Throughout my journey as a business owner I have yet to find an all encompassing system which can manage every aspect of business development. Normally the economic environment requires a myriad of apps, licenses and services in order to function seamlessly. Though no one system is perfect, there are methods of traversing these organizational tools effectively.

Let’s start off at the 3 main beginnings of a professional conversation in order to get some bearings on our location among the local demographic. Personally, I start by thinking externally regarding questions my prime target market will ask me. Questions such as “How do I find you?”, “How easy is the purchasing & setup process?” and “Is your service worth it?”. These are key factors in the b2b purchase transition. How do we plan accordingly in order to combat such inquiries?

The ease of navigation in a users experience (UX) is a vital aspect of your brands presentation. I would suggest researching different examples regarding user engagement strategies, consulting with a specialist and mapping out your projected process.

Most business owners do not realize that something such as a website or social media is best utilized when it replaces a conversation you would have otherwise had with a potential client (freeing up your time). Another purpose for an effective website is for the site to build so much trust regarding your brand that by the time you receive word of their interest, they are already willing to purchase.

The process of guiding a customer through the purchasing steps, receiving their information in an organized fashion and updating them on your companies standings without manual intervention in called “Automation”. Letting your apps, site and finances autonomously organize themselves relieves you from the monotonous task of manually providing input (which can result in user error).

I have put together my top tech picks of 2017 on how to automate the average business owners daily routine. These recommendations will provide you with the much needed time to develop your business further, increase the level of awareness with your target market trends and drive more traffic by minimizing guess-work.

The Solution:

My first pick would have to be Trello. The simplicity of this app allows department heads, employees and upper management to remain up-to-date on all project proceedings. It is difficult at times to coordinate small groups (especially with a low budget) which is why the Trello creatures made it cross-compatible with all smartphones, FREE, and able to sync with cloud storage.

Microsoft Power Bi

Secondly, I would like to shed some light on an online tool called Microsoft Power Bi (business intelligence). This tool lets you aggregate all your stats from various sources and display them in an easy to read fashion.

This may sound difficult or event unnecessary to some yet I beg to differ. When you are successfully running content/ads continuously, it would be a huge waste to not study your stats. Some statistic, such as sales/finance, demographic locations and retention rates are vital to the development of your service or product.

Seeing trends in your system provides you with visual insight which will accelerate response times and allow preemptive measure to be enacted. As Mark Twain once said “ I was seldom able to see an opportunity until it had ceased to be one”.

CRM (Client Relations Management)

Third, I would suggest a dynamite CRM (client relations management) program such as Microsoft Dynamic CRM or Salesforce. Granted, I would only start the service once your product/service has already started to accrue sales or customer information. The beauty of these systems is the ability to catalog, organize and specialize responses autonomously. As you may have noticed, this (like the previous apps) reduced the amount of manual data entry and increasing the amount of time you can spend on business growth.

Development & Organization

The fourth and final program which will enhance your small business growth is the foundation of all companies online. This would be your social media, website and how they synchronize. As previously stated, a website is replacing a lengthy conversation you would otherwise have with the interested customer. Using tools such as Socedo, G-Suite (including AdWords, Optimize, My Business, Search console etc.), WordPress and QuickBooks to seamlessly automate your supply chain effectively.

The Problem:

Most business owners that have found a niche product or service over the past 30 years is now having to convert to a modern system. This is because the changing E-commerce market is now more derived from SEO (search engine optimization) which ranks websites based off of user traffic. If you are not developing unique ways to attract customer interaction, you will become stagnant. It may seem difficult for some business owners yet there are specialists (Another Level Media) which focus on all of the above systems with minimal investment. Regardless, it will boost your productivity greatly if you follow these steps.

“You’ll never change your life until you change something you do daily. The secret of your success is found in your daily routine” – John C. Maxwell