It doesn’t matter if you are a start-up company or an established organization, you must develop a modern process to compete in an increasingly competitive market. Fortunately, there are many tools and tips to modernize your business.
Turn to the Cloud
Focus on Data
Data is a company’s biggest asset, but many entrepreneurs do not know how to use it effectively. For instance, review your company’s statistics to identify the optimum time to post on different social media channels, or to identify peak shopping times from purchase histories. Don’t forget to read every positive or negative review on and offline to make necessary company changes, and use acquired customer information to create personalized email newsletters.
Create a Mutually-Beneficial Partnership
Do you have any current or potential partnerships in place? It is important to regularly review the relationship to ensure the partnership is no longer one-sided. Ask a partner how they plan to work with you in the future, and whether you will both benefit from the collaboration. Write down a list of bullet points to identify both company benefits. If there is next to no value, cut your losses and work with a partner who can take your business to new heights.
Connect Your Data
Why work from one application when you can synchronize your data into one comprehensive solution? Modernize your business and connect Salesforce with NetSuite, which will allow you recognize revenues at a faster rate, reduce ongoing costs and will provide a unified, 360-degree view of your customers.
Train Your Employees
Encourage employees to upgrade their skills by providing regular training programs, which will ensure your brand becomes a force to be reckoned with. Don’t allow their skills and knowledge to become outdated, and provide the effective tools they need to excel in their role. What’s more, you could even pay for them to embark on a course to learn a new skill, which could prevent you from having to hire additional staff.
Automate Operations
Don’t spend your days manually sending invoices or making payments to customers, clients or suppliers. Instead, utilize automation to perform time-consuming tasks on your behalf. Research the best automation tools to automate the actions, so you can focus on enhancing the customer experience or developing your services.
Upgrade Your Security
It only takes one cyberattack to destroy your company. Don’t allow your business to become vulnerable to a vicious malware attack, such as ransomware, and upgrade your security systems. Do your homework to find the best security solutions to safeguard your sensitive data, such as a private server, network antivirus, firewall, data encryption and two-step verification. Also, develop an internal security policy to ensure employees follow strict security procedures to protect your business.
Hire Modern Skills
Technology has the power to transform a business. However, unless you have forward-thinking talent on staff, your business could face being left behind in the industry. To ensure you can compete in a fast-paced industry, consider hiring new talent with modern skills to secure your success.
Just some of the new skills you can integrate into your operations include data analytics, app development, programming, social media marketing, mobile marketing and influencer marketing. The new skills can catapult a traditional business into the 21st century, so you can compete with more modern competitors.
Hire Freelancers
Want to increase your profits without hiring more staff? Consider outsourcing work to talented freelancers or agencies. There are many exceptional freelancers and companies who can undertake projects to help your business meet its objectives. Many often offer many years of experience to produce high-quality projects you would expect from an in-house team.
Be Mobile Friendly
Do you want to be viewed as a progressive company? You will need to integrate mobile into your business. This means developing a business app to improve engagement and custom. You should also create a mobile-friendly website that will help you reach the top results in the search engine result pages, while improving the user experience.
Reach Out to Customers
The contemporary consumer is more active than ever before. They are seeking the best product at the best possible price, and they are not afraid to air their disappointment online. They also want to engage with brands to become part of the company culture, which is why you cannot afford not to have an online presence.
You must, therefore, strive to connect with your customers at every opportunity to boost engagement, while answering their questions and resolving any issues. Reply to messages on social media, create engaging posts that allow you to stay fresh in their minds and embark on an email marketing strategy to create brand loyalty, while improving your conversion rate.
Work Remotely
As mentioned, cloud computing is making it is easier than ever before to work from anywhere in the world. To improve employee morale and productivity, why not allow your staff to work remotely? This will prevent team members having to regularly embark on a lengthy commute into the office, which can improve morale and productivity.
Conclusion
The thought of modernizing your business might be a little daunting, but it is essential if you want your organization to stand the test of time. Implement a strategy that works for your business, and don’t be afraid to integrate new applications, processes or talent to evolve your company.
Keep your existing employees in the loop to ensure they embrace the modern mindset, and don’t forget to ask for their feedback or ideas on how to grow a business in the digital age.