There has been a sharp rise in digitalisation recently, due to many businesses choosing to close their offices and instead have their employees work remotely from home. Most business entities have realised they need updated technologies to keep their operations running. We understand that an extensive digital transformation may not be feasible for many small businesses and as such; we suggest taking small steps and adopting cost effective technologies to automate and streamline the repetitive processes.
1. Migrate your data to the cloud to make it accessible for your employee:
Moving your data to the cloud will ensure that your employees can view, modify and use their stored data at any time, from anywhere. This is a very flexible approach to data storage and is highly recommend as the flexibility to work from any location leads to higher levels of productivity, it also enables collaboration between different teams and data to be shared more efficiently.
An example of a popular cloud-based service you could consider is Microsoft OneDrive, which offers storage for documents and files as well as sharing via the cloud. Security is also very strong, with only users that are approved being able to access the files. This type of cloud storage can also be used to store software, E-mails and backups.
A prime benefit of using cloud based services is the low cost to implement and flexible subscription options. When business tools and technology are being hosted in the cloud, it eliminates the expense associated with physically storing and maintaining the resources that power that technology such as a server room.
2. Move your interaction with customers online for instant customer service:
Consumer’s behaviours and expectations have changed and as a result, more and more customers now demand uninterrupted access to services and online support to get instant help. This is where Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software comes into play as it is the perfect solution to meet the rising demand of your customers. These software products enable you to automate repetitive tasks whilst also increasing the speed of customer onboarding and the delivery of your services.
There are multiple factors in choosing the right CRM for your business. Zoho CRM and Hubspot are market leading CRM software which are currently offering 14-day trials which your business can try out. This will allow you to get a feel on how they work and see its strengths and weaknesses.
3. Use analytics for data-driven decision-making:
With the rise in digitalisation, businesses now have more information about their customers and market than in the past. To increase efficiency and productivity, start leveraging analytical tools as data analytics can also allow your business to have a competitive advantage over your competitors that increases your revenue.
A market leading analytics tools your business should consider using is Google Analytics which allows you to track and analyse all of your business website traffic. This provides valuable insights in order to understand your customer’s behaviour. It does this by providing information on what visitors are doing on your site and creating reports that also includes information on visitor demographic’s. You can use it to help you determine the most profitable or productive marketing channel, allowing you to come up with effective strategy to boost your site’s traffic even further.
4.Build an online business community using existing platforms:
As a small business, it is crucial for you to build a community online, not only to promote meaningful engagement with your customers but to also provide support for prospective customers. Having strong online communities allows your customers the ability to voice what they want and offer suggestions for your business to improve its product and services.
There are different type of communities you can consider:
- Social communities — Built on existing social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. You can leverage these platform for marketing, brand awareness and audience expansion purposes.
- Insight communities — In these communities, you can get feedback for you to use for further improvements. Our recommendation is to use review platforms such as Trustpilot, which enables you to automatically send invitations for review and provide analytics tool to access your success.
- Support communities — Customers have the ability to offer support and help to other prospective customers, lowering your customer support costs. Some of these communities include popular forums such as Reddit.
Conclusion:
These low cost solutions can help you build a foundation to begin digitising your business or moving it up to the next level. You should keep in mind that such transformation cannot happen instantaneously, it’s important to move in an unrushed manner and plan ahead of time. However, if you need consulting SpaceIT Labs can offer insight to facilitate your digital transformation and offer expert analysis.
