Important would be an understatement to describe technology in business. Technology is vital for the success of any business — and by that we don’t mean sleek designs and touch screens. Technology dates back to when man first discovered fire, and even the most outdated piece of machine you can think of was a modern discovery at some point.
No modern technology, no business growth
Humongous desktops and fax machines used to be the best of their kind, until PCs evolved into portable versions and the internet became increasingly user-friendly. Obsolete appliances got the job done, but humankind’s inherent need for efficacy kept innovation coming. And look where it got us.
You either catch up with digital technology, or your business is out of the game. Here are several ways modern technology can give your business competitive advantage.
Better marketing
Good online presence is more powerful than any business card, and anyone can build it with the right approach.
Social media business accounts have made visibility easy and accessible for both service providers and consumers. Being active on the internet is no longer a matter of “I want to be seen,” but an indispensable factor in the development of small businesses and corporations.
The more accounts you own in diverse platforms and the better you display your services, the more prospects (and eventually customers) you’ll reach. Sounds pretty simple, but you’d be surprised at how many companies aren’t part of social media or simply don’t make an effort to advertise their brand online.
Automation
We’ve all heard the nasties about call centers and most likely dealt with terrible customer service ourselves. But some corporations have actually listened to customer feedback, and went from long holds and dissatisfaction to ACD software quickly.
Despite the name, a cutting-edge automatic call distribution software not only routes calls to the most experienced agent in a certain department, but also directs all parts of that interaction. Whether the customer has chosen to communicate through a chat, SMS, or e-mail, all of the exchanged information is seamlessly passed along with unbroken context, reducing the need for repetition with a personalized and fast customer experience.
Back in the day, a customizable, multiple-channel technology that allows many interactions at once was unfathomable. Now, instead of tangled wires and infuriating agent turnovers, we get to choose in which ways to communicate and have our “seat” saved in online queuing. How amazing is that?
Performance analytics
It’s relatively impossible to know how your customers feel about certain aspects of your service without measurable performance of any kind.
Analytical data is present in widely used social media platforms, even for those who don’t own business accounts. Why? Because people want to know how they’re doing online. How many impressions they get per tweet, what’s the scope of their posts, how many followers they’ve gained or lost in a given week. All of these aspects establish an online authority your business needs even more than a recreational user, because you’re selling something. Thankfully, there’s no need to go knocking on doors and checking off boxes to make that happen.
Other examples would be an A to B testing to analyze viewers’ response to a certain marketing campaign, and a MaxDiff analysis, which helps identify which elements of your business are the most important to your customers. These technologies help you get to know your own work and your audience better, and gives you the pointers to better serve their needs.
Among the myriad reasons why new businesses fail (including lack of proper management, poor customer service, and leadership failure), most, if not all of them can be solved by implementing the right technologies. They’re all around you, so use them. Listen to customers on social media, know what they’re talking about and what the competition’s lacking while you’re idly browsing Facebook first thing in the morning.
