By Ryan Williams
Every executive and business owner wants to know how to gain competitive advantage, yet few do. So how do you gain the competitive advantage that makes some companies super successful while most others are just struggling to get by?
A quick Google search offers about 13 million answers to this question. Most answers on the first couple of pages talk about strategy. Others offer a few quick tips that will help you stand out by improving efficiency or customer service. Still others offer a multi-step path to success.
Do I think these answers are incorrect? Of course not. But there is another crucial component- what I believe is the most crucial component- involved in gaining competitive advantage.
You can craft the most spectacular strategy that’s ever been crafted, but that strategy will be useless without execution. You can read about all the steps you should take to give your business … Keep reading
By Ryan Williams
Referrals are the single most popular method that buyers use when selecting professional services. They rely on the advice of friends, family and colleagues to find the best people to work with. So how can you make sure you’re at the top of that list?
1. Provide an outstanding customer service experience. This is the first, and most obvious, answer to that question. Want to get more referrals? Make sure the quality of your products and services are worthy of being referred in the first place.
2. Gather feedback as often as possible in the form of surveys and personal phone calls. You can use a tool like SurveyMonkey to create customer service surveys. They even offer a set of preset templates you can use and customize to your needs. Use that feedback to improve your customer service experience.
3. Welcome new clients in style with a formal on boarding … Keep reading
By Anne Shenton
Who doesn’t love a nice big flat screen TV? Staples in homes across America, they’re now becoming more and more commonplace in the office. They’re good for more than just watching ESPN in the break room, too. With a little creativity, they can become a valuable business tool.
Here are 3 ways you can put your office’s flat screen to work.
A flat screen TV with web browsing capabilities. Don’t have web browsing on your TV? You can buy an Apple TV for $99 to get all the functionality you’ll need.
Dynamic lobby graphics are sure to impress your visitors as soon as they step in the door. You can create your own images to display or you can hire a professional graphic designer to setup your graphics. . The dimensions for your graphic will need to be 1280 pixels wide … Keep reading
By Paul Nichols
In this post, I’m going to show you a very basic example to illustrate a cloud computing cost comparison. For the purpose of this example, let’s say you are a small business owner and you need two new servers. You will also need security, storage, and backups for those servers.
You consider four options for paying for these costs:
By Anne Shenton
Your “About Us” page typically grabs a lot of your website’s overall traffic. Visitors want to see the face behind your name. They want to know your story and why you do what you do. They want to know that when they hand over their money or even just pick up the phone to call you, they are communicating with a real live human being that they can trust. Does your About Us page tell your story? Can you articulate your story in a way that resonates with your customers? If you can’t, or haven’t, don’t worry. You are not alone.
A few months ago, I read an article in Entrepreneur called “How to Tell Your Company’s Story.” It really resonated with me. I decided that we needed to overhaul our About Us page, so I bookmarked this article for my to-do list, where it stayed for the … Keep reading
By Richard Baker
More and more often, we talk to clients whose employees are interested in working remotely for at least part of the time. Earlier this week, Yahoo CEO Marissa Meyer sparked quite a bit of controversy when she announced that employees would be banned from telecommuting. According to some, it might not be a bad idea
Is telecommuting a bad move for your business? I think it depends. First of all, it depends on the person who will be working remotely. I worked from home for several years before working with Nexxtep, and I enjoyed the solitude and freedom. Others need face-to-face human interaction to feel happy and productive at work. To be a good telecommuter, one needs to be reliable, self-directed, and comfortable spending hours of time alone each day.
Once you have established that your employee would make a good remote worker, you need to create a suitable environment … Keep reading
By Ryan Williams
Does Your Company Have a Formal Employee On Boarding Process?
Even in a sluggish economy with a high unemployment rate, employers have a hard time finding really great employees. You’ve heard the notorious breakup line, “It’s not you, it’s me!” but have you ever thought about how that statement might apply to your relationships with your employees? Now, I’m not trying to imply that there’s something wrong with you or your business. I’m simply trying to point out that it might not be a matter of finding great employees, but building great employees. Today’s workforce does not want to be defined by their job; rather, they want to be identified with a company that has true purpose. Companies that focus on creating a workplace that engages employees will, in turn, create a business that engages its customers.
It is absolutely crucial that you start engaging your employees as soon as … Keep reading
By Anne Shenton
What does the office of the future look like? There may not be any flying cars involved, but our research shows there’s some pretty cool stuff coming our way in the years ahead. Computers that can read your mind? Check! Corporate match-making sites? Yep! Working in your pajamas? Absolutely!
Check out this infographic for our take on things. (Click here to see a larger version).
The office of the future might be ready for you sooner than you think. We are excited to introduce The Modern Office. Learn more in our slideshow below:
By Anne Shenton
VALDOSTA, January 17, 2013- Nexxtep Technology Services, Inc., an IT outsourcing firm based in Valdosta, recently relocated to a new facility at 3256 North Valdosta Road. The building is substantially larger than their previous office, and will allow the company to expand its service offerings to clients throughout the Southeastern US.
Nexxtep has also developed a secure data center inside their new facility. The data center will be used to provide clients with a variety of service options. For example, it can serve as a secure location for offsite backups, or clients can host their own equipment or lease shared computing resources. The data center is fully operational as of this month.
The facility also has a conference room, a repair/testing lab, and a training room that will be used for seminars, classes, and workshops.
Paul Nichols, President and CFO comments, “Our new office is going to be very instrumental … Keep reading
By Anne Shenton
Every year, I pick the brains of our resident fortune tellers to gather their technology predictions for the coming year. So far, their track record has not disappointed!
First, let’s take a look at how well our 2012 predictions held up:
Richard Baker’s (Account Manager) 2012 Predictions:
True. According to CDW’s Small Business Mobility Report, email apps are used most for work-related purposes (80% of mobile users access work email from their devices). However, calendar apps (76%), GPS/navigation apps (69%), document reading apps (56%), social media apps (45%) and file storage apps (40%) have also become widely used for work purposes. It’s clear that users want to use their devices for work, but … Keep reading
