The school supply list can be both friend and foe – for some there is nothing more exciting than purchasing that brand new on-trend backpack and pack of colored pencils. Yet, in some districts, organizations actually conduct fundraisers where they will purchase your kids’ supplies for a nominal fee or donation to save you the headache.
Just like the parent investing in their students’ supplies, are you making the correct investments in your company’s technology and tools to help your growth for another year and the years after that? Are you still scratching notes on the yellow legal pad your granddaddy used in the last century due to its sentimental value, or have you updated to tablet sand smartphones to help track your customers and their orders?
Business owners – both big and small – have lots of balls to juggle. We’ve got five tech tools to help you increase efficiency and potentially help you grow your business.
Project Management Software
It’s hard to know what you’re supposed to do when you can’t find that yellow post-it note or the corner of that feed sack you wrote a reminder on, so how is the rest of your team supposed to keep track of your tasks and theirs? Project management software is a relatively in expensive investment to share and track your business’s regular tasks and special projects, see who is assigned to which task, and monitor progress and deadlines. A variety of software options exist, and most will allow use on both your computer and phone for easy tracking of projects.
E-mail Marketing
With customers seeking information at their fingertips, an e-mail newsletter is the way of the future. Yes, there is value in the printed word, but for fast, quick blasts of information to get out to your customer list, having those emails on file makes this method of marketing the next wave of great marketing.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
Building relationships is key to your business success. Although you might still keep all your customer information on an index card, CRM software will help you track sales patterns, manage and track outreach and even let you see who is visiting your website or opening and reading your emails. A quality CRM program will often help you increase your customer support.
Data Backup
This is perhaps the area to be most proactive in since most of us wait to backup our data only AFTER we have lost it all and are reacting to a bad experience. It’s easy to accidentally delete or corrupt data. Software conflicts and malicious actors can cause major disruptions. SaaS (Software as a service) marketing vendors back up data at the platform level, but you can’t access that information to restore your account.
Backup software gives you full control and immediate access to your critical business data. If something happens, you can restore your data in a few clicks.
HR Management
Few small businesses can afford to hire a human resources administrator. HR management software tools take care of everything from payroll and shift scheduling to distributing important company announcements. They can be a little more expensive, and there is no mobile app because of the sensitive nature of the material.
Just as there are boxes with 12 crayons and 64 crayons, your business can invest in five or 55 technologies to help it succeed. These five are technologies that every company, regardless of size can use to help them grow.