Marcus Richards
Business thrives on technology. Every organization from self-employed individuals to the largest, global corporations use technology to be more efficient and run their businesses profitably. If you are a small business owner, finding the right tools can help you build the strongest bottom line possible.
However, it can be challenging to know what the best technology stack for small business owners is. What tools do you need? Which ones can you skip? Which tools should you invest time in learning? Answering these questions can help you become more productive. Below are some of the most essential modern technologies that every small business owner could benefit from using.
1. Customer Relationship Management
It is no secret that sales are the lifeblood of every small business. Therefore, it makes sense to be able to easily connect with the people who buy from you. A customer relationship management tool helps you capture and organize customer contact information. It can also help you record and manage your relationships with those customers.
If you have a business-to-consumer model, you may use your point-of-sale software to capture customer information. It can be beneficial to import this into a CRM. Using your CRM, you can manage outreach efforts such as sending out promotional emails to existing customers.
For business-to-business companies, using a CRM is essential. It will help you manage the longer sales cycles associated with B2B. It will also help you keep track of when you followed up with leads most recently.
2. PDF Converter and Editor
PDF is a very helpful file format in the business world. It is great for sharing marketing collateral and for sharing and signing agreements. With a powerful PDF online editor tool, you can easily create, watermark and sign your PDF documents.
If you have a new flyer you’d mocked up as an image and want to send to your printer, you may want to turn it into a PDF. Simply select the appropriate file conversion option and convert it online. Similarly, if you need to sign that new agreement with a vendor or customer, do it quickly online from any device.
Most businesses use PDF regularly. Having the right toolset to properly manage PDF files is essential.
3. Internal Instant Messenger
If you have multiple people on your team, communication is key. This is especially true if you aren’t all located in the same place. Fortunately, modern technology makes it easier than ever to interact quickly and easily, even from different corners of the globe.
Using an instant messenger for your internal communication is a great way to stay in touch. Many modern options make it easy to share files, have group chats, start video calls and more. Some messengers even integrate with your other tools so you can broadcast updates to your team automatically.
Collaboration is at the heart of every successful business. Finding tools that make it easier to work together should be a top priority for every small business owner.
4. Chatbot
Of course, your team members aren’t the only ones who want to interact with you. Your customers also have questions and concerns they want to have addressed. Unfortunately, for many small businesses, it is not possible to respond directly to all these needs.
One of the best technologies for overcoming this challenge is chatbots. You may be surprised how advanced these AI-based tools are becoming. For example, if you know that your customers often contact support with the same few questions, you can set your chatbot up to be able to quickly answer those common queries.
Chatbots can serve any number of customers simultaneously. You don’t have to tackle as many support questions and your customers get quick answers. That is a win-win situation.
5. Social Media Automation
Social media provides some valuable marketing channels that weren’t available even a decade ago. New networks are popping up all the time and it can be valuable to harness them. Social channels provide you a unique way to converse with your audience.
However, social media marketing is time-consuming. Getting some tools to help you automate the process can save a lot of time. For example, you can post to multiple networks at once. Additionally, you can schedule your posts in advance and create a queue of content.
Get PDFSimpli
No matter what business you are in, it is always helpful to find fast, free and online systems that can help you be more productive. Check out PDFSimpli to easily manage all your PDF needs.
