The current business landscape presents many challenges. However, amidst the economic uncertainty, SMEs can seize the opportunity to emerge stronger than ever by focusing on their customer experience strategy. According to Salesforce, 66% of customers have stopped buying from a company whose values didn’t align with theirs — up from 62% in 2020. To ensure the growth and success of SMEs, prioritising customer service needs to be of great importance. So how can business leaders change organisational practices to be more customer-centric? Damian Hanson, Co-Founder & Director of CircleLoop provides some insight. Where to start? Excellent customer service means ensuring all customer…
Author: sme-admin
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are the backbone of the UK economy. They account for 99% of all businesses in the region and provide 61% of total employment. Despite promising post-pandemic recovery levels, SMEs are continuing to struggle with cash flow issues and conversion cycles, limiting the ability to drive the next phase of their growth. And this is where their ability to embrace and integrate digital technologies becomes even more important. So, what exactly are SMEs looking for when they turn to technology partners? Simplicity Every second counts for SMEs. As business owners, they are always looking for ways that…
Vicki Taylor, Director of Debt Finance at Growth Lending, provides SMEToday’s readers with a breakdown of the cash flow issues currently gripping SMEs in the UK and the alternative funding streams available to them away from the world of traditional lending. SMEs are struggling to stay afloat, let alone thrive, in a post-lockdown economy plagued by inflation woes and geopolitical instability. Amid such a turbulent time for UK businesses, cash flow is more important than ever. But cash flow continues to be a source of frustration for SMEs in sectors across the UK, and many are unaware of the alternative…
Quiet quitting, a phrase which emerged on social media last year, refers to the act of showing up to work with the intention of doing no more than what is required in your job description. It has been an ongoing problem for years. However, by labelling it as quiet quitting, it has been brought to the forefront of business leaders’ minds as they continue to battle a strange and evolving talent pool. In fact, 80% of small business leaders say they are still experiencing issues with recruitment and staff retention. Some SME leaders may see that higher wellbeing and lower engagement threatens their own success as they continue…
Simply put, a sales process (a *good* sales process) increases the velocity of deals flowing from “prospect” and “potential lead” through to “pitch” and “close”. Moreover, a sales process that Sales Leaders can properly monitor will ultimately result in more deals closing! So, if you are asking, “Is implementing a good sales process in my organization worth the effort?”, the answer is: Absolutely. Know that once you’ve ironed out the best sales process for your team, your rep’s activities and results can be measured, tracked, and put to work. Know too, that having Leading Indicators of Sales Performancebaked into your…
Professor Dr Wolfgang Merkle, Professor of Marketing & Management at the University of Europe for Applied Sciences, provides SMEToday readers a perspective on the importance of Holistic marketing and how marketing needs to develop a new thrust and contribute to a successful entrepreneurial presence. Every era claims to be even more demanding than the previous phase. When assessing current challenges, however, there is much to suggest that the current marketing environment is much more tense than in the past. This is because companies and their marketing are currently being challenged from five different directions at the same time: From a socio-political perspective, both the…
85% of UK consumers believe that brands should cut marketing spend and reduce profits to combat the cost-of-living crisis. In response to this, leading programmatic advertising and data solutions expert Crimtan is highlighting the best way to optimise marketing spend and help brands predict future outcomes, using a ‘Total Media Attribution’ (TMA) approach. Developed over the last 5 years, it reads non-personal digital signals to understand what drives performance in real-time, allowing brands to target the correct audiences, and ensure businesses outperform on return on investment by predicting outcomes and recommending the best use of marketing budget. Accurate marketing attribution should be a…
Sabrina Loi, Chief Design Officer at Creditspring shares her thoughts on ‘Embracing Equity’ and building financial products that create more inclusive access to credit As the first employee of Creditspring, I found the challenge of building a product from scratch that would transform the lives of people struggling with their finances to be too good to miss. Our priority from the very start was to build a product that would have a real and lasting impact on people across the UK who were facing financial difficulties and needed to access credit quickly and safely without the risk of falling into…
Julianne Ponan MBE, CEO of allergy-free brand Creative Nature, will talk about the importance of catering for people with allergies at a key food industry event this month. The International Food and Drink Event (IFE23) takes place from 20-22 March, at ExCel in London. It is one of the leading events in the UK food and drink calendar attracting around 25,000 food and drink professionals. They come together to sample new products, make lasting business connections and find suppliers they hope will give their business a competitive edge. Attendees at the event will be able to take in the latest innovations…
I’m really unapologetic in my conviction about the value of natural healing. Why? Well, quite frankly, I would either be diseased or deceased without it. Sounds strong, but it really is that serious! Intelligent Healing has helped hundreds of people and this article is all about how. What’s it all about? Let me illustrate. A woman bound by invisible rope is now struggling to get free. She feels pain and has marks on her arms and waist. She is distressed, sweating and has tense muscles. How can she be helped? We could give her medication to relax her muscles and relieve…