business advice Archives - Page 4 of 13

What’s the best time for marketing calls?

Admin 1st November 2017

Telemarketing can be an extremely efficient way to increase sales, but it is a method that comes with a whole host of its own, specific challenges. Unlike with things like print ads, generally emails, and even text messages, timing is absolutely crucial. With other techniques, people can come to your content as and when they are looking for it: when they open a newspaper, switch on the TV or the radio, scroll through their Twitter feeds, or check their phones. But when you’re placing a phone call, you have to have some level of confidence that there will be somebody at the other end of the line with the ability, willingness, and time to answer the phone and have a conversation at that moment. Telemarketing also comes with its own laws, and businesses who choose to ignore or flout these regulations put themselves at risk of incurring fines of £500,000 from Ofcom and the Information Commissioner’s Office, telemarketing’s regulating bodies. Make sure you know the telemarketing rules, and avoid fines.

Business Conference Calls, Business Tips and Advice, Conference Call Tips, Remote Working, WHYPAY? Features

Common conference call mistakes to avoid

Admin 31st May 2017

Conference calls remain one of the most popular and most powerful communication tools available, and their place as a staple part of most businesses’ communications has been largely unchallenged. A big part of this is doubtless the ease of accessibility which they provide. You don’t need WiFi, you don’t need a camera or any other specialist technology, you don’t even need to be in any specific location – all you need is a telephone, be it landline or handheld. But what you do need is to avoid common conference call mistakes!

Business Conference Calls, Business Tips and Advice, Conference Call Tips, Learn About Conference Calling, WHYPAY? Features

What is an SMS shortcode?

Admin 28th September 2016

A shortcode works like a regular telephone number, but it has one characteristic which makes it really special – its length. Shortcodes, as their name suggest, are shorter than most telephone numbers as they are made up of only 5-6 digits. The value of this is that it’s really easy for your customers, and prospective customers, to remember the number and get in touch with you.

Typically, businesses use shortcodes as a means of allowing customers to opt-in to their SMS marketing or feedback campaigns.

Business Tips and Advice

Free internal communication tool: get talking with Slack

Admin 26th February 2016

At WHYPAY? we believe that effective business tools shouldn’t cost the Earth, which is why we set out to make the best free conferencing service out there. This got us thinking: if you can get conference calls for no cost, what other great services can you get for free? That is why we have scoured the web to find the best free services to help your business and to bring them to you weekly.

In this edition business communication is in the spotlight with the hugely successful conversation tool, Slack.

Business Tips and Advice, Freemium Software, Not Just for Business

Are people bored of tech?

Admin 22nd February 2016

A survey conducted by Accenture has yielded some pretty concerning results for the wellbeing of the technology industry. 28,000 consumers in 28 different countries were asked about their intentions and expectations regarding technology in the coming year, and the general impression seems to be one of disappointment, disillusion, and a lack of enthusiasm.

Less than half of all the respondents reported any intention to purchase a smartphone in the next year, dropping from 54% last year to 48% this year. Accenture has been conducting this survey for almost a decade, and this marks the very first time that any drop in the number of people intending to buy a smartphone has been found.

Business Tips and Advice, Not Just for Business

Free online chat tools with LivePerson

Admin 19th February 2016

At WHYPAY? we believe that effective business tools shouldn’t cost the Earth, which is why we set out to make the best free conferencing service out there. This got us thinking: if you can get conference calls for no cost, what other great services can you get for free? That’s why we’ve scoured the web to find the best free services to help your business and to bring them to you weekly.

This week we look at how you could add another string to your customer service bow with online chat tool LivePerson.

Business Tips and Advice, Freemium Software, Not Just for Business

Free social media management: Look after your customers with Hootsuite

Admin 12th February 2016

Social Media can be one of the best tools for spreading knowledge of your brand. A single post that goes viral could suddenly mean your company name is on the lips of millions of potential customers. However, a poorly managed channel can be a thorn in your virtual side.

The benefits of social media

Having a social media presence grants your company a number of benefits that may not be evident straight away. These include;

- Audience reach – By growing our audience, social media gives you the potential to reach a vast amount of people for potentially minimal expense. With users generally in the hundreds of millions, no other channel has this kind of coverage.

Business Tips and Advice, Freemium Software

How to avoid death by PowerPoint

Admin 1st February 2016

PowerPoint presentations have become a staple of everyday office life, with the programme – or similar software – being fired up almost every time anybody has to present to colleagues, bosses, investors, and so on. While there are undoubtedly brilliant reasons why this type of presentation gets so much use, in many cases it has become a worn-out, monotonous, unhelpful chore which fills most of us with dread as the ‘View Slide Show’ button is hit. So what can you do to avoid inflicting this same horrifying tedium on your audience?

Business Tips and Advice, Not Just for Business

Free project management: Organise your working life with Trello

Admin 29th January 2016

At WHYPAY? we believe that effective business tools shouldn’t cost the Earth, which is why we set out to make the best free conferencing service out there. This got us thinking: if you can get conference calls for no cost, what other great services can you get for free? That is why we have scoured the web to find the best free services to help your business and to bring them to you weekly.

This week we look at a very visual way of organising your work with Trello.

Visual organisation

Trello was originally created by Fog Creek software back in 2011 as a solution to high level planning issues. Officially released at TechCrunch Disrupt in September of the same year it had already amassed 500,000 users by the following summer and had created one adorable husky spokes hound. Now split into its own company, Trello, Inc, has grown from strength to strength and recently hit the 10m user landmark.

Business Tips and Advice, Freemium Software

What does expanding Twitter to 10k characters mean to businesses?

Admin 25th January 2016

Rumours are quickly spreading that in the next couple of months, Twitter will be increasing its character limit from 140 to almost 100 times that, with 10,000 seeming the likeliest figure – that is what the limit for Direct Messages was raised to, after all. Many of Twitter’s committed users were far from overjoyed by the news, but is their reaction justified? And how different are the consequences for personal accounts, compared with those representing businesses?

For many, it seems to be a step closer to Facebook, meaning perhaps that social media strategies will change, and become less diverse. There would be a greater allowance for the longer essays which tend to find their place on Facebook, or blogs, replacing the sharp, witty, eye-catching lines that Twitter called for.

Are our social networks converging?

Of course, this suggests perhaps a lack of concern with the desires of regular Twitter users, which could result in more users following through with their threats to leave the social network. This could be a reason for businesses to worry that much of their target audience will suddenly fall out of their reach, impacting on the success of their marketing and the spread of their brand. But in reality, the results may be quite the opposite.

Business Tips and Advice, Not Just for Business