Economical Ways To Increase Sales & Efficiency For Your Business

#1 Invest In Customer Service

Customer service is without a doubt the most important part of your business. While you want to fawn over each and every customer as if they are the most important customer you have, it is not possible to serve customers fully and also take care of your business. There are platforms, applications, and software available to help you do both. One of the best ways to make your small business more productive with regard to customer service is by incorporating methods which can help your team to streamline the process and make your customers satisfied. For instance, the use of Copper CRM is a way for small business to seem much bigger than they are because it streamlines services within the company.

For example, within a customer service software package, you will be able to track client’s purchases, likes, dislikes, purchasing history, birthdays, anniversaries, and any other preferences that are pertinent. CRM systems can also personalize the phone experience for your customers as well because voicemails on CRM can be moved around and transferred to the person who can best handle the problem or answer questions. CRM software can also track customer sales over time, show you your best products, and stay in touch with your clients for you, which means they can be contacted via email or message about special offers, sales, new items or merchandise, and upcoming events without you lifting a finger. While CRM software seems expensive, many CRM programs are inexpensive and based on a tiered program which means that you can purchase more add-ons to your platform as your business grows.

#2 Sharing Strategies & Collaboration

While in the past, your business would have to be mired in paperwork all of the time, you can now effectively streamline your business by going digital. You can go paperless, putting all documents up in the cloud, where it can be saved and downloaded whenever you need it. Also, there are platforms that allow you to share documents with your employees and allow your employees to collaborate and work together on documents at the same time. These sharing platforms would allow your employees to work anywhere all over the country or around the world, at any time of the day or the night, which is crucial if an idea hits you at 3 a.m.

In addition to sharing applications and documents, there are applications that allow you to digitize and catalog your receipts for your business expenses. The apps make it easy for you to find a receipt, categorize your receipts, and print statements and documents when tax time comes around.

There are also sharing platforms available for collaboration on projects, even if you own a small business with a few employees. If everyone is working on a project, platforms are available that will allow you to access the bones of the project through a dashboard, which can show you what every employee is working on, and where they are on their deadlines. These applications may also include a messaging app so that your employees can message each other during the project or include each other in a group message to everyone.

#3 Marketing Suggestions

In addition to the CRM tools discussed above, there are ways to market your business that don’t cost a lot of money. First of all, you need to discover social media in all of its glory. However, you can’t discover social media if you don’t have a website – so if you don’t have a website, you need to make that your first priority. There are many website design companies that offer free platforms to design web pages or offer web page design at a reduced cost. After you have a website up and running, you can link it to social media accounts, such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat. In addition, it never hurts to post items on LinkedIn, which has become the social networking site for businesses. Try and post as often as you can, because the more you post, the more fans you will acquire.

In addition to social media postings, think about starting a blog or a vlog that you can upload to YouTube. Many YouTube channels have become wildly popular, with their owners receiving thousands or even millions of views if it goes viral. All of these social media outlets can help you grow your business.

You also need to socialize off the web as well. Think about joining business service organizations that can allow you to network with people who share your common interests and may have connections to vendors or additional services they need from you. In addition to social organizations, you can volunteer your services in an area where you excel. For example, if you are an accountant, you may want to volunteer with an organization that gives financial advice to people during tax time, or when they receive their money and need to figure out how to save it.

While it is not possible for your business to explode overnight, it is possible for your business to grow steadily with the use of technology. First, invest heavily in customer service, because that will pay dividends far beyond what you have paid for it, in addition to your customer’s goodwill. CRM programs allow even the smallest businesses to engage with their customers as quickly and efficiently as possible for as little expense as possible. In addition, engage your employees through customer sharing programs that can make document sharing and collaboration easier. Also, use as many free marketing tools as possible, because the more tools you use to market with, the more customers you reach. If you have a comprehensive plan in place to grow your business, using these tools will help you keep costs down and efficiency up – which is what all businesses strive for.

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