B2B Connection

They say you have to spend money to make money, but if you’re broke or skeptical, that might not be the process for you. Fortunately, I’ve got software that will let you enjoy the cost-saving benefits of workforce management without spending a penny. What is Workforce Management Software? Workforce Management software provides the tools, data, and insights to help you maximize the value of your workforce. This can be done by eliminating or streamlining costly processes, or by improving the workforce itself. The exact nature of these tools varies from package to package. They are most often dependent on the target company’s size, industry, and methods of operation. As an example, consider small businesses in the hospitality industry. Workforce management software here will focus heavily on scheduling, time and attendance, and leave management. This is all about the basics of ensuring you have the right people in the right place. An example of an extra feature in this area is sales forecasting based on POS data to schedule employees more effectively. In contrast, workforce management software for a large manufacturing company will have a different focus. It will still cover the basic scheduling and attendance functionality. However, it will focus […]

Mobile app development may seem luxurious or too complicated for inexperienced teams. IT isn’t. With modern innovation is that anyone can make an app, whether they are a legit dev wizard, aspiring dev student, or a 40-year-old newbie. You just need to find the right mobile application development software. What is Mobile App Development Software? Mobile app development is the process of creating applications for mobile devices. It’s an amazing way to increase customer engagement with smartphone users. The actual development process depends on the type of mobile app development platform you use. Some tools are built around traditional hand coding, where others have been simplified to be used for low-code or no-code development. Low-code requires some programming knowledge because there may be areas where you need to code but  won’t have to build from scratch. No-code designers offer a graphical user interface (GUI) that allows you to build the app with zero programming experience.  Many commercial app builders, which are designed for B2C use cases, are entirely no-code. When it comes to using non-commercial app builders for making internal applications for your team, you’ll find many low-code and no-code options. Several will even be open-source. You won’t find any […]

Having an online presence is essential for businesses of all sizes. Whether you’re a small business or a retail giant, eCommerce can help you expand your horizons and improve business outcomes. eCommerce Platforms are best for small businesses and medium-sized companies. The tools and resources provided by vendors in this space can help you reach a wide audience with limited technical know-how. This software can also help level the playing field, allowing your online business to compete against larger players.   What is an eCommerce Platform? eCommerce Platforms enable you to market your products on the internet, even with limited resources to start. They allow you to create a website to display the products you want to sell. Aside from your online storefront, you can also process orders, manage your inventory, and receive payments.  There are 3 types of eCommerce software that business owners can use for web hosting to sell online.  On-premise Open source SaaS cloud-based platforms To build your site on-premise, you’ll need an IT department with developers or third-party contractors to design and maintain it. This option provides greater flexibility and a more unique user experience. Due to greater technical challenges, it tends to be limited to larger […]

If you’re having trouble keeping track of all of your passwords, you’re not alone. The average American is locked out of ten accounts every month due to forgotten passwords. A good password manager can save you time and effort when dealing with endless login screens. Can You Find a Good Password Manager for Free? Most of the top password managers will require you to pay for their products. This raises the question: are there any quality, secure, free password managers? There certainly are, but some of them are likely better suited to your needs and preferences than others.  Most free password managers have limitations on certain features. Limitations include device syncing, number of passwords, or two-factor authentication capabilities. If you’d like a quick refresher on the most important features password managers offer, check out our What Is a Password Manager blog post. The free password managers that don’t have these kinds of limitations are typically open-source. Open-source software is freely distributed, and all users can access and modify its source code. Open-source password managers provide users with more freedom and flexibility. They are usually not, however, as intuitive to use as other options. If you choose not to use an […]

Innovation is a hot-button topic for small businesses and enterprises alike. Low-code is a form of development that does not require high-end programming skills, but its efficacy is called into question. Many wonder if it has a future or if it’s even as good as it seems.  There are legitimate reasons people are apprehensive about it, just like there are fantastic reasons to implement it for your company. Despite this debate, the market for it is expected to grow by 27% from 2021 to 2026.  What is a Low-Code Development Platform? In low-code development, you can use a graphical user interface (GUI) designed for easy manipulation with a mouse rather than directly scripting source code. Most offer a drag-and-drop user interface (UI) where citizen developers can build apps effortlessly. Software that provides this functionality is called a low-code development platform (LCDP) or low-code application development platform (LCAP). Common use cases for a low-code development tool are teams that want to build a solution for themselves or mass produce it for their customers. Most low-code platforms are for building applications to handle specific business processes. You can create a variety of tools with a low-code solution such as web applications, or […]

One of the biggest professional commitments is the marriage between a vendor and a buyer. By marriage, we mean a 1-5 year relationship bound with a contract. The software your team needs comes with a vendor relationship you’re going to foster, and like in real marriage you need to choose the right one. Otherwise, you’re in for a messy divorce.  What is the Vendor Selection Process? The vendor selection process refers to when a business identifies a need and seeks out a new software vendor to reach their goals. Teams need to be extremely careful about which vendor they choose even if the software itself is great.  A problematic vendor can cause issues down the line, such as bad customer service, and not updating their product. There is a lot of outdated software that could have benefited from an ongoing development process to meet growing customer needs.  For teams to make the right choice, they will need to prepare for the software vendor evaluation process. This is essentially where they take their time learning vital information about potential vendors. It’s a cost-effective way to ensure your new software vendors are a worthwhile commitment.  Our Tips For Vendor Selection Criteria The […]

Effective customer engagement is essential for any business. Large enterprises have more resources than smaller companies but need to engage their audience on a larger scale. Strong, positive engagement strategies can keep existing customers happy and help you attract new ones. We’ll explore the features and strategies your enterprise should consider for customer engagement. We’ll also review some of the most popular customer engagement tools for enterprises. The tools we cover are: Adobe Experience Manager Braze Iterable Salesforce Salesforce Experience Cloud Salesforce Service Cloud SAP Service Cloud To learn more about the importance of customer engagement for your enterprise, check out our definitional piece:  Customer Engagement Features for Enterprises In our post on Customer Engagement Software for Small Businesses, we went over the main benefits you can expect from these platforms. For a small business, features like apps, loyalty programs, contact centers, or live chat may be the icing on the cake. If you’re an enterprise, these capabilities become indispensable for engaging customers. Customer Engagement Platforms are essential when it comes to building a customer engagement strategy. Promoting Customer Loyalty Enterprises need to always look for new ways to keep their most loyal customers satisfied and maximize customer retention. In […]

Modern Technology is at the core of more businesses but not everyone knows how to best utilize it and that’s okay. Tech consultants are the solution for a corporate world that needs to implement, learn, and use software to its full potential. You may be surprised to learn just how helpful a technology consultant can potentially be for you and your team.  What is a Technology Consultant? The answer to the question “what is technology consulting” really depends on your specific needs. A simple definition is that they are an independent consultant, or one from a consulting firm, that offers advice related to technology. This advice can be for consulting on technology trends in the tech industry, Information Technology (IT) services, Cybersecurity, and risk assessment. It’s a huge umbrella term and it can cover so many different services. The goal of the consultant is to help you manage software, procedures, or practices related to the latest technology. One of the most in-demand use cases is for business technology solutions like IT systems, cloud computing, or cybersecurity.  Common use cases for business software are pretty varied. They might help you choose software, especially if you are unfamiliar with the tech industry […]

Understanding, managing, and leveraging data is a crucial task for any modern business. The availability and volume of data have grown exponentially in recent years. In fact, total data creation, consumption, and production is expected to triple in just 5 years between 2020 and 2025.  This data poses a range of opportunities for savvy businesses. It also poses new challenges around data analytics and management for SMBs and enterprises alike.  Structured and unstructured data are the two most common groupings of data. The distinction between structured and unstructured data heavily impacts how businesses approach their own data, and thus what utility they can get from it. Proper data management and identification are essential to staying relevant in a data-drven world. Structured vs. Unstructured data  At its most basic level, the difference between structured and unstructured data is simple. Whether it be data science in academic, professional, governmental, or any other setting the first thing to understand is: Structured data has a fixed field within a file, record or database. Unstructured data does not follow a particular field structure.  These few words difference has massive implications for how businesses collect, store, and analyze their data. Businesses and stakeholders should know how […]

Successful customer engagement is essential for any business that wants to survive and grow.   It doesn’t matter how big your business is. Your marketing strategy should include a roadmap to optimize your customer interactions. This applies to both existing customers and potential customers.  By developing a clear strategy for customer engagement, you can put a plan in motion to attract new customers and build brand loyalty with your current customer base. For more on the benefits of engaging with your customers and the tools that can help you do this, check out our recent blog post: Effective Customer Engagement Strategies There have never been more ways for companies to interact with their target audience. In the age of digital marketing and instant communications, customer expectations are also greater than ever. Here are some of the best customer engagement strategies for your business to put into practice today.   Get to Know Your Customers To engage customers effectively, you need to know who they are. This includes their wants, needs, preferences, and pain points. Do some market research to find out what your target audience is looking for and how you can provide this.  Marketing intelligence tools can help you stay up […]

If there’s anything people in the world of small business like, it’s time and money. Bad scheduling processes are costing you both. Over half of employers spend two hours each week creating a work schedule. Some even spend up to twelve. Missed shifts also cost employers $7,500 every year. If those wastes sound unacceptable to you, check out these employee scheduling software packages. What Does Employee Scheduling Software Do? Employee scheduling software streamlines and automates the process of shift scheduling. The right tool typically replaces handwritten schedules or spreadsheets. Such software typically has many features to increase the ease of creating and adjusting schedules. Some of the basic features include Drag-and-Drop Scheduling  The scheduling solution streamlines the process of creating staff schedules. It is conceptually the same as what you would do by hand or with a spreadsheet, only a lot more user-friendly. Simply drag and drop employees into the appropriate hour slots. Then make sure that there are enough employees of the right types for each time period.  Shift Swapping Employees have stuff come up all the time. Illness, family emergencies, or other scheduling conflicts can wreak havoc on your schedule. Employee scheduling software makes it easy to handle […]

Do you know what you will never get back? Your time; it’s a precious resource that you need to delegate wisely. If you properly manage your work hours then your free time can receive the value it deserves for a perfect work-life balance. Time tracking tools can offer the control to manage your time and bill clients for the exact hours you give them. Time management is a consultant’s best friend.  What is Time Tracking Software? A time tracking tool can be used for client and project management to ensure your time is well spent. This can mean staying on top of billable hours, creating time reports for invoicing clients, and using project management tools, and other time management features. Time tracking software can be especially helpful for tracking remote work outside of offices. Your time tracking solution can be versatile. It could track billable time or it could track project progress with due dates and alerts. Other time trackers let you manually track hours; others are automated. Freelancer consultants can manage billable and non-billable hours in real-time, and consulting firms can manage employee time for payroll and productivity. One ingenious way to use a time tracker is to consider […]

Engagement is an indispensable step in the customer lifecycle. Businesses of all sizes need to engage customers on a wide scale to meet their business goals. Whether you’re a local business or a tech startup looking to grow, customer engagement will help you attract customers and keep them around. There are many tools on the market that can make the process easier. In this post, we’ll go over some of the best customer engagement product options for small businesses.  To learn more about what to look for in a customer engagement platform, check out our last post below:  Benefits of Customer Engagement Software for Small Businesses Customer Engagement Platforms can help you build customer loyalty and engage new customers. The tools you choose should improve your customer interactions. Buyers should get the impression that they know everything they need to make a sound buying decision, and that you’ll always be there to assist them.  Customer engagement tools can also help you target and re-target based on customer behavior. This includes preferred networks and even the time of day they tend to browse. This will help you make the most of your budget by focusing your ad spend on prospects that […]

Every organization knows the feeling of trying to find better, more efficient ways of creating their product or service. Agile development is a relatively young workflow methodology. At the start of the millennium, software devs pioneered the development of agile, and here we are. Since its inception, agile has seen incredible adoption across the business world, especially in tech sectors. For your organization, you will want to understand the benefits and drawbacks. As a result, we explored crucial statistics in adoption, implementation, challenges, performance, and pandemic response. We also examined the most important trends, exploring the attributes that make agile poised to succeed in the future.  For a quick refresher on the difference between agile and waterfall, or to simply learn more about each, click the link below: Essential Agile Statistics for 2022 and Beyond It is essential to understand current data and trends in agile development given how fast such methods evolve. Whether you are looking to adopt this method or are a long-term advocate, this information is invaluable. To serve that need, here are the most important agile development statistics and trends you need to know about.  Agile Adoption Snapshot 94% of companies in the software sector report […]

Creating a new password is one of the most common things you’re prompted to do on the internet. It’s also one of the things that makes you most vulnerable to hackers. 80% of hacking-related data breaches involve reused passwords. Despite this, employees reuse passwords for business accounts an average of 13 times per person. Without a solution for remembering complex passwords, your business’ data is at risk. One such solution is password managers, which store all your passwords in one place. This makes it easier to use strong, unique passwords for each account, which will in turn help protect your business from hackers. How Do Password Managers Work? At their most basic, password managers store all your login credentials for any online accounts you have in an encrypted database. This encrypted database is protected by a master password. Make sure you remember your master password when you set up a new password manager – this is your new key to the internet! Password managers will also autogenerate secure passwords for new accounts and apps. You can set your own requirements for these autogenerated passwords so they suit your needs. This includes setting the length and whether or not they include […]

When you’re drowning in clients and menial tasks piling up, who do you call? Well, no one. There isn’t a hotline for managing business workloads. If there was, they would direct you to software designed to help manage your sales, clients, growth, and everything in between. One of those powerful software options is CRM. It can help even niche industries like business consultants.  What Is a CRM Software? CRM stands for customer relationship management software. It can optimize workflows for most B2C (and even B2B) companies. They’re often used for future growth, and daily tasks all while bringing employees closer. The software is often designed for marketers, salespeople, and customer support teams. Many CRMs have marketing features like email marketing automation or ad management. Other CRMs have features for sales teams like lead management. Most CRMs have some form of customer service functionality like live chat, chatbots, and ticketing across media channels.  If you have a business that requires building and maintaining client relationships a CRM will be a great asset. Companies that focus more on marketing or customer service will also be able to find a CRM that best fits their use case. CRM software is incredibly diverse. They […]

The ability to engage with customers is at the heart of any business. Successful organizations strive to meet customer expectations and provide them with the best user experience possible.This involves offering reliable support across all your communication channels. This is essential to forming a connection with your customer base to grow your business.   Customer Engagement Platforms aim to improve the omnichannel customer journey. They help you identify your customers’ needs by simplifying real-time communications. This software builds bridges with your customers, boosting interest, customer satisfaction, and sales. Engagement leads to brand loyalty and can give you massive returns in the long run.  How Customer Engagement Platforms Work Customer engagement is an emerging concept that combines elements of many established solutions. These include Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Software  Marketing automation Mobile marketing,  Cross-channel campaign management,  Sales engagement Helpdesk Contact center software.  Customer Engagement Platforms are used by customer success, support, and sales teams. They connect your customer communications from one central platform. Stored sales data and contact information helps streamline personalized interactions with customers. These software can measure how, when, and even why customers are engaging with your brand. Cross-channel capabilities help your reps send out consistent messaging when communicating with […]

Podcast recording and editing can be done by professionals, amateurs, and everyone in between. No matter the content of your podcast or the reason for making it, free podcast editing software can offer fantastic functionality in a no-cost option. The flexibility of podcasting makes it appealing to both individual hobbyists and professional organizations. Understanding the differences of each of the choices available will help you make the right software choice for your skill level and use case. The best free podcast editing software can put this powerful medium in your hands. Podcast Editing is for Everyone The best podcast editing software is accessible is because of the flexibility of the medium. Unlike video editing, an audio-only medium requires far fewer moving parts. 3D effects, cinematic camera angles, and other skill and tech barriers don’t exist in podcasts.  Even better, if you have a microphone and a quiet place to record, you can produce a professional-sounding product. Many podcast recording software are podcast editing software, eliminating the need for complex suites. Video editing also needs powerful computer hardware, whereas most work laptops can handle audio editing. Whether you are just getting started with podcast editing, or have tons of experience, there are […]

For many professionals, modern data analytics may make them wish they’d paid more attention in middle school math class. Mathematical concepts like “discrete data” and “continuous data” now form the foundation for the business world’s information environments. Decisions about how data is collected, stored, and processed have far-reaching and unpredictable consequences. Most business data is either discrete or continuous. There are also key differences between the two. These distinctions impact how professionals use the data. Understanding the difference between discrete and continuous data, and why the differences matter, can make (or break) your analyses.  What is Discrete Data? Discrete data refers to countable, individualized items. These items are not divisible. Instead, they only exist in set increments or units.  Discrete variables only have a limited number of possible values. In other words, they are finite, with a set number of intervals or categorical values. A key characteristic of discrete data is that it is “countable,” versus being “measurable.”  We often visualize discrete data with bar graphs, histograms, and other non-persistent methods.  Discrete data can encompass a wide range of other data types. For instance, it handles ordinal data, such as sliding scales (i.e. “bad, neutral, good”). It also allows users […]

Building a solid social media presence is the fastest and cheapest way for small business owners to increase brand engagement, boost revenue, and grow at scale. Without a large marketing budget, you’ll have to focus your efforts on where you can have the biggest impact for the least amount of money. Social media has always helped people stay connected. Over 75% of consumers have purchased at least one product they’ve seen on social media profiles.   Making social media a central part of your marketing strategy can get you noticed by your target audience without breaking the bank. Social Media Analytics tools measure your social media performance and provide essential audience insights. Actionable data to support your social media marketing strategy is critical to maximizing ROI and revenue.          The Benefits of Social Media Analytics for Small Businesses Social media analytics and reporting tools allow you to understand the engagement of current or potential customers with your brand on social media. They also track hashtags to help you see what’s trending in your industry.  Relevant hashtags are also a great way to increase your organic exposure on social. Competitor analysis features give you a glimpse into what your rivals are up to […]