4 Easy Ways To Gear Up Your Business For The New Year

Though the year-end is usually a crazy time for many business owners, it is also the best time to review the year and start planning to hit the ground running when the next one arrives. By then, the only thing left to do is double efforts towards growth. If you want to gear up your business for 2022, here are some tips that will help get you going:

Define your goals

The first thing to do for this step is to review the goals you’ve set for this year.  Hopefully, you’ve been reaching them. If not, evaluate why you missed the mark. This is best done on a visual medium with your team to help you better organize your goals. 

Use your findings to make improvements for the new year. If you reached or even surpassed your goals, take note of the things your organization did right. Then, set these as your benchmark for 2022.

Realign your teams

Realigning teams is just as important as setting goals. Yet, many companies forget to do so.  During the height of the pandemic, customer needs, expectations, and buying habits went into an accelerated change. According to this Forbes article, US consumers spent $211.5 billion on e-commerce during the second quarter of 2020. To gear up for the new year, you need to ride these changes, and to do that, you need to have a clear vision and purpose in mind and a renewed alignment of your people. Failing to do so could cost a lot in terms of revenue.

A good starting point to realign teams is through open and effective communication. Understand how your teams are currently progressing towards their targets. This is important, especially for marketing and sales teams. Find out what problems they’re facing that could be hindering them with their progress. They might need further facilitated training or additional staffing. Whatever it is, having this sort of back and forth with your teams will make them feel heard and valued and will also give you insights on how to realign them in time for the new year.

Team building sessions and cross-training among different departments can help as well. All the teams in your organization must form a strong bond, so they can trust each other to move as a single unit towards your company’s goals. This also encourages sharing knowledge and resources, which is another key to your company’s successful growth.

Taking the time to check the alignment of your teams makes for an excellent opportunity to strengthen the bond of your employees, boost their morale, and encourage them to recommit to your organization’s vision and mission.

Boost your customer service

It is a known fact that customer perceptions can either make or break a business, so it goes without saying that this should be one of your focal points heading into the new year. Focus on providing superior customer service by exceeding expectations. Doing so encourages new and existing customers to tell their families or followers about your business.

Aside from delivering quality products and experiences, go the extra mile by thanking your loyal customers through discounts, incentives, bonuses, or personalized gifts. Doing this can quickly help you earn praises on social media. On the other hand, customers can also be vicious if you slip up and they’ll tell the world even faster.

The fast growth of your business for the new year all latches on your customers’ experiences. The key is to listen to potential and current customers and take every opportunity to show how much you value them. Train your customer service representatives to embody this above and beyond mentality when facing customers. 

Invest In new technology

When gearing up for the new year, it’s equally important to bring in new innovative tools to improve customer and employee experience. This gives you a better advantage over your customers right from the get-go. 

Investing in good customer relationship management (CRM) software can help you understand customers, allowing you to come up with specific offerings that can best cater to their changing tastes. This more personalized customer experience can help you further strengthen your relationship with them.

In terms of internal improvement, investing in tools that support a hybrid workplace model can go a long way. This new model for working became a trend when COVID-19 disrupted existing workplace models with the restrictions that came with it. 

The hybrid workplace model is not showing signs of stopping soon as both employees and employers have seen the many benefits of a flexible work arrangement. To support this working model, you’ll need to invest, acquire, and install tools such as the following:

• Remote desktop applications – Anydesk, Teamviewer
• IT asset tracking solutions with smart lockers
• Collaboration tools – Basecamp, Trello

Investing in new tools can improve your company’s efficiency and productivity which can easily reflect on the bottom line.

Conclusion

Now that you’re ready for a great year, all you need to do is quickly welcome new growth opportunities for your organization. Don’t be afraid to be creative when executing the tips in this post. That said, always remember to keep your goals measurable and attainable and realign your teams regularly so you can prevent any large missteps on your way to growth in 2022.

Gear up and grow your business this year. Talk to us and we’ll help you with the right tools.