With 2020’s challenges now behind us, it’s a great time to reflect on the lessons learnt and set new resolutions.
Here is a look back at some of our most-read posts from 2020.
1. Gearing your digitisation efforts towards your consumers
Whatever products or services your company provides, any digitisation efforts should be directed towards addressing the needs of your consumers. Keeping this in mind is more crucial than ever, considering how the Internet of Things (IoT) is developing rapidly in Australia.
- By 2022, there will be around 47 million smart devices in Australian homes, according to Ovum.
- By the end of 2020, two-thirds of the CEO’s of global 2,000 companies will shift their focus from traditional, offline strategies to more modern digital strategies to improve the customer experience.
2. How partners can help customers maximise a modern workplace
78% of Australian office workers believe remote working is likely to become a new normal even after the country emerges from the grip of COVID-19. Driven by a need to foster collaboration irrespective of location, businesses are accelerating efforts to build out a new-look remote workforce strategy, underpinned by technology.
- Industry experts identify two main business responses to the pandemic; a mad rush and measured response.
- Although many of the roadblocks for businesses remain the same, there is still a long way to go in realising fully optimised digital workplaces and enablement.
- 350,000 variants of phishing and malware per day – security is mandatory and a fundamental base line for every remote worker.
3. Unlocking edutech potential with 6 top trends
Enterprise IT spending in the education sectors is expected to accelerate by 2021 following a bounce-back across all Australian industry sectors.
According to Gartner research, this sector has been one of the most resilient this year, attributed to increased investments in laptops, tablets, communication and collaboration technologies for online learning.
To keep up with the breakneck speed of technology, edutech service providers have the responsibility to reshape their strategies to meet the growing demands of students, educators, guardians and employees.
Six trends that will continue to develop as schools around the nation steadily move beyond traditional IT infrastructure and devices.
- Hybrid learning
- Accessibility and inclusivity
- Collaborative learning
- AI and data analytics
- Skills development
- Wellness technology
4. The evolving state of security: What’s next for MSPs?
With the market focusing on remote working and learning, security and trust and business continuity and resiliency, this is creating a ripple effect in the supply chain for key service areas that MSPs need to build out into their offerings.
From top tier established MSPs to startups, there has been a focus on the consolidated and integrated approach of MSPs and managed services security providers (MSSPs).
The single largest cyber threat is human error. While the MSP framework focuses on an organisation’s specialised IT operations and key business leaders, the added intelligence analytics of security solutions through MSSPs assists a range of areas in an organisation from HR and sales to marketing and legal, helping them understand and incorporate security practices beyond one dimension.
- 60% of Australian businesses have accelerated their digital transformation goals by at least five years.
- 50% of spending will go into managed security services.
- The annual cost of a security breach is A$3.35 million, which is rising at a 10% rate YOY with close to 60 thousand cyber crime reports in Australia.
5. Rethink your customer experience strategy
As a service provider, helping your customers evolve in this complex and competitive market is vital. But success for your business doesn’t always mean offering the lowest price.
In a post-pandemic world, customers are looking for reliability. They want to trust the brands they choose – they cannot afford to take financial risks, however small they are.
In today’s scenario, how can you manage customer satisfaction throughout the entire customer journey while increasing revenue streams?
- Start within your business
- Hone in on your CX strategy
- Be and feel more human
- Deliver data backed support
6. How to keep selling during a crisis
Right now, SMBs are faced with the challenge of how to keep selling during a crisis.
The situation we are currently in makes it even more critical now to use a modern sales approach, listen more intently and digitise as much as possible.
When HubSpot was a small startup, former Chief Revenue Officer of HubSpot’s Sales Division, Mark Roberge said with a modern salesforce, “it’s no longer about interrupting, pitching, and closing. It is about listening, diagnosing, and prescribing”.
That very much is the case now.
- Take the modern sales approach
- Listen
- Go digital
7. 3 tips to leverage finance in a deal
Sales representatives across the channel use different sales techniques to close a deal.
After all, if you’re selling a solution to a corporation you’ll need to approach your prospect in an entirely different way from others who sell into mid-tier and SMB’s.
But still, the value of including finance in a deal remains the same regardless of your product type and customer base.
- Bring up finance early in the sales process
- Include the monthly payment amount in the quote
- Use the monthly amount to increase the overall deal size
We would love to hear your favourite posts from 2020. Share them with us on Twitter.
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