FIVE BUSINESS TRENDS
TO ACCELERATE SALES IN 2022!
As 2022 takes shape, employee contentment is no longer an afterthought. You need conscientious employees to accelerate sales after “The Great Resignation” that unfolded during the pandemic. I’ve identified five prevalent business trends that are reshaping the way business leaders are doing business, and some center on keeping your reliable, hard-working employees enthusiastic about working for you.
1) Customer Service And Engagement
Customer engagement is a highly valued differentiator that many companies fail to recognize as an imperative in today’s market. Much of the contact between a company and a customer is made before and during the actual sale. Impressions matter. You’ll want to make sure your company’s values are put into practice during customer interactions and your customer service representatives are friendly, not aloof. Here’s an excellent article to help you learn more about customer engagement.
After the sale, customer relationships wane if your company fails to provide effective customer support. Companies need to build a coalition across the organization, creating training seminars, establishing better processes and technology integration, and building good metrics for important insights on customer retainment. Remember, eighty percent of your current customers become repeat customers, and you’ll want to nurture those relationships. Loyal customers appreciate good service; it’s what keeps them engaged in the long term.
Customer service should not be a postscript to the sale; it should be an integral part of the customer experience. Company analytics that show excessive hold times, transfers, or other issues with customer engagement will require the customer service agent to promptly apologize and offer a discount for any difficulties that were remarkably averse to the way the company does business. The best companies monitor their customer interactions because loyalty is a precious commodity that shouldn’t be discounted.
2) Team Training And Individual Workshops
Retaining skilled employees is going to require some work on the part of the employer. Employees want to learn, grow, and stay relevant during rapid technological change and innovation. With each new skill set they acquire, they can contribute to the company in a more meaningful way. Supportive employers help their employees grow in their careers. Yes, there is risk in losing them to competitors; but on the flip side, if employees see how much you’re willing to invest in them, they’ll feel appreciated, and that goes a long way in terms of high productivity and loyalty.
Employee-training programs are an effective way to introduce employees of different departments to one another through collaboration and cross training. There are programs to discern individual skills gaps so additional skills can be taught. With each new learning module, employees hope to be recognized for promotions. They resign when they feel ignored or undervalued. It’s critically important that employers improve job satisfaction for their employees. This improvement can start with online technology to keep your employees abreast of new product introductions or promote team-building opportunities.
A supportive work culture and a commitment to keeping your employees happy and engaged can save you money. One of the highest costs a company experiences is attrition. Finding and training new employees to take on the role for those who have quit involves many hours of personnel intervention: phone screens, in-person interviews, testing, and so forth. Employee morale and job satisfaction are important components for a happy workforce. Employees who improve upon their skills feel fulfilled in their career growth, and knowing the company values them as employees increases the likelihood they’ll stay with the company. Work with employees to build their skills, and promote from within, and you’ll avoid the costs that come with attrition. Here are some great examples of the types of training taking shape in the workforce in 2022 that your employees will love.
3) Video In Shorter Segments
With increasingly shorter attention spans comes the need for marketing consumption in shorter video segments. Customers are expecting bite-size bits of information rather than a big gulp as in previous years. This means video messaging has to be short and targeted to your customers. If you miss the mark, you’re likely to lose a customer to one of your competitors. Today’s customers have no time to dawdle and hang on to a marketer’s every word. They want the meat-and-potatoes version of your promotional ad (minus the fillers), or they’ll ignore it. They want to learn about the most important features and benefits of your product quickly and then make a purchasing decision. The quicker your customers get the necessary information, the quicker the sale. Today’s video promos should be like attention spans—short and sweet. Ask us about all your advertising video campaigns. Let’s collaborate!
4) Flexible Work Models
The disruption that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in reinvention and decisive acceptance of remote work that was previously inconceivable. Now that workers have experienced working remotely, some have embraced it as a means to avoid their insane hour-long commutes. Although productivity was a nonissue during the start of the pandemic, some employees missed interacting with their coworkers. Dissatisfaction, depression, and the social isolation of working remotely became more prevalent as the pandemic continued longer than expected.
Many companies have found success in flexible work models. The hybrid model involves splitting employees into two groups and having some work remotely while others go into the office, occurring in rotation. Unprecedented employer flexibility has brought about happier employees. With a happy staff, productivity soars; there is less absenteeism; and, consequently, there’s cost savings to companies’ health care premiums.
Digital tools such as Slack, Zoom, and Microsoft Teams became the cornerstone of new work models, enabling seamless collaboration and project coordination. They will continue to costar in remote and hybrid settings to enable productivity. Both employers and employees learned that the sky didn’t fall during the pandemic and that work can continue at home and virtually anywhere.
The adaptability and flexibility to new modi operandi is a trend that will continue into this year and beyond, and new flexible work models will emerge that previously would have been off the table if not for the pandemic.
5) Wellness As A Central Companion
Employees are exhausted. The prolonged pandemic has weighed heavily on everyone’s mind. Employees are pondering how they map out their future and their purpose. This is a time when everyone needs a little kindness and encouragement. Savvy companies that want to retain their greatest assets—their employees—will include wellness in their benefit packages. It’s not just about covering the costs of a hospital visit and surgical procedures; it’s about avoiding these situations and making wellness a central companion to your company’s purpose.
Companies have had to become agile and flexible during the pandemic, and flexibility is the only way forward, not just with work models such as remote and hybrid but with attitudes. Employers must show a little kindness to their employees and be more accommodating. Allowing your employees the opportunity to develop healthier lifestyles with an employer-designed wellness program that encourages employee participation on-site is another way to be flexible. It’s mutually beneficial to both the employer and the employee because your company’s purpose is to decrease absenteeism and lower the costs of medical premiums that affect your company’s bottom line. Bring the gym and on-site yoga to the workplace. Allow employees some time away from their desks to take advantage of wellness activities.
There are myriad activities that help employees reach their wellness goals. Many of these activities can be incentivized through weight-loss competitions where the top winners get a gift card or a special parking spot close to the door for a month. Health screenings, smoking cessation, and yoga programs are strategies to encourage employees to consider their wellness path and make positive steps toward better health. Productivity soars when employees feel well and are happy. If you want to accelerate sales, boost your company’s wellness offerings.
With the end goal of companies lowering medical premiums and cultivating a happier, healthier workforce, there’s compromise on the part of the company, but in reducing chronic disease, the true recipients of improved wellness are your employees.
Volatility will continue to influence business trends and bring about change in the workplace through 2022. Disruption in business often leads to profound technological change, innovation, and new business models that can spur growth and accelerate sales. Will you be ready strategically when golden opportunities transpire?
By Patti Kondel, CEO, Savvy Swan Communication and Marketing, MBA from the University of Massachusetts, Lowell, and MA from Emerson College, Boston. Patti is a business and marketing specialist, brand booster, lover of the arts, yoga practitioner, content creator, and cookie connoisseur—the sweet variety—and for marketing consumption, Internet cookies too! Let me help you trumpet your business to the world! Contact me today!
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