Communication Tools
At the heart of any successful operation is the ability to communicate with clients and convey valuable ideas that help them improve their businesses. This means you need robust communication tools that allow for the easy and seamless sharing of ideas.
Check out the following options, which are used by many successful consulting firms.
If your company isn’t using Slack yet, then you’re way behind the curve already. Slack is a simple tool that brings all your internal communications together into a single cohesive platform. The program can be accessed on your mobile device or from an Internet browser and it allows for file sharing, instant messaging, project management, and more.
2. Yondo
Ideally, every client you work with would be able to come into your office and spend time discussing goals and issues in a face-to-face encounter. But if you’re looking for ideal situations, consulting probably isn’t right for you. In most cases, communications have to occur remotely. And if you’re having an in-depth conversation, instant messaging won’t be sufficient.
That’s why you need Yondo. You can conduct one-on-one video or phone consultations, use the built-in booking calendar, screen-sharing features, share files, and record sessions – all from a single platform. You’ll be hard-pressed to find another tool that does as much.
This may sound like an obvious addition to your consulting toolbox, but you’d be surprised how many companies don’t effectively use Google Docs. This free online word processing tool is perfect because it eliminates so much of the “back and forth” that takes place when multiple parties generate and revise documents. You simply work on a file, grant another person access to it, and he or she can make changes in real time.
Marketing Solutions
Sure, you can leverage past connections you’ve made throughout your career, but you also need to expand your network and build a reputation as a knowledgeable expert. That’s why you’ll find the following marketing solutions valuable.
Email marketing plays a substantial role in the consulting industry. It can help you engage past connections, facilitate drip campaigns with potential leads, and target new clients. The bad news is that email marketing can be a full-time job, if you aren’t careful. As such, you’ll find MailChimp extremely valuable. It simplifies email marketing, organizes contacts, and streamlines processes.
Are you familiar with Hootsuite? With more than 10 million professional users, it’s clear this is the premier social media management platform. Though it’s designed for organizations in a variety of industries, it’s especially valuable if you’re involved in consulting.
Whether you’re helping your clients run their social media accounts or managing your own, you can use the intuitive and scalable Hootsuite platform to handle all social marketing tasks. The software integrates with more than 35 popular social networks on the Internet.
As you’re probably aware, content remains of central importance in the current marketing landscape. Although content marketing grew significantly in 2015, it’s on pace to expand to even greater heights in the coming year.
That means you need a tool that can help you stay competitive and aggressive. BuzzSumo is a tool that lets you research content ideas based on keywords and backlinks that resonate with your target audience. It essentially eliminates the time-intensive nature of developing ideas and empowers you to focus purely on writing.
Productivity Tools
Unfortunately, much of your time can be be consumed by small and menial tasks that are necessary, but not terribly interesting. In order to free up some of your time and make your job a little more engaging, you might want to investigate these productivity tools.
Although Slack will help with basic project management, it’s a communication tool more than anything else. If you really want to handle projects as efficiently as possible, you’ll need a dedicated solution, and Visma Severa is one of the best. Not only will it help you stay organized and on top of deadlines, but it’ll also make you appear more professional to clients. It’s a must-have addition to anyone’s consulting toolbox.
Nobody likes data entry. It’s time-consuming, boring, and mind-numbing. That’s why Ecquire is such a valuable asset. This intuitive Chrome extension captures data directly form Gmail and social networks and syncs it directly to your CRM platform. Whether you use Salesforce, Pipedrive, Highrise, or any of the other major CRMs, you’ll find Ecquire valuable and eventually irreplaceable. Best of all, you can try it free for two weeks to see if you like it.
Human Resource Solutions for free HR resources
Most small businesses don’t have the money – or the need – for an actual HR department, but if you’re ready to start taking on employees, HR advice can be invaluable.
Human Resource Solutions offer professional advice to small business, as well as free white papers and procedural advice.
HMRC for tax and other financial advice
Although the name ‘HMRC’ tends to make most small business owners groan, they really are the experts when it comes to issues of British tax.
On their website you can find all the information you need to set up and manage your business finances, including corporation tax and import/export fees.
Mentoring
Sometimes, reading an article or looking at a document is not enough, and you need more hands-on help.
Mentorsme is an online gateway for businesses to seek out appropriate mentors. As well as mentoring, they host events and have their own compilation of small business resources.