Are you getting prepared for the holiday season? Are you gearing up to implement this fall’s expansion strategy in a couple of select markets? Are you waiting to see the customers’ response to your new product/service proposition after new updates? Consider benefiting from expanding resource options to maximize all your opportunities in a timely manner. Choose flexible, outsourced remote and office-based workers—including independent freelancers, consultants, “gig” workers, or virtual assistant agencies that provide dedicated solutions—to optimize your upside while managing your risk.
Flexing for Fall
How has everything been going since Labor Day? Is everyone finally back on track and focused on their work? As you look to fill all your specific skills and resource needs for the coming months timing is critical. There is a much deeper pool of contract-based talent to choose from now and new services to help identify and connect with the people that are best-matched for your company’s requirements. However, have you considered all the ways targeted expertise can quickly boost your business? Here are some I think you may not have thought about before:
Seasonal Supplements: You are used to bringing in temporary workers to cover expanded demand each year. However, did you manage to find all the people you wanted with the right profile, skills, and fit your culture and brand? Advanced platforms offer sophisticated matching services and can identify, connect with, and sign up the specific individuals your company would prefer to have taking care of all the seasonal opportunities, and beyond.
Innovation & Intelligence: What about engaging someone for a creativity or information booster? I have benefitted multiple times from bringing in targeted experts on a project basis to allow rapid development of understanding in a particular industry or field. I could, therefore, accelerate expansion, learning from their experience and building my knowledge. These projects have typically covered their costs within weeks or a few months. Relevant creatives can also generate updated product or service offerings; assist with customer issues; improve existing plans, or simply bring a fresh perspective to your seasonal marketing concepts. Why not explore bringing on a creative expert for a test ideation project? Measure the outcomes to track the return on your investment.
Bottleneck Buster: What were the bottlenecks last fall? If you had all the sales and business development folks you desired, could the business have fared better with one or two extra administrative staff as well – to process orders, prepare products for shipping or follow up on new customers or returns? They can help mitigate late deliveries and customer issues that I have often seen cause seasonal stress. More importantly, you can avoid undermining top line success as normal staff levels are often not able to manage all the extra back-end work.
Pitch Perfect: Do you think your company’s external communicators have the best style and materials possible? I have personally worked with presentation experts on specific occasions to learn how to communicate critical messages in the most compelling way possible. Similarly, for executives and other outward-facing employees to have sophisticated decks to convert prospective clients, investors or partners more easily, hire a freelancer with presentation expertise to create the most convincing materials possible.
Talent Trials: Last year, were any contractors you worked with a really good fit and you would have liked them to continue working for your organization after having the opportunity to test them out? Would you prefer to find people this year whom you could have the possibility of bringing on for a longer-term contract, or even employing them? New contractor-focused services can find you well-matched individuals that are specifically open to converting to longer-term roles should there be mutual interest.
Flexible workers present an effective way of filling critical skills and expert needs as fast as the marketplace demands these days. Have confidence that you will be able to fill current or forecast gaps in the shorter timeframes you are anticipating, especially when you are finding the market hard to anticipate these days. Flexibility goes both ways and it’s a win-win these days.
Learn more about Sophie by visiting Sophiewade.com, or follow her on Twitter @ASophieWade. You can also buy Sophie’s new book, Embracing Progress, on Amazon.
