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There is no escaping the rise of the chatbot.

What may have once been perceived as a gimmick is no longer the case as businesses are waking up to the significant benefits of having a chatbot.

Drawing on the latest developments in artificial intelligence (AI), the chatbot is one of many tools changing the business landscape.

Chatbots use AI and machine learning to receive and respond to messages on chat mediums like SMS text, website chat windows and social messaging services across platforms like Facebook and Twitter.

Facebook, which owns WhatsApp and Instagram and is pioneering the chatbot across its platforms, recently released data from its Messenger service that backed the value of bots for businesses. Its findings noted:

• 2 billion messages are sent between people and businesses monthly
• 56% of people would rather message than call customer service
• 53% of people are more likely to shop with businesses they can message

Given the high volumes of traffic and the willingness of consumers to use chatbot, then adopting a chatbot makes business sense, as it streamlines the process of engaging customers, as well as cutting down costs and activities.

An article by Chatbots Magazine, identifies seven ways that chatbots will improve business efficiency and productivity.

At the top of the list is process automation. For customer service teams, this enables the mundane or often asked questions to be dealt with online, leaving staff to use their time more efficiently dealing with more complex matters. By automating the process, it also reduces the element of human error, while the chatbot is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year – ensuring customers can always get an answer, which is the number one reason consumers use a chatbot.

But it isn’t just customer service teams benefiting, as research by PWC showed business executives expected AI to improve processes by 67 per cent, while 34 per cent think using chatbots would reduce their workload, enabling them to focus on new business initiatives, as opposed to dealing with routine enquiries.

Chatbots are also assisting in driving sales and revenue, primarily through social media and messenger app channels.

The likes of Facebook Messenger, Whatsapp and Instagram all have business platforms to enable companies to develop chatbots and use for marketing purposes. Facebook Messenger showcases success stories from Lego, Allianz France, Just Eat UK and KLM of how chatbots are increasing sales or engagement.

There is a clear business case for chatbots, but as with any new technology, it is assessing if this is right for your business. It is also about working out how it be utilised – will it be website based or through social media platforms.

Ensuring the chatbot delivers the customers’ needs and the business benefits is essential to establishing its suitability. Sprout Social looks at the options and the processes available – including business-based bots, while Chatbots Magazine adds more to the decision-making process in this article.

But a word of caution, respected organisation Forrester has warned of a backlash by the public over chatbots and AI as they seek greater human engagement.

In its article, Predictions 2019: This Is The Year To Invest In Humans, As Backlash Against Chatbots And AI Begins, it questions the usefulness of chatbots and likens them to poor-performing call centres; sheds doubt over the validity of sales figures from the sales workforce and ultimately expects consumers to ‘lead a community-based revolt against corporate chatbots’.

The Forrester article hasn’t pulled any punches in its assessment but that is unlikely to see a slow-down chatbot adoption.

So, will you be joining the chatbot revolution?

Want to know more about The Base?

The Base is a Grade-A office and co-working space in the centre of Warrington that’s home to many market leading digital technology and advanced engineering companies. Whilst calling The Base your home, you will have access to free business support, including marketing, tax, legal advice, as well as help with innovation, research and development.

Contact us for more information.

As the year comes to an end, it was time for The Base annual christmas competition. This year we held a mini golf championship.

Tenant teams went up against each other to see who was the Rory McIlroy of the bunch. The ‘pop up’ course was provided by Putting Edge and was a challenge to all.

An unforgiving course

Tee times went from 10am until 3pm, the teams played the unforgiving course trying to get into the final. Swan Solutions, Avanite, Iris Networks, Cube 32 Studios & Simple Solutions all made the cut to the long awaited final.

The Final

The final that took place from 4pm and the ante was upped a little bit, you could see the nerves through the once steady hands of the guys at Avanite.

The faint-hearted opted to head over to the 19^th hole to grab a festive snack and drink to replenish themselves so they could finish strong.

After ‘ironing out’ previous errors the Swan Solutions two-ball of Steve Nicholls and Andrew Horrocks sank their last putt and took home the trophy as the overall champions and just like that we had our winners!

Thank you so much to everyone who took part and helped create this incredible event.

The Base thanks everyone for coming and enjoying a great afternoon.

Congratulations to Swan Solutions the inaugural winners of our Annual Christmas competition!

We hope to see everyone same time, same place next year.

Want to know more about The Base?

The Base is a Grade-A office and co-working space in the centre of Warrington that’s home to many market leading digital technology and advanced engineering companies. Whilst calling The Base your home, you will have access to free business support, including marketing, tax, legal advice, as well as help with innovation, research and development.

Contact us for more information.

Are you looking to find the perfect office space to set up your new business?

Or has your business recently grown out of your current space? It might be time to expand because you aren’t getting what you need from where your company is currently based.

The first step is to the take time to understand exactly what you’re looking for in a new office space, and what things you are willing to live without.

We’ve put together a short list of our top tips to find the perfect office space that is perfect for you!

Prices

Office prices across the UK differ greatly, with London prices are almost double for a new building according to the Total office Cost Survey of 2017* compared to the North West of England where you can get beautiful, ideally located office space for reasonable prices.

As with any new office space, you just need to know what to look for and where to go. Manchester averages £73 per square foot for a new building, whereas Liverpool and Warrington average £55 per square foot*.

The right building for you might be more expensive, but if you weigh the other pros and cons detailed here, it might be well worth it to invest in a higher-priced building.

Locations

Deciding on where to locate your business or place your new company can be a daunting task. By keeping these key factors in mind can help make the task more manageable:

• BREEAM rating
• Access to market
• Access to customers and suppliers
• Connectivity, not only to the building and employees but to similar companies for collaboration
• Availability of skills

Additionally, when you’re visiting new office spaces, make sure to ask where the nearest bus and train stations are as car parking isn’t always the most important option for commuters today.

In 2016/17 80% of passenger journeys were by public transport using buses and National Rail**! Also, look into any deals that the office building might hold for commuters.

Amenities

If you’re an advanced engineering or digital business and don’t need meeting rooms on-site but high-speed internet is critical to the success of your business, then a new building might be more ideal.

Additionally, when viewing your potential new office space, make sure there is space for your employees to have a healthy amount of desk space, possible hot desking or a breakout and lunch area.

It might be a great idea to write down must-have’s and ‘wish-list’ amenities and take the list with you so you don’t forget what is most important to you and your employees.

Flexibility & Collaboration

One of the best compliments we get at The Base is the wide range of companies on-site who are available to collaborate with.

Ensure that wherever you choose, you are surrounded by cutting-edge, innovative, and ground-breaking companies, like yourself. This allows you to expand and grow your network as you build your business.

* Total Office Cost Survey 2017

** Department of Transport 2016/17 Report

We are no longer on the cusp of Industry 4.0, we are well underway and taking steps to protect ourselves online is now at the forefront of any company with an online presence. “Cybersecurity is the practice of protecting systems, networks, and programs from digital attacks.” * Meaning that knowing how to protect your business, images, and vital information is crucial and is a factor that all businesses should be aware of. Here are a few of the key threats businesses need to keep in mind:

Passwords

It may seem obvious but getting creative with your passwords is the first step in the fight against cyber attacks. Follow these steps for a secure password:

• Choose an 8+ characters password. Choosing a lengthy password makes it harder for bots to crack
• Avoid using the same password for multiple platforms
• Try using a passphrase – three or more random words, at around 20-30 characters
• Add numbers and symbols to increase security and lower the risk of a cyber attack
• For online banking or other platforms that hold highly sensitive information, consider changing your password every three months

Shared Devices

A rising and popular workplace trend involves encouraging employees to utilise their personal devices for remote work.

It’s a nice idea in theory but can present many problems when it comes to passwords, downloadable content, sharing sensitive information and more.

Using personal technology in the workplace could potentially compromise any good cybersecurity practice you’ve previously implemented.

Your company’s employee handbook should address both personal and professional devices, outlining appropriate steps for their usage.

This should encompass guidelines for using work and personal devices, including permitted usage areas and methods for ensuring security.

Your People

Although ‘people’ may not be your first thought when it comes to cybersecurity, employees can be the first defenders within the workplace.

The more people employed, the more likely it is that someone will click, download or visit something they shouldn’t, even by accident.

Keeping employees up-to-date on the rules and regulations of your company and how to protect company-wide security will ultimately result in improving your electronic data.

Education is key! There you have it, your quick guide to protect your business.

To delve deeper into this topic, explore the small business guide provided by the NCSC (National Cyber Security Centre) for a comprehensive starting point.

* https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/security/what-is-cybersecurity.html

The Base provides 50,000 square feet of Grade A office space and is home to over 20 businesses in a range of industries. Warrington & Co, the private-sector led regeneration arm of Warrington Council, developed the building.

It is home to the successful BaseConnect online networking platform, which provides a networking hub for leading engineering and technology innovators involved in the Warrington area and has more than 200 members.  More information can be found here.

36% of employees trust leaders 

According to Gallup and the CIPD, “only 36% of employees trust their leaders”.

The Base Business event on employee engagement raised laughs, but also genuine concerns around management capabilities.

Richard Jeffrey from Business Navigators and Kim Hayton from FDR HR both gave presentations underpinned by the commitment of business leaders to live their values and not just pay them – and employee engagement – lip service.

Commercial benefits of inclusion

Richard shared examples of how inclusion when framing a business vision, a collective approach, yields real commercial benefits. Focusing on your people and their performance, aims and objectives, delivers increased profitability, productivity and creativity while absenteeism declines and retention improves.

These referenced insights were corroborated by the same Gallup and CIPD research that revealed 58% of employees are “not bothered about their work” and that 9 out 10 barriers to successful change are people related.

Kim then went on to highlight how the release of “discretionary effort”, the goodwill of staff, results from a sense of purpose, recognition and development but primarily from leaders who actually lead.

Accidental Managers

Drawing on experiences with “accidental managers”, Kim asked for examples from the audience of good and bad managers. The consensus, evidenced by personal anecdotes, supported the observation that employees leave managers (not businesses) and those managers tend not to listen, to bully and are glass-half-empty types.

Conversely; those who trust their staff, inspire and incentivise them to grow and use their own initiative – those who realise enthusiasm and happiness isn’t just fluffy HR ideas – build teams who feel compelled to release their “discretionary effort”.

Employee engagement

Fundamentally both speakers demonstrated the value of employee engagement as a business imperative and the dangers of treating it superficially. So, once more, attendees left The Base with plenty to think about – and do – after one of our events.

If you’d like to attend our next business event, on May 23rd, on the subject of innovation, where you will hear from Inventya and Innovate UK, please register at BaseConnect.

Want to know more about The Base?

The Base is a Grade-A office and co-working space in the centre of Warrington that’s home to many market leading digital technology and advanced engineering companies. Whilst calling The Base your home, you will have access to free business support, including marketing, tax, legal advice, as well as help with innovation, research and development.

Contact us for more information.

A collaborative workshop has brought together tenants and revealed the key benefits and value of The Base.

The natural networking and the professional image it gives to the businesses were the top of the list.

Business Navigators

Hosted by Richard Jeffrey of Business Navigators, the workshop took tenants through the Value Proposition and how it can enhance a business’s products and services.

Richard, who has run workshops for Rolls Royce and The United Nations, shared valuable knowledge on the subject. 

After using his curated Value Proposition canvas, tenants created their own canvas for their businesses.

Great Networking

Great networking and commercial opportunities were happening as participants gained a better understanding of each other’s enterprises.

The Base is a great place for those seeking collaboration and growth, where tenants interact with each other.  The Base team regularly bring thought leaders like Richard into the building to help support the tenants on specialist topics.

To learn more about The Base and its offerings for tenants, please contact us.

Want to know more about The Base?

The Base is a Grade-A office and co-working space in the centre of Warrington that’s home to many market leading digital technology and advanced engineering companies.

As a resident of The Base, you’ll have access to free business support for marketing, tax, legal advice, innovation, research, and development.

Contact us for more information.

After a January that lasted a lifetime, we ended the month with an event looking at the year ahead.

The topic was ‘Planning Business Growth’, we had a room full of eager business owners scribbling down notes and asking questions throughout, a great start to our year of events.

After a brief introduction by The Base Business Development Manager Sylvie Morton, Steve Burgin of Appleton Advisory took over.

Steve shared valuable knowledge, captivating the audience who eagerly took notes.

Stages of growth

Steve outlined the stages of business growth and introduced an orbit diagram that was unfamiliar to most of the audience.

The diagram illustrates growth objectives and serves as a valuable tool for businesses.

Overall the biggest advice was to “Evolve your plans as your business changes”. Revisit regularly, don’t forget about it for 3 years – as this will help you keep focus on your objectives.

Tying in nicely with Steve was Bren Hutchinson’s topic of sustainable business growth.

Bren, who runs BH Associates talked us through her experiences and how she started out as a chartered accountant working her way up to where she is today.

Does your identity fit with your strategy?

Bren hit the audience with questions like ‘Does your identity fit with your strategy?’ to get us all thinking on a cold Wednesday morning.

Bren also ensured that the audience understood the key importance of tight financial control to sustain the growth. The key point highlighted was communication, and having a plan that all of the organisation understood. This kept popping up from both speakers, as the main point for focus.

As notepads filled with advice and ideas, the floor opened to questions with Bren and Steve both happy to help with anything that came at them.

Offering both their past experiences and ways to improve going forward. As usual, the question and answer session proved to be one of the most helpful parts of the event.

At the event, attendees had the chance to ask questions to the guest speakers, engage in interactive discussions, and access event slides. They also had valuable opportunities to network with industry experts and gain insights that would propel their businesses forward.

BaseConnect

At The Base, we have Bi-monthly business events where we provide our BaseConnect members with expert guest speakers and a great chance to network.

Our next event ‘Employee Engagement’ will take place on the 21^st of March, book it in your diary’s now

Start Planning Business Growth today.