Starting a business from nothing is always going to be a challenge, and with the enhancements of technology, it can now mean that you have many more different avenues that you can explore when it comes to making those changes. However, the big issue that entrepreneurs face is making the most of the different types of technology and options they have and making sure they take advantage of them within different aspects of their business.
So what can you do? It doesn’t matter whether you provide a service, supply a product, work within the trade, or deal with the general public. There will always be ways that you can make the most of technology and try out different ways to enhance your business. With that in mind, here are some of the ways that technology is changing in business and some of the best ways that you can take advantage of it.
Chatbots to answer frequently asked questions
One of the first things to think about would be to utilize chatbots within your business. Often people will go to your website and have a question that you may be asked frequently. They want an answer straight away, but as a business owner, you can’t possibly be there in real time every minute of the day. This is when chatbots can really help. They can be on hand to answer basic questions, and then divert your customers to the right website pages or create a separate email for a more detailed response after they have dealt with the initial needs of the customer. This can help to make your business accessible at any time of the day.
Messenger services to help stay in contact with customers
These days a customer's life is full of things that need to be done and there is a never-ending task of things that they need to do. Work commitments and their general day-to-day lifestyles, often mean that when they want the answer to something they don’t have time to sit on a phone and wait for a call center agent to answer. Sometimes messenger services can be a quick and convenient way for your customers to get the information that they need. This helps you to get real-time support for your customers and again enables you to offer a 24-hour service without needing to be there.
CRM systems help keep information in one place
As a business you want to be able to manage your customer’s expectations, but as your business grows, so does the amount of customers that you have, right? A CRM, Customer relationship management system is a great tool to have and an advancement when it comes to customer details and keeping detailed notes. This might be construction crm for building companies or account management with customer relationships in mind. As a customer, the benefit is feeling valued, and as a business, it enables you to be fully up to speed on a customer, the potential for new business, and also what needs to be done. Not just for the people in the know, but for anyone within your business. It has become essential for businesses that have sales as the forefront and backbone of their company.
Video conferencing connecting people
Many of us are taking advantage of remote working now during this lockdown period, but video conferencing and other options mean that employees as well as customers of yours can stay much more connected because of the likes of applications like Zoom and Skype. This helps to make remote working much more accessible and allows you to consider things within your business such as outsourcing as well as hiring people who can work from home. It can also save you a lot when it comes to paying out for working and retail premises.
AI and robots taking on jobs
There is no denying that as technology advances so will the enhancement in things such as artificial intelligence and robots. You may find that as a business, you might want to look at taking advantage of these enhancements and making more of them in your business. This could save you money by enabling AI to take over some jobs that would free up a person in your business to take on a different role. It might allow you to have less staff, or make more of the team you have as they can focus on other aspects of your business.
Let’s hope this has given you a better idea of some of the best technology updates that will enhance your business.
