There are so many ways you can tweak your business to improve its overall performance. What’s more, there are also many tools available to help improve your business, with more and more emerging every day. In this article, we’ll explore some of the top tools (old and new) you can use to get organized, increase your brand awareness and drive sales. Enjoy.
3 Tools for Getting Organized
Slite
Slite is the knowledge base software that makes processes and information that much easier for your team by collecting everything in one place. The software has a host of features helping you to keep documents organized, comment on and keep track of your team’s work, share knowledge, perform quick searches, the list goes on.
Slite Pricing
There’s a free version of the product which gives you 50 documents per month and three integrations. There’s also a modestly priced paid plan at $6.67 a month. The paid plan offers you unlimited docs, integrations and a few more great features. If you’re looking to keep your team organized in times of growth, then Slite could be the tool for your business.
Holded
Holded is a cloud-based business management software. This unique software allows your team to manage sales, finance and human resources all within one platform. Holded also allows you to run invoicing, handle your CRM, and get a better hold on project management.
Holded takes things a step further by offering a ton of resources to customers as well. They appreciate that we’re all learning. Want to know what is pro forma invoice? They’ve got you covered. Looking for how to make an appeal? They’ve got that too. In fact, there’s an entire academy to make sure you’re getting the most out of Holded.
Holded Pricing
Holded comes with four different plan types, from free to 50€ per month. It also offers a few add-ons to your package. Some of these add-ons come at an extra cost, and some come free.
Milanote
Milanote is relatively new on the market and allows visually focussed teams to stay more aligned. The app will allow you to manage to-do lists, upload images and files, save things directly from the web, and add notes and images from your phone. Collect all of this information in one place and display it as a digital mood board. You can then collaborate with your team on any board you chose.
Milanote is often used by creatives from Facebook, UBER, Dropbox, Apple, Google, Netflix, Nike… The list goes on. So, if you have a team that works best visually, then Milanote may be the perfect tool to help get organized.
Milanote Pricing
Milanote offers two price plans. The free version comes with 100 notes, images or links. The paid version brings unlimited storage and is $9.99 a month when billed annually.
4 Tools for Increasing Brand Awareness
Brand awareness is a fickle metric to track and one that’s often hard to lay an ROI alongside. However, it’s so essential if you’re looking to build a name for your business, increase website traffic and ultimately convert more sales. These tools are our top tools for getting you on that pathway to better business performance via brand awareness.
Flick.Tech
Flick.Tech is also pretty new on the market. It’s a tool that has been designed to take your Instagram hashtags to new levels, and your Instagram account with them. The tool connects to your Instagram business account and recommends you hashtags that you can perform with, based on the topical hashtag that you enter.
Flick.Tech allows you to select hashtags based on their competitiveness, potential reach, daily posts, average likes and more. It also allows you to build hashtag collections and analyze which hashtags are working best for your account.
Flick.Tech Pricing
Flick.Tech offers a 7-day free trial before choosing from one of four plans, Lite, Starter, Growth and Professional. Unfortunately, you’re limited to one Instagram account until you reach the most expensive plan, so if you’re an agency, then be prepared for the £49.99 monthly cost. However, if it’s just one Instagram account you’re looking after, then the package comes as cheap as £4.99 per month.
Sprout Social
A social media management platform is so vital if you’re looking to build a presence on social media. Yes, some of the platforms are now offering scheduling abilities and in-app analytics. However, a social media management platform can tie it all together.
Sprout Social hits top of the list for a social media management platform to improve your business performance. Schedule your posts across multiple channels, track your performance and work across teams with in-platform communication abilities. The tool can do a lot more, but that’s another article in itself.
Sprout Social Pricing
The Sprout platform doesn’t come cheap. However, in my eight years of working in social media, I’ve been through a lot of social platforms, and it’s worth the spend. Their standard plan stands at $99 p/m, professional $149 p/m and advanced $249 p/m. If it’s something your business can afford, then it’s a fantastic tool.
Google Analytics & Google Search Console
Two of the most widely recognized tools you’ll see on this list, but not to be underestimated or overlooked. If you’re looking to improve your business performance in 2020, then invest some real time into Google Analytics and Google Search Console.
It’s essential that any business decision you make, you make it informed with data and not opinion. These two tools provide a fantastic insight into your brand awareness, source traffic, website performance and more. Let them guide your business decisions this year. What’s more, they’re free!
3 Tools for Increasing Sales
Hunter.io
This tool is amazing for direct sales. Hunter.io lets you find email addresses in seconds using a domain search, individual search or confirm if an email address you currently have is accurate. Gone are the days of messaging someone on LinkedIn and hoping they’ll reply. Hunter gives you access directly to an inbox.
The tool also comes with a Google Chrome extension, a Google Sheets add-on and the ability to perform bulk tasks for large numbers of emails. Forget the email hunt and grow your business in 2020 by eradicating the monkey work and diving straight into communicating.
Hunter.io Pricing
We could be looking at very different demands for email addresses, depending on your company size and how your sales process works. Hunter.io have created a wide variety of plans to accommodate that. Their free plan gives you 50 requests a month. There are then four tiers, right through to an Enterprise plan at 399€ a month giving you 50,000 emails per month.
Mailchimp
Once you’ve got your email contact list in order, you’ll want to start building innovative email campaigns to convert sales. If your business is small, then 1-1 emails work, but they’re not scalable. This is where MailChimp comes in.
Mailchimp’s email builder allows you to design brand-first email templates with a drag and drop format. You’ll be able to access an in-cloud content library, automate email journeys and get real-time analytics on your email campaigns.
Mailchimp Pricing
At the time of writing this article, Mailchimp offers four plans. From free to $299 a month, largely depending on the number of contacts you have and audiences (email lists) you need. If you’re looking to automate email processes and scale-up, then Mailchimp may be just the tool for your business in 2020.
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Whisbi
The power of the chatbot is ever-evolving in 2020. Chatbots have come a long way since they first launched. They’re smarter, more engaging and more adaptable than ever. If you’re looking to automate your processes further and give a site visitor an elevated experience then consider implementing a chatbot.
Chatbot benefits include heightened guest experience, 24/7 availability and improved customer engagement. They can generate an increase in cross-sales of up to 22% and up-sales by up to 51%. All of this, while cutting staff customer service costs by 30%.
Whisbi Pricing
Whisbi offers an array of price packages to help you convert your website visitors into paying customers. Their chatbot price plans start from €2,000 p/m and run right through to €6,800 depending on the capabilities of your online virtual assistant.
Wrapping up Tools for Improving Your Business Performance
That’s a wrap on the top tools for improving business performance in 2020. There are a ton of tools available, and it’s important that you pick the tools that are right for your business now and those that will help you get to where you’re going in the future.
The good thing is that most of these tools, as with most SaaS products, either come with a trial period or they come with a free (if restricted) plan. Want I want to highlight here is only to integrate a new tool into your workflows if you have the financial capacity to take on the package you’re considering. There’s nothing worse than implementing a free trial or a limited free account and then maxing out after you’ve converted workflows, trained staff and essentially become dependent on the tool.
To summarize, consider a realistic price point you want to spend on improving your business in certain areas. Assign budgets, stick to them, and test tools that are within your spend. Onboard new tools slowly and indulge in the copious amounts of content or academies the tool provides. If you’re paying for new software, you need to ensure you get the most out of it.
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