Month: July 2017

What the oil crisis means for Australia (Content Princess – SEO)

The oil crisis has been an ongoing global problem since as early as 2014, but what does this crisis mean for Australia?

The current oil crisis

Oil prices fell from above $100 per barrel in 2014 and dropped down to the low levels of $30 per barrel in 2016; the market has since recovered. However, there is worry that we may dip to these levels once again.

The current crisis has been attributed to excess supplies of US shale oil. Oil companies and suppliers depend on the revenue generated from oil sales, so excess stock makes it hard for them to fund their fiscal budget.

Increasing rivalry between Iran and Saudi Arabia has not helped the oil crisis and has caused the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to intervene, leading to an agreement between OPEC and non-OPEC members to freeze/ cut oil production in November 2016.

The deal was due to continue until March 2018. However, cracks have started to appear, and there are fears that the deal will break apart.

The effect on the rest of the world

The oil crisis has affected the economy; this has a knock-on effect on the remainder of the world. Modern society relies heavily on economic growth and the slightest economic dip has a rippled effect.

The oil industry, when booming, brings tremendous economic growth. However, this also means any hit to the oil industry negatively affects economic growth. The oil crisis in the past have caused recessions and brought countries to their knees.

Economist always pays close attention to the oil industry due to the major impact price increase and decreases have.

The effect on Australia

In the 1990s, years of strategic planning meant that Australia almost reached oil self-sufficiency, however, in the 2000s trends changed and suddenly the gap between consumption and production started widening. Currently, Australia is only 38{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616} oil self-sufficient.

Instead of being, self-sufficient Australia has been turning to oil imports. While this may improve the supply of crude oil, this leaves the country vulnerable. The current oil crisis means that supplies have had to freeze/cut production, this means that another price dip could cause an economic catastrophe.

It is in the countries best interest to start aiming towards oil self-sufficiency rather than relying on oil imports since the oil industry is incredibly unstable with little signs of stability.

Conclusion

The oil crisis has been brewing since 2014 but reached its peak in 2016; however, despite signs of recovery increased instability has meant that economists fear that another dip is imminent.

Excess stock of American shale oil and ongoing rivalry between Iran and Saudi Arabia has said that the OPEC has had to work together as members and non-member to reach an agreement to freeze or cut production.

An agreement was reached in November 2016. However, there have already been signs of stress, and it is feared that the deal will collapse well before the March 2018 end date.

Up until 2000, Australia was heading in the right direction towards full oil self-sufficiency, however, due to a change in trend the country started to rely more on imported oil. This has seen a decline in production and leaves Australia incredibly vulnerable due to the instability in the oil industry.

To protect ourselves from the fallout of a potential collapse in the oil industry and reach 100{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616} oil self-sufficiency, Australia should focus its efforts on increasing oil production. 

Primary Keyword: oil crisis

LSI Keyword – Variants: oil prices, current crisis, US shale oil, oil companies, oil sales, oil industry, oil self-sufficiency, oil self-sufficient, imports of oil, crude oil

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What The Oil Crisis Means For Australia (Content Princess – SEO)

What The Oil Crisis Means For Australia (Content Princess – SEO)

Brent crude oil tumbled from $37.28 down to $30.86 per barrel in the past year or so. How is that severe? Well, in the fourth quarter of 2014, Brent was selling at $100 per barrel, meaning its prices have plummeted, and drastically too.

With oil prices currently in freefall (as seen in the above example), sending shivers down the spines of major economies, prevailing countries take wins, and those less fortunate take losses. But what does this mean for our beautiful country? What does this mean for Australia?

The Crisis Itself

Our world has more liquid petroleum than it ever had before, also meaning it has more than it will ever actually need too, and in this fuel-guzzling, energy-driven society, that comes with catastrophic circumstances.

Drastic changes in the supply and demand of oil and other fuels can result in the tearing down of share markets, the shutdown of multi-billion dollar hedge funds and not to mention slashing government budgets, ultimately ending up in spiralling numerous countries into a recession that never needed to happen. A recession that could have been easily regulated and avoidable.

But with greed comes unforeseen, often terrible circumstances. And greed, sadly, in this day and age, is much too common and way too blind. The people are getting greedy to fail to see the aftereffects of their greed because they cannot see past the enormous stacks of money on their desks. And doesn’t that tell us a lot about the world?

What Does This Mean For Australia?

A whole lot of bad

It may seem good at first because lower oil prices mean cheaper petrol right? Wrong. While the prices overall are lower, with Australia being a net oil importer, they have lost a lot of income through oil trading, meaning the Australian dollar has also plummeted. So while the low oil prices have caused the prices of petrol to come down drastically, with the Australian dollar dropping too, it has resulted in what appeared to be a $1.45 decrease per barrel, actually turned out to be a 53 cent increase.

The entire thing paints a very complicated-looking picture for Australia because although we’re importing oil at much lower prices, being a net oil importer and all, that very much looks like a good thing. But the bad side of it is, the nation is a net energy exporter and lots of energy-related products, meaning as well as buying oil on the cheap side.  We’re also trading our exports at much lower prices too, because a lot of energy products, such as gas, follow similar price patterns to oil.

Summarising The Crisis

So yes, we may be importing stuff for much lower prices, but in turn, our main export outlets are taking major hits too, so it’s not as though the Australian economy is being boosted due to the cheap imports. Because in actuality, the economy is on the decline because of our main exports taking a hit in all this too. Add the drop of the Australian dollar into the equation, and the nation could be facing one of the most severe declines in its economy it has seen in many years.

LSI Keywords:

  • Economy
  • Oil
  • Gas
  • Import
  • Export
  • Finance
  • Recession
  • Australia
  • Australian Dollar
  • Nation
  • Price
  • Decline
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Will Corporate Accelerators Work For Your Business? (Content Princess – SEO)

Will Corporate Accelerators Work For Your Business? (Content Princess – SEO)

Seed accelerators or start – up accelerators are programs that feature mentorship, education modules and finish with a demonstration day or a public pitch event.  Established corporations can also benefit from connecting with professional accelerators which are run by experienced entrepreneurs. Accelerators centre on a broad range of industries and are particularly important in industries like food, telecommunications, and agriculture that tend to be impervious to change.

Advantages of Corporate Accelerators.

A New Work Culture – Executives and employees learn about new methodologies such as designing a viable product, project management and customer development.  As a result, they will begin using them in their work environment.

Case Study – When Windows 10 was introduced it went through numerous repetitions with customers providing opinions through Windows Insider.  The product was released before it was completed and it was attuned based on customer responses.  The result has been an exceptional success, and Windows 10 has grown faster than any other Windows version.

Ability to Attract More Partnerships and Collaborations – Many companies have concluded that they need to join start-ups to subject them to new technologies and methodologies.  This will procure their future in the market.  Big corporations can observe start-ups in the initial stages and gain knowledge of the industry and new trends.

Growth of Accelerator Programs.

During the past decade, the growth of accelerator programs has fast-tracked.

  • At the start of 2016, there were 170 accelerator programs in the US.
  • Each year from 2008 to 2014 the number increased by an average of 50{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616} (Ian Hathaway, a senior fellow in the Metropolitan Policy Program at the Brookings Institute).
  • The average evaluation of a company supported by an accelerator is $7.1 million. While this includes hits and flops the result is still good.

Springboard is an accelerator program whose companies have procured $6.5 billion through their lifetime and have an 83{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616} fundraising success rate. 

As the chart demonstrates accelerator programs like Springboard work.

Problems Which Can Arise.

Corporations in accelerator programs devise a business plan. This document portrays:

  • Product and Services
  • Market opportunity.
  • A five-year prediction for profit, cash flow and income.

During the implementation stage, the business plan usually doesn’t hold true. 

Failure of Mentorship – While good mentorship can be a real bonus the opposite can be detrimental. When there is a wide gap between what the mentor can contribute and the expectations of the start – up, there will be a momentum stall.

Many programs don’t have the recognition to appeal to quality start-ups. There are a lot not delivering but still operating because of high demand. While gaining themselves, they are leaving behind a trail of failed start – ups.

There is obviously a high demand for accelerator programs, and many do succeed.  Internal accelerators are difficult to manage.  They need heavy Research & Development, a lot of preparation and an effective approach to administration.  Companies that are established will see the benefits of working with professional accelerator entrepreneurs.  For start-ups, this is the only alternative.  In the immediate future, more efficient accelerator archetypes will be required to eliminate existing pitfalls.

Primary Keyword – accelerator

Secondary Keywords – accelerators, accelerator programs, accelerator entrepreneurs, start-ups.

References

www.slideshare.net/FalguniDesai&/future-asia-ventures-corporate-accelerators-a-growing-force

www.forbes.com/sites/geristengel/2014/08/20/funding-women-entrepreneurs-if-not-now-when/#68fcae393fa8-

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Digital Innovation: Revolutionizing business processes in the con-struction industry (Content Strategi)

Digitalization through apps is transforming how we do business. Most organizations have adopted a digital system to handle their business processes. Such digital leaders experience up to eight times growth in their operating profits according to studies by McKinsey and Company.

Companies like Uber, Alibaba and AirBnB are few such supremely successful enterprises that rely purely on digitization.

While the adoption rate of mobile digitalization is quite high in most industry sectors, the construction industry seems to be slow on the uptake. According to a McKinsey and Company report, the construction industry is one of the lowest digitized sectors.


Source: Harvard Business Review

Research by JBKnowledge indicates that construction companies spend less than 1{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616} of their revenues on IT, which is less than one-third of what other businesses spend on the same. It further shows that nearly 40{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616} of construction companies do not even have a dedicated IT department.

Low IT Resource, No Problem – Low-Code/Codeless app building tools to the rescue

There is a rising demand for mobile digitalization, especially in the construction industry. Business units in the field need access to real-time data on resources, materials, logistics and more.

For instance, the greatest benefit of digitalization in logistics services is from crowdsourcing. A report from the World Economic Forum indicates that trucking companies can improve their utilization levels by 20{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616} and greatly improve profits.

A digital transformation in this sector offers the convenience of real-time tracking and lower costs leading to savings of up to $789 billion to the customers in the logistics industry.

Fast Tracking app development

Gartner’s framework for Bimodal IT recognizes that traditional app development practices are no longer sufficient for organizations looking to digitally transform their business. It is necessary to democratize app development so business users who may not be technical experts can still design fully functioning apps without heavily relying on the IT department.

Gartner predicts that by 2018 more than half the mobile apps will be created using codeless tools. Digitalization is the key to providing improved customer experience, increased employee productivity, agile IT and business operations.

AppGyver’s Composer – Gearing towards Bimodal IT

Gartner’s concept of Bimodal IT expounds the need for organizations to have 2 modes of IT – traditional IT with a focus on efficiency and safety (Mode 1), and Agile IT to support prototyping, fast iterative development and rapid delivery (Mode 2).

AppGyver’s Composer is a platform that has a lot of options out-of-box, but it also supports the need for tech-savvy users to write their code. This allows for iterative testing to get the desired results while building their apps.

The Composer also integrates with enterprise authentication protocols, all standard business databases and data sources such as Oracle databases and Salesforce, thereby increasing their flexibility of use.

AppGyver’s Composer – Digitally transforming the construction sector

The construction industry usually has multiple projects at any given time. There is the key requirement to have up-to-date information, tracking and visibility on ongoing projects, materials, sub-contractors and more.

Mobile digitalization makes the information more transparent. It can help prevent design clashes, issues in construction and hence avoid costly rework. Central databases can be continually updated, so users have real-time data on the field.

A study by the Boston Consulting Group shows that full-scale digitalization in the case of residential construction enables cost savings 0.7 trillion to 1.2 trillion dollars. That is 13-21{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616} in the Design & Engineering phase and Construction phase of Building Information Modelling (BIM). In the Operations phase of residential construction, it enables a cost saving of 0.3 – 0.5 trillion dollars; i.e. 10-17{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616}.

Reaping the benefits of Composer’s visual app development platform

AppGyver’s Composer has one of the most extendable visual app development platforms on the market. It is easier to build advanced app logic while the Composer platform rapidly builds the requisite backend.

The business data is secure inside the company firewall and Composer allows for any custom authentication methods with full ACL for app data.

AppGyver’s Composer helps reduces the go-to-market time for apps considerably. Customized apps to suit the needs of architects, tech consultants, contractors, real-estate companies, clients and end-users can be ready for use 10 times faster.

Fast track your business innovation projects using Composer’s high productivity platform from AppGyver.

References:

  1. “App development should be democratized” – Burley Kawasaki
  2. “Which industries are the most digital?”- Prashanth Gandhi, Somesh Khanna, Sree Ramaswamy
  1. “Software and digitization are leading business transformation”- John Brigden
  2. “The battle is for customer interface”- Tom Goodwin
  3. “Imagining construction’s digital future”- Rajat Agarwal, Shankar Chandrasekaran & Mukund Sridhar
  1. “Construction industry needs to embrace digital revolution” – Alexandria Cain
  2. “Digital transformation in the construction sector isn’t just about BIM” –Daria Taylor
  3. “What’s the future of construction industry?”– Santiago Castaginino, Philipp Gerbert, Christoph Rothballer
  1. “What Gartner’s Bimodal IT Model means to enterprise CIO’s”– Bernard Golden
  1. Forklift manufacturer Rocla delivers a 3 month App project in 2 weeks – Jeff Alonzo
  • Digitization in the construction industry – Roland Berger
  • Bimodal IT – Gartner
  • The 5th Annual construction technology report – JBKnowledge
  • Opportunities of the digitalization for construction – Jan Byfors
  • Shaping the future of construction – World Economic Forum
  • Digital transformation of industries: Demystifying digital and securing $100 trillion for society and industry by 2025 – World Economic Forum
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6 customer / sales enablement tools you need right now (Content Strategi)

Market and consumer needs are constantly evolving and with it the need to change the sales and marketing approach. Reports from DemandGen indicate that opportunities for sales can increase by 20{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616} if prospective leads are nurtured carefully[i].

Organizations at present find that almost 67{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616} of the sales personnel never meet their targets[ii]&[iii], either due to lack of productivity, proper tools, or the right content.

This is where sales enablement tools come in. They bridge the gap from lead prospecting to closing the sale and help boost revenues and profit.

Empower your sales reps through technology

37{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616} of sales teams win less than half their potential sales2 leads either due to lack of proper content or persistent follow-ups.

A well-defined sales strategy backed by the right content and presentation can increase your chances of meeting your sales quotas by 33{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616}.

A comprehensive Sales Enablement platform (SEP) serves as an integrated multi-functional system that allows for content management and integrated communications. More importantly, CRM integration and predictive analytics help improve sale pipeline management.

Sales enablement solutions – Arm your teams with the tools to succeed

There is a wide range of sales enablement platforms available in the market today that address the keys issues of marketing and sales automation, Business Intelligence, CRM, and more. Although their core features would be similar, they each have extra features that will fill the gaps to suit your unique business needs.

6 most important features of sales enablement tools that will help grow your client base, increase customer retention and improve sales.

  1. Content Management – Research indicates that 88{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616} of sales opportunities are missed[iv] because sales teams waste 30{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616} of their time looking for internal resources and content to share with their potential customers. Furthermore, almost 90{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616} of the accumulated goes unused according to an IDC survey[v]. Tools such as Microsoft Dynamics, Sales Force Sugar CRM provide the sales teams with real-time data and help the teams deliver the right content at the right time. 95{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616} of the buyers tend to choose a vendor that provided them with the right content at each stage of the buying process1.
  1. Marketing Automation – A study by the ANNUITAS group indicates that an organization that uses marketing automation to nurture their prospective leads experience a 451{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616} increase in qualified leads1. Sales enablement tools such as Mindmatrix or SharpString helps teams identify leads that require immediate attention, the content they require, and provide overall help in personalizing the prospective asset. Real-time prospect tracking can increase customer retention and research by Bain & Company indicates that even a 5{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616} increase in customer retention would help boost profits anywhere from 25 {ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616} to 95{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616}1.
  1. Sales Management – Forrester Research shows that 25{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616} marketers who adopt mature lead management process have better response and follow-up rates1. Customer & sales enablement tools such as the Pipeliner or Sales Seek integrate marketing and sales functions to provide customized sales pipelines with visual intelligence that help close more deals.
  1. Sales Analytics – Studies by Marketing Sherpa indicate that only 25{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616} of leads are legitimate and require a follow up1. Sales personnel waste almost 50{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616} of their time on unproductive prospecting. Advanced analytics in sales enablement solutions such as 6Sense, Amacus or Infer[vi] use predictive modelling that prioritize leads and provide intelligence on talking points based on the customer needs.
  1. CRM – According to market research by CSO Insights, Sales reps spend less than 33{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616} of their time on core selling1. Automating repetitive, mundane tasks would divert more time to nurturing leads and selling products or services. Microsoft Dynamics, Salesforce, and CRM Next are sales enablement tools that encompass features of cross departmental team collaboration, managing workflows, automating marketing & content generation, and more, to boost productivity and sales.
  1. BI – Business Intelligence tools offer key insight that helps drive better decision-making. Oracle[vii], SharpSpring and Spectate are three organizations that offer BI tools for sales enablement.

With these smart predictive tools, never loose an opportunity again. Let your sales teams be best equipped to handle all customer needs.

Citations

[i] “107 Mind blowing sales statistics that will help you sell smarter” – Scott Tousley

[ii] “10 things every sales manager should know about sales performance”  – TAS Group

[iii] “The cost of missing quota” – Janelle

[iv] “Sales execution trends” – Qvidian

[v] “7 Signs you need a sales enablement solution” – Shelley Cernel

[vi] “Top 70 sales enablement tools to boost your business” – Knowledge Tree

[vii] “Top 54 sales enablement tools” – Fergal Glynn

References:

  1. State of Inbound Sales Report [2016] – Hubspot’s 8th Annual report
  2. Sales Enablement plan – Knowledge Tree
  1. “What is sales enablement? 3 definitions that help tell the story” – Brendan Cournoyer
  2. “Sales Enablement tools grow up, as forrester releases first wave report” – Barry Levine
  3. “10 surprising stats about sales rep performance” – Leslie Ye
  • “5 ways Sales enablement tool adds value to an account-based selling strategy” – Shelley Cernel
  • “18 sales enablement software tools to boost productivity & sales” – Twila Grissom
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6 customer and sales enablement tools you need right now(Content Strategi – SEO)

Businesses inherently are customer driven. Irrespective of the business model (B2B, B2C or B2G), the client is the key to enduring business results.

Customers these days are tech-savvy, and 93{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616} of them begin the purchasing process through an Internet search. This increases an organisation’s need to be more proactive, targeted and customer-centric in their sales efforts. In fact, 87{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616} of them prefer that approach according to studies by inContact.

Sales enablement tools pave the path to operational efficiency by providing the right insights, analytics and talking points tailored to each customer.  They are a smart mix of training and technology that reinforce knowledge & critical skills and enable guided selling for the right product positioning and value proposition.

Sales Enablement tools: The various types

Sales enablement is an all-encompassing term that includes a wide range functionality impacting all areas of the business. It helps bridge the gap between business vision and strategy implementation.

The 6 major types of sales enablement tools that will integrate your sales and marketing functions and make your approach more customer-centric include –

  1. CRM
  2. Marketing Automation
  • Lead Management
  1. Content Management
  2. Sales Intelligence
  3. Customer Experience

I. CRM: Customer Relationship Management tools

As of 2017, 91{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616} of sales organisations use CRM to track their interactions with potential and existing customers. Gartner forecasts that it will be a USD $37 billion industry this year.

While it is not an all-inclusive tool, CRM does cover one important aspect of sales enablement; it includes the functionality of a database and productivity tool. Providers like Salesforce allow third party developers to supplement their programs with add-ons to improve the scale and scope of their programs.

Some features to look for in a CRM include –

  1. Software as a Service (SaaS) – Research from Software Advice indicates that 81{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616} of CRM users access CRM from multiple mobile devices. It lowers the initial cost, it is a lot quicker to rollout across the business, and it provides the all-important mobile compatibility.
  1. Mobile features – Statistics from Innoppl indicate that 65{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616} of salespeople who adopt mobile CRM achieve their sales quotas. Businesses that adopt mobile CRM have shown an 87{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616} increase in productivity and a 73{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616} increase in business process efficiency according to research by Forrester.
  1. Customer Experience Management (CEM/CXM) – The growing trend is towards a customer-centric engagement approach; connecting with customers through multiple channels. A forecast by Walker indicates that Customer Experience will influence buying decisions by more than 50{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616}.

Categories of CRM

  1. Enterprise CRM
  2. Mobile Applications
  3. Social CRM
  4. Small Business CRM
  1. Enterprise CRM: It is more large scale and includes features of contact management, sales process automation and data analytics. It helps make meaningful decisions out of massive data dumps. It empowers the transformation of information into strategy.

The Market Leader in Enterprise CRM is Salesforce.

It has a cloud platform and the most comprehensive features package. It comprises of mass emailing, customisable dashboards, web services API and more. It also includes opportunity and contact management, lead management, marketing automation, and forecasting, reporting and mobile compatibility. It allows for custom app building and add-ons as necessary.

Comparable products: SAP, Oracle, Microsoft Dynamics.

  1. Mobile applications: Most sales forces are mobile these days, so the top-tier brands already offer mobile compatibility for their products. There are, however, CRM products specifically designed for mobile use. They include features like geo-location that helps the rep in charting the best routes to their clients and optimising their trips. They are particularly useful in the real-estate and energy or utility industries.

The Market Leader in Mobile CRM is Base.

It is an app lauded for its effectiveness. It offers the full functionality of a desktop-based platform with added extras like geo-location, route planning, offline access and push notifications. It combines functionalities of sales tracking, analytics, phone and email with navigation to provide one-touch driving directions, trip optimisation and territory management.

Comparable products: Saleslogix, SugarCRM

  1. Social CRM: Nucleus Research suggests sales productivity can increase by 26{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616} with social media integration. 95{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616} social media users expect organisations to have an online social presence and 85{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616} expect to communicate with companies through social media. The more advanced products encompass features like data tracking to record likes, comments, followers, mentions, text analysis, and lead suggestion.

Market Leader in Social CRM is Nimble. It includes functionality of social listening tools, contact importing and monitoring social selling tools

Comparable products: Zoho, Batchbook, Astute Solutions

  1. Small Business CRM – This is custom made for niche industries and Small businesses. It is not as feature rich as the enterprise CRM and is lighter on the budget.

The Market Leader in Small Business CRM is Insightly. Its free version allows access for 2 users. It has Project Management features. It is Cloud based and integrates with other programs like Outlook, Office 365, Quickbooks, Google Apps, Evernote, Box, DropBox and many others.

Comparable products: Mothernode, Salestrakr, Sellsy

II. Marketing automation

55{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616} of B2B marketers use Marketing Automation tools in their marketing strategies. It has led to 68{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616} more customer engagement and 58{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616} more opportunities according to reports by Adestra.

Marketing Automation tools harness customer data from multiple sources, enable audience segmentation and help marketers build campaigns to match each stage of the buyers’ journey. They also tailor content to specific customer needs and help nurture potential customers and build more meaningful relationships. Studies show that organisations that focus on lead nurturing produce 50{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616} more qualified leads at a lesser cost.

Marketing Automation tools include several categories of functionality – email, social media, web marketing, analytics and more.

The leading contenders in each category are

  1. Enterprise – Eloqua, Marketo, Pardot, Siverpop
  2. SMB – Infusionsoft, Hubspot, Salesfusion, Act-on
  3. Email only – Mailchimp, GetResponse, ActiveCampaign, Aweber

III. Lead management

It is related closely to marketing automation. It involves tracking prospect interactions, qualifying inquiries and distributing qualified leads to appropriate sales team members.

Taking only to the right leads improves productivity and reduces time spent on qualifying leads. Lead quality is a priority for 74{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616} of B2B marketers.

Types of lead scoring

  1. Traditional /Rules-based – Involves assigning a value to a prospective lead’s behaviour.
  1. Predictive lead scoring – Involves predictive modelling to qualify leads. The system uses internal data in CRM and marketing automation systems and supplements it with data from external resources to create acomplete profile for the lead.

Leading vendors for Lead Scoring are LeadMaster CRM, Bpm’Online and LeadSquared.

IV. Content Management

Research by RO innovation indicates that 65{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616} of sales reps cannot find the right content to send to prospective clients at the right time. A content management system is a single repository of all sales content.

Categories of Content Management Systems and the leading vendors:

  1. All encompassing and feature rich – BlackMOnk, ARALOC
  2. Sales focused – Docurated
  3. Content function focused – LiveHive

V. Sales Intelligence

Sales Intelligence is defined as any insight, data or automation that improves the sales process. It enables increased productivity and better follow-ups that lead to faster lead to client conversion times.

Sales Intelligence systems track buyer engagement through email content and user engagement through web content. They capture contact information from emails, fill incomplete contact information in the CRM and have predictive models for customer behaviour.

Overall they increase the depth and scale of prospect information available to the sales teams.

Categories of Sales Intelligence tools

  1. Data Enrichment and Maintenance: Experian, Netprospex, Datanyze, Reachforce.
  2. Sales Reporting and Forecasting: Tableau, SAS, Sisense, Spotfire
  3. Pipeline management: InsightSquared, Pipeliner, Close.io
  4. Behavioural analytics: LiveHive, Yesware, Marketo

VI. Customer Experience

Since customers these days connect with organisations on multiple platforms it is necessary to analyse the interactions and detect behavioural patterns and emerging trends. Customer Experience and Customer Engagement tools collate the unique and disparate customer experience data. These tools of analytics combine features of contact sequencing, contact reasoning, journey mapping and predictive analytics to give the organisation a complete picture of the customer’s experience.

Market Leaders in Customer Experience and Customer Engagement tools include IBM Customer Experience Analytics, HubSpot Analytics, Site core and Zuora.

Keywords: Customer enablement, Sales enablement, business vision, business growth, customer-centric engagement, Customer experience, customer engagement, Sales intelligence, Sales analytics, content management, CRM.

References:

  1. Technology Advice: Buyer’s Guide to CRM Software
  2. Technology Advice: Buyer’s Guide to Marketing Automation Software
  1. Sirius Decisions: What is Sales Enablement
  2. Hub Spot: 107 Mind blowing sales statistics that will help you sell smarter
  3. Super Office: 18 CRM statistics you need to know
  • CRM Next: Why your business needs a mobile CRM strategy
  • Super Office: CRM Mobile App – The rise of CRM
  1. Walker: Customers – The future of Customer Experience 2020
  2. inContact: US Consumers Want Today’s Companies to be Proactive in Customer Service
  3. VeInteractive: 11 Marketing Automation stats that will surprise you
  • The Drum: Marketing automation growth is unprecedented, yet B2B marketers agree it is time-consuming
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Cutting-Edge Interior Designs (Rank Princess)

http://raumrot.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/msp_0810_1792.jpg

Check out our trailblazing luxury designs and choose a Furdo-certified designer from our carefully chosen list of Interior Designers.

Get the personal touch for your home, with your choice of Interior Designer. No compromise on quality, no compromise on your vision.

Your home is your castle, and we promise to make your home fit for royalty.

Visualise Your Dream Home With State of the Art Virtual Reality

Call Furdo and get designs, visualisation and implementation from the 22nd century with our Virtual Reality visualisation tech.

A couple of buttons is all it takes. Dress up your home with chic, sophisticated and amazingly new designs and see how each part looks.

This is ‘try before you buy’ in a way you have never seen before.

https://cdn.morguefile.com/imageData/public/files/s/smileyhaiku/11/l/141634499267yyk.jpg

http://www.freepik.com/free-photo/man-with-a-virtual-reality-glasses_927797.htm

It’s Almost Time to Book Your Designer If

  1. The plastering on the walls is done, and you need to start thinking about colours
  2. The flooring, painting and electrical work are next on your list
  3. People are talking about taking possession

Book Furdo For

Famous Architects and designers, who have the vision to understand your vision

Products sourced from the best of the best, with dazzling variety

Hassle-free implementation with a Project Manager who ensures quality furnishings, on-time delivery, with every detail taken care of.

Book a design consultation now for the personal attention that you and your home deserve.

 

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What is the Best Time to Start Looking for Interiors? (Rank Princess)

The time you choose to begin the interior design process can impact the outcomes of that process.

You don’t design your home every day. It’s vital that you give it time and get it right.

Why does timing matter?

You’re probably not going to fall in love with the first design you see. Getting the right design will be a long process, and you can’t rush it.

Make sure you and your team have enough time for the entire process

Our experience tells us that three months before the handover date is usually a good time for you to start looking for interior designers. AtFurdo we bring you designers who will walk you through the process for those three months and make sure you get you want.

Don’t rush into flooring and painting

Laminate, hardwood, tiles, carpet or bare – there are numerous flooring options that you can choose. But how do you decide which one?

The best way to choose floors is after the interior design is ready. Looking at the final design, you’ll have a much better idea of what kind of floors are going to look good and which aren’t.

Creating the buzz

At Furdo, we know how important interior designing is. If any of your friends or family members are looking for interiors, do tell them about Furdo and the importance of optimum timing.

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The Best of Jaipur Nightlife (Content Princess – SEO)

Jaipur is a small town tucked away in Rajasthan, the largest state of India, about 268 km south-west of New Delhi. It is known as the “Pink City” because of the prominent bright pink stucco architecture found throughout the town.

Let’s cover some amazing things that make the Jaipur Nightlife scene the best in India.

Chokhi Dhani – Get a Taste of the Village Life

Chokhi Dhani is a small village near the south-eastern border of Jaipur, founded by Maharaja Jai Singh II in 1722 and awarded India’s Most Innovative Tourism Project by the Ministry of Tourism.

This Chokhi Dhani Ethnic Resort, named after the village, has an on-site restaurant serving a traditional royal Indian cuisine in leaves and earthenware. They have a vegetarian friendly dinner menu and an all-you-can-eat buffet option. The dining area is open from 5pm to 11pm, costing ₹600 to ₹900 for adults and ₹350 to ₹650 for children.

Not just that, you also get to experience village life through participating in pottery making, meeting astrologers and enjoying bullock-cart rides and boat rides.

Puppet Shows Make the Jaipur Nightlife a Little More Fun!

The puppet performances are presented by the well-known “kathputli walas”, featuring ancient customary dances with small and large wooden dolls dressed in bright cultural clothing. Narrations are spoken by the female handler who performs theatrical Indian folk dance moves with the puppets as a drummer beats a dholak (loud drum) in the background. The folk epic, “Amar Singh Rathore of Nagaur”, is the most popular theme that people throng to see.

Many of the puppet shows are arranged at different stalls and stands in the Chokhi Dhani village and around Jaipur, but they usually happen spontaneously with no set date or time. Chokhi Dhani Indore Resort, Amber Palace, Jaigarh Fort, and any one of the 45 Heritage Hotels in Jaipur also organise them frequently.

Take the Fun Elephant Rides and Tour the City

Elephant rides are popular among tourists and cost only Rs.30 for about 30 minutes. You may opt for a tour at the Amber Palace, Elephant Joy or Dera Amer Elephant Safari. The ride at Amber Fort starts from the car park into the courtyard, and the Elephant Joy and Amer Elephant Safari take their rides into the foothills of the Aravali Range wilderness.

The Culture Shows Will Leave You Spell-Bound

Jaipur comes alive at night with the Alankar Musical Group hosting many interesting cultural events of customary folk dances such as Ghoomar and Kalbeliya, which consist of rapid body movements to the fast-rhythmic sounds of a beating drum. Visitors can enjoy fire-eating shows, puppet shows, magic shows, and live band performances. Take a look at this YouTube channel to know more.

Another important part of the Rajasthani culture is a Royal Rajasthani Dinner Thali. Several small bowls full of different types of food, including starters, curries, and rice are served in a large “thali” that you can enjoy at the 1135 AD Restaurant at the Amber Fort and the Virasat Restaurant near 22 Godam Circle.

In the past, this type of dinner was prepared exclusively for those with a royal bloodline.

There’s More for the Disco Enthusiasts

Jaipur is a major party city with many popular discos where people love to get

their groove on. If you want your party fix in Jaipur, below are the premier places to visit.

Duplay – This nightclub has a blue neon-lit interior inside the County Inn & Suites, with comfortable seating and a fully stocked bar, where many Bollywood stars make frequent appearances.

100{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616} Rock C Scheme – This fantastic lounge/disco serves wine cocktails mixed by the award-winning bartender for your enjoyment and a talented chef cooking up rice, lamb, and curries to perfection.

Blackout – This rooftop disco-restaurant serves cocktails in a dimly lit and cosy al fresco environment, while also having sports screenings. Bollywood stars make frequent appearances here and dance to the high-energy techno music.

A Jewelled Jaipur Nightlife with Sound and Lights at Amber Fort

The Sound & Light Show at Amber Fort costs only Rs.100 at 8:30 pm for locals and Rs.200 at 7:30 pm for foreigners.

The Light and Water Fountain show at the Jawahar Circle is a gem that has fountains dancing to folk music under multi-coloured lights, delivering an energetic element to the nightlife in Jaipur.

The Night Markets of Jaipur

If you want to feel the hustle-bustle of Jaipur, then visit some night markets, also known as “bazaars”. The lively energy will draw you in, as tuk-tuks carefully drive by and shopkeepers sell all types of things including clothing, food, cultural things, antiques, arts, crafts, jewellery, and carpets at midnight hours. Some of the best markets in Jaipur at night are Johari Bazaar and Nehru Bazaar.

A visit to this colourful cultural city and the experience of the nightlife in Jaipur Is worth every penny.

LSI Keywords: places to visit in Jaipur at night, Things to do in Jaipur At Night, Night life in Jaipur, Jaipur Night Life, Jaipur Night tour, What to do in Jaipur at night.

Sources:

http://www.jaipur-travel-guide.com/Jaipur-guide/jaipur-pink-city-reason-why.html

http://www.jaipur.org.uk/nightlife-jaipur.html

https://www.ixigo.com/chokhi-dhani-village-jaipur-india-opening-visiting-timing-hours-closed-days-ne-1300611

https://www.zomato.com/jaipur/chokhi-dhani-tonk-road

http://www.chokhidhani.com

http://www.chokhidhani.com/jaipur/village/entertainment.html

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g304555-d308546-Reviews-Chokhi_Dhani_Resort-Jaipur_Jaipur_District_Rajasthan.html

http://www.travelnonu.com/royal-nightlife-of-jaipur.html/

http://www.deramandawa.com/accommodation.php

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g304555-d3844824-r433859727-Janu_Private_Tours-Jaipur_Jaipur_District_Rajasthan.html

https://youtube.com/watch?v=7GYS8O0ygW4

http://alankarmusicalgroup.com/

https://youtube.com/user/alankarmusicalgroup?feature=mhee

https://www.makemytrip.com/travel-guide/jaipur/sound-and-light-show-theatre.html

https://youtube.com/watch?v=XUX81MC8XJo

https://youtube.com/watch?v=2Hsn30hmKeo

https://www.zomato.com/jaipur/100-rock-c-scheme

https://www.zomato.com/jaipur/blackout-c-scheme

http://traveltriangle.com/blog/shopping-places-in-jaipur/

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Simple but Effective: Five Quick Tips you’re missing from your Ideal Product Management Portfolio (Content Princess – SEO)

If you think that portfolios are just for graphic designers and photographers, you’ve got it all wrong. Your product management portfolio is a vital tool in obtaining that perfect role for what you’ve been searching. No need to panic! Improve your chances of an interview with these five core tips:

Love your data

Love your data, and your interviewer will love you. It’s a very simple formula, but it works. Anything you describe in your portfolio will be vastly strengthened by the data you collect. For example, if you took a product right from concept to launch and it made it to a million downloads your interviewer wants to know.

Even if the product you lead failed, is there data that you can pull concerning why it failed? The hard data in your portfolio should be blindingly obvious; from there, you can spin it however you like. It is that simple to make yourself sound impressive…

Hearing the customer’s voice

How are your ears? Can you hear that consumer crying out for your product? Did you do your consumer research and fill that gap in the market? Let’s hope so. If you can’t display that you’re completely in tune with your customer or user group’s needs, you can’t claim to have a complete portfolio.

Don’t worry if your user research examples seem terribly humble to you. To your interviewer, they may well show the much initiative they’ve been looking for. So gather all the examples you have of listening to and acting on the voice of your consumer, and you’ll whip that portfolio into shape in no time!

Get ‘touchy feely’

Don’t worry – we’re not suggesting anything inappropriate here. But engaging the interviewer with something tangible from design processes you have worked on can take your portfolio to a whole new level. For example, you could try bringing in some product prototypes or even wireframes.

Sometimes it is as simple as engaging your interviewer on a human level. We all remember the ‘show and tell’ tasks at school, and this strategy works on the same theory. You interact with what you touch on so many more levels than speech alone. The result will be an engagement with your interviewer which will leave him or her with a lasting impression of you.

Always remember the team

Whether you’re currently part of a team or can reference teams you’ve worked in in the past, your team engagement is a hugely important part of a product management portfolio.

As a product manager, you are aiming to be at the centre of a complex network of everyone from designers and researchers to sales teams and senior management. You are the mediator between this highly mobilised team and the customer. Make sure your interviewing panel knows you’re up to scratch.

Build a website

And finally, it may seem obvious, but there could not be a better way of collating and displaying your portfolio work than by building your site. Even the very process of this will demonstrate your proficiency with HTML and basic coding.

And if that seems beyond your capabilities at the moment, just use one of the great services out there like ‘About.me’ or ‘LinkedIn’ and you will still be able to build your project work up into an impressive portfolio very successfully. Just remember to incorporate all the tips included above when it comes to the structure.

So you’ve read this far, which must mean you’re really serious about getting that product management portfolio. All that’s left is to follow all the tips above and work them into your top-performing portfolio.

Remember to keep on following our blogs and apply for a place on our certification programme for expert training in all the fundamentals of product management.

KEYWORDS:

Product Management, product, consumer, user, portfolio, team, service, services, customer

SOURCES:

https://www.producttalk.org/2012/06/4-questions-i-always-ask-when-interviewing-product-managers/

https://www.producttalk.org/2012/08/to-portfolio-or-not-to-portfolio/

https://www.quora.com/Do-product-managers-have-portfolios-and-if-so-what-are-good-examples#

https://www.producttalk.org/2012/09/so-you-want-to-be-a-product-manager/

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