All posts by Vinay Patankar

Gmail vs. Outlook: 5 Game-Changing Differences

Vinay Patankar December 26, 2016

Most companies turn to Gmail or Outlook to manage their workplace email. 13% of public companies use Office 365 or G-Suite (formerly Google Apps). The remaining 87% use a combination of the two, or a private email setup.

Some companies choose Google or Microsoft because they prefer one’s cloud office suite—which includes calendars, and collaboration on spreadsheets and documents—over the other. (We compared Office 365 with G-Suite in another post.)

But if you use other productivity tools and are deciding between Gmail or Outlook solely for email, you want to choose one that helps you speed up your workflow. Gmail set its initial bar high, and Microsoft clearly took notice. Given Outlook’s 2016 update, it is now more equipped to compete than ever.

Here are five game-changing differences between Gmail vs. Outlook.

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8 Ways to Use Task Assignments in Process Street

Black-and-white operations manager assigning workflow task cards to specific owners on a task assignment board.

Running a business is complex, especially when it’s unclear who is responsible for what.

To move your business from an informal organization to a well oiled machine, you need processes. There’s no getting around them.

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How to Build a PR Strategy for Your Business

In this episode of Business Systems Explored, we talk to Doyle Albee, host of PR is Dead and president of PR firm ‎Metzger Albee.

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Public relations expert Doyle Albee shares his stories, tips, and processes on building a PR strategy for your business.

We chat about everything from building relationships with reporters to knowing the perfect time to strike with your story. And, the myth that ‘all news is good news’ is debunked!

Get inside the world of reporters and their motivations with these unique insights from the president of Metzger Albee PR firm, and host of the Rainmaker.fm podcast PR is Dead.

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How to Delegate Tasks Successfully Without Wasting Time

In this episode of Business Systems Explored, I explain how to manage your tasks, delegate work, and build systems that help your business keep costs down, and work more productively.

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At Process Street, I manage several different teams and assign hundreds of tasks every month.

You’d think that when you have to explain, upload, and send information to so many people so regularly, you’d have no time to do anything else…

You’d be wrong.

Managing a busy startup means you need to take a lot of shortcuts. So, thankfully I’ve found and documented a way to assign tasks to anyone from any device without switching between apps, sending emails, or messing around.

In this episode, I break down the system I use so you can re-create it and start delegating tasks successfully and efficiently.

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How to Be More Efficient at Work

In this episode of Business Systems Explored, we talk to Zachary Sexton, host of The Productivity Show for Asian Efficiency.

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Whether you’re a maker or a manager, you could use a little more efficiency at work. It’s not like you’re choosing to goof off and doing a Homer Simpson, but you might be spending way too much time on email or less important work.

But how do you know? What really is the most important task for today?

We’ve looked at this topic a lot on the Process Street blog, but today it’s a focus on improving efficiency at work from the perspective of building a culture of productivity in your workplace.

Zachary tells us the tools, systems and methods he’s learned while running Asian Efficiency’s Productivity Show and the Buckets consultancy.

Listen to this week’s episode to supercharge your productivity, and find out what to do when you have a few bad days in a row.

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Startup Hiring: How to Find the Perfect Candidate Without Going Insane

In this episode of Business Systems Explored, Vinay explains the system he uses to hire at Process Street.

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Hiring is the single most important thing any company does.

It’s right at the top of the chain, and the effects filter down to impact revenue, reach, signups, customer satisfaction, and more.

So, instead of settling on someone early because you can’t be bothered to manage relationships with hundreds of candidates, you should try the system described in this podcast.

The system involves ways to automatically reach out to great potential candidates, screen with automation, and use AI to schedule meetings. And, it’s nowhere near as complex as it sounds.

Listen to this episode to learn this semi-automated system for yourself and get it set up in a few hours!

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Quote to tweet:

“People are the ultimate system. It’s all about the team. Your company is how you hire” (tweet this)

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Managing Your BANT Sales Qualification Process with Checklists and Close.io

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What is BANT qualification?

Let’s say you’ve got a list of leads. You don’t know which, but some will be ready to buy right now. Others, however, won’t have the slightest bit of interest…

The only way to find out is to call them. And that’s where BANT qualification comes into play.

Invented by IBM sales teams, BANT is a series of criteria, which stands for:

  • Budget. What is the prospect’s budget?
  • Authority. Does the contact have the right authority to buy?
  • Needs. What needs does your prospect have? Do they match your product or service?
  • Timeframe. How soon are they wanting to implement a solution?

Any one of these questions can be used to disqualify a prospect, or at least help you decide how to proceed with that particular contact.

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How to Reduce Churn and Save Your Doomed SaaS Product

In this episode of Business Systems Explored, we talk to Matt Goldman: Churn Buster CEO and co-host of Rocketship.fm.
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We’ve looked at how churn can kill your SaaS company before on the Process Street blog…

But today we’ve had the pleasure of talking to someone who works entirely with churn and reducing its effects for tons of major SaaS companies.

Churn is the rate that customers cancel their subscriptions to your software. It can happen either because your product isn’t giving them enough value, or it can happen because of a failed payment method.

In fact, over half of total churn is because of an expired credit card or another technical payment issue…

Matt built Churn Buster to fight this particular type of revenue loss, and today he’s here to tell us all the secrets he’s learned along the way.
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Video Production Tips for Business: How to Create Video Customers Will Actually Watch

In this episode of Business Systems Explored, we learn video production tips from Chris Lavigne, head of video at Wistia.

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You’d expect a video startup to have a wealth of wisdom on video creation, production, and editing, but this episode is insane.

We speak to Chris Lavigne, Wistia’s head of video, and learn everything from creating a business video with your iPhone, editing on free software, and the biggest mistakes you can make with lighting and audio recording.

Whether you’ve just got a laptop and an iPhone, or a bit of a budget to afford a mic and camera, there are tips here that will help you create video content that engages your audience, makes emotional connections, and strengthens your brand.

While you’re here, check out an earlier episode we recorded with Wistia CEO Chris Savage.

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How to Systemize Your Business from Scratch

In this episode of Business Systems Explored, we talk to Wendy Tadokoro from Organising Works! a business systems consultancy based in Australia.

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You’re not going to be able to scale your business properly if you don’t use systems…

The problem is, businesses think they don’t have enough time to create processes.

What they don’t realize is that every day you go without a process, you’re wasting time and setting yourself up for failure.

Processes help you:

  • Train new employees
  • Assign tasks to anyone
  • Automate tedious jobs
  • Scale your business

So, how do you start systemizing your business from scratch?

If that’s what you want to know, this is the episode for you. Joining me this week is Wendy Tadokoro from Organising Works!, a systems consultancy with years of experience working with enterprises and small businesses. She walks us through everything she does when starting with a new client, revealing how you start making systems from the very beginning.

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