As a business owner, you will be very aware of what it takes to run a business of your own. You know that you need to be on top of your marketing, product development, customer engagement and finance, and one of the biggest things that you need to consider is your IT and technology. Your business will be miles behind the competition without the focus on your IT and technology, so it’s vital that you make these a priority going forward. Advanced technology will advance your business, and the tech strategies that you use for your business are vital for success.
You want to think about the tech tools you already have, the customer engagement activities that you already take part in and hiring the right people to ensure that you have that edge over your competition is important. We’re not talking about the internet or using dark mode, but things like these four important technology strategies for small/medium businesses. You also have to consider that you can implement a wide range of strategies to make your business a forward thinking one. So, with that in mind, let’s take a look at these awesome tech features that will improve your business.
- An App. Every single business needs to have an app to be able to remain relevant to their customers, their future audience, and to beat the competition. It doesn’t matter what type of business you offer, you can offer an app to your users and showcase what you can do. An app is going to show other people that you can go beyond your business website and improve their user experience. You want to engage loyal customers and the best way to do this is to have your focus on how you can engage people in your app. With notifications, people will hear about special features that you can offer, discounts you can provide and new things. The more people download your app, the better engagement and clicks you get. Isn’t technology grand?
- Customer Service Software. There is a little hate directed towards chatbots, but with customer service software, you can start thinking outside the box and help customers 24/7. You can start to engage with customers outside of business hours, and chatbots can answer basic questions and direct your customers to the correct channels.
- Outsourced Virtual Assistant. To get rid of some of the administrative clutter, you can engage a virtual assistant and get some help with it all. The software you use to collaborate what you need to do, market research that is needed from a distance, and you will be connected all of the time. You will then only spend money on the time the VA takes to do the work, and that can save you a considerable amount of cash.
- Visitor Measuring Tools. Your website is your business lifeline in a digital world, and you invest a lot of money on your website for a good reason. You need to attract new users, but if you don’t invest in Google Analytics, you’re going to struggle to know what your engagement numbers are. You need to measure the visitor engagement carefully and if your numbers are dropping, you need to figure out why. Measuring tools like Google Analytics will help you to show your reach and what your website visitors are looking at when they get to your site.
- The Cloud. You need to have an effective way to store your company’s data, and the Cloud is the best way to do it. Everything can be stored here and in its digital format, you’ll be able to safely store information about your company and it’s a cheap, safe solution. You need to choose the right provider and plan for your Cloud storage, too, as you don’t want to choose one that doesn’t fit your business needs.
- Online Payments. You want to make the life of your customers easier, and online payment systems will make it easier. Your audience will switch off and go elsewhere if they don’t get what they need from your business, so the very best thing that you can do is to ensure that you have the right system for taking payments, and that you advertise those systems properly, too!
Your whole business – from the website to the app – will benefit from these tech features. If you’re smart about the way in which you work with technology in your business, you can give your customers the best experience possible.