We are pleased to work with Ramon Ray, CEO and editor of SmallBizTechnology.com, journalist, and technology evangelist, to bring you new Small Biz tips. Each Wednesday, they’ll be sharing videos and articles featuring hot topics, products and trends in small business. Click through to the story today to learn about using QR codes to engage customers, improving productivity with better infrastructure, and working in harmony with your virtual employees.
Small Businesses Using QR Codes to Engage Customers
Mobile marketing for small businesses has found a new method. Called a Quick Response Code, or QR Code, it is already a rage in Japan and fast spreading across China and India. Heralded as the new generation technology for web content search, accessing is very simple, easy to deploy, accessible technology and impressive ROI.
How Will QR Codes Engage your Customers?
QR code apps are already available for Androids, Blackberry and other leading mobile platforms while some mobile manufacturers are offering native QR code reading software for mobile camera phones. The barcode is essentially a two dimensional matrix of black modules arranged within a square framework with white background and can contain your businesses URL, discounts, promotions as text, images or embedded features. QR codes can bring offline customers online and more…
Improving Productivity with an Integrated Communication Infrastructure
According to Microsoft Research, it is estimated that most SMBs have 10-20% of wasted time in their work week due to lack of efficient business processes and a poor communications infrastructure. Hosted Unified Communications (UC) solution provider, Alteva believes that many businesses today do not have a realistic understanding of the impact that time waste and poor productivity has on an organization.
“The biggest disconnect is that current communication systems are separate systems,” said Louis Hayner, Chief Sales Officer of Alteva. Hayner said that as employees begin to work from anywhere, not just one central office location, an integrated communication infrastructure allows a business to discern a person’s availability and communicate with that person through their preferred communication method.
In the end, it’s about creating efficiency and there are many different drivers when it comes to improving workplace productivity.
Working in Harmony with Your Virtual Employees
According to research from the Telework Research Network, 20 to 30 million people currently work from home at least one day a week. Another 15 to 20 million are road warriors / mobile workers. An additional 10 to 15 million are home businesses, while another 15 to 20 million work at home part time. Maybe one or two of these millions of people do work for your small business. Maybe your entire staff works outside the office.
Either way, harmony needs to be maintained between you and each telecommuters in order to ensure that these folks are comfortable with doing their work and productive enough to do it well and on deadline.