By Anne Shenton
Last week, VP of Business Development Ryan Williams presented a webinar about how to use process as a competitive advantage in your organization. You may view the webinar recording in its entirety here:
How to Use Process as a Competitive Advantage from Nexxtep Technology Services on Vimeo.… Keep reading
By Anne Shenton
Hackers. Thieves. Disgruntled employees. These are the folks who keep business owners like you awake at night. So how can you reduce the worry and keep your business locked down and secured?
First of all, you need to know the threats. I recently surveyed some of our engineers to build a list of some of the lesser-known IT security issues facing small and mid-sized business today.
The easiest, and most common, way for hackers to access your information is by cracking a weak password. Here are some of the easiest targets. If you use the same password for more than one account, your risk multiplies. You’re especially at risk if you use the same password for your work accounts that you do with your personal account. Imagine losing your business files and your personal emails and photos at the same time.
Here … Keep reading
By Ann Brady
[Tomorrow, we will say goodbye to Ann Brady. Ann was one of Nexxtep's first employees and has been with us for almost 8 years. Any of you who have ever had the pleasure of working with her know that not only is she an incredibly competent engineer, but that she's a joy to be around. Ann is leaving to pursue her lifelong dream of becoming a farmer. We are sad to see her go, but happy to know that she will be doing something she loves.
Ann wanted to share this message with the clients she has served through the years.]
My Friends,
I want to wish you all a farewell and to let you know that the last 7 ½ years have been a joy. As of May 31, I will no longer be serving you as a systems engineer. Please know that supporting clients of Nexxtep has been … Keep reading
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
