We live in a high-tech world – it moves incredibly fast. As a business owner, this can be both good and bad, new software is making business management more and more simple and efficient, but it can also be a challenge to keep up. Here are some of the programs you need to make sure you use it as a business owner to keep up with the competition.
CRM software
When you give people a more personalized experience when they shop at your company, it makes them feel valued and can lead to increased personality. While you may not know all of your customers personally, customer relationship management software gives the impression that you are doing it. Features like emailing voucher codes for customers’ birthdays and wishing them a good day, or recommending products based on their previous purchases can help you achieve this. You can get CRM software designed specifically for your industry, for example if you owned you would get real estate related CRM software.
Human Relationship Software
HR employs everything to do with its employees and includes hiring, firing, bullying and harassment, absences, and more. You cannot replace your department with software, but you can give them the software they need to make them work faster and more efficiently. No need for paper diaries or huge files of information, with HR software everything is all in one place.
Cloud Online Backup Software
Cloud software protects information on your network by encrypting data. It sends it to secure servers outside of your office. This way, whatever happens to your computers or original copies (fire, flood, or theft), you have a secure version. If you have employees who work remotely, they can securely access the information they need from any computer they use.
Legal software
Legal advice is expensive and therefore can be problematic for small businesses. However, you can avoid some of these costs by using good legal software. This allows you to create legally binding documents and also provides general guidelines. Much cheaper than consulting a lawyer every time.
Accounting software
When you are in business, it is important that you keep proper accounts. Get it wrong and your tax return will be wrong, and if you underpay, you can run into serious problems. You will still need an accountant to manually complete the return for you, but accounting software keeps your daily records neat and orderly, and at less cost to your accountant, it costs less.
Live chat
Live chat is something that customers love. If they have questions while browsing your site, they can get immediate answers by talking to a real person. Not everyone will be forced to make phone calls, but chatting is quick and easy, which may well be enough to get them to complete an order as opposed to giving up or shopping from one of your competitors.
