A bridging loan could be the ideal solution when considering applying for short-term finance. But how do you know which type of bridging loan is the best option? Closed and open bridging loans are two of the most common types you can choose from. We explain how to tell the difference between the two. Reasons to choose a bridging loan A bridging loan is one way to bridge a short-term gap in your finances. Intended to be paid back over a shorter period of time than a standard loan, there are several reasons why bridging finance could be used, including: When applying for a bridging loan, two main types are available – closed and open. Here are the key differences between the two. Open Bridging Loan This is a loan which is open-ended, i.e., it has no set exit strategy or end date. However, most open bridge financing will typically clear within 12 months as a short-term loan. Closed Bridge Loans Unlike an open loan, a closed bridge arrangement will have a pre-agreed end date and an exit strategy that includes a clear repayment plan. Closed bridge loans are seen as more secure by lenders in terms of repayment. Open or closed bridge finance – which one to choose? The final bridge loan product you choose will be dependent on your circumstances and whether you have exchanged or completed on your current property or not. If you know you will have the finances to pay off the loan and can evidence it to your broker, you will be offered a closed bridge loan. They are also considered more secure by most lenders and can attract better interest rates. If you are still in the process of selling your property and have not yet had a firm offer or exchanged, then you can still apply for a bridge loan to buy a new property, but it will be open-ended. If you are in any doubt, a bridging loan specialist should be your first port of call before applying for bridging finance.

Poor communication must be avoided in construction sites because it is one of the main reasons for project delays. This may take various forms like unclear communication resulting in wrong interpretation or confusion, delays in the flow of information, and pointing communication to the wrong area or people.  These components of poor or ineffective communication may lead to mistakes and delays. Ordering the wrong materials and mislaid steps in the construction processes may also lead to project delays. In worst-case scenarios, disputes may arise. This is because a lack of proper communication could lead to misunderstandings in a construction project. Thus, it’s crucial to keep everyone updated on the project to prevent miscommunication.  Fortunately, these problems can be avoided by improving communication in the construction sites. With proper communication, all information will be delivered and received, and thus, miscommunication is less likely to happen. The question is, how can communication be improved in these areas? Here are some of the ways to do it:  1. Allow Field And Office Workers To Communicate With One Another In construction sites, communication breakdowns often take place between field and office teams. Thus, it can form a conflict as well as delay production. To reduce problems that may come up during the construction project, consider fixing the gap between these two teams.  When everyone in your company works together, blunders are restricted and morale remains high. In this case, you need to look for the right technology. This will help in centralizing the communication as well as facilitating collaboration. As a result, you’ll have a real-time view of a project’s progress, while allowing the teams to connect across the construction site and office.  For instance, you can invest in wave communications to have a reliable internet connection in the area. With poor connection, there is a tendency for some workers not to receive the information coming from the office and vice versa, which may lead to project delays.  2. Build Trust With One Another  Keep in mind that the construction industry deeply depends on a relationship. One major part of that includes trusting all workers to get the job done and communicate your messages properly and effectively.  While improving trust in this industry may involve a culture shift, know that there are ways you can do to improve communication with your employees. For instance, build trust, lessen doubt, simplify collaborations, and take responsibility from the top management to the bottom-rung workers in every aspect of construction projects.  3. Make Communication Simple Proper communication may boost productivity in construction as there will be no room for confusion. Better communication is possible by relaying concise and clear messages across all employees. The importance of understanding a message completely the first time it was sent is immeasurable, most especially in construction sites. Avoid using jargon and other terms that others may not understand. Keep messages simple, direct to the point, and brief. In addition, you need to focus on the most important and relevant details every team member needs to know. Meanwhile, you must give as much information as possible so confusion may less likely to transpire. 4. Offer Training Make sure to allow workers to improve their skills and obtain new ones. You can do this by training your employees on the use of new software, apps, equipment, regulation, and safety features. In a way, this will benefit your business as well as your workers.  Through training, you keep the relationship between the employees and company strong and improve the communication in all teams. This will also lessen the possibility of your employees leaving because they’ll feel wanted and valued by their employer. Investing in employee training can give an advantage to employers as this will lead to more skilled employees. Remember that workers are more attracted to companies offering the right training as they feel these are where they’d love to stay until their retirement.  Thus, if your employees matter to you, do everything you can to keep them in your care. Conclusion Clear lines of communication should be one of the top priorities to achieve a successful construction project. When proper and effective communication is practised consistently, the involved parties can serve the clients better while keeping in line with company and industry standards. This will result in an enhanced quality of collaboration, so unclear instructions and misunderstandings will be avoided. Furthermore, projects will flow smoothly if the teams communicate well with one another. Hopefully, the tips mentioned here will be beneficial in improving communication in construction sites. 

Bots traffic continues to increase day after day, thanks to their various uses. There are two types of bots, the malicious bots and the god bots. Bots can be used in communication, indexing websites, scraping content from a website, or even launching attacks on the online infrastructure. With the bad bot traffic at about 40% of all the internet traffic, it is only necessary to have various bot protection mechanisms. A Completely Automated Public Test to tell Computers and Human Apart (CAPTCHA) is one such mechanism for protecting your site against bad bots. What is a CAPTCHA Many internet users are asked to tick some boxes to prove they are not robots at one point. You may also have seen a set of images and asked to select one that contains a fire hydrant, chimney, or streetlights. All these are to prove that you are not a computer or a bot. A CAPTCHA is a test, a Turing test, to be specific. It is simple enough for any human to solve but complex for a computer to solve. Bots are automated scripts or computers. Therefore, they cannot be able to solve the test. Of all the internet security measures, CAPTCHA is the most loathed. In theory, CAPTCHAs are a good idea. Their objective is to keep the bot at bay and spam comments away. They are common online, with over 200 million of them completed daily. However, captchas pose a problem to the user experience. They do this in the following ways: CAPTCHA’s User experience issues Interrupting a user’s workflow CAPTCHA adds an extra irritating step between users and the task they seek to accomplish. Even the recent versions of CAPTCHA can be hard to read. For instance, although Re-Captcha is among the oldest CAPTCHA generators, it forces users to decipher text images from old books. The advantage here is that the text comprises actual words and not random strings of letters and numbers. This is an excellent idea, although the words can be hard to make out regardless of how good your vision is. Because of their hardness to read, they slow down your browsing experience. Accessibility issue For people e having visual difficulties, solving the CAPTCHA can be excessively hard. This is a critical usability issue. Some CAPTCHAS have audio alternatives but are, in most cases, even harder to decipher and sound scary. CAPTCHA puts a burden on legit users Beyond the accessibility and the usability concerns, at the core of CAPTCHA, there is a flaw. The fundamental issue is that CAPTCHAs force legitimate e users to complete undesirable tests because of issues that are far beyond their reach. That is not their fault. With CAPTCHAs, all the users are presumed guilty. Because of these reasons, there are many alternatives to CAPTCHA and reCAPTCHA. These measures put bad bots away without affecting the user experience. Alternatives to CAPTCHA More enjoyable and more accessible tests As we have established above, completing a CAPTCHA is unpalatable. There are several user-friendly alternatives to CAPTCHA that have popped up. Some like Sweet CAPTCHA and PlayThru gamify the entire process of proving that you are a human being. However, while playing a game is better than entering an obscured string of text, the issue of accessibility remains for these processes. Visually impaired users cannot play the game. Furthermore, because people are accustomed to filling the traditional CAPTCHA, gamified alternatives to CAPTCHA are seen as juvenile or even annoying. Other alternatives to CAPTCHA like Egglue and Text CAPTCHA ask a series of simple questions that a human being can answer using intuition or logic. NuCAPTCHA employs behavioral analysis to assess the risk levels for each visitor. Based on how the user is likely to be a bot, the solution assigns CAPTCHAs of varying Difficulty levels. The downside of this alternative to CAPTCHA is that it still affects a user’s workflow. Honeypots These are traps set to catch bots without the human being noticing they were there. Honeypots are not visible to a human being. Hidden form fields are one of the most common forms of honeypots. An extra entry field is added to the webform. It is then hidden from human users using CSS or JavaScript. However, bots will still see the entry field and fill the entry. Reject the form automatically, and take measures to mitigate against the bot if the above happens. However, honeypots still are not perfect. Website visitors using screen reader software still encounter the field. This creates confusion and increases the chances of failing the test. Verified sign-in The other option that you can use to confirm the visitors is by requiring them to log in to your website using accounts like Facebook, Disqus, Gmail account, or Twitter. This solution is vital as it removes the anonymity that malicious users rely on when posting abusive or rude comments. By tying comments to a verified account, you add an extra layer of responsibility while discouraging trolls. The issue here is that not all the users have the required verified account. They may not be able to access the service. To solve this, you can use a tool like Gigya or Janrain that allows the user to select from various accounts to log in with. However, many users do not like the idea of using their social accounts to log into unfamiliar websites. It is because of privacy issues and spamming of the account with messages without their permission. Timestamps The next alternative to CAPTCHA is using timestamps. Bots are faster compared to human beings. When users come across a form, they take time to read the instructions, decide what they will key in, and enter the text. On the other hand, the bot populates the form instantly. You can use time stamps on our form to reject the forms that are filled too quickly. However, this method is not secure enough to be used alone. There are sneaker bots that are programmed to fill out the form slowly to

Project management is an essential process for many organisations and, for anyone working in the property sector, the management side can be especially complex. Managing property development on all scales often brings together architects, developers, designers, sales & marketing professionals and more.  In order to keep projects running smoothly, however, it’s vital that teams have a tool to organise their work and for many property developers, Jira is the ideal solution to this need. But, what is Jira and how can businesses use it effectively?  What is Jira? Jira is a project management software that was initially created to enable software developers to track issues. There are now three different packages with this software: a basic project management platform project management with Agile functionality, and  a service desk solution which is designed for IT professionals.  With so many teams involved in large-scale property projects, many of which may be planned and discussed remotely, being able to collaborate effectively and track projects from start to finish is essential. Jira is a tool that can help with this and bring projects to fruition more efficiently through iterative development (or repetition of a process).  What can it be used for? Jira has evolved over the years to encompass a range of tasks and types of project management, from software development and bug tracking to content management and marketing. It can be used for flexible Kanban boards to give users complete visibility of projects so that staff can prioritise work for greater productivity, as well as Scrum software development.  Over 65,000 companies globally now rely on Jira in some capacity to manage their projects, in no small part because of the flexibility it delivers. For project management teams, software developers and DevOp teams alike, Jira provides a host of integrations and capabilities.  Jira cloud deployment is also used by thousands of teams around the world to handle various aspects of running a business, with a range of diverse roles. Cloud migration provides numerous business benefits, from lower costs and greater security to scalability and the ability to work on the go, so it’s no surprise that so many companies are choosing to adopt this technology.  How can property businesses benefit from Jira? Customisable  Property businesses can benefit from using Jira in a number of ways, starting with its customisability for integrating different teams and site requirements. It’s an industry leader in agile software and the ease with which users can set up, share and customise dashboards and workflows is a key reason for this. Jira is quick to install and configure, and it’s entirely browser-based which makes it a convenient and flexible option.  Scalable Jira is also incredibly scalable and has virtually no limits in terms of number of users or projects, making it suitable for everyone from small two-person teams through to global businesses. One of the biggest advantages for businesses is that the system doesn’t depend on SQL knowledge – it has a simple ‘What You See Is What You Get’ or WYSIWYG interface for querying tickets which results in a user-friendly platform that doesn’t require intensive training or specialist skills.  Easy collaboration For collaboration, Jira is an industry-leading software that enables teams to work efficiently together. It’s one of the primary benefits of using Jira for businesses. This permission-based tool provides joint-editing tools and monitoring capabilities to enable colleagues to see progress and updates for each task. Tasks can be arranged in priority order so that employees can tackle tasks in terms of necessity and productivity, to deliver the best result for customers or clients.  Cloud integration Cloud technology has completely transformed how businesses operate and share data, streamlining workflows and helping teams to adapt more quickly. Cloud software offers several benefits – it reduces IT costs, improves productivity and makes teams more efficient, but it also boosts security and reduces the risks of a data breach. The ability to integrate these two tools, along with many other apps, makes for a central solution that can be tailored to your needs.  Jira is one of the best tools for issue and project tracking, making it ideal for overseeing large-scale building designs or construction projects. It provides incredible agile support for teams, bringing together professionals from across the property business who may have merged together on one specific build. There are countless plugins to extend the capabilities of Jira and the ability for cloud migration makes it a versatile solution for property businesses looking to manage projects and track issues more efficiently. 

More and more people are considering using at least part of their money towards investment ventures. After all, if you invest your money wisely, it could become a second stream of income for you, or you can save up the returns in case there is ever an emergency. One of the more popular kinds of investments is property investment. While this can be a great investment avenue, buying a property as an investment is a big commitment, so you need to be sure you know what you’re getting into. There are a few things everyone should know before they invest in a property, and we’re here to share them. What is the purpose of the property? There are many ways of investing in property. Simply buying a home is already an investment, even if you only live in it and never use it as a form of income. Then there are the more active forms of property investment. Generally, the most popular kind is renting out the property – whether you invest in commercial property and rent it out to business owners, or whether you invest in a house or apartment and rent it out for people to live in. Deciding on the purpose of your property is the first step. This will give you clarity when it comes to what you need to look for. You might find this property investment calculator helpful if you’re looking to buy a property and rent it out. What kind of property do you want? Now that you’ve decided on the purpose of the property, you must narrow it down further. You can do this by deciding on the type of property you want to invest in. For example, if you are investing in a property to rent it out, you will need to decide whether you want to invest less money in something small like an apartment, or whether you want to invest more money into a house. Keep in mind that how much you invest correlates to how much you will earn back from your investments. Investing a bigger amount will result in bigger returns but higher risk, whereas investing a smaller amount will be the opposite. You may also want to invest in some type of short-term accommodation, such as an Airbnb. If that is the case, you can click here for some helpful tips on running a successful Airbnb. What is your budget? Of course, you will need to know what your budget is so that you know how much you can afford to spend on your investment. Be sure to make your budget realistic. You may also want to renovate the property so that its worth goes up, which means it might be helpful to save some money for interior decorating. There’s no need to go all out with this; you can easily do interior decorating on a budget. Is it worth it? Finally, the big thing you need to know is whether or not it is worth it, and that is something that will differ from person to person. It depends on your situation. However, if you can afford to invest in a property and it’s something you want to do, you shouldn’t let fear hold you back. Challenging yourself is important, so give it a go!

Are you considering event marketing for your business? First, congratulations! Event marketing is a great way to engage your customers and develop a lasting relationship with them. It also offers the opportunity to meet your customers and industry influencers face-to-face, rather than simply pitching at them. But what you’ll find is that event marketing isn’t always well understood – even by many professionals – so we’ve put together this comprehensive guide to help you think about how best to market your next event. Getting started with Event Marketing Let’s start by understanding what is event marketing: What is Event Marketing? Event marketing is where a business invests in an event – such as a conference, exhibition, or tradeshow – with the aim of reaching and influencing its target market. By attending these events, they can position themselves as thought-leaders and experts in their industry Types of Event Marketing There are many different types of event marketing, each with its own unique advantages. Let’s look at some common types of event marketing: Conferences Tradeshows and Exhibitions (including trade shows . Though some companies also hold consumer-facing events such as open days) Seminars Webinars Live Streaming Online events Virtual events Physical events In essence, there are many different types of events, depending on the nature of your business. For example, if you’re an eCommerce brand trying to sell fashion or electronics directly to consumers then a consumer-facing trade show will likely suit you best; while if you’re in financial services then attending conferences and seminars will be more effective at generating leads. Problems Solved By Event Marketing It’s worth considering what you hope to get out of event marketing before investing in an event. This will help you identify your goal(s) and ensure that your approach is on track. Here are some common business problems that event marketing can solve: Generate leads Grow brand awareness Improve reputation Educate customers Build thought leadership Build a sales pipeline Demonstrate expertise to potential partners and suppliers. So you’ve decided that event marketing is right for your business. What are the steps to getting started? Essential Steps To Get Started 1) Understand your event’s objectives The first step is to be clear on what you want to achieve from the event. For example, will it be a launch of a new product/service or an update on existing products and services? Will it be targeted at existing customers, channel partners (e.g., resellers or distributors), or prospective customers (e.g., marketers and media)? 2) Identify your target audience It’s also important to be clear who you want to attend – and, just as importantly – who not to invite! It may seem obvious but we’ve seen too many events that end up with a room full of people the host company doesn’t really want to speak with. 3) Build relationships with event decision-makers Don’t just view the suppliers or organizers of an event as a means to an end – you have every chance of being successful if you build strong business relationships with them before your event. For example, do they share your industry sector? What is their experience in running events like this one? How can you add value to them before your event? How can they add value to you? 4) Agree on the messaging and positioning with key stakeholders It’s also important to agree on what you want to achieve with colleagues (both internal and external), suppliers, speakers at your event, and, of course, senior management. This should be a joint effort that ensures that everyone is singing from the same hymn sheet! 5) Ensure the event fits your marketing budget Don’t forget that an expensive-looking and -sounding event does not necessarily equate to a successful one. It’s worth testing the waters by hosting smaller events with different audiences leading up to your main one, if necessary. This is where things start to get interesting So you’re ready to plan your first event. But how do you make sure it’s a success? Here are some key areas to focus on. 1) Price your tickets correctly Consider commissioning research into the price sensitivity of your target audience – or even do this as part of pre-event promotion. This can help you decide if you should charge a higher rate for certain attendees. You should also consider how you can leverage your sponsors, partners, suppliers to help cover the cost of event services. 2) Promote your event It’s not just about buying advertising – remember that there are plenty of free techniques you can use, such as using social media like LinkedIn and Twitter to drive registrations (and think about promoting your event over other channels, too). 3) Prepare your audience for the content you plan to deliver What are the ‘pain points that you plan to address? How can you highlight these to potential attendees before the event? For example, if there’s a new product/service being launched at your event, then send out an advance briefing to attendees. 4) Make sure your event is engaging Consider adding an element of gamification to the registration process, for example, or developing a competition that encourages pre-event engagement with buyers. You could also use smart technology such as iPads to help attendees get the most from your event. 5) Don’t forget post-event activities It’s not just about your event: what happens after the event in terms of follow-up and post-event engagement is crucial to maximize impact. Do you have a specific plan for this? For example, will there be a strong digital element to help capture leads following the event? 6) Evaluate your results How do you plan to measure success? The key thing is that you need to establish what you will be looking for so that everyone can agree on the level of achievement. This should be discussed in advance with your management team, too. Wrapping Up Event marketing is always evolving and it’s crucial that you keep up to date with your knowledge base. This

Do you have a commercial construction business and want to know what you should be keeping up with and what the new trends are? Do you feel like your business is a bit old-fashioned and want to know what you could be doing to keep up with the trends? The commercial construction industry is a very exciting place to be right now. There are many different trends that have come into play and will continue to grow over the next few years. For example, green buildings are becoming increasingly popular as more people want their office spaces to reflect their values and attitudes towards the environment. Another trend is improving worker productivity by creating open floor plans with flexible workspaces so employees can collaborate better together. These trends may not all apply specifically to you but it’s important for any company in this field to remain up to date on what’s happening to stay competitive and relevant within the industry. Here are 6 trends to follow in the commercial construction industry. The use of sustainable materials First on our list, when it comes to following the trends in the commercial construction industry, we have the use of sustainable materials. When it comes to the construction of buildings something that many people are placing a big emphasis on is the use of sustainable materials. These are materials that can’t be depleted easily, but also can be recreated easily. Rather than using rock and stone, which although can be found in abundance, people are choosing living materials such as wood, or even things that can easily be man-made. On top of that, other living materials such as specific algae can be used as a way to self-mend different kinds of concrete. When talking about concrete, it is also a sustainable material that you can use, and if you’re looking for professionals that produce highly durable floors you can check out what TCF West in Winnipeg offers. They are leading in the industry, and with them you can rely on a cost-effective service. A focus on energy efficiency These days, with the world suffering from global warming and everything that comes along with it, a lot of companies are making a concerted effort to go green and make use of an energy-efficient lifestyle. This goes for their products, and production, as well as the building itself. Many of these new companies make use of renewable energy, but they also contribute to the collection of renewable energy. Lots of businesses have their own solar panels which are used to either power the whole building or just certain parts like having heated water or lights on.  This is done to lower their carbon footprint and try their best to reduce the rate at which global warming is progressing. Other businesses are demolishing inefficient properties and are building new ones from scratch only to improve the environment from the inside out. Bella Contracting Services is where you can find demolition contractors in Connecticut if you’re thinking about making such drastic changes to your business. Improved indoor air quality The quality of air in a building is not something that people will typically pay too much attention to, especially those who work there. However, it is important to note, that especially if you are working in a big city where there is a lot of pollution, the air quality can eventually take its toll on you. As a business, you should be implementing different ways to improve the quality of the air in your building. This can be by having filters placed in your pipes that are circulating the air, and changing them regularly, or even by having humidifiers if you are in dryer conditions to make it more bearable. A decrease in the usage of toxic chemicals Toxic chemicals are commonly used among different businesses, depending on what they produce, but while they pay attention to not letting the consumers come in contact with these toxic chemicals, less caution is taken with the workers. By eliminating toxic chemicals, not only will you create a better working environment for your staff, but you will also help reduce the damage that your business is doing to the environment. Increased emphasis on indoor environmental factors, such as lighting and acoustics A big trend in the commercial industry is the layout and design change of these places. Many people may be used to dull yellow lighting, gross carpeted flooring, and an unwelcoming environment, however, there is now a big emphasis on the working environment and how the look of it can be beneficial to the worth ethic and productivity. For instance, you can include an open floor plan where people can be with each other and have a better time working together. Something else you can do is improve the quality of the lighting. Many businesses are stuck using old yellow lighting, but by making use of LED lighting it not only looks more modern, but it creates a lighter environment.

In a sense, accidents in the construction industry are inevitable. All the safety standard improvements and preventative technologies in the world cannot completely eliminate human error from the equation, and so issues of this kind are a statistical certainty. However, with figures showing that on-site injuries and deaths are actually growing in some contexts, it is clear that outright negligence still has a part to play in perpetuating the problem of construction accidents. So let’s investigate this conundrum more closely, explore the avoidability of costly construction mistakes and look at what precautions can be taken to turn the tide in favor of business owners and workers alike. Types of accident to take onboard When it comes to the kinds of conundrums that workers typically encounter on-site, construction accident lawyers are kept busy by personal injury claims arising from third party negligence, product liability caused by defects in equipment and materials, and wrongful death. The types of accidents which are most frequently reported are falls from height by the workers themselves, injuries suffered as a result of heavy objects falling from above, tripping over debris and equipment left in an inconvenient place, collisions between vehicles and the aforementioned equipment defects. Claims can also be made as a result of long term side-effects of working in construction, such as if employees are not provided with adequate ear protection and thus suffer hearing damage. However, claims from construction accidents aren’t only due to the injuries suffered by the employees. One may also file a wrongful death claim if a loved one dies in a particularly catastrophic incident.  In that case, a surviving family member may enlist the assistance of a dedicated lawyer who specializes in handling wrongful death claims to protect their rights and ensure a more favorable outcome.    The debate around avoidability In the introduction, we argued that construction accidents are inevitable, but the point to be taken away is that they are still possible to avoid in most instances. As such, businesses and individuals need to do all they can to protect themselves and others from the financial and human cost of workplace hazards in this industry. It is better to preempt the likelihood of accidents occurring rather than paying out compensation afterwards to make up for deficiencies. For example, giving workers the right protective clothing and equipment to do the jobs they are assigned and stay safe on-site will mean that even if things go wrong, the chances of serious injuries occurring will be lessened. However, in the unfortunate event that an accident does occur, seeking advice from a construction accident lawyer can ensure proper legal steps are taken. There is a reason that head, ear and eye protection are all used widely in this industry. Likewise you not only need to give workers the gear to operate safely, but also put policies in place to ensure protective equipment is used universally and in a way that aligns with the designer’s intent. Creating a culture of on-site safety has to come from the top down, so don’t get complacent about following PPE rules as this sets a bad example for others. In addition to these points above, overseers must do their part to promote worksite safety. These include steps like: By keeping these tips in mind, you can keep your workers safe and reduce the likelihood of fatal incidents. The other aspects of negligence Another often overlooked yet crucial preventative measure that can make all sorts of construction accidents avoidable is equipment maintenance. Well-maintained machinery, tools and vehicles will operate in line with expectations. Those that are left to fall into disrepair will expose the users and those around them to unnecessary hazards. Furthermore, well maintained gear will last for longer and thus be a better value proposition, rather than needing to be replaced. So once again it is a financial advantage for construction firms to take safety seriously, as well as a moral and legal obligation. Otherwise, they’ll face serious consequences, such as legal liabilities, financial losses, and grave damage to their reputation. Final thoughts The fallout of serious workplace accidents in construction can be hard to quantify, and for businesses the costs can continue for years as a result of the damage done to your brand reputation. Responsible employers have to be attuned to the safety implications of the workplace, and while not all construction accidents can be avoided, most should be if you plan ahead.

Investing in improving customer service is a trend that has reached most of the world. The explanation for this can be found in how expensive it is to acquire a new customer, rather than keeping an existing one happy and satisfied. Customer satisfaction can be achieved relatively easy through having a great product or offering a great service. It does however also include following the client through their whole purchasing experience or customer journey, from the customer first becoming aware of your product to showing initial interest to buying your product or service to finally evaluating both the product and process. Being accessible and answering questions, reviews and other inquiries can go a long way in giving your customers a good experience with your brand. Missing out on new business A study was conducted which discovered that technology and marketing companies together with delivery services and home services such as plumber had the lowest response rate, out of 160 business sectors tested. For these businesses, only 5, 11 and 15% of businesses respectively answered incoming queries from new potential customers. Although this is only part of the customer journey, it is still fatal when businesses miss out on new clients that want to spend their money with them. Even though there can be many explanations for this, it is always bad to miss out on new business. One reason could be that the business finds its schedule filled up with current business. That would, presumably, be the optimal reason for many to not responding to new work. If this is the reality, you would ideally be looking to expand your business. Bringing in more qualified personnel to take in the extra work is the best solution if you consider this demand for your services or products to be lasting. Are you missing out on new business because you are ignoring your inbox, or not prioritizing new customers? Getting new clients is the culmination of all your marketing efforts and should therefore be prioritized just as much as you prioritize your email marketing, your social media efforts and the like. Otherwise, all that would be a waste of your time. What is the solution? You might not need to hire new personnel or prioritize your time differently to manage new incoming business. If you are a business with a busy inbox and a lot of different queries, you may be able to benefit from investing in your customer experience. Advanced AI workflow software can be used to categorize all your customer queries. Its AI is designed to recognize every individual request it gets by using keywords and customer information. The eTray workflow software from Nexcom saves data and learns every time it is put to work. This means that automating customer service becomes much less of a compromise between how much time you spend answering your inbox and how good the service you offer is. With this software, your company will be able to take full control over the customer journey.