Cyber-attacks on companies are becoming increasingly common. As many companies adapted to the work-from-home culture that came about during the pandemic, they left their systems vulnerable to hackers who could steal their valuable data or hold it for ransom.
Some companies have been able to recover most of their data through the use of backup copies, but all too often, companies see massive interruptions to their operations and make enormous ransom payments. In fact, in the first quarter of 2021, 41% of insurance claims in Europe were related to ransomware.
If it happened to them, it can happen to your organization too. Create a security-conscious work culture, create backups for your data, keep your systems up-to-date and hire security consultants to help you patch up any holes. Cyber-attacks can happen to you, but they don’t have to.
Building trust between yourself and your clients or customers is critical for making sales. If you have a client’s trust, they’ll work with you regardless of any other hurdles they have to clear to maintain their relationship with you. If you get the impression that potential clients and customers don’t trust you, try these two methods for gaining their trust.
If you can show customers how you benefited someone else’s life with your business, they might be more inclined to see you as someone who can help them as well. Find a customer who you’ve successfully helped in the past.
Then, with their permission, map out their struggles and how your services helped them overcome those struggles. New customers will see themselves reflected in those case studies and be more willing to trust you.
While serving the same basic function as a case study, videos of client success stories help new clients “see it to believe it.” These can capture tone and emotion like written words cannot, thus making them a potentially more effective tool for establishing trust in your business.
As many businesses found out this past year and a half, miscommunications happen all the time when any team is working virtually. Most of how we communicate with one another is nonverbal, so it would make sense that things would get lost in translation when just chatting through Slack. Nevertheless, there are a few key ways that businesses can learn to communicate well and build a great virtual team.
Whether this looks like a group call where the team talks about non-work-related things or you have a virtual “coffee break” every morning, talking about your personal life will help you build trust with your fellow team members.
Make sure the communication channels are clear, then use them correctly. If everyone knows where to find instructions for their workload, then miscommunications will be kept to a minimum. Also, invest in unified communications and collaborative solutions so your team can be connected with each other, and with clients.
When something needs to get done, don’t make general statements about how you’ll get there. When you communicate the task to others, mention dates, times and specific steps for getting the task done.
By following these three general guidelines, you can have a well-oiled virtual team to be proud of.
