Any small-business owner knows how challenging it is to get a business plan off the ground, and any business owner also knows that it’s just the first step of a long journey. While it’s great to finally turn a profit, those who want to survive and thrive need to start expanding their business. This reduces your overall risk and costs, increases your buying power, and naturally leads to greater profits. Starting an expansion can be a daunting task, however, and choosing where to start isn’t a decision to take lightly. Here are a few tech solutions that can set you on your way.
Modern POS Systems
If your business doesn’t have an up-to-date point of sale (POS) system, then this should be a top priority. You should definitely ensure that your system has a chip card reader, as nearly everyone carries these now, and that your system allows mobile payments. Mobile options like Apple Pay and Android Pay are becoming more common, and customers expect to pay with their favorite option. Not only does a cutting edge POS system create a great customer experience, but it can also make inventory and customer management much simpler.
HR Management Software
Human resources can be one of the biggest struggles for a small business. You’ve made a product you believe in, you know how to market it, but unless you have a background in HR you may not know how to effectively manage employees, conduct hires, sort out benefits, and other requirements. Keeping up with all this becomes even more crucial as you make efforts to expand your business, and with HRMS tools you’ll have the help you need.
The best tools will let you check and manage employee records from virtually any device, and they may also offer convenient performance tracking for each employee. You’ll also be able to easily track applicants and manage your job postings. Many HRMS solutions can easily integrate with your other software as well, keeping things as simple as possible.
Call Center Solutions
Every business needs effective customer support, and one of the best ways you can offer this is through effective call center software features. This includes true omnichannel routing which allows customers to contact your agents through any means they prefer including voice call, text, SMS, email, webchat, and more. Not only that, but customers can seamlessly switch from one communication method to another without losing any progress in the conversation. A unified agent desktop makes it easy for your agents to keep track of all of this and boosts their productivity. You can even set certain customers to be routed to their preferred agent or at least ensure they receive help from the most experienced agent possible.
Employee Communication Tools
Photo Credit: Burst
Effective communication is crucial for any business, especially one that’s taking on new employees as it expands. Project management gets more difficult the larger a business is, and the more time spent discussing what needs to happen, the less time there is to actually get it done. Slack is an incredibly useful app that brings your whole team together on one channel, making communication as convenient as possible. The app notifies users in real-time and makes it simple for team members to speak with exactly who they need to. You can even combine channels to speak with people outside of your company, and its archive features allow employees to easily find answers to their questions.
Background Lookups
A successful business will likely get calls constantly, but you may not know where all of these come from. That’s where a free reverse phone book can help. You can search unrecognized numbers and find background information including the owner of the number as well as public records like criminal history, although this information shouldn’t be used to make employment decisions. The usefulness doesn’t stop there, either. You can also lookup yourself to see your own records, and you can even check to see if you’re owed any unclaimed funds. You may just find a pleasant surprise.
