As you attend networking events or take tours of companies before you do business, you will come across those who use a business approach that is so clever and obvious, you are surprised you never thought of it yourself. Here are a few intuitive business approaches you should try.
Calculating Risk and Removing it
A common trick by insurance companies is to determine risks, and then work to remove them. This started out as a policy procedure, but now permeates every facet of their business.
What is interesting is just how deep this notion goes. For example, their phone recipient interface enables workers to quickly skip through the sections they do not need, which also means the worker may skip all the way to the end and complete the form without adding anything. In most cases, this is fine, but sometimes staff members would click too much, click past the page they wanted and would complete the form by accident.
This is only a small problem, but it wastes money, so the insurance company made it so that workers had to tap the enter button on their number pad in order to complete a form. This meant that the process of completing the form was still very quick, but the time-wasting mistake was eliminated.
When they had trouble with staff forgetting to replace PDA chargers, they created a charging station where not only were the chargers immovable, but the docking stations also had key code locks to stop people walking off with other people’s PDAs. Again, this seems like a petty change, but it makes errors and risks impossible because they have been anticipated and fixed.
In short, if you enter the offices of a modern insurance company, you will never see a “Mind Your Head” sign because rather than endure the risk, they will raise the roof or lower the floor.
Using Fuel Card Comparison Sites
The act of using fuel cards is nothing new. They enable you to earn points, track vehicle use, avoid theft, and earn discounts. Yet, where most people are happy to chop and change their credit card every six months, it seems that people pick fuel cards and stick with them.
Some may be worried that they will lose credits or points if they move from one fuel card company to another, but this is silly when you consider how much you have to gain. The fuel card industry may not be as competitive as the credit card industry, but there are still plenty of companies out there who are willing to offer you some amazing discounts, along with very enticing deals to keep heavy users on their books.
You should be using a fuel card comparison website every six months. This gives you plenty of time to exploit your current fuel card plan and enables you to check up on what other companies are offering. Remember that they need you more than you need them, and there are very few contracts where you are penalized for leaving the fuel card company after just a few months. It is their job to keep you. It is not your job to prove something to them or to remain loyal.
Hire Instagram Models Over Professional Models
Let’s face it, there are some stunning people on Instagram, and yet small and medium businesses are using professional models for their products when there is just no need. Sure, an Instagram model may not be as experienced and may require a lot more direction, but these models are far better priced, and they come with a brilliant additional extra.
The additional extra is that you can let them put a few photos from the photoshoot onto their Instagram page. It helps to elevate their status as genuine paid models, as opposed to social media amateurs. Plus, their followers (which could be in the thousands) will be exposed to your product or brand. That way, you get a cheaply priced model, and a bit of extra advertising, and it is all for a fraction of what it would have cost if you had used a modelling agency or a marketing consultancy.
Plus, it may sound a little mean, but there are thousands upon thousands of Instagram models out there, and they only earn pennies on Instagram because it isn’t monetized in the same way as other social media networks. They need people to come in and sponsor them. If the models you contact are asking for a little too much money, you have thousands of other models to choose from.
