Do you ever go through manual processes that you do daily and think, “There must be a better way to do this!”
You’re not alone. Despite all the technology at their fingertips, many offices in Connecticut and throughout the country are doing things the hard way even though their technology could improve their workflows.
It is estimated that 80% of U.S. small businesses are not taking full advantage of their technology.
What is holding companies back from making full use of their technology?
- Not understanding what it can do
- No time to explore how to do things better
- Not realizing just how much time/money they could save
It doesn’t have to be a major time-consuming task to optimize your business workflows by using technology. It just takes working with the right IT partner that can identify areas of opportunity and untapped resources.
Several key areas of your IT environment where you can make some smart changes to improve productivity and lower costs include the following:
Organize, Streamline, Automate = Save Time & Money
There can be a treasure trove of time and cost saving opportunities with each technology tool you use. Here are some of the major areas where technology can boost your business:
Process Automations
Scenario: Your customer service team spends an average of 60 minutes per day tagging qualified leads and emailing them to your sales department for follow up.
If you include qualifying tags on your contact form and then automatically send those qualified leads with a preset email to the right sales rep, you save about 20 hours per month in productivity costs. That is a lot of found time you can be using on more productive tasks and making more money.
Process automations can be done in any cloud platform and can reduce the need to rekey data, eliminate manual processes and free up your team for more forward-motion activities.
A few common automations are:
- Automatically creating a new CRM or accounting record when a new webform comes in
- Email nurture campaigns that send tailored information to leads
- Sales automations that remind sales reps when to follow up with customers
Ditching Email for Team Messaging
Email takes up a large amount of the average employee’s time. A study by McKinsey found that each office worker spends an average of 28% of their day reading and answering email!
When it comes to interoffice email, many of these end up being reply-all email trails and users have to sift through several emails to find information they need.
By upgrading your interoffice communications to a team messaging platform (like Microsoft Teams or Slack), you can make your communications more efficient and less time consuming.
Here are some reasons why:
- When messaging, people tend to be more succinct than in email
- Messages can be grouped by topic in “chat channels”
- Messages are easily searched by keyword
Task Organization
One of the daily processes that just about everyone has is managing their tasks and To Do list. Some use inefficient (and non-searchable) sticky notes while others may retype all their tasks into a separate program.
Often just keeping tasks organized and up to date is a whole other task entirely. This process can be streamlined by using technology tools you may already have at your disposal.
Here are a few examples:
- Outlook allows you to drag an email down to the Task icon to instantly use the email to make a task (no re-typing needed).
- A tool like OneNote can organize all components of a task together in one place (webpages, emails, etc.) at the click of a button.
- Automated sticky notes in Outlook or Mac can allow you to keep a comfortable process but make it more organized and searchable.
Cloud File Storage & Sharing
Trying to get a large email file to a client can take an unnecessary amount of time. If it bounces back because the file attachment is too big, you’re left trying to downsize it or find alternate ways, like text, to get it delivered.
Cloud file storage solves that productivity problem and several others.
When it comes to sending files, you can simply send a download link instead of worrying about emailing an attachment. If you have several files to send, just put them in a single folder and send the folder access link. Simple.
When it comes to company files, cloud storage makes accessing resources much easier for employees. It also improves security because all files are kept in the company’s cloud storage account instead of on individual employee devices.
Cloud-Based Phone System
If you’re still using a landline-based phone system, you are not only paying more than you need to, but you’re also missing out on several productivity-boosting benefits of VoIP.
A VoIP phone system can be answered from anywhere which makes it simple for employees to answer their line when away from their desk or working from home. No forwarding to do and all phone features (company directory, etc.) are available no matter where they are.
Cloud-based phone systems also have productivity features not shared by analog phone systems such as the ability to automatically transcribe your voicemail and email it to you.
Are You Looking for Ways to Improve Your Productivity?
Sound Computers can help your business find the best ways to tap into the unused potential of your technology to save time, lower costs and improve efficiency.
Contact us today to schedule a free consultation. Call 860-577-8060 or reach us online.