Globally, one in two companies has applied for government aid, and more than two-thirds of those have received it. In Salesforce’s fifth annual “ Top Small Business Trends” report, an interesting finding emerges: 15% of business leaders say government funding has been critical to their business, 28% say it has been very important, and 27% say it has been somewhat important. After the shock of 2020, 2021 was a year of adjustment :full of both difficulties and opportunities.
Transformed commercial landscape
Forward-thinking companies relied on technology nurse database and put everything on customers . Today, for example, two out of three customers say they shop primarily online , and 88% expect businesses and brands to implement targeted actions to combat the spread of COVID-19. SMEs, then, have had to speed up (or even start) the digitalization process : it is through technology, in fact, that they obtain all the tools necessary to better face the global crisis.
The trend towards flexible working
Flexible working, new customer expectations, rapid shift towards technology: these are some of the new trends that are emerging and that we will talk about in this blog. If working (only) from the office seems like a thing of the past, so does the contrast between working from home and working from the office . This trend towards so-called “hybrid work” has been underway for years, but the pandemic has given it an incredible boost: if before COVID-19 only 14% of business leaders believed that their organization could support virtual work, now the percentage has risen to 42%.
Employees themselves are demanding
And it is interesting to note how, in Italy, 1 in 4 employees believe that the future of work lies in the hybrid model. 2020 was the year of layoffs, furloughs, and, fundamentally, confusion. Now that the recovery is underway, more flexible working conditions , allowing them to work in the office only part of the time. In the Salesforce report, we also see that among the top employee expectations are the ability to request flexible hours and the use of masks and sanitizers in the office.
Changing customer expectations
To ensure these workers have the experience which payment gateway suits your needs? they want, a fundamental change in corporate mindset is needed , while leaders must acquire new skills in terms of employee and work environment management. It is now clear that customer expectations are higher than ever. The key word here seems to be “uniqueness”: customers want to get a unique and personalized experience from the brands they interact with , where each interaction is related to the previous one.
Technology seems to be the driving force
Many companies have understood the importance global seo work of this trend and the results are not long in coming: almost half of SMBs say they manage customer interactions much more carefully, and 42% of companies globally have made more communication channels available to customers . behind this shift towards customer-centricity: over half of business leaders, in fact, say that with the technology of ten years ago their business would have failed.