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July 2022

Finance

Why Brick And Mortar Stores Are Remaining Popular With Shoppers

There is a tendency for headlines to promote the idea that high streets are losing their place within cities and towns as customers begin prioritising online sales over brick and mortar experiences. However, while high street retailers have certainly become familiar with the challenges of changing demand, there is actually a substantial amount of evidence to suggest that brick and mortar retail remains not only popular among younger shoppers but also that it is growing too.

When investigating the retail preferences of Generation Z, over 80% of respondents confirmed they enjoy shopping in brick and mortar stores. Other studies demonstrate a similar fondness for the experience offered by physical stores over the distance of online retailers, and many believe that the value of the high street is now being celebrated as a result of the lockdowns with many customers seeking tangible and social experiences.

The effects of a pandemic on the nation’s high street are still being scrutinised with the transition into a post-pandemic society also bringing about its own changes. However, the idea that personal interaction has grown in popularity is very clear. Customers are returning to the high street to interact with retailers and products, having realised the value of the experience.

Retailers are capitalising on this by further emphasising the experience of retail, offering events alongside their products. These activities have a broad range, with examples like coffee tasting sessions at Nespresso stores to spa experiences at Lush being among the most popular.

In addition to experiential retail, shoppers are showing a greater preference for efficiency of purchase. This means that, when comparing online delivery options, which typically take one or two days, with the same-day pick-up options of click and collect, customers are choosing the more immediate option.

This is leading stores to dedicate retail space and services to click and collect operations, promoting same-day purchases on sign fittings, drawing in customers who would prefer to visit the high street if it means obtaining their chosen product more quickly.

Younger generations are also seeking out spaces that support social media activity, a need which is being met by retailers who are offering backdrops and products that can be photographed and shared online. This social media stylisation of retail stores, with an emblematic preference for brightly lit rooms, neon signs, and statement displays is drawing shoppers in who not only want to browse and purchase products but share the activity online too, drawing from a brand’s interior design to the benefit of their own profile.

Many business owners are also meeting the specific desires of younger generations too, filling window displays with designs that adhere to popular trends, as well as placing an emphasis on ethical purchases, such as carbon-neutral manufacturing and upcycled products. By doing so, retailers are establishing a personal relationship with their customers who are increasingly loyal to brands that they believe suit and support their personal image, both visually and ethically too.

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Business

Email automation for busy sales teams

Sales prospecting is avery time-consuming and effortful process – and by far the most important element of a sales cycle, especially in B2B. This is how you find and contact new prospects that you can later turn into promising sales opportunities.

And one of the crucial methods salespeople use to scale and streamline their prospecting efforts is email automation. Email automation allows you to send a sequence of these preset emails to potential customers or leads. In other words, you create a sequence of emails that are automatically sent out based on the set schedule.

Email automation tools like Reply allow you to do just that. As a result, you get to reach more people with less effort. Here’s how it all typically works in practice.

Using Reply, you can set up your sequence once and then let the system do all the scut work while you focus on more value-generating aspects of the process, like actual communication with the prospects. Plus, email automation allows you to send highly personalized messages that increase your chances of converting leads into customers.

To do that the system should get the required info about your potential customer This can be obtained from a number of sources either through automated scraping or manual research.

This data might include information like their name and email address. It might also include publicly available info, like their company website or Twitter handle. And finally, it might include more details from third-party sources, like their LinkedIn profile or Crunchbase listing.

Once you have this data on your prospect profiles, Reply will be able to use it to create a personalized message for each potential customer. This message is then sent automatically to each person on your list at the time you specify.

The goal of this type of email automation is to nurture leads down the sales funnel until they are ready to buy. You can also use email automation for prospecting – that is, reaching out to potential customers who don’t know who you are yet. Cold outreach is a great way to get started with email automation because you can automatically send a sequence of introductory emails that introduce yourself and your company.

The second use case for email automation in sales is to use an autoresponder, which is a software that automatically sends out the email replies using pre-determined templates. This typically includes out of office replies but can also be used for more complex scenarios.

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Business

Darren and Mike Believe in the Your Life, Your Rules Motto

A picture of two business owners celebrating the ‘Your Life, Your Rules’ motto from Darren and Mike Dream Team.

Online marketing mentors Darren and Mike decided to move away from the corporate world as many online business owners have in the past. After successfully running their businesses, they started making enough money to go out independently.

Part of their success was sticking by a motto they use for their Darren and Mike online business to this day. With the “Your Life, Your Rules” motto, they believe their platform can work for anyone looking to get started. Breaking down the process into sections makes it easy for newcomers to jump in and learn.

Start an Online Business

Starting an online business seems simple enough, but it’s a significant step towards success. Taking that first step to accomplishing set financial goals starts with beginning this journey.

It doesn’t take much effort to start an online business, but most people have a good idea about a name and the general theme. Even during this very early part of the process, a coach or mentor like Mike and Darren can assist. They help with business names, advice, paperwork, filings, and much more.

Find a Product That People Want to Buy

Millions of products exist that people sell to make money through traditional and online businesses. All it takes is finding a product or two to get started that sells well.

Researching this part of the business takes time, and having access to tools and knowing what to look for can be very beneficial. Working with a mentor can help cut down the more extended parts of the process.

There’s a good chance that out of the initial list of products to sell, only one or two might end up doing well. It’s essential to be realistic early on, as nothing is super simple when creating sustained success.

It’s a lot of trial and error, but once people get the chance to crunch numbers and research, they begin to realize what works for them. Mike and Darren have been through the process; they know what works and doesn’t, making the perfect Darren and Mike Dream Team.

Learn How to Analyze and Improve Online Traffic

Understanding how to analyze online traffic and improve an online business is crucial. A company might have the best product in the world, but it’s still hard to find without proper online traffic.

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed with analyzing and figuring out ways to increase online traffic. Online business mentors who can do their job know precisely how to handle it.

Build and Monetize a Lead List

Finding a way to monetize as an online business is what puts many entrepreneurs over the top. A lead list will provide those opportunities, but it’s all a matter of maximizing that lead list.

Like anything worth doing, it takes time to build up a valuable lead list. Once an entrepreneur can do that, they can use it to make several different types of sales.

Like many other online businesses, Mike and Darren’s digital business was built through monetization. They have the expertise and experience to help new entrepreneurs grow and monetize their companies.

Access Sales Tools and Systems Needed

A picture of two business owners celebrating the ‘Your Life, Your Rules’ motto from Darren and Mike Dream Team on a business video call

 

A wealth of sales tools and systems are available for anyone running an online business. Most of them are either free or very inexpensive. This helps keep costs down while also more efficiently analyzing the business.

Darren and Mike do a great job of helping make sense of the sales tools and systems. Instead of wasting time trying to find out what is the best, they already have a great starting point.

Pick the Amount of Time Spent on Running a Business

Some people come to the Darren and Mike online business mentoring website to learn how to run a business on the side. Others want to make this a full-time job. Whatever the case is, the amount of effort put into it usually determines how much revenue comes in.

It’s outstanding for people to love what they currently do. They might want to make a little extra money, so running an online business on the side makes sense. There are only so many hours in the day, so keeping it a part-time job can help.

Those wishing to dive in full-time can do so. Darren and Mike helping make changes depending on each client. Working directly with clients allows the duo to make intelligent decisions with advice. The longer entrepreneurs work with them, the better their understanding of expectations.

Dictate Living Terms

The beauty of running an online business is that every entrepreneur can do things on their terms. This can be for better or worse, but with the right coaching, it usually turns out for the better.

Mike and Darren detail what a person might wish to do to get to their goals. One of the many benefits of working with such a small and dedicated dream team is the ability to customize depending on a person’s goals.

Why Running an Online Business Makes Sense

Ultimately, there are numerous advantages to running an online business. Whether you’re looking for the flexibility to make your own schedule or feeling the freedom of not having a boss, it entices more and more people each year.

Darren and Mike’s Dream Team is built on hard work and determination to help clients build the life and business of their dreams. They know that for many people, a little bit of early coaching can put them on such a different path.

The duo has spent a long time perfecting tips and suggestions for those aspiring to reach realistic online business goals. Even if it’s just some little assistance to get everything moving positively, Darren and Mike are there to assist.

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Business

The benefits of outsourcing the company’s P2P and S2P

Despite what you may think, outsourcing can be very profitable for a company. A lot of big companies already outsource the P2P and S2P. In this article we will explain what P2P and S2P is and what the benefits of outsourcing P2P and S2P is.

P2P and P2C

P2P (Procure-to-Pay) and S2P (Source-to-Pay) are parts of the procurement process which often are outsourced. The procurement process has different phases. First the company specifies their needs, secondly the company ask for multiple quotes. This called tendering. After receiving the quotes, the company selects the best suppliers and place and order at the best supplier with the best conditions. After the order is placed, the order will be shipped and delivered. Monitoring this process is called tracing. Once the order is delivered, the invoice has to be paid for completing the procurement process.

For goods and services which are important for the core activities of the company, the company keeps the responsibility for this whole process. For goods and services which not directly influence the core activities of the company, it’s often outsourced.

Direct procurement and indirect procurement

The procurement of goods and services which are important for the company core activities, is called direct procurement. For example, for a company like Phillips, who produce medical equipment, micro-chips are important for the production of the medical equipment. These micro-chips are often ordered at suppliers are therefore important for the core activities of the company. That’s why the procurement of a company as Phillips orders those micro-chips themselves.

Indirect procurement is most of the time not that high on the agenda. Indirect procurement is the procurement of goods which are not directly important for the core activities of a company. Office supplies are good examples of indirect procurements. Every company needs them, but it won’t directly harm your production. Therefore, the importance of indirect procurement is often neglected. Most of the time the suppliers of indirect goods are so-called c-suppliers. C-suppliers are suppliers where you only order once and probably not order frequently. These c-suppliers are very time-consuming and therefor expensive. For each single supplier, you’ll receive a different invoice with different payment terms and conditions. Controlling the invoices and paying the suppliers according their terms. The supplier base consists for the most part of those c-suppliers.

Outsourcing the indirect procurement

Indirect procurement is a hidden treasure, there is a lot of savings possible with indirect procurement. By outsourcing the indirect procurement a company can save up to 21% on the internal costs. Instead of invoices from every c-supplier, you will receive one total invoice from one point of contact. This will reduce your supplier base up to 80%. And you don’t have to monitor, control and pay all those different invoices anymore, but just have to control one total invoice.

P2P

With outsourcing P2P a company still controls the tendering and selecting process. So, you are sure the order will be placed at a suppliers u want. The ordering, trace, deliver and payment is outsourced. 

S2P

With outsourcing S2P, you’ll outsource the selecting and tendering too. By outsourcing these phases, you are assured you’ll get the best products for the best prices. Outsourcing can save up to 21% on internal costs. 

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Business

Forbrukslån – Steps To Do When Taking Out Personal Loans

When we are running out of cash, the first thing that can think of is to borrow money from our friends or relatives but the problem is, the people we are counting do not always have extra money and most of them are also in the same situation just like us. We know very well that they would love to spare us some help and it hurts them not to grant our small request but life must go on so instead of knocking at someone’s door, we better look for a lender. Pretty sure that we can find consumer loans with low-interest rates so take some of your time to compare different lending companies.

If you are going to search online, then you’ll find their reviews as well as a comparison but sometimes, the details are not updated so it is still better to visit the lending company or ask for estimates which can be done through phone calls, e-mails, or loan calculators available on their website. Anyway, after choosing a reputable creditor with the best offer, you can start preparing your requirements to be ready for a personal loan application. By the way, you can also visit forbrukslånlavrente.com/ if you would like to find out ways how you can get low-interest offers online.

As a borrower, you have to learn how to explore all your options so that you can reach your goal which is to get the best personal loans that suit your financial needs and preferences. This means that you won’t only stick to the first lending firm that will come out as you make your research because they might be others with the most affordable rates. Anyway, it would be best if you can have ideas on how you are going to take out consumer loans either secured or unsecured types so you should be aware of what steps must be done before sending your formal request.

Personal Loans

Many of us have financial needs that could be for emergencies, projects, school fees, debt consolidation, or other expenditures and we can find solutions to these through a personal loan. These debts are usually unsecured which means that collaterals are not necessary so it would be easier to prepare requirements when they need only a few documents. These are usually offered by any lending company, bank, or credit union and borrowers can easily get access to them because they are available online, too.

Borrowers are given options, depending on their expenditures so we can take out this debt and spend the money on anything because there is no specific item set for these funds. We can think of any purpose because these fundings are for all sorts of expenditures so I suggest you be clear on your reason for borrowing and make sure it would be beneficial to you. Anyway, just make sure to choose the right lending firm and prepare all documents to avoid delays in your application.

Run the Numbers

Since these debts are unsecured, the lender would be at a higher risk so don’t be surprised if they will doubt your creditworthiness. They may have to perform a soft inquiry and this is the reason why most of them take time when it comes to request approvals. Of course, they just wanted to make sure that you will pay the loaned amount since that would be their loss if you go default on this.

As borrowers, be realistic with the amount that you are borrowing so make sure that you can pay it back. Don’t request a large sum when you know that it would be difficult to repay because you will also repay the interest rate and other charges as well. It would be great if you can find out what fees they are collecting because there should not be hidden charges.

Try using personal loan calculators from their websites so that you can get an estimate of how much you will be paying every month. This will help you figure out if the cost of this debt is affordable. And then, through this calculator, you will also have an idea of what amount you should only be taking out so that you can still save money or have some for other obligations.

Know your Credit Score

I supposed you know that credit scores are very important in any type of loan that you would like to apply for so make sure that you will find a lender that accepts your rating. Some of them are lax with this, while others are strict with such requirements and set high standards to make sure that the borrower will repay the loaned amount. Well, we cannot question that policy because many borrowers go default and that is what they are trying to avoid so we should understand if they can grant our requests because of our low ratings.

The lenders will be running a credit check so it could be a soft or hard inquiry. So make sure to know your rating so that you will also have an idea if you can meet the requirements of the lender. If you cannot comply because of this score, then you better look for another creditor and other alternatives to produce funds.

But do not forget that it is better to have a good rating. In this way, you’ll have more chances of getting approved for your request. If there are issues or when the rating is low, then fix the issues and improve your rating.

Weigh your Options

A creditworthy borrower will have more options to consider and can avail of better terms as well. But do not be disappointed when your ratings are not accepted because most of these lenders will still give you a chance but you must have a co-signer. That is the only condition they can give you so make sure that the co-signer has a good credit score because his credit history will be reviewed, too.

If you cannot find financing institutions that allow a co-signer when applying for unsecured loans, then shift to the secured ones. However, you will need collateral and other documents because secured loans have more requirements to prepare. Again, this collateral can be seized when you go default so be very sure to repay on or before your due date, they may give you a grace period but you’ll have to pay late fees and other charges.

It will be a good idea to widen your research so don’t only consider looking for creditors, offers, requirements, interest rates, fees, and credit scores through comparison. Sometimes, you can have better options if you have a goal so your choices will depend on this.

Choose the Type of Loan

Some types of loans can be used for definite purposes, while others are not specific so you are free to use this fund for whatever you want to. It would be great to get a flexible term because even if we have basic needs, we also have exclusive expenses, too. So we cannot say that we will also make a request just like what your friend did because you will be using the funds differently.

Most of the loans we can apply for include debt consolidations, refinancing, emergency, medical, home improvement, and weddings to name a few. So what you will do here is to find lenders with these offers and then, to narrow down your option, you can compare the rates. Prepare the documents required and send the application, then wait for the approval because you’ll be notified if you are qualified and when you can expect the money.

Keep in mind that when choosing the type of loan, you have to consider your goal or your purpose. Stick with the plan and don’t make sudden changes. In this way, you won’t mess up your budget plan.

Shop for Rates

Always remember that interest rates vary and will depend on the type of loan or policies of the financial institution. You need to shop for the best and most affordable ones because not all creditors apply the same rates. Some of them have lower, while others have higher interest rates, especially when this is an unsecured type.

Take your time and do not be in a rush because you need to compare the rates so that you can have choices. Always remember that the first offer you find should not be your only or last option. These lending companies offer competitive rates so pretty sure that you can always have choices.

Borrowers who don’t shop around usually end up with higher rates. They can only find out that there are lower once when it is already late. Remember that this will be the cost of the amount that you are going to borrow so you have to be wise and practical as well.

Choose a Creditor

If you did your homework well, then you can surely land on the right firm. Once you confirmed that they have a good reputation and you can depend on, then be prepared. Send your request online or visit their office so that they can start processing this.

Do not forget that they are going to discuss the policies of the company. They may even give you more affordable options before they validate your paper. Take some time to ask questions, too, when there are things that you don’t understand because they are willing to answer all inquiries.

When you visit them, you may also try to negotiate with the representative. If you are lucky enough, then they may even give you better terms and conditions. Don’t forget that as a consumer, you have the right to demand what would be beneficial to you because they do business here and they earn from the interest you pay.

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