Double Your Chances of Getting Promotions in Your Organization.

Being a hard-working and sincere employee, you may often be wondering why you and your contributions are not being recognized by your boss or the company management. You may get frustrated as well. Though such situations are bad, you can double the chances of being recognized, rewarded, or promoted. You may wonder how. Please read on. 

Being resourceful and resilient is not enough; You should be relentless.

If you think that your skills and your trait of being resilient are enough, you are wrong. You should be relentless also. Only then, you can find ways for helping you dominate the situation and achieve what you want. The simple mantras are 1. Get more creative. 

2. Work still harder.

In addition, you can use the following few tips also for increasing your chances of getting the recognition you think you deserve in your organization. 

Learn to quantify your contribution to the company.

It is true that the quality of your skills is very important. But you should be able to quantify the contribution you make to the company as well. As the quote says, "There is strength in numbers." Even Peter F. Druker, one of the renowned management experts of the modern era says, “What gets measured gets managed.” Unfortunately, most of the employees do not quantify their contribution to their organizations. They stumble around and this leads to catastrophic results. 

You do not buy a car without knowing its price, the mileage it gives, and the maintenance costs you are likely to incur on it. Similarly, an anesthetist cannot administer the right dose without knowing the bodyweight of the patient and the surgical procedure involved. Setting a career goal is analogous to these. Unless you do not know how much business you can and will bring to your company or how much profit the company will make thanks to your contribution, you cannot improve. This means setting a career goal will itself become an insincere effort.

If you fail to quantify your contribution to your company, you will be dependent on your emotions and not on logic while fixing your career goal. Remember that almost all the decisions made using your emotions will be wrong. 

On the contrary, if you are able to quantify your contribution, you can work towards improving your performance and output so that you can grow in your company.

Compromising on your expectations is wrong.

We come across several employees who compromise on their expectations when they find that the results they want to have are not forthcoming. This is wrong. You cannot conclude that things will never work in your favor just because there are downtimes. Instead of lowering your expectations, you must change your strategies. Of course, ordinary and average folks bring down their expectations. Some of them may quit the race as well. Really ambitious people never make compromises on this front. Since your aim is high, you should be ready to double or even treble your efforts. 

Use social media as a business-booster and not otherwise.

Hundreds or even thousands of folks waste their time and lives by scrolling on social media sites such as Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, and Twitter. Instead of indulging in such wasteful activities, you can use these sites as platforms for providing suggestions related to the field in which your company is operating. The reach of social media is phenomenal and hence, this strategy will help in expanding your influence in the industry. 

You can even write blog posts to express your opinions and provide your suggestions. You can post these blog posts on social media sites. Never forget the fact that creators of such content have always been the most sought-after clan. So, by continuously providing invaluable suggestions, you will increase your chances of getting recognition and landing elevated positions in your company and field.

Today's discipline and pain will lead you towards tomorrow's freedom.

Jim Rohn, a renowned personal development guru, says, “We must all suffer one of two types of pain. The pain of discipline or the pain of regret. The difference is that discipline weighs ounces and regret weighs tons.” If you choose the former pain, you will easily grow and achieve stupendous success.

Never stop learning.

This is yet another important step that may catapult you to higher positions in your organization. You will find that there are several sources from which you can learn. Even the behaviors or activities of other employees may teach you a few important lessons. So, keep observing people, how they behave, act, or make decisions. You can imbibe the right lessons and put them to use whenever necessary. Simply put, always keep looking for lessons to learn.  

The above steps are based on common sense. If you implement them consistently, you are certain to double or even treble your chances of getting to the top in your organization.

Give a Boost to Your Marketing Efforts by Adopting the Right Strategies for Customer Retention

A number of business owners commit the mistake of focusing more on expanding their client base rather than on retaining their clients. In other words, for them, adding new clients alone is synonymous with marketing. They should realize that retaining their existing customers is as important as acquiring new clients.

A study by Bain & Company reveals that on an average, the expenses incurred for attracting new customers are seven times higher than what is spent on keeping them. Not only that, if you are able to retain only 5% of your existing customers on an annual basis, your profits will increase by 125%. In short, retention efforts do yield results even in the long term and you will be able to build your business more efficiently.

This means you must create smart retention strategies for retaining your existing customers and also for converting your new clients into loyal and long-term customers. In short, right strategies will help you earn more by spending less. 

The following suggestions may help you put in place an effective customer retention program.

1. Have an efficient CRM system

By having an efficient CRM system, you can track the effectiveness of your communications with your customers. Though an automated CRM system that consists of customized messages pertaining to issues, product information, etc. may be preferable, things should be manually monitored also because you may have to address the specific issues many of your customers may have. In other words, an efficient CRM will help in customer retention.

2. Move up retention in your priority list

You should accord more priority to retention than to acquisition. This means you should increase your budget for communicating effectively and purposefully with your existing customers. Hesitating to hire competent copywriters for crafting high-quality emails, messages, ads, press releases and other forms of communications may prove to be an expensive mistake. Copywriting professionals alone will understand the needs of your customers and craft contents suitably. Your marketing team should also be educated suitably for focusing on the existing clients with an aim to retain them as loyal customers.

3. Have a system for measuring customer value

You should have a system for measuring the lifetime value of your customers. This means instead of focusing on individual sales, use your database for measuring the total sales you get from every customer. Details such as frequency of their purchases, the monetary value of the purchases they make, etc. will help in determining their lifetime value. But at the same time, do not commit the mistake of ignoring the value of small customers. Remember that the present-day world is highly connected. Dissatisfied customers can spread about it through word-of-mouth as well as word-of-mouse.

The purpose of knowing the lifetime value of customers is to determine how much you must invest in your retention efforts for those with high lifetime value.

4. Customer service is very important

Customer retention is possible only if you focus on customer service. You and every employee working for you should have powers to make on-the-spot decisions for ensuring customer satisfaction. Employees should not delay handling the problems of customers. Remember that by delaying action on the issues faced by customers, you will be sending them away to your competitors.

5. Communicate frequently with your customers

Keep in constant touch with your customers. Send them messages about upcoming sales, offers, etc. You can also send “thank you” notes along with coupons for ensuring you get repeat business from them. Again engaging the services of a competent copywriter is very important for communicating effectively. But do not commit the mistake of irritating them by sending unsolicited emails.

6. Make the best use of social media

If you think that social media is just for pushing your messages or sending your likes, you are wrong. You can engage your customers and communicate with them effectively through social media. By sharing, commenting and thanking people, you can use these platforms effectively. It is not necessary that you must be on all the platforms. Be choosy but make the best use of them.

7. Every issue is an opportunity

Every issue you may face may have a kernel of opportunity in it. So, delve deep into every issue and find out the ways to improve yourself, your business and your products and services.

If you keep your focus on customer retention, you will get several ideas. You can implement the most suitable ones and derive the best benefits of your online marketing efforts.

Career Growth through Networking

Those who are aiming to grow in their career or grow their business should not forget the importance of networking. In fact, nothing can work better than networking in the present-day world.

In a recent interview, Alice Niyonkuru, an upcoming entrepreneur from Burundi, along with Christopher Vuba, an urban planner-cum-entrepreneur and a Mandela Washington Fellow from South Africa insisted that they would not have begun their business ventures if they had not done effective networking. They added that they would not have prospered also if they had not networked with the right people.   

What is networking?

Interaction with people, exchanging information and developing contacts are the main ingredients of networking. If carried out in the right manner, it can help people in furthering one's career or in improving business.

Alice Niyonkuru points out “The world is not an island, you cannot have a thriving career or business without the help of others, which is where networking comes into place.” 

How to network effectively

1. Be always ready for networking

Some people have a wrong notion that their networking sessions are confined to scheduled business meetings. But in reality, you can network even when you walk on the road, wait for your bus to get back home, etc.

In other words, you should always be mentally ready for identifying the unseen opportunities that may be around you. Even cab drivers or watch guards may need the services or products you offer or the qualifications you may have.

2. Investing in your appearance is a must

Whatever may be your profession or qualification or whichever product or service you deal with, you should try to look your part perfectly. This means when you network with or meet people, you must create a good impression with your appearance. 

3. Keep your cards ready

Whether you are doing your business or are employed or whether you are a self-employed professional, business cards should readily be available with you. By immediately giving your cards when you meet people, you can create a good impression. If you do not give cards during your first meeting with people, there are chances of they forgetting you very quickly. 

4. Never delay contacting them

You should contact the people you have networked with, as soon as possible. According to experts, it is better you contact them within 48 hours. This proves to them that you are giving importance to them. Not only that, you will be fresh in their memory. By contacting them soon, you will be able to create a good and lasting impression in their minds.

5. Use your social media accounts in the best possible manner

Networking becomes easier with social media. Thanks to the effectiveness of social media networking, you can even access those whom you have all along been thinking inaccessible. You should therefore ensure that your profiles on the social media sites project you in the right manner. Every social networking site is different and so, you should tailor your profile according to the site.