Any business owner or manager is going to be interested in ways to save time and money within their company, especially in ways that do not require a lot more effort. Technology has made huge changes to modern life, and it can offer some simple ways of making a big difference to your productivity and business results.
Here are a few ways that businesses can utilize technology (even simple tech) to improve their current way of business.
Chat bots
Significant resources go towards customer care and repetitive outreach. Chat bots can reduce the amount of time, money and resources that businesses put into customer care but do not want to compromise on quality of care. There will always be a place for human-to-human interaction amongst the world of business, but chat bots can take on the simple requests, such as answering when the hours of a company are or where they are located.
Virtual Assistants
In today’s digital world, it is becoming more popular for companies to hire virtual professionals. Businesses can choose what exactly to hire a virtual assistant for and on what contract type base to hire them on as. Technology is able to connect virtual assistants to businesses, offering a business relationship that can be flexible for the worker and give the company the opportunity to free up time in a cost-effective way. Areas of business that virtual assistants that are brought on for include: social media, marketing and bookkeeping. AI companies, such as Expert System, now offer virtual assistants to business as they can be can be extremely helpful for industries.
Social media
Social media was initially used for personal use, but it quickly became a resource that businesses leveraged as well. It can be used to conduct customer service, to interact with customers and the public, and to share promotions across a wide or even targeted audience.
Save on IT spending
IT departments often have significant amounts of backups and upgrades on their to-do lists. This results in greater IT spending for companies, while tech offers a solution to reduce spending and use cloud-based technologies.
CRM systems
The ability to track customer information via technology is a significant upgrade from the traditional paper methods. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems are used by many businesses to track and plan detailed interactions with customers, as well as keep track of important customer information. Keeping an online record of interactions enables businesses to understand their customers better over time, provide improved and targeted customer service.
Accounting software
For every business, money matters. An up-to-date look at real-time reports can help every business owner understand where their company stands. Software can be set up to provide feedback, keep track and conduct payments and even invoice customers. Having finances in order and knowing exactly how your business is doing can mean the difference in your productivity (and stress levels!).
Telecommuting
Telecommuting is a major topic amongst businesses today. Some businesses thrive off of having all employees in-house while others find their employees are more productive when they have the opportunity to telecommute. Technology enables employees to work productively from wherever they are. As long as there is Internet to communicate and files and documents can be easily accessible online or via desktop applications, mobile workers can help your business run a lot more effectively. You can even save some money on office space.
These are just a few examples of how technology can help you run your business more effectively. There are many, many more ways, including some niche ways depending on your field and others that can be used by almost any business.
