Mobile devices including tablets, phones, laptops, and even smartwatches, can provide hackers and scammers with a way into business networks. On an individual level, your information could be at risk. For instance, your mobile banking could even be hacked if you leave these devices unprotected.

Account takeovers are not uncommon. People who take a relaxed attitude to secure their devices are more susceptible as scammers become more sophisticated and target multiple types of hardware.

It’s Even More Important for Businesses

For companies, the task of managing all of the devices that access their network can be very daunting. You might have hundreds of employees, each with multiple devices that have access to sensitive information. Email addresses and contacts need to be protected, but devices may even be an opportunity for a sophisticated scammer to install malware or create a “back door” into company servers. This can lead to huge problems and big data breaches that can cost companies a fortune. 

The cost of account takeovers is said to now exceed $5 billion annually. On top of the money that can be lost if accounts are accessed, many companies need to foot the bill in terms of fines for not being compliant with cybersecurity regulations, or legal costs incurred after a case of fraud.

In this guide, we’re looking at the most effective ways companies can increase their peace of mind by improving security.

6 Ways to Improve Mobile Device Security

What are the most effective ways to improve your device security across the whole company?

Establish a Policy For Mobile Usability

To Improve Mobile Device Security

If you are going to allow people to use mobile devices to access anything sensitive or store any data, such as customer data, or to access a CMS or CRM that contains sensitive data, you need a policy in place. 

This policy can be a written document that everyone working within the business has to agree to. It can demonstrate how your employees approach the data within. For instance, if text messages are used to communicate, or photographs are taken for use in your business, you might need to remove these after a certain period of time. These policies may also discuss the use of the mobile device for personal matters. Many businesses do not want these two things to mix. 

The flip side of this coin is whether or not you are allowing people to use their personal phones for business use. For example, whether they can log into your Slack account or other CRM on their phone. If you allow this, you might find that one employee not sticking to the rules, using a public WiFi that leaves them exposed, could cause huge implications for your business. 

• Teach Employees to Lookup Email Addresses Through Reverse Lookup Tools

One of the ways that malware or other harmful software can get installed on a device is through spam emails. It is vital that your employees understand this. Otherwise, you are potentially at risk of inadvertently installing software that can be very harmful, and allow people to take over your device.

One of the best ways to approach this task is to use a reverse email lookup tool. Using a tool to establish who owns an email address before deciding whether to respond to an email, can ensure that you don’t accidentally enter into a conversation with a scammer. 

There are so many different schemes out there, and scammers are getting more and more sophisticated. They use techniques such as “whaling” where a specific executive is targeted in order to try and appear genuine and access their information.

Employees must know the risks, and it is so easy to check an email address before you start to interact.

• Keep Operating Systems and Apps Updated

One of the main reasons why apps and operating systems are so frequently updated is because security threats have been identified. This means that it is essential that you keep your operating system updated to the most recent version, and regularly update all of the apps on your devices.

If not, hackers can target privacy and security weaknesses to try and gain access to a mobile device.

It only takes a few seconds to update your apps and operating system, and you can even set them up to automatically update while you sleep.

This has been a cybersecurity tip for decades now. Weak passwords are easy to hack, and as we’ve already discussed, one hacker can bring the whole company’s data tumbling down. All it takes is for one employee to not stick to your company rules or to make a poor decision.

Encourage secure passwords, and give your employees tips on how they can generate these passwords effectively. On top of this, you might want to create an obligatory password change to take place periodically. For example, you could prompt password changes on your internal systems every few months for that extra layer of security.

• Back-Up Your Data

If a device gets stolen or in some way compromised, you don’t want to be left relying on the data that is on it.

Regular backups, especially for important information, should be mandatory within your business to make sure that you don’t get caught out.

This is especially useful to tackle ransomware, a type of scam that takes over a device or information and then demands payment for its release. This is immensely frustrating, and totally avoidable. Backed up data means that even if you do lose a device, you’re likely to still be able to access everything that was important.

Many devices such as iPhones and iPads can be set to automatically back up to the cloud on a regular basis.

• Educate Employees

One of the biggest issues facing employers when it comes to improving your device security and overall policies for cybersecurity is the fact that a lot of employees simply don’t know the threats.

Education is vital. If you are a big company, you should have an IT department or at least some members of IT staff who are tasked with your security. The risks must be communicated via those in the known. You may also work with IT contractors, and these can provide seminars and events to educate you on the current state of cybersecurity.

One of the top reasons why employees sometimes take risks or fail to do the right thing to keep your business information secure is the fact they just don’t know any better. Education is absolutely vital.

Conclusion

Most companies don’t prioritize online security and mobile devices anywhere near as much as they should. In the modern age, it is a huge risk to businesses to ignore this, yet most people don’t go into business to focus on keeping customer data safe.

Having employees or contractors working with your company to keep data secure can save you from a lot of hassle, expense, and loss of reputation if your data does get stolen. A few simple steps, implemented properly, can make all the difference for your business.

The post 6 Ways Companies Can Improve Their Mobile Device Security appeared first on Tricky Enough.

Successful selling depends on you understanding your ideal customer and meeting their needs. It involves psychology and knowing how human behavior works. Professional service providers with strong sales typically take deliberate steps based on strong sales principles and techniques. You can do the same.

Here are some surefire ways to help you skyrocket your sales this year. 

1. Skyrocket Your Sales: Get the Right Leads from the Start

If you spend most of your time making sales calls. It is vital that you start with a good set of leads. A lead is a person or company that is interested in your service. You can tell that someone is a lead. Because they ask questions about your services, request a quote, and spend a lot of time on your webpages.

It is better for you to have a pool of 100 people to call and receive 25 successful sales attempts. Then 1,000 people and only 25 successful sales attempts. You can do this by getting leads from people. Those who are actually interested in your service rather than buying a list of contacts. Those who have never expressed any interest?

One way to ensure you get the right leads is to track where your most recent customers came from. You can do this simply by asking them at the time of sale how they heard about you. This allows you to determine which of your marketing efforts is the most effective at driving potential customers to your site.

LinkedIn marketing is also an effective option since you can look for potential leads based on job role, industry, company profile, and company size.

2. Understand Your Clients’ Needs and Know Their Behavior

In order to market successfully to your potential customers, you need a good understanding of who they are and what they do. Public records can serve a pivotal role in this regard, letting you know their basic demographic information. For example, you likely collect email addresses from your customers. You can use a reverse email lookup tool to get the customer’s name, address, phone number, social media information, and online activity, which will help you better understand their overall needs and behavior.

Once you collect and analyze public records. You can then segment your marketing messages based on preferred characteristics, such as age, geographic location, or socioeconomic level.

For example, if you are an accountant looking to serve young professionals. You can narrow your results based on census and background data. Then, you can send them targeted email messages.

3. Skyrocket Your Sales: Write Perfect Sales Emails

With 3.9 billion active email users, email continues to be one of the most effective forms of marketing. There are several different email strategies. You can implement to increase your sales, including those that are part of these case studies:

Teaser-Trailer Technique

In this type of email message, you offer new customers something of value to boost interest in your business. This technique focuses on building up the user’s anticipation. Additionally, the technique highlights that the promotion will only be available for a limited time, which makes the user want to take advantage of it due to its scarcity. Additionally, when a customer responds to a promotion, they are more likely to reciprocate by making a purchase or following your call to action.

Some types of content that work best with this technique include

•       Upcoming seasons or promotions
•       Special events, like seminars, trainings, or private-invite meetings
•       New service offerings that are only provided to a limited number of customers

Second Closer

Your email marketing campaign can target customers at different points in the customer journey, including if they have abandoned a purchase or if they have clicked on links in your email but have not followed through with a purchase. One case study found a 10% increase in total revenue when someone simply followed up with a customer who was on the fence about making a purchase.

You can take advantage of the effective “abandoned cart” marketing by sending a message to customers who haven’t quite sealed the deal. For example, this messaging could easily be adapted to a professional service industry by reminding the potential customer of the service they were contemplating and allowing them to easily finish the transaction.

Or, this messaging creates a sense of urgency so that the potential customer will feel they are missing out if they don’t finish the transaction now.

If you think the entry price point may be too high, you could also offer alternatives as they do here:

Testimonials

Since 88% of people trust online reviews, it is well worth your time to try to collect and market positive reviews about your service. Testimonials help boost conversions, which leads to greater profitability. This technique relies on sending a short series of emails to customers to get their feedback from customers. Good reviews can serve as testimonials on the site while negative reviews provide an opportunity for improvement.

Here is an example of an email message targeting potential customers while also providing social proof:

4. Use Social Media as a Method to Grow Online Sales

The impact of social media cannot be overestimated. 90.4% of millennials, 77.5% of generation Xers, and 48.2% of baby boomers are active social media users. Some ways to take advantage of social media use include:

• Focus on the platform where your audience is most present. Facebook is the leader of all social media marketing,  but there are other social media platforms that may be used more often by other demographics.
• Optimize your website for mobile use.
• Make sure you have good page speed.
• Frequently engage with your audience.
• Use your social media to build your brand and awareness.

5. Implement Successful Sales Call Tactics

As a small business owner, you likely spend a good amount of time each week reaching out to prospective customers. Make the most of these calls by implementing these effective tactics:

• Find the client’s need for your service
• Create urgency
• Discuss the benefits of your service
• Respond to objections
• Always be closing

Also, be sure that you do not miss out on an opportunity for business. Follow up promptly with potential sales. In a study of 63,256 calls, one software company found that one of the most important ways to convert a lead to a sale was by quickly following up. Zogby Analytics found that 60% of buyers said they would question a company’s attentiveness if it did not follow up with them within 24 hours of submitting an online form. The software company set up a special alert system of when it received an online form from a lead so that someone would quickly follow up with the company. 

How to Use Automation to Improve Skyrocket Your Sales?

Technology can help you improve your sales by allowing you to automate the process. Automation lets you set things up ahead of time and then automatically sends out your desired messages at optimum times. Use a CRM like Daylite that can quickly and easily give you an overview of communication with a lead client so that your team can pick up where you last left off and avoid repeating information. You can also use this tool to track your team’s time to determine how long it takes to make a conversion. Email templates you set up ahead of time can showcase the benefits of your service, and through automation, you can have these messages sent at different times in the customer’s journey.

Conclusion:

Using these 5 simple tools can help you boost your sales and increase awareness around your brand without significantly increasing your marketing budget. As a professional service provider, being able to connect with your customer is key to sealing the deal. These methods help you get your marketing message in front of your true audience, get to know your potential customer better, prepare the perfect marketing content to meet the specific needs of your ideal customer, improve your social media marketing efforts, and close the deal with sales calls. Implementing these strategies can help skyrocket your sales to numbers you never even imagined.

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