As a small business owner, you’re probably aware that you’ve undertaken one of the most difficult tasks in your career. With so many challenges, ranging from staffing to finances to business acquisition, it can be tough to juggle everything and keep the business afloat.
If your organization relies on sales, as most do, you can shift some of the work to small business tools so you can easily manage and grow your business. When asked, 75% of sales professionals said closing more deals was their top priority for the upcoming year, so why not make it easier on yourself and your team? Spend less time on manual sales techniques that eat up a lot of your day, and become more efficient with these top small business sales tools to help you close more deals.
Customer support software
Two in three people will switch providers if they feel they’re not getting good customer service from the company, with just under half saying their customer service expectations were higher than they were one year prior. This tells you people expect quality customer service and
Of course, no business has a goal to give poor customer service, but you need to make sure your customers leave feeling taken care of every single time. How can you be sure this is true unless you spend time asking them and monitor the channels where your business or brand interacts with them regularly? This process could be someone’s full-time job, but in the name of efficiency, you can use software to manage and track this data instead.
Automated ticketing systems, social media integration, website analytics analysis, support inboxes, and community forums are just some of the important features customer support software can provide your business with. Have everything under one dashboard for ease of use to make it simple for keeping up with your customer’s needs and opinions so you can see exactly what areas need improvement and which areas you’re excelling at.
Proximity marketing Tool
If you’re unfamiliar with the term, proximity marketing is when an organisation or business communicates with their customers when they’re in the right place at the right time. Customers receive tailored and relevant messages on their smartphones that relate directly to the shop or location they’re visiting at the moment. It includes tools like discount offers and QR codes in order to drive traffic to the website, app, or social media channels, and it helps considerably when trying to offer your customers a personalised experience.
Since mobile is the biggest trend in marketing, and mobile traffic is making waves and dominating the market, capitalizing on this trend makes sense. Streamline the process with a proximity marketing tool that does more than just launch QR codes; some software has loyalty programs, discount offer generators, and analytical tools to help you keep track of the whole process.
Online meeting software
Meetings don’t always need to be in person to be successful. In fact, holding more virtual meetings will save your business time and money in travel and accommodations, among other benefits. It will also save your potential clients time and money, which they will undoubtedly appreciate.
Pick a video conferencing online meeting software that can do it all, from transcribing meeting minutes to scheduling to screen-sharing capabilities, so your team can be more efficient and sell to clients from anywhere, anytime.
Auto dialer
Businesses that rely on sales and cold-calling expend a lot of employee manpower, but using an auto dialer can speed up and streamline the whole process. It can also bring a higher success rate with a better answer rate by using local numbers. Rather than manually calling and waiting for people to answer, you can set up an auto dialer and call multiple numbers at once, connecting only with those who answer their phones. All this can be done from an existing landline or mobile phone, so you don’t need to set up a new line.
Survey tool
If your business wants to improve processes, customer service, sales pitches, or gauge interest in a product or service, you need to gather information from potential and existing customers. The best way to go about this is with surveys. Not everyone likes filling out surveys, as some can find them tedious, but the right survey is quick, easy, and painless and can help you better understand your customers.
Market research is crucial the same way feedback is, so find a survey software that can integrate into your favourite CRM applications or point of sale system for ease of use. Don’t overlook this versatile marketing tool, because customer surveys can provide insight which your business can use to help it grow.
Social media scheduling app
Every brand and business should have a social media strategy, and if you don’t, consider this as your wake-up call. Without one, you could be left behind by your competitors and forgotten by your customers. However, managing social media accounts is quite time-consuming for one or two people, so simplify the process wherever you can.
One good way to streamline this process is by scheduling your posts. Rather than having a team member manually post to your social media pages individually, you can schedule the posts to be sent out automatically via a scheduling software. There are so many options to choose from, finding one to suit your needs, with full analytics as well, can be quick and easy. If you aren’t managing a lot of accounts, some software is even offered for free, which can be friendly to your company’s bottom line.
Online ordering fulfilment software
Another manual task you can check off your staff’s list is online ordering fulfilment. You can find software that organises your orders and helps you run fulfilment of your products with ease by integrating into any e
