the company culture right. By engaging with your employees, involving them in decision-making, and ensuring a cohesive team, you will have a team willing to promote your brand without even asking. Enthusiastic and passionate employees are the best brand ambassadors you could ever ask for. —Ismael Wrixen, FE International

11. Give them your products for free

If you have physical products that you sell and you want your employees to help market them on social media, you can give them products for free, just like you would an influencer. This will help your employees become more familiar with your products and then you can ask them to use a specific hashtag to help promote the hashtag and products. —Syed Balkhi, WPBeginner

12. Set the expectation

When I bring on a new hire, I let them know right away what my values are as a CEO, how my employees and I act on those values, and my expectations for their energy and attitude in working toward accomplishing our goals. By letting them know this during their interviews, I’ve seen a distinct focus on and even excitement about our company values and culture from long-term employees. —Stanley Meytin, True Film Production

13. Always make it a win-win

Have your employees reach out to the clients they are closest with and have helped the most for video testimonials. This will boost your company’s brand and the employee’s name as well. It allows for new customers to ask for this employee directly, so it’s not just good for you, it’s good for them too. Making something a win-win is the best way to approach any business scenario. —Jared Weitz, United Capital Source

RELATED: 5 Ways to Turn Your Customers Into Brand Ambassadors

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Small Business Finances: Costs to Consider When Hiring a Bookkeeper

Think you’re at a place with your business accounting where you might want to hire a bookkeeper? That’s fantastic—you’re taking a huge step toward getting your business as financially healthy as possible.

Bookkeepers can do a lot of things that you may not be able to do with general financial knowledge. Even if you consider yourself very financially literate, bookkeepers are trained to save you money by spotting inefficiencies and redundancies, making sure your affairs are in order for tax time, and ensuring your bills are paid on time so you don’t get charged late fees.

These financial professionals do come with a cost, however. Depending on the extent of their duties and expertise, fees for bookkeepers vary. Still, it’s worth considering enlisting the service of a bookkeeper—especially since you might end up saving money in the long run.

Here’s what to expect.

What you should expect to pay a bookkeeper

As we briefly mentioned, there’s a range of fees associated with hiring a bookkeeper. That range will be contingent on how much experience you require, whether or not you want that person onsite, the breadth of their duties, and more.

You’ll want to keep in mind whether you have a certain goal for your bookkeeper, such as overseeing your books to ensure you’re organized and tidy with your finances, or whether you’re hoping for someone to keep a strategic eye on your records for the long term.

You also may want to consider whether or not you have a preference as to which kind of software they’re using. Some will have expertise in, say, QuickBooks, while others will prefer Xero, Bench, Zoho Books, or something else entirely.

Part-time costs for bookkeeping

Some small businesses take the first step with a bookkeeper on an hourly basis. It’s a good choice for many, especially because you’ll be able to choose which side of the range you want to pay.

Hourly fees for bookkeepers generally range between $40 and $60. You could also hire a certified public accountant (CPA), who can do your taxes and act as a controller or financial analyst for your company. As you might expect, they come with a higher cost; some CPAs run about $75 per hour, while others can charge $200 per hour and up.

Besides looking at hourly rates, you also will want to figure out how many hours you anticipate this person will be spending on their work. Some businesses will only need a few hours a week; others with more complex finances may need a bit more attention.

If you’re not sure about this number, write out a list of the duties you’ve been performing, and add in any other wish-list items. You can either track the time you spend doing all of these tasks, or ask a fellow business owner how long their bookkeeper works on similar work.

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• The Complete 35-Step Guide for Entrepreneurs Starting a Business
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Salaried or full-time costs for bookkeeping

You may get to a point at which your hourly rate surpasses a flat fee or salaried position. In that case, you can negotiate with a bookkeeper to see if they can work on a set retainer (a flat fee for a scope of work), or pay someone to join your staff.

According to a recent salary estimate at Glassdoor, bookkeeper salaries  can range between about $25,000 and $49,000, depending on a person’s level of expertise and location. You’ll also want to factor in what benefits cost to your company if you’re thinking of bringing on someone full time.

Software costs for bookkeeping

Let’s come back to software now. You may be at a place where you already have a good foundation of accounting software, and you’ve already factor in your fees. But if you don’t, or your bookkeeper has a different preference for the ideal software for your company, then you may need to factor in the cost of these programs.

Some accounting software is a one-time, flat fee. This generally ranges from about $200 to $350, depending on the kind of features you’re hoping for. Other software is billed monthly, generally with tiered pricing. In those cases, you can plan to budget about $10 to $50 per month, with a few exceptions here and there.

One thing is nearly universal: Professional business accountants generally don’t find enough function with free accounting software.

Places a bookkeeper will help you save money

Remember that although a bookkeeper or accountant is an investment, you may find that the savings associated with having a professional do your books is greater than what you’re paying for the help.

Pros can help you save the following costs:

• Late fees on bills
• Mistakes on taxes and withholdings
• Cost inefficiencies and redundancies
• Supplier discounts for early payment
• Collecting on delinquent payments

And much more.

Weigh the costs and benefits of hiring a bookkeeper

Before you enlist the help of an accountant or bookkeeper, do the same diligence you would do for any other employee. Figure out whether you can afford it, then get quotes from a few different candidates. Make sure you also do an audit of the time you’re spending, and duties you think you need; consider also getting a second opinion. Remember that you can also hire someone for a one-time project to get your books in order. This can serve as a test run.

With all of this information, you should be able to get a clear sense of whether or not you can afford a bookkeeper. Don’t forget that even if you can’t see all of the benefits now, you may be looking at a great investment down the line.

RELATED: 9 Smart Bookkeeping Tips for Small Businesses

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