Some workflow apps you might be using to help manage your processes require constant attention – reporting, updating, or having to contact other colleagues to get them to complete their section of the workflow.

These are interruptions, and according to Professor Gloria Marks from the University of California, with each interruption, there is an average of 23 minutes and 15 seconds wasted to get back to the task.

Other workflows experience inefficiencies simply because your current processes take too long. Full stop.

The more time things take, the more work you have to do.

In this article, we’ll guide you through a series of tools which can help you create workflows, follow workflows, and automate workflows.

• Workflow apps for creating templates
• Workflow apps for task management
• Workflow apps for communication
• Workflow apps for storage
• Workflow apps for recording ideas
• Workflow apps for automated reporting
• Workflow apps for task delegation
• Workflow apps for process automation
• Workflow apps for dual-screening
• Start streamlining your processes with workflow apps

“History tells us that “how” you sell is just as important as “what” you sell.” – Wes Bush, The Definitive Guide On Product-Led Growth.

Slack’s revenue has grown 52 x since its launch in 2014: The channel-based messaging platform reported that revenue went from $12 million in 2014 to $630 million in 2020.

Their secret? …. Product-led growth.

Product-led growth (PLG), otherwise known as the “try before you buy” approach has helped companies like Dropbox, Netflix, Hubspot, and of course Slack go from Startup to scale up in record time.

But, the product-led growth approach isn’t just about trying before buying. There’s more to it than that. In fact, to truly be product-led you’ll need to choose between a free trial or freemium model; determine if you’ll be targeting the makers or the shakers of an organization; decide which sea you wish to sail when following the Blue Ocean Strategy; and, choose whether your strategy wants to focus on the bottom-up or the top-down.

Feeling confused? Don’t worry, this post will help clear things up. I’ll go over what product-led growth actually is and help you decide if the approach is right for you. I’ll also take a look at Slack and Hubspot, the poster children of the PLG approach to show what it looks like in practice.

To jump to a specific section click on the appropriate link below.

• Product-led growth in a nutshell
• Product-led growth as a go-to-market strategy
• Is the product-led growth approach for you?
• Key metrics for measuring product-led growth
• Product-led growth in practice: Slack
• Product-led growth in practice: Hubspot
• Product-led growth: Key takeaways

Let’s get sailing…

Guest post by Revv’s Seema, originally a Product Expert at Revv, whose document automation and eSignature technology was later acquired by LegalZoom. She believes in the power of words and storytelling, and she writes here from her own experience explaining the difference between closely related business terms.

A business plan is the company-wide roadmap for how a business will operate, grow, and fund its goals. A business proposal is a tailored offer designed to win a specific client, project, or opportunity. You may use both, but they serve different readers and decisions.

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Joseph Juran, the Architect of Quality, paved the way for the active pursuit of quality in Business with the Juran Trilogy.

The Juran Trilogy redefined quality management; reducing chronic defects and the costs associated below a 20% industry expectation.

The Juran Trilogy has been shown to give benefits across multiple parameters, increasing productivity, reducing cycle-times, improving human safety, and reducing product failure rates – with a 80% reduction in some cases.

For us as Process Street, the Juran Trilogy is one of our favorite tools for improving business operations. It’s a straightforward methodology that brings results.

Learn how to apply the Juran Trilogy for your business, and improve the quality of operations. Click on the relevant subheader below to jump to your section of choice, alternatively scroll down to read all we have to say:

• What is the Juran Trilogy?
• Using the Juran Trilogy for quality control: Quality planning, control and improvement
• Implementing the Juran Trilogy using Process Street
• Juran Trilogy examples: Quality improvement in the real world

Let’s get started!

To excel at customer success, you need to understand your customer health score. According to a study by Gartner, 88% of Account Managers (CSMs) think they can grow by delivering a great service, which is reflected in your customer health score measures.

A customer health score is a metric used to determine whether customers are healthy or at-risk of dropping off. Customers with high health scores are high-value, repeat customers – this comes hand-in-hand with business growth.

In this Process Street article, we give you 7 vital indicators you need for determining customer health. We then explain how you can use these indicators to calculate customer health score values, before looking at examples of customer health scoring in practice.

Click on the relevant subheader to jump to your section of choice, alternatively scroll down to read all we have to say.

• Our secret source: 7 indicators for calculating customer success
• Calculating your customer health score
• Customer health scoring in practice
• Moving from a startup to big business and how this alters customer health score measures

Let’s start scoring!

Want to make more money from your clients, without making them pay more?

Well, with Process Street‘s partner program you can do just that – for every customer you refer who sets up a paid account, you’ll get a cut for no extra effort. Hell, there’s a reason we’re one of the top business process management software apps on the market.

To get you started, this section of our consultant’s guide to Process Street will go through:

• How to generate passive income by referring Process Street
• How the partner program works
• How much you’ll earn from referred sales
• How to earn money from referring people without your unique link
• Setting up your affiliate account
• Generating your referral link
• How payments work
• Monetizing Process Street outside of referrals

If you have reservations about recommending us to clients that’s not a problem – just check out any reviews of Process Street to get a little assurance before earning passive income with referrals.

Let’s get to maximizing your profits without needing extra effort or money from you or your clients.
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I lost $45,000 because I didn’t have a statement of work in place.

What makes it worse (or perhaps better?!) is that it wasn’t even my money.

It was my previous employer’s.

I was managing a website build for a big client and was under huge pressure to meet a tight deadline. So, as many do, I decided to start the project before the client signed the Statement of Work (SoW).

This was a big, expensive, mistake to make.

It cost an additional $45,000 to re-work parts of the build that the client had verbally approved, but hadn’t legally signed off.

Ouch.

(Despite what you might think, this isn’t the reason I don’t work there anymore!)

According to research, 37% of projects fail due to a lack of defined and approved project goals and objectives, which come with a Statement of Work (SoW). This causes around 80% of organizations to spend at least half their time on expensive rework.

“Not using a Statement of Work – SOW during the project initiation is a major cause of project failure” – 4PM, Statement of Work – SOW

But what is a Statement of Work (SoW) and how do you create one?

All will be revealed in this Process Street post, as we go through:

• What a Statement of Work (SoW) is
• Why bother with a Statement of Work (SoW)
• How to create a Statement of Work (SoW)

If you’re in a hurry, grab this free Statement of Work Process Template now, and catch up with the rest of the post when you can:

Click here to access the Statement of Work (SoW) Process Template!

Otherwise, keep reading and we’ll go through this template, in a little more detail, later.

Let’s get into it!

An employee feedback loop can be a great tool if you’re trying to improve the quality of your products or boost the satisfaction of your employees.

There are numerous benefits to gathering and utilizing feedback but there are also several key things to remember that will help you make your feedback loops as effective as possible.

We will look at the different types of feedback loops, how they can positively impact businesses, and the best practices for making them work the first time, every time.

What if your business could establish a culture that harnesses quality as an operational weapon? What if you could make quality a repeatable, instinctive pattern of work that puts your company at the front of the pack?

The past couple of years haven’t been easy for businesses. The snail-paced unfolding of Brexit brought uncertainty and disruption for British and EU businesses, and anyone connected to them. 

Then the ravages of COVID-19 shut large swathes of the world economy down and brought the Great Resignation in its wake. And now, inflation is rocketing skyward, the ‘r’ word is on everyone’s lips, and the cheap debt of the last decade is set to be curtailed by the Federal Reserve’s hiking of interest rates. 

It’s clear that we’re in the middle of a rough patch. Businesses need to take measured, proactive steps now to weather the storm and make themselves as strong, healthy, and competitive as they can be.

In times like these, it can be tempting to reach for the nuclear option and take dramatic evasive action: diversification, cost-cutting, remodeling, and risk analysis are the order of the day. 

Culture doesn’t get much of a look-in. But here’s why that’s a mistake – and why focusing on quality, and how to graft it into the heart of your cultural DNA, is one of the best things your business can do to prepare for the next few years.

• What is a culture of quality?
• Why does a quality culture matter?
• The four corners of a quality culture
• The role of leadership in a culture of quality
• Choosing the right tools for a quality culture
• Conclusion: Make a quality culture your objective

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 It’s a competitive world out there. Your business is striving every day to outperform your competitors. 

That might mean lower pricing, better website design, or more engaging content. But it’s not easy to find new ideas that will differentiate you from the rest.

Maybe you’ve invested in excellent communications, including the best business VoIP plans. You may even have invested in better job-related training. 

But do your employees have the right skills for success? Not just hard skills like technical knowledge – we’re talking soft skills.

92% of talent professionals say that soft skills matter as much or more than hard skills when they’re hiring. 

80% also say soft skills are increasingly important to company success. 

And Deloitte forecasts that soft skill-intensive occupations will account for two-thirds of all jobs by 2030.

What does that all mean? If you’re not nurturing your employees’ soft skills, you’re missing out on a massive opportunity to make your business more successful. 

So, what can you do? 

• What are soft skills? 
• What are the soft skills you should be looking for? 
• 7 ways to develop soft skills in the workplace
• Soft skills help your business perform better