While technology enables modern businesses to achieve profound levels of success, technology comes with a price. Various innovations have enabled the use of a remote workforce, improvements in communication and data sharing, globalization, e-commerce, connectedness through Internet 2.0 and numerous other benefits. These and other benefits of technology, however, have decreased the need for human labor in some cases, have negatively affected the environment and have had other consequences.

The largest and most influential companies have the ability to make a huge impact based on how they address these problems. In addition to the direct effects, their efforts may spur change in smaller companies. With China’s population exceeding 1.4 billion people, major corporations in this country are closely watched. JD.com, which is the Chinese equivalent of Amazon, had made huge strides in the right direction. Richard Liu, who is the company’s founder and current CEO, actively guides his company toward completion of incredible improvements.

The company, which is also known as JingDong, had humble beginnings with several retail locations scattered across the country. However, when the SARS epidemic broke out, Richard Liu was forced to make strategic changes to the company’s operations. He transitioned the company to an e-commerce company, and today, it serves approximately 300 million customers regularly. More than that, its total customer base exceeds a billion people.

This e-commerce giant’s business model requires it to maintain large warehouses and a massive fleet of vehicles for deliveries. Liu recognized the impact that this business model has on the environment, and he took action. For many years, JingDong has regularly published a Corporate Social Responsibility Report to communicate its efforts and goals directly to stockholders and to the public. It outlines completed projects and initiatives that are planned or are in progress.

JD.com recently released a new report, which outlined the completion of a large solar panel project in its Shanghai warehouse. Because of the magnitude of this project, the company dramatically reduced its overall reliance on fossil fuels for energy and its carbon footprint. This e-commerce company is not stopping there. It intends to complete other similar projects so that it covers a total of 77 square miles of its facilities with solar panels within the next 11 years. By doing so, JingDong would have the world’s largest system of roof-mounted solar panels.

This is only one of numerous projects outlined in this year’s report. For example, JD.com is actively transitioning its fleet of delivery vehicles to green energy vehicles. It is in the midst of a rollout of approximately 5,000 green vehicles to replace outdated gas-powered vehicles. The green vehicles include tricycle delivery vehicles that are powered by solar energy as well as vans and trucks that run off of hybrid, electric or hydrogen power. Within two years, the company anticipates that its entire fleet will be comprised of green vehicles.

In addition to these efforts, the company is moving away from the use of cardboard delivery boxes, which have a one-time use functionality. These are being exchanged for green boxes that can be re-used multiple times before being recycled. The company is also making a social impact by supporting some of China’s poorest rural communities. It has created 25,000 jobs in these impoverished areas to revive local economies. At the same time, it has improved delivery service to these areas to ensure that residents there had access to all of the products they need.

Richard Liu actively guides his company in these areas, and he continues to look for new ways to innovate positive change. His efforts have an immediate impact on the local economies and environment, but they reach farther. Companies around the world are watching his efforts and are being inspired to take positive steps toward change as well.

The traditional system of annual performance reviews may have once been effective, but it’s clear that conventional performance evaluation practices have long been outdated. Only 5% of HR leaders believe that annual reviews are effective, and forward-thinking businesses have already found new ways of monitoring employee performance, regardless of whether they’re located in a traditional office setting or working out of a coworking space.

Continuous performance management is no longer an isolated trend, but rather one of the most promising answers to the problems raised by annual reviews. CPM provides a new type of evaluation that takes into account new trends in the workforce that have changed the way employees and managers approach performance.

Why Are Annual Reviews Outdated?

A number of factors have contributed to the creation of the modern workforce, and today’s workplace is very different from the one that allowed annual reviews to become a standard practice. There are now more than double the number of telecommuting employees than there were in 2005, and that trend will likely continue over time.

The relationship between employees and managers has also changed as workers are generally no longer satisfied by a simple source of income. The modern employee wants to play a larger role in his or her company and isn’t satisfied with the traditional top-down perspective embodied by an annual performance review.

How Does Continuous Performance Management Work?

Continuous performance management involves a much more hands-on approach than the traditional review system, so it requires a coordinated effort between employees and managers. It may take both sides some time to get used to the new feedback dynamic and feel comfortable with the process.

Rather than giving all feedback at the end of the year, managers should schedule regular one-on-one meetings with each employee that include discussions regarding individual performance. This allows managers to be more involved in each employee’s approach and gives them a chance to discuss performance issues before they become more serious.

The Benefits of Continuous Evaluation

CPM also enables employees to make small, incremental changes to their performance rather than being forced to take in large amounts of information all at once. They can also give other employees positive or constructive feedback on a day-to-day basis, making everyone more active in the performance evaluation process.

In an annual review, much of the information presented is outdated or no longer actionable. Continuous performance management makes opportunities for growth available every few weeks and allows them to be presented as soon as they become relevant. Roughly 90% of employees would prefer to have this feedback given in real-time.

Annual performance reviews may have once been an effective system, but that work environment is now a thing of the past. Continuous performance management is the best way for both large and small businesses to adapt their evaluation practices to the needs of the modern workplace.

Do you want to know how a fresh juice selling company grew their sales from $8000 to $96,000 per month? Today we will provide e-commerce business owners with some tips that can boost their sales and get more conversions. However, you must remember this: there is no shortcut to becoming an e-commerce success overnight. Some entrepreneurs start a website and then look for ways to get more sales, while some set aside heavy marketing budgets to seal more deals. Trying to build any business is not easy. With the right research and groundwork, you can put your work on the right path to unlock more sales.

Choosing a product and opening an online store is not the only task. You must look for more sales and a consistent customer base. Take a look at these tips to grow more sales on your e-commerce store:

Marketing online:

The founder of Raw Generation also had this thought in mind when she started selling fresh fruit juice from her kitchen. Jessica Geier focused on marketing while her dad managed the product end. Starting initial marketing through social media, Jessica moved on to explore other channels and used platforms like Groupon to get more sales. Currently, she focuses on promoting to her existing customer base to get repeat customers.

Start growing an audience for your brand as soon as you buy a domain name for your website. You can do wonders with organic traffic. Social media is the best marketing channel because it is relevant to people’s needs and it always free to post an update. You can collect many potential leads through your social media pages. Make sure you are using the right social medium to promote your account. Don’t start too many accounts; choose the medium which is most relevant to your business. For example, clothing brands must be on Instagram while B2B stores can thrive on Twitter and Facebook.

Trust badges:

The online world is wonderful, but it is also a dark and scary place. A person with a credit card in hand would think 100 times before disclosing their most sensitive information to you. How do you assure these people that your store is safe to make an online transaction? Through trust badges. Trust badges show a customer that you feel accountable for your presence and business. They also show credibility on the brand’s side.

Most customers will abandon the cart if they feel insecure about the mode of payment. If customers love your products, why should they feel insecure in online payment? ConversionXL did an online survey where people felt encouraged to go ahead with online payment by seeing the ‘PayPal’ seal. The same study found out that other trust badges from Norton Security, Google and BBB were amongst the most trusted seals in the e-commerce world. Trust badges will help you grow more sales on the site.

Fashion startup LeatherSkinShop has prominent trust badges on their website. These badges show that your privacy and data security are a primary concern of the online store. Another guarantee that will make people buy more from your shop is the money back guarantee.

Most people will know that you are serious about their experience in your store and they can always come back for another purchase.

CRM:

With the sharp shift of customers towards the online store and mobile shopping, CRM technology has evolved manifolds. The importance of customer reputation management is directly linked to more sales. Most of the major CRM solutions providers have established the fact that the e-commerce industry is a huge market for investment. For e-commerce entrepreneurs, it is high time to invest in a CRM solution.

Online CRM solutions like Salesmate are a good choice because they are a one-stop solution for all your online sales needs. If your website uses Wordpress, you can simply install the Wordpress crm plugin on the website dashboard to get an immediate overview of your leads through the day/week/month.

An efficient tool helps you streamline the sales process and limit manual intervention as much as possible. The busy e-commerce entrepreneur has too many hats to wear in a single day. Let CRM tools do their magic and organize regular reports which you can analyze at the end of the day. You will gather more leads, follow up with warm leads and reach inactive customers when the sales process is automated.

Mobile optimization:

Most of your customers are shopping through their mobiles. It is essential to optimize your site for mobile and gather more mobile customers. Mobile shopping will soon overtake desktop or laptop shopping. Your site must be prepared to welcome these customers. Keep a check on visitor devices on your website by installing the Google Analytics plugin. The plugin is the best in business to know about traffic on your site. Check mobile traffic and then work on improving your site navigation for mobile visitors.

Think about how your site should look on a tiny phone screen. Design mobile first by placing buttons and menu bars in the best places. It will help you decide what looks best for the customers. If you want to give it a soft launch, try A/B testing your site by subjecting two different looks to selected users.

Live chat:

In a physical store, one can always walk up to the salesperson to ask for advice. In an online store, there is no salesperson to ask. Luckily, technology helped close this gap by introducing live chat tools. These live chat tools are an extension of your customer support program. A customer service representative can always be on hold when a customer is buying on your site. Simply tap the live chat window, and help is few clicks away!

This will ensure that more people proceed to buy the items they have questions about. Comm100 reports that the average satisfaction rate for live chat is 85.39%. Find an efficient tool online to take care of your live chat needs. If you can’t invest in a customer service team, find a good live chatbot.

Last word:

The tips mentioned in this article will be effective in your mission to secure more sales on the e-commerce platform. However, every business works differently. Marketing, technology and customer trends will continue to evolve, and a savvy online business owner must keep up. Search for new trends and adopt the latest ways to keep your site active and buzzing with traffic.

 AUTHOR BIO

ABOUT Erica Silva

Erica Silva is a blogger who loves to discover and explore the world around her. She writes on everything from marketing to technology, science and brain health. She enjoys sharing her discoveries and experiences with readers and believes her blogs can make the world a better place.

Find her on Twitter: @ericadsilva1

Are you looking to use social media in your business, but you’re not sure where to start? If so, you’re not alone.

Many businesses are aware of the power and potential of marketing using social media, but few know how to actually do it successfully.

Perhaps you’ve also asked yourself some of the following questions:

• What social media channels should my business join?
• How often should I post on social media?
• How do I find my potential clients using social media?
• What’s the best way to engage with business people on social media?
• How do I convert leads to sales using social media?

In this article, I’ll show you what you need to do, step-by-step, to successfully use social media as part of your businesses marketing strategy.

STEP 1: CREATE A SOCIAL MEDIA PLAN

Wait.. “You mean to say, before I do anything on social media, I need a plan?”

Yep.

Businesses that jump straight into social media without a clear plan, usually end up failing and getting no results.

Therefore, creating an effective plan is essential to the success of your social media campaign.

In your plan, you need to identify:

• Who are your ideal clients?
• What social media channels are they using?
• How can you best engage with them?
• What content will you create and share?
• How will you convert your leads into sales?

Your plan, is ultimately a marketing and sales funnel, that takes people who have never heard about you before to people who like, trust and buy from you.

It’s important you create a clear social media plan before jumping into the next steps.

STEP 2: POST REGULARLY ON SOCIAL MEDIA

The next step is to make sure you build a strong social media foundation. You can do this by setting up your social media channels and start to post regularly.

What is the best content to post?

We recommend sharing content that your potential clients will find interesting and relevant.

For example, if you’re targeting business consultants, then post content that business consultants will find interesting – such as how to win more clients, how to be more productive, how to be a better consultant, etc.

With a bit of research, you’ll find that there’s plenty of content available. And if you do happen to be working in an industry where content is very scarce, then you can always create your own content (see step 4).

STEP 3: GENERATE LEADS AND GROW YOUR AUDIENCE

One of the most exciting parts of social media is lead generation: finding new potential clients who are interested in working with you.

One of the easiest ways to generate leads is by creating content that your potential clients will find interesting and helpful.

This can include free guides, articles, videos, webinars and even live events.

The key is to use social media to get the relevant and helpful content in front of your target audience in return for your potential clients’ contact details (usually their name and email).

Once you have their contact details, you’ve generated a lead, and you can start to nurture and convert that lead into a paying client (see step 5).

STEP 4: BUILD TRUST THROUGH CUSTOM CONTENT

No one will buy from you if they don’t like or trust you. So how can you build up likability and trust?

Create your own content.

Creating consistent content for your business is one of the easiest and most powerful ways to build trust with your leads.

What kind of content is it best to create?

We recommend you create content that your potential clients are asking (whether to you, others or on Google).

The more you can help your prospects with the problems they are facing, the more you will trusted in their eyes.

STEP 5: CONVERT LEADS TO SALES BY FOLLOWING UP VIA EMAIL MARKETING

The final step to a successful social media strategy involves your email marketing.

This may come as a surprise to some, because email marketing isn’t technically “social media”. But, it’s important to note that a successful social media strategy actually includes more than just social media.

To actually get sales from your social media, you need to create content and follow up with your leads on a regular basis.

Regularly following up with your social media leads can be accomplished using email marketing.

What kind of emails is it best to send your leads?

We recommend sending simple, plain-text emails, from a person (such as YOU). These types of emails look less salesy and usually get better results (higher open and engagement rates).

In the emails you send, you can share with your leads your content.

This combination of following up via content builds trust and helps you sell to your prospects in a way that isn’t salesy or annoying.

WHAT NEXT?

First, it’s important that as part of a successful social media campaign, you have to do all of these 5 steps. None of them are optional.

So if you don’t have the time or expertise to do everything in-house, then hire someone, or hire a social media agency, to do this for you.

Secondly, remember to be consistent with your marketing. This isn’t something you do once for a few months. You need to do it regularly for at least a year.

Businesses that get the best results from social media are the ones who are in it for the long-term. Sure, there are definitely some short-term results you can get. But overall, the best results will come after doing this for at least 12 months.

Finally, remember to track, monitor and improve your results each month.

Track how many leads you generate, who opens your emails, how well they convert and so on. By tracking your results, you’ll be able to see how you can improve at each step within your marketing and sales funnel.

Many organisations are focused on the EU General Data Protection Regulation(GDPR), but this May sees another EU legislation coming into effect: the Directive on security of network and information systems (NIS Directive).

In the UK, the NIS Directive applies to operators of essential services (OES) and digital service providers (DSPs) involved in:

• Drinking water supply and distribution;
• Energy;
• Digital infrastructure;
• The health sector; and
• Transport.

There are slight differences in the way OES and DSPs need to prepare for the Directive, but guidance is coming thick and fast.

Last year, the European Commission published a draft implementation regulationfor DSPs, which Elizabeth Denham, the UK’s information commissioner, commented on. She criticised “the overly rigid parameters” of the regulation, which “may be undesirable and may lead to a failure to report incidents which nevertheless have a substantial impact on the users of the service and which should, by the nature of the impact, be considered for regulatory action”.

The European Commission has since approved the final draft, and the UK government has released the findings of a public consultation on how it should implement and regulate the NIS Directive. IT Governance has also published a compliance guide.

Each of these documents will help you understand where the NIS Directive fits into the cyber security landscape. DSPs will have to be particularly organised, as they are expected to define their own information security measures proportionate and appropriate to the potential risks they face. These measures must address:

Information security

• The systematic management of network and information systems, which will require organisations to map their information systems and set up appropriate policies, covering risk analysis, human resources, security of operations, security architecture, system lifecycle management and, where applicable, encryption.
• Physical and environmental security, protecting against environmental damage and accidental or malicious actors.
• Security policies to ensure that service functionality supplies are accessible.
• Access control measures to ensure that physical and logical access is “authorised and restricted based on business and security requirements”.

Incident management

• Detection processes and procedures, which should be regularly monitored to ensure that they are up to data and effective.
• Processes and policies for reporting vulnerabilities and security incidents.
• Procedures for documenting the response to cyber security incidents.
• Incident analyses to assess an incident’s severity and collect information for the organisation’s continual improvement process.

Business continuity

• Contingency plans based on a business impact analysis, ensuring the continuity of services.
• Disaster recovery plans appropriate to the potential risks.

Monitoring, auditing and testing

• Planned monitoring to assess whether information systems are working as they should.
• Auditing and measurements to monitor whether the organisation is complying with relevant standards or guidelines.
• Processes aimed at revealing flaws in security systems, covering both technology and the people involved in the security system.

Get started with the NIS Directive

Those who want help preparing for the NIS Directive should consider our cyber resilience solutions. An effective cyber resilience strategy can mitigate the risk of cyber incidents and enables you to respond to attacks, containing any damage and allowing you to promptly return to ‘business as usual’.