Investing in technology has become a necessity for any growing organization, with more than half of CEOs planning to increase their rate of digital investments in the next year, according to the PwC’s 25th Annual CEO Survey.
There is always a new and promising tool that can improve your processes, increase profits or reduce unnecessary costs. These innovative tools are scalable and grow as your business expands. So, you don’t have to switch to a new program. It is also easy to get lost in all of the options that are acclaimed to be must-haves, revolutionary or the next best thing for growing enterprises. Especially when taking into account the toll these can take on your tight budget. But, investing in technology proves to be a smart investment that automates the process and cuts down the costs. So, when we look at the larger picture, the budget can be adjusted.
When choosing technology to invest in, you should always assess priority areas for improvement in a business, and then choose the solution that will provide the best ROI for the invested resources. Here are five suggestions that can guide you in the right direction.
1. Technology Improvements for Your Team
Improving your team’s productivity, satisfaction and/or skillset is obviously high on the priority list, so you may choose to invest in them first. A staff with a good skill-set can eliminate the need for hiring additional employees, thereby reducing the company cost. So, look for tools that align with your company goals and assist employees in building new skills.
There are various HR management tools that can streamline approvals and allow your team to be more independent. Also, with remote and hybrid working options being in place in many companies now due to the pandemic, it might be worth looking into solutions that can make working from home more efficient for your remote team members. HR’s can go for tools that help them in employee management, tracking, leaves, attendance, performance and more. Such tools reduce a lot of burden from HR’s shoulders, and they can focus on bringing the best talent on board.
2. Customer Relationship Management Software
Keeping track of all customer-relevant data is critical to maintaining quality service for your users. Implementing (or improving the current) CRM software will take your customer care to a whole new level. Repeatably high quality of service is what your customers expect and it only takes one mismanaged user interaction to secure a bad online review.
You could also automate user communication through chatbots or a mobile app that can answer FAQs and offer general information momentarily, thus reducing waiting time and taking some pressure off of your customer care team.
Remember, customer satisfaction is the key factor for business growth. When they (customers) get an instant response from you, they feel valued and stay with you. Thus, CRMs can help you with customer retention.
3. Automated Certificate Management System
Cybersecurity is a priority for any business that communicates with customers online. By automating your certificate management, you can bulletproof your business and reduce the risk of security breaches, downtime and loss of data. There are platforms that manage all the network connections and add extra layers of security to prevent potential risks. Choosing a unified platform that can offer all of the online security measures in one place can both increase your organization’s security and reduce the manual handling of various protection mechanisms. From securing web servers to managing the public cloud, automation certificate managers can do a lot.
4. Cloud Computing
More and more businesses are relying on cloud computing, either fully or partially. It allows for more flexibility to secure internal and external communication, agility in adapting to growth or restructuring, and reducing cost of equipment maintenance and improvements.
Using hardware or software provided by third party has proven to be immensely useful in the time of the pandemic, when majority of employees had to access their files from devices located off-premise.
5. Effective Accounting Software
Keeping on top of cashflow is crucial to running an effective, growing business. There are many software solutions that provide clear and flexible insights into financials, ease of use, and handy prediction tools. Rather than only using it to handle payroll and taxes, an accounting software can be a great silent partner that allows you to plan for growth and expansion, predict cash flow dips, and cut expenses.
Assessing Your Tech Investment Choices
When choosing the technology solution to invest in, direct ROI is one of the most important factors to consider, as long as it lines up with your organization’s priorities. Identify the areas where your business could benefit the most from improvements in security, productivity or cost management, and then choose a reliable partner that can help you implement sophisticated solutions into your everyday processes.
