Every year thousands of students graduate without a clue of how to find your perfect job, even though, only a desired job would provide satisfaction. Young students have no idea which path they should pursue to get the job they want and keep making bad decisions about their work-life choices.
Do not be afraid anymore, this article is here to help. This is a list of points that need to be considered how to find your perfect job. Read on to find out:
Job Hunting Should Be a Job
Job hunting should become a full-time job. Take time to format the resume, making it attractive and appealing. Make sure to have a proper schedule to attend to all these aspects. To find your perfect Job also, improve vocabulary and communication skills as that would make a positive difference and bring you nearer to achieving your goal.
Social Media Groups
Make sure to be perfectly aware of all the aspects of the companies in the wish list and have regular updates by following the company’s social media profiles. Also, make use of LinkedIn to enhance job search and get connected to recruiters as some companies reach out to people in LinkedIn before you start to find your perfect Job. Make a portfolio that stands out and upload it on social media networks that promote employment.
Research about the Company
Before applying for any job make sure to know about the company, the profile and the position being applied for. However, this is possible only through research. Also, take a look at the company profile, history and client’s feedback that will definitely help to get a clear idea of the company’s work ethics. Take out time and do a thorough research of the company to avoid any difficulties in the future.
Research about the company
Enhance Your Confidence
Education and experience are not the only tools to build up confidence, practicing is necessary. Enhance your skills by doing internships and creating blogs to let the talent and skill sets be known to the world. Doing this would make it more probable for the desired company to hire you. Also, have a good reputation at the current workplace so that job opportunities may keep coming life long, as all companies desire individuals who can deliver exceptionally great results. Work hard to make yourself fit for the company. Good companies will hire the person who can easily adapt to their environment and is able to work in all kinds of conditions.
Take note of mistakes made in previous interviews and work on their improvement for the next time. However, if there are no opportunities, do not be disheartened. Research the company you wish to work for, pursue their website and blog for some useful hints and interview questions and make your own opportunity. Ask others about their interview experiences because it will help in getting an idea of what to expect.
The Most important point to be considered is that monetary benefits are not as important as career growth. While you start to find your perfect job which will be satisfactory always focus on the factors that would help in career enhancement rather than the salary. If that work comes naturally to you, then there will not be any negative vibes and stress. Keeping the above points in mind along with this would always ensure success. Share your thoughts on the comments.
The first day of your job can be anxious and memorable. Sometimes, it can tend to be challenging since you don’t understand the policies and procedures of the organization/company. Organizations have their own stipulated goals. During the job interview, you proved you can help the company to achieve those goals so their expectation in terms of work delivery is very high. They also want you to mix with the team and know them at the same show professionalism. Here are some of the tips that you can use to make a good impression on first day of job.
Report early
Report working on time. This gives you ample time to familiarize yourself with the organization, interact with people as they come in and avoid confusion. It also removes unnecessary fears and tension.
The first day of your job, you expect induction to be done. In as much as more will be on listening part, it is always important to write down the questions that you might have. You need to control yourself so you don’t ask so many questions.
Mingle as much as possible
During your first job, sometimes staff might decide to offer you lunch. Take up the offer and join them. This shows you are part of their team. It will also be an opportunity for you to know the surrounding.
Listen as well observe more
Mindset
The first day of your job is to do more of observing and listening. Associate and interact with everyone maximum. This is the only opportunity to hear what are the set goals and objectives of the company. Understand the projects and priorities for the job as deadlines have to be met. Take many notes as possible as this will help you in planning for your work.
Every time and everywhere there is a new kid on the block, people are curious to know their background in terms of your previous employer, your interest, the capacity you have come to the organization. Others also would also want to crack jokes with you. Take it easy as this is part of the process.
In an organization, it is not obvious that everybody who hangs around you will be your friend. If you want to succeed in your career, you need to identify the right people to associate and accompany you. Politics are always there. There are those who will even feel you did not deserve to get that job.
Put a smile
Put a Smile
In order to get work done, you will be required to move around into various departments meeting different people. Putting a smile on your face and shaking people’s hands can make your work easier. People can judge the kind of person you are and would always like to associate with you.
Don’t please people
Some people are always out there to mess other people’s lives and put you into problems. You need to grasp organization policies and procedures as soon as possible. For example, if you came at a certain authoritative position, they can make you sign documents aimlessly and put you into trouble.
Decision making in an organization is very key. Understand all the processes involved in making decisions at all levels. You need to understand what kind of decision is needed to be made where and what are the reporting procedures.
Show energy
Be assured that everybody will be looking at your performance. During your first days, you need to put an extra effort. Remember no one who has ever assessed your skills and competency. Let people in the organization know that you are a reliable person.
Do you think that you are working more for the price you are being paid? Do you see other people in your work stream getting more money than you? Well, then it might be a time to ask for raise. If you have been a good employee, chances are that you will Get a Raise in Your Job pretty quickly. But these are some tips to Get a Raise at Your Job.
Have a strong case
The biggest mistake you will do is to tell your boss that people in the other companies doing the same work as you are getting paid more than you. Believe me, you will not get a Raise in Your Job and also the boss might tell you to go work for these people only. Every company has a different pay standard. What you can do instead is that you can tell them about the work you are doing and that you have done. Tell them how you have been benefiting the company and how much work you are putting in. Just try not to sound arrogant. Arrogance will take you now hear. Also, you need to tell them what you plan to do I’m the future if you get this raise. How will your work become better and help the company? If they are still. My satisfied then you can look for other jobs paying you. Better.
Research and know the exact number
Research – How to get raise in your job
This might sound a little obvious but this is very important to Get a Raise in Your Job. Do not ask for an unrealistic amount of raise, this will not only get your request cancelled but will also make you look bad in front of your boss. So do some research and come out with the exact amount you want as a raise. Check your companies’ policies on giving raise. If your company has a policy of 5% then you might ask for 10% so that you have the space to negotiate. But increasing tip a whopping 50% would be totally wrong.
Timing matters a lot when putting a raise request. You need to find a suitable time to bring this up. If your company has had a loss period or the work pressure is extremely high, this is not the time to ask for a raise. If you do then you will get rejected. Ask for a raise when the time is right. After a review session or after a profitable quarter.
Do not complain
It’s a rat race outside and people are dying to get your job. So telling your boss that you have been doing so much work or you are handling two people’s jobs is going to tick him off. Also, do not complain about how things like you have not got a raise in a long time and you want it now. Complaining can stick your employer off and you might not get a raise.
This might sound a little weird but let me explain. If you quote the number first it might look rude. So let your employees tell you how much raise they want to give you. This number might even be bigger than you had quoted, so this might turn profitable to you. But generally, your boss will give you the lowest number possible and you can give him the highest number possible so you have the chance to negotiate.
Personal and professional life is set different for a reason. Do not bring in your personal problems like your home issues as the reason for getting a raise. The company is not responsible for how your family is brought up. So make your raise request on the basis of the reason, not sympathy. Also, it is never advisable to threaten your employer. Telling them that you will leave if you don’t get a raise is literally the worst thing you can do for your own career. Chances are that they would actually tell you to leave and find someone to replace you in no time. But you will have a bad review from the company and it might take you a lot of time to find a job. Something is better than nothing.
Whether you’ve been using email marketing automation for years, or have just started to dip your toes in, you’ve probably come across the concept of “drip campaigns”. Email drip campaigns are intimidating. They’re complicated, requiring you to create a bunch of content, write a bunch of emails, and then stitch it all together somehow.
What is an Email Drip Campaign?
An email drip campaign is a series of messages that are sent, or “dripped,” in a predefined order at a predefined interval. So, for example, if someone joins your email list, they receive Email #1 upon signup, Email #2 three days later, Email #3 five days after they join, and so on.
The primary goal of an email drip marketing campaign is to attract the right subscribers. And send subscribers highly relevant emails that encourage them to commit to your call to action. Even though these are automated emails, they can be personalized with your contacts’ name, company info, customer behavior, and more. Automated email drip campaigns have been proven to perform better toward reaching your business objectives, for example:
Drip campaigns are commonly used to communicate to new subscribers or someone who made a purchase but didn’t join your email list yet, but you can use them at any time.
What makes a drip campaign successful?
To create an effective email drip campaign, first, you need to pinpoint your pain:
Do you need more checkouts?
Drive back to your website your one-off website visitors?
Do you need to increase engagement among your existing subscribers?
Or onboard users smoothly so that they set up their accounts and start using your service?
All of these can be automated via the right drip campaign! The secret to creating the perfect drip is to revisit it along the way; feed your insights and results into your existing drips and customize them accordingly.
A drip email campaign is a primary nurturing/communication channel with your prospects and customers. Let’s look into how most common drip email campaigns are structured.
Welcoming
You did a great job at marketing your product, and you’ve gotten a lot of users to subscribe to your newsletters or sign-up to learn more about it. But how do you turn these new users into actual customers? How do you get them to try your product? Why should they be interested on what you have to offer? That’s where welcome emails shine — they introduce users to your products and highlight what you have to offer.
Welcome campaign
Since the goal of a welcome email campaign is to deliver the first unit of value (aka the ‘Aha’ moment), you can stop this series of emails at any time when user becomes an ‘active user’. At this point, prospects understand your product value proposition and the next step is to teach them how to get maximum value from your product
GETU’s Welcome Email
GE Learning Technology (GETU)’s welcome email begins with a clear introduction of its business and benefits outlined in bold, followed by a video that provides a more in-depth explanation of its services.
User Onboarding
If welcome drip campaigns introduce your customers to your business, then onboarding campaigns are here to make them stay. They’re useful to software companies who encourage users to try their free trial first.
User Onboarding
For example, if a user submits a registration form to create an account on LinkedIn, he/she will receive a welcome email. If the user never comes back, he/she will receive a series of welcome emails to encourage them to come back. On the other hand, if a prospect has registered to LinkedIn and started using it but hasn’t completed their profile details, then LinkedIn’s user onboarding emails will be sent. These explain why and how providing more profile information can enrich a user’s LinkedIn experience.
box’s user onboarding email
Cloud storage app Box employs drip campaigns to teach people how to use their product.
Some users need a little push, or nurturing — engaging promotions until they’re ready to buy your product. As a result, most businesses nurture their leads by offering emails with links to relevant content such as newsletters and webinars.
Nurturing Leads
Prospects don’t always come through your free trial gate. Downloading a marketing asset, such as a whitepaper, industry research, case study or signing up to a webinar is another way to start a communication process with a prospect.
Zapier’s email
Zapier sends new users a nurturing drip email to help them brainstorm automation ideas.
Product Engagement
Product engagement campaigns are essential to a SaaS company with a freemium business model. Companies that use freemium models need to ensure that customers who aren’t paying for the product right now are engaged and increasingly use the product.
Product Engagement
The math here is pretty simple: the more often someone engages with your site, the more likely they are to convert into a paying customer. Engagement emails are a type of drip campaign that invite the recipient to return to your site and look around, triggered either by some on-site activity or a general lack of activity. Social sites are a great example of how to use activity-based triggers. If someone on Twitter mentions you in a tweet, Twitter can send you an alert-style email, encouraging you to visit Twitter and respond. But it doesn’t have to be just happy feelings; guilt can work as well. If you don’t log an activity in fitness app RunKeeper for a while, they’ll send an automated “We miss you!” email. It’s a subtle way to remind you that you should work out, combined with a touch of nostalgia for the app they hope you’ll use while exercising.
RunKeeper’s email
RunKeeper sends users who have not logged a workout in a while a re-engagement drip email.
Promotional Drip Campaigns
Promotional emails are used to upsell, promote and inform customers about limited-time promotions, special offers, new products and discounts. “You might also like” isn’t just for Netflix bingeing—recommendation engines are a cornerstone of nearly every giant online retailer. The more a company knows about you and your buying habits, the better they can predict what you will and won’t like. With that info, they can send you targeted drip emails that contain products or coupons specific to your purchasing tendencies.
Jaybird’s Promotional Email
Jaybird’s email which introduces its wireless headphones is one good example.
You’ve closed the sale, or better yet, convinced a user to stick with your product for another year with a renewed subscription. But your drip email work isn’t done. You can also use a drip campaign to confirm your user’s purchase renewal—just set up a “thank you” auto-responder that goes out right after they hit the “purchase” button. In that confirmation drip, you could include some links to your product’s newest features to re-engage them with your brand.
Confirmation email
Fairfield uses drip campaigns to confirm user reservations, and show off some of the hotel amenities.
It should be a no-brainer to send your users an email receipt after they make a purchase, but you can also leverage that communication with related products and upsells. And with confirmations for things like plane tickets and hotel rooms, send a quick email a day before the event to put any important confirmation codes at the top of the user’s inbox. Then, perhaps, that same drip can send another email a few days later, asking them to review your product or service and offer a coupon for future purchases.
Conclusion
In this article, we have seen what is drip email campaign and learnt about different types of drip email campaigns. If used correctly, drip email campaign strategy can be of great value to the marketing and growth of your company. With drip email campaigns, you will be able to get the right subscribers, nurture your leads, increase sales and/or re-engage lost customers. So, apply the suitable drip email campaign strategy right now, and get started. Let us know your views in the comment section.
To kick-start this discussion, how was it possible to get in contact with this article in the first instance? Definitely, there was an input of certain keywords into Google. In addition, if not that, a link was followed down here. Whichever way the situation was, the conclusion is, there is a way presently to research and learning which was never possible any time before now! Conducting research online for both business and education sakes as is being discussed now was never a topic of discussion by any academic, scholar or researcher dating to three decades back. Here is one of the changes learning via the internet has caused to the educational and research process.
In addition, taking an allusion to the case of job search and sourcing for funds, the role of the internet on these aspects of business and more cannot be overemphasized. When conducting a job search, either personally or as a job sourcing firm, the role of the internet is also very glaring. As some years back, the job search was done manually and there was a need to visit individual companies and check their notice boards. Alternatively, at best, write letters to them to inquire about whether or not there is/are opening(s). The case is different now. Even when the services of job sourcing firms are not sought after, there is the opening for any job searcher to go via the internet on to the websites of these different companies and check if whether or not there is/are opening(s). The case is not different when firms are sourcing for funds especially startup companies. Here also, there is a timely permanent change caused as a result of the new trend of learning via the internet as new information is added to the knowledge of both job candidates and business leaders through their use of the internet for learning.
Subsequently, the following benefits have accrued overtime into the lives of individuals through their use of the internet for learning. These benefits are both in the area of education and business.
Assignments and Researches
These activities are no longer taken through the rigorous manual process as it used to be earlier. Now scholars, students and researchers alike now through learning via the internet, do their assignment works or essays as well as researches on different topics online.
Essay writing and correction
There are certain projects given to students and are essays to be written as research works or essay assignments given in class. Now, the internet has helped immensely as it has provided media by which they can get these essays written perfectly and even reviewed for correction. The essay can be written from the knowledge gained from the learning on the internet or some college essay writing service and certain platforms on the internet can help correct essays after it is written.
Product management for increased customers’ satisfaction
By learning on the internet, various companies have been able to develop and expand their customer base and their eventual customer satisfaction level. With product reviews, comment sections and various other customer forums, firms can get a better grasp on what and what their customers want and how to improve or add to the products and services they are rendering.
Admission Processes are now done online
This is an effect on the educational process due to the application of the internet to the learning process of individuals. Now there is not any real need for a physical appearance during the entire admission process.
Development of new skills for self-growth
The present trend and information concentration on the internet now allow individuals to capitalize on this and effectively developed different skills of their choice and by so doing, attain a higher level of self-growth.
Full-fledged Universities Courses Now Online!
Many universities now offer their courses online. Certain universities now offer various full-fledged university-level courses. This has become a trend and it is definitely a welcome trend initiated as an effect of the internet on the educational process. This is knowledge at everyone’s disposal as many of these courses like “Volcanic eruption”, “inflation” and others would not have been known if not for the internet encouraged the learning process.
Internet, virtual activities, business and customers relations
Companies like IBM and even others now operate this company-customer relationship through the medium of virtual activities. For instance, there is a game called “Second Life”. It is an MMORPG where it is required from each player to create an avatar and can do different virtual activities which in its way contribute to the development of the online society.
Huge companies have now made it a part of the different activities in their customer relations programs and also a part of their day to day interaction with their employees. With their employee base ranging over three hundred thousand, and that most of these employees are based outside the Americas, they now organize business gatherings and meetings online. This way, the internet already added to the business running of the company and their processes affecting another change.
Online Training for Company’s Employees
Certain companies have now taken care of certain incompetence in their employees by employing the internet learning process in training their employees. With a mixture of group, online and personal self-paced process of learning, the company can now give their employees topnotch training and increase productivity.
Cost Saving
Now, it is a trend to choose the online medium over other media like a group for personal due to cost savings accruing to the companies. The learning process is an ever-evolving one and the present change it has experienced is not a strange occurrence as the learning culture is a dynamic one with changed bound to happen even now with the advent of the internet.
No shocker here: Money is the bloodline of any business. As a startup every business needs access to capital, whether for product development, renting office or inventor and hiring the first staff. But lack of funding is one of the biggest challenges among many others which a startup founder has to face. Once an entrepreneur has idea, they look for angel investment as the primary source of investment. However, this is one of the last things he/she should try. Raising fund for startup is frustrating and time consuming. Even if you’re lucky enough to raise a round, you risk losing control in your own company by sharing equity with the investors. Here we present you a comprehensive guide that lists 10 funding options for startups that will help you raise capital for your business without losing equity.
It all starts with you: Personal Financing
Starting a business is risky, and in many cases this level of risk is what prevents traditional lenders to finance entrepreneurs. This is made even more difficult if the startup owner hasn’t invested any of his or her own money. In the idea/experimental stage, you can use your own financial resources, such as money from a savings account or careful use of personal credit cards. If possible try to sell products and services to generate some to keep going form start. This method also validates the idea that there is a need of your product in the market and people are ready to pay for it.
If you have savings or own your home and are willing to refinance or take out a second mortgage, then these are options you should definitely explore if you’re comfortable with the potentially bad consequences.
Friends and Family
It’s often said that you should never go into business with family, but that doesn’t mean you can’t borrow money from them, right? If you don’t have your own savings or credit cards – or you do, but your growing business needs additional funding – all is not lost.Yourfriends and family have a vested, personal interest in watching you succeed. This might make them more willing to invest in your business, especially in the beginning. Consider inviting family and friends to invest in the company with the understanding that their money may not be returned. This is also a smart way to raise fund as unlike institutional investors it’s easy to convince them and there is not much song and dance involved in getting the fund. In most cases, these friends and family are investing in you, not your business. Both parties should think of this investment as a grant with no strings attached. If the enterprise succeeds, a reward to these risk-takers would be a nice gesture. Taking money from friends and family, however, can be tricky, and all of the pros and cons should be scrutinized before deciding to use this method to generate funds.
Crowdfunding
A similar method as P2P, crowdfunding help you to get people to invest in “your solution” in exchange for some rewards (other than money). Currently, it’s one of the most popular way to get funds as the money is not repaid. The rewards for donors range from receiving your first products to having a product named after them. Crowdfunding is very emotional and its success is based on the appeal of your idea. Popular sites that facilitate crowdfunding are Kickstarter and Ketto. Each site has its own pros and cons so before associated with one better investigate.
Loans
Getting a loan for a young startup that has not launched yet is near impossible, unless you have the collateral (personal assets) to assure the bank that they will not go empty handed when you default on your loan. This is definitely the most unpopular choice among Startups. This does not, however, mean that you are out of options to fund the growth of your company.
Start a side project
Although this is not a very good idea to do. But this is what the founders of AirBnB were in a similar position in the early months of their startup. They had a bit of cash coming in, but not enough to sustain themselves. Their backs were against the wall. They started brainstorming ideas to bring in extra income during the Democratic National Convention. What did they come up with?
Obama’s and Captain McCain’s Breakfast Cereal
They hustled. That breakfast cereal idea brought in an extra $30,000 in needed cash and helped build a company worth over a billion dollars.
Product Pre-Sales
If your business is based purely on the selling of a single product, the easiest way to raise the money to produce the product may be to pre-sell it. By pre-selling your products, you can be sure not to make too many and have a warehouse of unsold goods. It also keeps you aware that there are consumers relying on you to follow through. This level of pressure can be a little intimidating for some entrepreneurs, so take time to consider the ramifications of collecting money before providing a product. You will need to have a solid timeline in place and adhere to it. Otherwise, customers might demand their money back, which could lead to a variety of problems.
Micro Financing
In this small loans up to $10,000 are granted by institutional to individual who would not normally qualify for a traditional bank loan. Loans are based on your experience, passion, market opportunity and sales. Organizations include Accion USA, Grameen Bank and Kiva. Remember: It is a good alternative if you have an appealing idea and need a small about of money.
Business plan competitions or other contests
When all else fails, try to win the money! There are a lot of regional and national level competitions giving away substantial amounts of money. There are numerous hackathons, business plan contests, and relevant awards for small businesses and startups around the country. The trick is to find the one that makes sense for your business. There may be specific contests for your alma mater, city, or state. Check your school’s center of business or entrepreneurship or your city/state economic development center to see if there’s a contest right for you. Remember: This is really show business that loves a great idea and very competent team. You also need to be a good presenter.
Believe it or not, there are organizations out there that offer monetary rewards—or even financing—for businesses and entrepreneurs who enter some contests. Eligibility requirements, entry fees and judging criteria vary widely. But if you have confidence in your idea and your pitch, this might be the way to get some cash.
Peer to peer lending (P2P)
It is now possible to go online and get funding from people you do not know at sites such as Prosper.com and Lending Club. The amount paid for the loan depends on your credit score, the economy, the length of the loan and “yourstory.” Remember:P2P loans are not easy to get and the interest rates can be very high.
Factoring
This method allows you to sell your accounts receivable to a third party (i.e.The Receivables Exchange) for immediate cash. It’s a $150 billion industry and goes back to the ancient time of Babylonia. Remember: Factoring is expensive since it can cost upto 15% of the receivable. This may work for a growing company, but is not a method of financing for a company that is shrinking or losing money.
Purchase Order Financing
Many different factors can affect business’s cash flow, including seasonality and supply and demand. For example, some companies may find themselves unable to fulfill a large order due to a lack of funds to purchase the materials needed to produce the goods. In these instances, purchase order financing might be the answer.
A purchase order financing organization will essentially extend an advance so the organization can purchase the materials it needs today and then collect back the money once the goods are sold. Companies that most often qualify for purchase order financing are those that deal in manufactured goods—not services—and that stand to make a margin of 20% or more on the sale.
So, this was out list on how to raise money without losing Equity. However, Money shouldn’t be an objection when you’re starting a company. Be creative. Use your resources and do things that don’t scale.
With the technology advancing so fast, we have a ready-made and excellent solutions for all the contemporary business operations. To make the next generation retail digital and seamless to achieve the highest operational excellence, Vishnu Gullipalli launched Retail Insights in 2014.
Retail Insights works by enabling technologies through omnichannel integrations, platform modernization, APIs Builds, exclusive support services, and store digitalization. It also provides digital solutions viz. POS, commerce platforms, order orchestrations, returns management, drop-ship, last-mile deliveries, store automation, marketplace integrations, warehouse automation solutions, and interactive walls.
Retail Insights also provides the following retail solutions:
Specializes in white space/bespoke/custom applications across the Retail value chain using NextGen, AI, and other emerging technologies.
Solution accelerators Ecommerce, Supply Chain Visibility, Trade Promotion, Smarter Checkouts, POS Testing and In-store digital engagement – Video Walls, Order Management, Headless Commerce, Trade Promotion, Promotion and Price Optimization, Employee Engagement and Omni Fuse.
System integrators for a leading platform like Salesforce Commerce Cloud, Adobe, Magento, Diebold POS, Kantar Retail, GK Soft, and CRM Loyaltics.
Established a high-performing team of dynamic retail domain SMEs and Delivery team 100+ project implementation experience.
Retail Insights is a one-stop solution for Retail combined with high-end technology. The major USP’s include-
Omni (All) Channel Commerce – This platform provides connected customer experience from different channels way uniquely than others.
Digital Consumer Experience – Proactive and reactive communication on the platform allows personalized, contextual customer engagement.
Order Management – Retail Insights tackles the problem of lack of visibility in inventory and orders coming from different channels.
Founders of RetailsInsights and team
Vishnu Gullipalli is Founder & CEO at Retails Insights. Vishnu has an MBA from Ohio University USA and has spent the last 15 plus years working with various retailers across the globe on Omni Channel and Digital Transformation Program likes of TESCO, IRI, Harman, Happiest Minds, Hyvee, and Clarks UK.
Faizal Insights
Faizal is the Delivery Head. Faizal also has an MBA from Ohio University USA and 15 plus years of experience in working with companies like Zensar, IBM, Oracle, Accenture as Retail Solution Architect. In the past, he has had hands-on experience in ERPs like Retek, JDA and Infor. He was also at the position of engagement manager for Landmark, Tj Maxx, Shoprite, Vodafone, Marks, and Spencer, etc.
How was RetailsInsights Started?
The Retail Insights team had observed that SME & Enterprises work with a lot of technology companies ranging from large, medium and small. And the common issue that each of this company faced was that “tech people don’t understand business”
Retail Insights solved this problem by bringing in the latest technology stack with a niche partner ecosystem along with flexible engagement models helping retail and brands “Buy Anywhere, Sell Anywhere and Return Anywhere along with operational excellence.” Retail Insights has worked with hundreds of retail and wholesale businesses to help them implement powerful technology stack to ace the O2O experiences to compete with the digital powerhouses.
The tagline of Retail Insights is “Your Chief Omnichannel Officer” which came out of the vision that wanted to come across as retail is the company’s passion.
RetailsInsights – Startup Launch
The Retail Insights team’s expertise in domain + technology has helped them to provide customers with the best solution, adding value and quality along the way. They have collaborated with partners who are helping and advising them to achieve their organizational goals and accelerate towards technologies and services in the retail sector by leveraging the industry-led strengths in omnichannel retailing and digitization. Also, Retail Insights is the go-to for Retail Digital Innovation dialogue with clients across the globe. Both Strategic leaders in Omnichannel and Digital Transformation programs capability to translate initiatives with short to long-term deliverables.
“Our D.A.R.E (Different, Anywhere, Relationship, Experience) solution framework has helped retailers and brands gain an edge over competitors.” Says Vishnu
RetailsInsights – Startup Challenges
Along with the plethora of challenges that a tech startup faces in the country, Retail Insights majorly faces Human Resources hurdles like employee retention and building a core team with the right set of talented employees.
RetailsInsights – Competitors
Large IT companies that are revolutionizing and moving towards retail digitization are the main competitors of Retail Insights. “We have a powerful tech stack of tailored retail solutions where we not only provide insights to our customers but also to help them understand their business challenges and ground reality which allows us to stay ahead of the competition.” Says Vishnu.
Retail Insight’s expertise lies is a domain, technology, and accelerators that the team has built over the years, where the customers are able to see the tangible solution before it even freezes the solution scope which is far better than long SDLC process where the competition usually takes a longer route.
Also read –
RetailsInsights – Funding and Investors
Retail Insights is completely bootstrapped and has been positive in terms of business numbers since the first day of inception.
The Retail Insights team has grown enormously year over year and in 2019, the team has grown to a strength where they significantly contributed to increasing the consumer base.
Retail Insights team
Retail Insights also entered new markets entered like Dubai, UK, and the USA
RetailsInsights – Awards
•Well recognized as the Chief OmniChannel Officer for Retailers and Brands. “10 Best Retail Solution Company in APAC”.
1. What is Redknot Marketing Solutions and what services does it provide to the industry?
Redknot is the specialist in corporate and institutional events. We provide full-service event management right from concept building, strategizing the objectives, facilitating comprehensive communication flow to creating genuine brand experiences and integrating valuable technology throughout the event development process. We are passionate and our services are wide ranged from event management to experiential marketing.
2. What is the vision behind the inception of RedKnot?
The vision with which RedKnot entered the market was to dream up and organize exciting and inspiring experience. We wanted to leave an impact on the ecosystem of marketing that is experience oriented and consumer led. Today after 8 years of operations, RedKnot envisions to get rid of the box instead of thinking out of the box. Our vision is to exceed the expectation on every delivery that we make. RedKnot’s value proposition is quality over quantity. We aim to identify the problem with a current scenario and suggest a solution correspondingly.
3. Which clients does RedKnot service and how do these services add value?
The company’s proficiency in the marketing and event management domain has led it to gain multiple prestigious clients like Coca Cola, HTC, ICICI Prudential and Mahindra Two Wheelers among others. RedKnot has supported these and many other global brands in conceptualising the themes of events, strategizing the execution and then finally generating large consumer impact from the events. These are all subsets of the BTL campaigns that RedKnot supports in executing for the clients. These services add value to the business because they generate impact by gauging the attention of the audience.
4. Looking at the ecosystem of marketing, how do you think RedKnot can support the brands in reaching out to consumers better?
I believe that consumer remembers a brand that has the passion to come to them in a larger-than-life manner. This we commonly call as ‘User Experience’. At RedKnot, we want to create such an experience through every event we conceptualise. We believe that listening is as important as talking. This perspective has helped us in understanding our clients and their needs at a molecular level. This understanding has led to RedKnot’s ability to create ideas, conceptualise the theme and service the deliveries for clients.
5. Do you as a B2B brand, rely on technology in creating experience for your clients? If yes, how much of it is future proof ?
Managing events is by large a complex process. As a service provider, we operate pan India, organizing events for our clients. Accessibility, affordability and accuracy becomes a challenge sometimes. However, with the advent of emerging technologies like Analytics tools, big data and AI, there is a blooming potential for Event and Experiential Marketing ecosystem to diversify. We rely on technology for our data management, daily operations and reporting. This reliance however is subjective in nature to the extent to which user experience has to be made available. The technology used today would incrementally grow in future which is why I believe that it is future-proof to a major extent. Although there is some amount of obsoletion that it (Technology) suffers from, however the emerging technologies are by large immune to the future dynamics.
6. What is the business growth strategy that RedKnot is looking at?
We are passionate about what we do. This is our core strength and hence we always want to expand our reach in the industry. Our vision is to set a benchmark of state-of-the-art service delivery to our clients. We want to diversify into new verticals while attaining excellence in what we are doing. Our objective is to expand both vertically and horizontally.
Landing Page is an opportunity for the company to tell the most important thing about their products and services within a few seconds, and for a potential client – to make sure that it has hit “bulls eye”. Besides, it is a powerful tool for converting traffic and generating leads. The complexity of the task increases many times if you make a website that works as a web service that offers an access to software through the Internet (Software as a Service).
Software conversion rates
Research shows that the average conversion rate for SaaS industry sits around 7%. If your website converts at 7% or higher, you’re doing great. However, if your SaaS website is converting at a rate less than 7%, you need to improve it. To create a high-performing landing page, you need to understand your target audience and design the right sections to communicate your value in a compelling way. In this post, we’ll go over 10 landing page sections that help web pages generate more leads.
Before you can promote your brand or product to new visitors, you need to define your business goals. Are you looking to generate brand awareness, boost sales for enterprise customers, build an email list from lead generation techniques, or educate your audience in some way? Each type of goal falls into one of 3 objectives:
Awareness
Engagement
Conversion
You should determine what outcome you’re looking for before you start designing your page. Because the goal you set will help you determine what type of page you need to build.
Identify your target audience
Before you start creating your landing page, you need to understand who your target audience is. Every audience has different characteristics and will need a different approach in order to increase conversion rates. You ultimately need to have “high relevance,” which means you are successfully positioning your page to a specific customer persona. That is: speaking to their pain points, needs, and viewpoints.
Important elements your landing page needs
The hero
According to reports, people often leave web pages within 10-20 seconds of visiting. However, if you can clearly communicate your value proposition, and connect to the reader, you’ll likely convert them from “first impression” to “scrolling the page” to learn more. The hero section is one most important sections of your site. It’s where you’ll have the opportunity to grab your visitor’s attention and tell them precisely 4 things:
What you do
Why you’re different
What the key benefits are
How to get started
This is also where the visitor will most likely complete a conversion — or not. This depends on the visitor’s goal and how well your call-to-action responds. That might include informing them of specific results they could find by entering a search or updates they’ll receive after entering their email. Without having a way for visitors to complete a conversion, you’ll miss the opportunity to make effective optimizations to your page.
Airbnb hero section
Airbnb has a simple hero section on their homepage which gives the visitor a clear understanding of what their core value proposition is and how to get started with the service.
The first thing that strikes the visitor of a landing page is a heading. It should be made in a beautiful large font, while its content marketing is crucial for SaaS companies. The essence of the title is an offer or a unique trade proposal. How do you differ from your competitors? What will be valuable to your client? The answer to these questions also gives the offer. Clear, concise, convincing. According to the results of numerous studies, it takes 5 sec for Internet users to decide whether to stay on the page or to leave. Ideally, the visitor’s reaction should be like: “I finally found it!” The minimum task is to scroll the page to an end. Here are examples of value propositions from the practice of several SaaS companies:
Salesforce home pageAutopilot home page
A bad example: “We will acquire customers via Google Adwords.” The proposal is specific, with a hint of benefit (we’ll bring customers), but it’s painfully standard. No uniqueness. A better variant: “Setting up Google Adwords with a conversion rate of 4%. Or we return the money.” The value of this offer is the guarantee of a specific result (4% conversion rate) with the condition of a refund. Perhaps, for a given niche, a more accurate offer cannot be invented.
Without leads, you don’t have a business. After you’ve built some initial trust with the visitor, it’s time to ask them to take action and sign up. In the early stages of the customer journey, you might decide to collect information about your visitors to enter them into a process known as “qualification”. This is where you’ll explore specific attributes about the lead to see if they are actually a good fit for your business. To boost your sign-up conversion rate, you’ll want to offer some form of incentive to the visitor. What sort of value can you give away for free? A lot of marketers will create “lead magnets” with CTA buttons that are positioned to incentivize visitors to sign up for things like a free trial, eBook, checklist, or case study.
Webflow signup section
Webflow has a simple signup section on their landing pages that speaks directly to the price-conscious visitor who wants to test the product before they buy.
Speak about the client, not about yourself
Put yourself in client’s shoes. What would they like to receive using your product? Landings with high conversion are not focused only on the characteristics of the company or product, but also on the benefits of the client. Many pages use blocks such as About Us, Our Advantages, Why Choose Us, How We Work. In approximately this way:
Speak about the client
It is often enough to change the title “Why choose us” to “What you get”, “How to help you”. The feeling is completely different. Remember that the buyers, in the long run, do not care about your achievements. They want to satisfy their need.
Develop segmented email drip campaigns
The reality is that 40-60% of your users will sign up for your SaaS product, use it once and never come back. Or they will buy a subscription, but you might struggle with cash flow over the next several years. It cost so much to acquire a customer, but you receive only a small amount of revenue on a monthly basis. WP Engine sent letters to their customers to get them to upgrade to the yearly plan. This was phenomenally successful for them and improved their signups.
One of the emails WordPress sent to their subscribers to up sell them the yearly plan
They send a series of highly targeted, plain-text emails to their customers asking them to upgrade. The intent of your email drip campaign is to move your customers up the marketing funnel. To collect data, you can send an email to subscribers asking for more information. Or, when you get new users to sign up through the landing page, ask them to pick an option that tells you more about them (for example, whether they have used a product like yours before, or the size of their company).
One of the best ways to tell a story on your landing page is to provide testimonials from real people who have benefited from your product. Share their unique situation, the problem they faced, and how they overcame it with your solution. The goal here is to inspire your visitors with stories of your past customers. These are real people, sharing real experiences, which your visitors should be able to relate to.
A good example of client’s review.
Google AdSense provides a simple photo of a customer and includes a link to a video to learn more. This is a great way to cross-promote your YouTube channel or other social media by telling the same story through a different medium.
Google AdSense
Work on CTA
A major part of your landing page that drives conversions is a Call-to-Action (CTA). A CTA makes visitors click. It persuades them to take action. It tells them what they’re supposed to do (next). Make CTA prominent so visitors can easily find it and take action. Make it clutter-free. Here are few CTA best practices that will help you improve conversion rate:
Move it above-the-fold. It can increase conversion rate by 20%.
Make sure your landing page has one CTA. Don’t confuse visitors with multiple CTAs.
Make it benefit-driven.
Keep it short and clean.
Bad CTA vs Good CTA
Here is an example on how making CTA button prominent increased conversion rate by 357%.
One of the biggest objections that new leads will have as they near the closing stage of the buying cycle is price. If you are in the SaaS or eCommerce industry, you’ll save yourself a lot of time by handling those objections up-front. Including a clear, transparent pricing section can help break down the specs for those visitors who are ready to buy. Even if they still have a few lingering questions, you should be able to get a conversion — if you detail exactly what they’re paying for. Drift includes a clear two-tier pricing section which shows exactly what features you get on each tier. You can see the monthly prices for each tier and make a decision about whether you need more or fewer features.
Drift pricing section
Typeform adds an additional option for leads to set the billing interval before they commit to a price. For example, if you wanted to pay for a monthly Pro+ plan on an annual contract with 1 or more users, you’d pay 59 Euro per month.
Typeform pricing section
Frequently asked questions (FAQs)
Even with all the descriptions, demos, visual storytelling, and social proof, people will still have questions and objections to buying. They might have a unique problem they’re not sure you can solve. They might just want to learn more about the product in action. The FAQ section provides a straightforward way to handle these objections directly. Think of this section as a poll. Over time, the questions that continue to come in become the perfect candidates for the FAQ. Lyft shows a set of common questions about their self-driving project. You can click into each question to read the answer. This helps handle common objections about Lyft’s self-driving car project and makes it easy to see every question clearly.
Lyft’s FAQ Section
The “trusty” footer
As an often-overlooked section, the footer can be a great place to instill a sense of security and trust in your visitors. One important aspect of your landing page to always include is a Privacy Policy and a Terms and Conditions page. If you’re an international company, you can also include a language select menu to translate the site. “Make no mistake,” executives will scroll to the bottom of your start-up’s page to look at your Privacy Policy and evaluate the legal implications before they decide to sign up. This is a subtle optimization which can help you boost your credibility and professionalism. Slack has a well-optimized footer section including all the links a visitor might need. This section helps visitors build additional trust and feel in control of the page.
Slack footer
Conclusion
Focus on getting people to convert from the free trial to paid users, as much as you focus on getting website visitors into your trial
Show, don’t tell. Use images, screenshots, charts, videos and other visuals to reinforce your copy and show visitors how your software solve their problems.
Continuously sell the outcome and the benefits that come with using your software instead of focusing on the features.
I hope these 10 tips will help you increase SaaS conversion rate. While implementing these tactics will help, you’ll have to test and tweak to get better. There is no end to improvement. There is always room to get better. Let’s grow your SaaS company. Which one of the trick worked best for you? Please tell us in the comments section.
“Some battles are better left with honour rather than victory.”
21st January 2020, saw a sweeping acquisition which can deftly be called megalithic. Uber Technologies Inc.’s made the decision to retreat from its food delivery business in India, UberEats. Zomato, the online food delivery and restaurant aggregator platform, announced that it has acquired UberEats’ business in India in an all-stock deal giving 9.99% shareholding. The exit from the business can result in annual savings of nearly $750 million for UberEats, numbers from a regulatory filing last year suggests.
The deal had been in progress since months, with wide conjecture over Uber’s decision to completely exit food delivery business in India as a resort from the piling pressures on the ride-hailing company to curb losses especially after it went public in 2018. The move, said a source, vibes with Uber’s philosophy to either lead the business or to leave the business.
Since PizzaHut initiated the first-ever pizza online order back in 1994, online food delivery has become a billion-dollar business. The Indian food delivery industry has exhibited robust growth.
Revenue in the Online Food Delivery sector amounts to US$9.2 Billion in 2020. The market’s largest share is Restaurant-to-Consumer Delivery with a market volume of US$4.9 Billion in 2020. India’s online food delivery market is projected to touch $12.53 Billion (CAGR 2020-2024) on the back of high growth rate, according to a recent report by DataLabs by Inc42.
Compared to the global growth rate of 9.01%, the online food delivery market in the country is growing at 15%, the report said. 56% of all startups accounts for the food startups who have raised $5.24 billion between 2014 and 2019. Food-tech startups contributed 42% of the total consumer services deal count between 2014 and 2018.
Swiggy so far gained up close to $1.5 Billion of funding, Zomato raised close to $800 Million funding. The cloud kitchen market owns the potential to reach $1.05 Billion by 2023. There have been many reasons which propelled India’s shift to the online delivery system. Impale of internet and smartphones have further provided the environment for growth.
The growing role of Indian women in the workforce has also increased the preference for prepared meals and a large young population expands the customer base.
The pioneers in the Indian online food delivery market are Swiggy, Uber Eats and Zomato, which claims to deliver in 500 cities across the country. Innovative marketing campaigns have also conferred the popularity and set a new trend.
Uber stepped into the Indian food delivery scenario in May, 2017.
India, of course, was a huge global opportunity making Uber even more committed to it than the Chinese market. With a growing population of 450 million – 465 million people by June 2017, Uber took the opportunity to connect people, be it to taxis, cars, food and more.
The platform experienced nearly 50% month-on-month growth, in its first year of operations.
But the competition took all its zeal away, UberEats never managed to attract many restaurants or customers in India, despite the company’s ride-hailing. The business dragged down by 2019 with the average net revenue dropping by 0.4% according to the CFO Nelson Chai.
Going by the company’s statement Uber’s total revenue grew nearly 30% to $3.81 billion, while net loss went to $1.16 billion in the quarter ended September 30.
According to regulatory disclosures , UberEats projected a negative revenue of 762.5 crore for the five months ending December 2019. Uber hoped that the business in India will be profitable by 2026, according to a valuation report prepared by KPMG affiliate BSR but looks like the hopes turned to dust.
Uber projected higher operating losses of 2,197 crore in UberEats for the five month period – August to December 2019.
In the last quarter earnings call, Uber chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi said the food delivery market in India is competitive, and admitted to being the number three player in the space. Yet, there is no clear market leader in the space.
According to The Economic Times, Uber had halved its annual cash allocation to its food-delivery business in India to $90-$120 million.
The stiff competition faced by UberEats, compelled it to take the back foot despite the growth and expansion.The two food delivery giants control about 80% of the food delivery market.
Although Uber seems to be at the weak end here , the deal might prove to be an advantage. The multinational will now be able to cut losses and as part of the deal, acquire stakes in a start-up that was valued at $3.55 billion this month.
Zomato said they will now be able to add 10 million monthly food orders to their existing 40 million, they expect to surmount Swiggy.
According to a report by New York Times, for the first three quarters of 2019, Uber Eats in India amounted for 3% of the gross booking for Eats globally and at least 25% of its adjusted operating losses.
The venture also had a setback when co-founder and former CEO Travis Kalanick resigned from its board of directors in December last year. Kalanick, who helped found Uber in 2009, stepped down from the company’s helm in June 2017 under pressure from investors after a string of setbacks.
On the other side, the deal seals days after Zomato had raised $150 million in funding from existing investor Ant Financial, an Alibaba affiliate, at a $3 billion valuation.
It helps in terms of harmony regarding customers, regarding the restaurant supply chain and also very importantly, UberEats had a stronger network in small towns and in the southern region. This will significantly influence Zomato’s customer reach, it will also get about 70,000 active delivery partners existing on the Uber Eats network.
It will raise the combined market share to 52% as opposed to Swiggy’s 43%. Though there’s a looming fear of Amazon’s breakthrough in the food industry, Zomato can enjoy a new zenith if it plays the right cards.
Although, the competition would now be cut-throat between the two pioneers, there might be some tremors for the customers. The companies will now focus on lower discounts and more profits.
Conclusion
As Zomato quoted in its statement, “The obstacles of your past can become the gateways to new beginnings”, the further developments would be interesting to observe.
Zomato has expanded to 550+ cities over the last year, with a commitment to operating excellence. The competition in this space is going to continue to be intense, and Swiggy might already be working on a foolproof plan.