Look big even if you’re small: These IT tech tools put SMBs on par with tech giants

Many small and midsized businesses balk at the thought of spending money on IT tech tools. After all, spending hundreds, or even thousands, on a monthly service can be overwhelming when the ROI is not immediately apparent.

However, with the IT industry on the fast track to progress and development, advanced tech tools are more accessible than ever. What this means is, SMBs will not regret investing in the following IT tech tools that are affordable and will help them get the job done quickly and more efficiently:

ERPs

IT Tech Tools
Flickr / Center for ERP

Gone are the days when companies would rely on manual processes to sync related departments. Now, enterprise resource planning (ERP) enables multiple industries to track orders, materials, billing, shipping, and customers in a single platform.

What’s more, the competitive pricing makes it a worthwhile investment for businesses interested in lowering overhead, improving turnaround time, reducing errors, and creating a sense of internal transparency to empower the whole organization.

Years ago, ERP implementation was a major undertaking, and only large organizations could afford it. But new modes of ERP implementation allow businesses of all sizes to benefit from next-level resource management.

So how does ERP work in the business environment? For starters, this tool offers a single environment for housing and gathering data, making it possible to generate reports that clearly indicate where the company is already effective and where improvements are necessary.

At the same time, proper ERP implementation cuts down on administration expenses considerably via inventory management.

Automating data flows minimizes human error and prevents factors like miscommunication, inventory problems, and missed orders from hampering business operations. And last but not the least, ERP provides an astounding level of scalability to business processes that frees up employees to focus on other aspects of the business. No wonder 96 percent of top-performing, growing businesses depend on ERPs.

CRM

A small or midsized business will encounter various challenges over time. Meeting them head-on is impossible without a powerful CRM tool to add value through customer service efforts, sales, and marketing enhancements.

Thanks to the cloud, CRM is now accessible to small and midsized businesses. This streamlined solution handles software maintenance problems, such as updates, backup, and other costs generally associated with on-premises deployment. Moreover, you can implement CRM solutions on a monthly basis without any long-term commitment.

CRMs offer the flexibility and safety a business needs to remain organized while growing. The high level of mobility means you can take them anywhere, anytime on a tablet or mobile device, and keep data updated and de-duplicated.

Modern CRM solutions also possess incredibly diverse and helpful productivity tools, such as a centralized database, email integrations, workflow automation, finance integrations, and functionality — all of which help improve the productivity of SMBs.

Chatbots

IT Tech Tools
Flickr / Michele M. F.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is catnip for companies, regardless of size. After all, it has proven to be a valuable business opportunity in recent years, with the key players like Amazon and Google creating their own AI framework. Moreover, AI is more accessible than ever to independent developers and enterprises are finding AI to be more accessible than ever in chatbot format.

In the highly competitive technology scenario, where customers are always looking out for more customized solutions, businesses find it hard to satisfy client requirements.

Right now, users are becoming more tech-savvy, and they want solutions that are qualitative and easy to use. In this scenario, chatbots can easily satisfy the needs of the current consumer base. A small or midsized business owner can use chatbots to achieve a larger customer base, thanks to the quality support that is available.

Chatbots offer automated support and answer common customer questions in the most engaging way. They provide a more qualitative solution with minimum effort, thereby improving the business branding.

In addition, their low development cost makes them ideal for growing businesses. Chatbots do not have human limitations, which allows them to enter new markets and boost efficiency. They also interact far better with tech users (not as good though as Bumblebee interacted with Sam Witwicky in “Transformers”!) and require little time to develop.

Agile project management tools

Small and midsized business owners juggle multiple roles and responsibilities, from accounting to operations. And it often becomes too much for one person to handle. Thus, more and more companies are turning to project management tools for greater profits, efficiency, and competitiveness.

While the project management needs of SMBs depend entirely on their projects, and management style, the bottom line stays the same for all business — improved team morale (perhaps not as much as was with NASA after they saved the astronauts in Apollo 13, but you get the point), better product quality, increased collaboration, and greater customer satisfaction.

Agile project management solutions offer all this and more, enabling entrepreneurs to remain ahead of the competition.

But why agile project management? What’s wrong with traditional project management tools? Well, traditional project management enjoys far less flexibility and carries some serious overhead. So, small and midsized businesses stand to benefit less from them as they cannot spend all their time in planning.

At the same time, agile project management helps freelancers, remote teams, and contract workers collaborate and connect better with co-workers. Since the tool is accessible to anyone, irrespective of location, it helps maintain the central workspace without causing problems, such as inconsistent communication, misplaced documents, and low accuracy.

As everything becomes more complex and dynamic in the current business climate, agile project management tools help SMBs contend with fast turnaround demands, limited budgets, and fewer resources.

Helpdesk and customer service tools

IT tech tools
Flickr / Jeff Djevdet

Customer loyalty is quickly becoming the most significant aspect of a business. The more loyal the customer, the less likely they will purchase products or services from the competition.

Plus, they might share their positive customer experience via word-of-mouth, raking in more business free of cost. And the best way to build up a loyal customer base involves finding IT tech tools that can provide amazing customer service. Helpdesk and customer service tools help you achieve this.

These tools change the way you communicate with customers. They prevent customer requests from falling through the cracks by tracking every customer email and request. They also monitor customer issues, and automate, measure, and report your responses. This enables you to spot areas for improvement and track your team’s progress.

Customer service tools acknowledge customer requests with automated responses and route customer requests to the proper channels for faster resolution. They save time and enable you to respond quickly to your customers while offering 24/7 support. And if that’s not all, they prioritize customer requests and maintain every detail in one place.

IT tech tools make your job easier

Having the right IT tech tools gives your small or midsized business the opportunity it needs to succeed and grow. Not only do they simplify the business processes, but they also manage customers smartly. At the same time, they help your company keep up with the changing environment and fulfill your business goals.

Featured image: Shutterstock

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