Service Business

6 Services Your Business Needs Now

Running a business takes a lot of time, energy, and coordination of moving parts. It is necessary for your company’s growth and continued success for you to partner with essential services. They can provide their respective expertise whilst saving you money via efficiency and outsourcing, as needed. Here are some of the most important services to engage with right now.

1. IT Support

One of the first things you will need for your business to succeed is to secure the services of a professional IT support company. A certified IT support team will provide invaluable technical services that span a broad range of support activities. They can help with the most basic technical needs, including setting up computers, printers, and proprietary software, ensuring appropriate virus software is consistently operational, and configuring internal networks.

Your IT support company staff will become extensions of your business as they will provide you with expert guidance and the best practices for migrating your content or finding the most viable and accessible solutions for storing data on the cloud.

When you are looking for an IT support company, you need to ensure they have an accredited and available service desk. After all, when you need tech support, it is not because you are calling to chat. You truly need assistance from a subject matter expert right at that moment. Make sure you find a company that will be there for you.

2. Accounting

Whether you choose to hire an in-house accountant as a full-time or part-time employee or outsource to a freelancer or accountancy agency, it is important for all parties involved to understand what the responsibilities and expectations will be. Discuss if you want the accountant to be on-site whilst working with your financial paperwork due to confidentiality or are comfortable sending it off-site for them to accomplish.

The accountant will track your company’s expenses, cash in-flow, and general bookkeeping, and prepare routine financial reports. Depending upon your arrangement and their job description, they may prepare payroll, tax documents, and tax filings.

Your accountant can also assist you with hiring, employee transitions, and sometimes general Human Resources paperwork filings. Another crucial need they will meet is making sure your company is operating within the law regarding compliance with regulations and applicable accounting practices.

3. Housekeeping

If you do not have time to clean and your employees are focused elsewhere (or cleaning is not in their job descriptions), then you must hire a housekeeping service. The way your establishment looks is not only a sign to potential customers and clients, it shows your staff how much you do, or do not, value their presence.

The attention to detail afforded to everyone in the building by hiring a housekeeping staff will not go unnoticed. When the building is clean and well-kept, your products and services show better as they are not competing with dirty floors. Your clients will feel comfortable sitting down with you to discuss making a purchase when the table has been sanitized.  

When you outsource your housekeeping needs, the training will be upon the professional housekeeping service. After discussing your needs and the required cleaning schedule, the company will be in charge of maintaining that schedule and adhering to those expected standards.

4. Marketing Specialists and Support

If you do not have any in-house staff dedicated to marketing services, you must outsource this essential role immediately. Marketing is how your company, product, and services get noticed in today’s in-your-face and busy world. There is so much content vying for users’ and purchasers’ attention virtually every second of the day. You need to work with a professional marketing team to ensure your company stays at the forefront of the internet’s eyes.

The umbrella of marketing encompasses many things that will enhance your brand, including copywriting, image and brand assessments and rebranding. Graphic design falls under this umbrella, as well as overall advertising to get your logo in front of the right people for brand visibility and awareness.

Watch this video for information on differentiating between corporate identity, corporate image, and corporate reputation, which can all be part of marketing and social media efforts.

5. Social Media Monitoring

Social Media is essential for any company’s survival in today’s world. Many people go directly to an app for information on “the best of” or “how to” videos. To stay relevant and maintain currency, your company needs to be active on social media. Hire a dedicated staff member to create content or align with the aforementioned marketing specialists to post curated content across a variety of social media platforms about what your company has to offer the world.

Another part of social media is listening and monitoring what is being said or posted about your company and products. You want to know when there is negative information floating around and address it immediately. This is where a dedicated employee can swoop in and respond to the comment. They can offer rectification, remediation, or instruction on how to best use the product for maximum performance of its intended purpose.

The positive comments also warrant responses. Anything from a quick “thank you” to a more heartfelt conversation is appropriate to show that your company cares and appreciates feedback in all its varied forms.

6. Customer Service

Answering customers’ queries can take away from your staff’s daily responsibilities. They lose focus when they need to continually shift away from the task at hand to attend to customer service.

Affording your clientele attention to their needs is necessary and good for business. To meet their needs, consider outsourcing your customer service department. Dedicated staff members will be available via phone, email, and chat to communicate in your business’ voice with your customers. 

Now that you know what services your business needs to grow and thrive, it is time to reach out and make some new business relationships. Hire when it is in your best interest, and outsource as appropriate. Work with companies that cater to your needs and work to their strengths. Engage with businesses that will act as subject matter experts in their respective arenas and help you grow to achieve your fullest potential.