Creativity fosters innovation

In an industry where there’s a lot of competition, what makes us, The TNS Group stand out?  This is what many companies ask themselves when attempting to distinguish the company from the rest of the pack. We at The TNS Group are professional, get the work done on time and put our clients first. However, to reach out to the public and enhance our business, we must stir up new creative ideas to stand out.

I came across an interesting article from Inc.com that gave eight tips on how to foster innovation in the company.  They believe that creativity fosters innovation.

Put some of these tips to use to improve creativity and distinctiveness in your company. The eight strategies are as follows:

1.       Let every employee play designer- No matter an employee’s job title; allow them to be a part of the creative process.

2.       Provide lots of free time to think- Provide employees with “Think Days”.  Encourage them to visit a spot that is conducive to reflection and see what ideas come back to the company.

3.       Use new software to round up staff ideas- If employees are too shy to speak up, send out a company survey or start a blog allowing employees to voice opinions and ideas.

4.       Encourage risk-taking- Encourage employees to try something they’ve never done before

5.       Hold an intern contest- Interns are new to the scene, involve them in a unique way.

6.       Reward million dollar ideas- Reward employees when they have ideas that benefit the company.

7.       New project, new team-thrive on being an outfit of outsiders, diversity in teams will allow for more creative and different ideas.

8.       Allocate 10% of time for invention - Encourage engineers and product managers to devote 10 percent of their workweeks to new ideas.

Tara McKenna

 

Can you see me now?

Communication between businesses consists of constant emails, text messages, phone calls and voicemails. But do we get everything we need out of these non-visual communicative outlets? I don’t think so.

For example, when you have a conference call with a prospective client or vendor are you really sitting at your desk with your eyes pinned to the phone, 100% attention on the phone call? Maybe it’s just in my case, but no. Instead, activities include surfing the web, maybe taking notes, texting on our cell phones or just simply staring off into space.  This is a common problem. It’s not intentional but sometimes it’s impossible to keep our full attention on the phone call when we have so many other things going on around us.

A new solution for businesses may be advancing our technology to communicate more effectively. Instead of conference calls, how about video chat? We use it with our family members and friends but should we shift this way of communication into the office? Here at The TNS Group, conference calls are scattered all over daily calendars. Would video conferences better benefit the pitchers and listeners?

According to Inc.com there are currently 3-Low Cost Video Chat Services available that are better made for business conferencing. They are as follows:

Tokbox: This service allows a video chat session with up to 20 people. You can share you screen, tweet invites, video e-mails etc. Testing assures that the audio and video are crisp. Cost – $9.99 for basic chats

OOVO: This service supports video chats with up to 6 people. Same applications as Tokbox, plus you can record videoconferences. There is a slick design and high-quality audio and video. However, users say the interface was a bit confusing. Cost- Free to $39.95 a month per user for business plan

Skype 5.0: This service is only for PC’s and allows video chats with up to 5 people.  You can share your screen during calls and record video conferences using an add-on. Skype had the fewest dropped connections and smoothest calls among the other choices. But like ooVoo, it was a bit confusing. Cost- Free

Are video conferences going to become the norm for business-to-business communication in the future?

 

Tara McKenna

 

IT spending increases worldwide

As an IT consulting firm, we at The TNS Group, have been watching the amount of IT spending being made each year. Currently, there is a forecasted 3.9% increase in worldwide IT spending for the year of 2010. According to Gartner, our IT spending in 2009 was $3.225 trillion. With the 3.9% increase we will be spending $3.350 trillion this year. A reason for this increase is due to the fact of the devaluation of the euro versus the U.S. dollar. Richard Gordon, research vice president at Gartner said, “The European sovereign debt crisis is having an impact on the outlook for IT spending. The U.S. dollar has strengthened against the euro during the second quarter of 2010, and this trend will likely continue in the second half of 2010, which will put downward pressure on U.S.-dollar-denominated IT spending growth."

More specific spending matters that will increase this year include worldwide computing hardware. It’s forecast to reach $365 billion in 2010, which is up 9.1 percent from last year’s total spending. This specific sector benefits much from a healthy PC sector since it accounts for two thirds of spending in this area. Mr. Gordon added, “Consumer shipments will continue to be powered by strong mobile PC uptake, while professional shipments will be buoyed by a new replacement cycle and migration to Windows 7."

The IT spending forecast closely reflects the global economic outlook. It’s said that it is stable at the time, but vulnerable to shocks in key regions. For this reason, IT spending must be analyzed fully.

Tara McKenna

 

How to woo the media

One of The TNS Group’s major goals this summer is to improve our PR campaign, and get our name out there. Our best years, in terms of being popular with the media were in year 2005. The Greenwich Times, Stamford Advocate and Fairfield County Business Journal all published a story on our company. We want the spotlight back!

Since then, The TNS Group’s concentration has been focused on growth and our new product, Total Care. Since our heads have been turned, we have lost touch with old contacts that could be essential now. So how do we step up our game? Make a PR plan ad get to wooing the media! According to INC magazine, and entrepreneur, Leslie Haywood, small business owners can manage their own PR with these simple steps:

Start small: your first mention won’t be in The Wall Street Journal; look to speak with local newspapers

Create a press list: Instead of blasting a generic press release to hundreds of people, send personalized pitches to a few dozen reporters

Follow reporters: Follow reporters on Twitter, use HARO (help a reporter out) to post queries

Be current: Reporters are looking for timely stories-they must be newsworthy

Look for ways to stand out: emails may be disregarded, send a press packet in the mail

Follow up- follow up with reporters, but know the meaning between persistent and annoying

Blog: you never know whose reading

Get on YouTube: Video is very popular right now. Don’t underestimate the importance of appearance and personality

Keep your cool: When someone does write about you, send a thank you note

Show off your clips: Posting links to your media coverage can help you get even more press

 

Tara McKenna

Member Spotlight

The Connecticut Technology council has selected The TNS Group as the company to spotlight this month! The Connecticut Technology council “is a statewide association of technology oriented companies and institutions, providing leadership in areas of policy advocacy, community building and assistance for growing companies.”  Each month in the Member Spotlight section, the council posts a profile on a company (this company must be a CT Tech member). The profile includes basic information about the company, product offerings, competitors, opportunities in our market, business challenges we face etc.

 We are grateful for being featured! 

Check it out:

http://www.ct.org/Member_Spotlight.asp

-Tara McKenna

To call or not to call

How to improve your cold calling skills

It’s pretty obvious that the majority of employees dread cold calling. Let’s face it; calling a stranger and trying to convince them to not only give you their time, but also business, is a challenge. However, as stated in Inc Magazine, “cold calling remains a part of life whether you are a business owner, a job seeker, or even a volunteer looking to raise money for your local non-profit group, says Eliot Burdett, co-founder of Peak Sales Recruiting in Ottawa, Canada. "Even with the rise of the Internet, which has changed the way people buy, having the ability to connect with someone cold on the phone remains a valuable skill for anyone to have.”

Here at The TNS Group, cold calling is an important task. Our account manager makes calls daily to follow up on leads and create opportunities with potential clients. Without cold calling, we wouldn’t have as many clients as we do today.

According to INC Magazine, here are some tips for improving your cold calling skills:

1.       Set a cold calling schedule (schedule a specific time to make these calls to create rhythm)

2.       Communicate value (promise brevity and answer the question, “what’s in it for the customer?”)

3.       Know how to head-off objections (know every reason why your potential customers might not want to give you their time)

4.       Think research (think as the calls as research time)

Don’t be hesitant, pick up your phones and call away because every call is an opportunity!

Tara McKenna

 

Verizon vs. Apple

New phones are all the Rage

The rivalry between Verizon’s Droid X Smartphone and Apple’s iPhone 4 has begun. According to ITNEWS, Verizon took the opportunity to advertise the Droid on a full page in The New York Times on June 30th. Along with just advertising their new product, they mocked the iPhone 4’s notorious antenna problems.  There has been talk about Verizon selling iPhones in years to come, but will this advertisement break the deal? Will the droid be Verizon’s most popular product?

Apple has been working with the “deny till you die” attitude concerning the phone’s issues. They claim the iPhone 4 has the best reception compared to all other iPhone models, and all phones lose signal strength when the antenna is covered (so don’t). However, after testing the iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS and HTC Nexus One in specific locations, it seemed that there a quite a few signal strength differences based on how the phone is held, cases, your grip etcetera.  According to PCWorld, these were the results: http://www.pcworld.com/zoom?id=200206&page=1&zoomIdx=1

Between the two, they both have different strengths and weaknesses.  
Comparison:  Processing Power-Tie.  Display & Resolution – iPhone wins.  Storage– Droid X wins.  Camera & Multimedia – Tie. Connectivity – Droid X wins. 

What will you buy this summer? Let PCWorld know!

 

Tara McKenna