As a small company owner, your success or failure depends on your ability to change with the times. As long as you don’t lose too much money, you’re good. Perhaps this explains why so many small business owners are reluctant to adopt new technology, even when things are going well for their company (for now).

Despite the reluctance of small company owners to alter their practices, the expectations of their consumers are also constantly shifting. Regarding customer service and data-driven advertising, today’s consumers have higher expectations than ever before. To remain competitive, company owners need to adopt new technologies. In addition, these technologies can help you manage and streamline your organization more effectively.

Some of our favorite small-business technologies have been included in this post for your consideration.

Use a CRM to keep track of your clients

You may think of a CRM as your customer “registry” for potential (leads) and current customers. You’ll need to commit a lot of time and money to providing excellent service to your clients. If you want to free up your time for other activities, you must always look for new and better methods to serve clients. 

It is possible to meet the special demands of organizations in customer service by using a Customer Resource Management (CRM) system that has produced concrete, precise, and affordable outcomes. In our opinion, the best CRMs are Zoho, Monday, and Pipeline. It’s easy to keep track of all your customers in one location with these simple tips and tricks. Hubspot is our favorite free CRM!

Chatbots

Chatbots can be simply implemented into any website, even though some business owners are apprehensive. There are several advantages to using chatbots: being more efficient, having a higher level of intelligence, and costing less! Interaction is what today’s client is seeking. Companies in the housing sector are beginning to provide “reward” activities such as speaking with an existing renter or client. As a result, prospective clients will have access to an unbiased vantage point to address their concerns, propose products and services and connect with them beyond the selling process is vital to them. Using chatbots can help you do all of this.

Free or low-cost chatbots are available from many website builders and may be readily customized to match your company’s needs.

To-Do List Apps

Using task management software may help small company owners save time and money. As a busy business owner, tracking tasks digitally instead of physically is a big advantage for those who need to communicate, manage work, and oversee their workers’ work. Task management software like Asana, Trello, and Zoho Projects may help you stay organized online (similar to a spreadsheet, just better). The program allows you to schedule reminders and updates so that you don’t have to keep an eye on every single aspect yourself. A collaborative tool may also keep everyone updated on what’s being done, what’s left, and who has been allocated a task.

Services for Bookkeeping

Regardless of how you generate money, all business owners must maintain track of their accounts. Additionally, many of these systems allow business owners to bill their customers. It’s easier to manage your finances this way. As a bonus, these bookkeeping services may assist with the production of tax paperwork and even provide tax preparation services. You’ll find it easier to manage your finances with any accounting service, especially if it’s not a spreadsheet. Quickbooks, Wave (which has a free edition), Bench, Freshbooks, and Zoho Books are a few of our favorites.

In-Depth Analytical Equipment

IoT sensors (IoT sensors that gather the data for wiser decisions) and supply chain data signals may soon develop into overwhelming data streams for small business owners and managers, especially in the manufacturing industry. Hiring a full-time data scientist is difficult, and outsourced packages are expensive. Analytics programs perform the heavy work to make sense of massive amounts of data. The number of conversions and visits to your website aren’t the only things you may see in basic report capabilities.

For example, they may track everything from customers’ journeys to staff behaviors to the whole business ecosystem to provide you with actionable information that will help you thrive. In today’s most valuable analytics software packages, non-technical users may easily understand all industrial data. They make using a data-driven approach to management simple. Domo, Grow, and Funnel are a few of our favorites.