We have talked a lot about responsive web designs in the past but what about making your business responsive? This is a question that you should be asking yourself. As a small business owner in today’s world you have a distinct advantage that past business owners never had. What is it you may be asking? Well, technology is on your side especially with the advancement of mobile devices. Business nowadays is being run twenty four hours a day seven days a week three hundred sixty five days a year so you don’t want to be left behind. Making technology work for your small business will play a key role in your business’s future success. That is why you need to continue making your business responsive. Let’s take a closer look at how you can continue making your business responsive in a digital world.
- Close Your Deals While On The Road – Many small businesses (especially businesses that have an established sales force working for them) end up meeting many of their clients away from their work place. With the advancements of smart phones and tablets they are now able to close many deals without having to reschedule a time to come back. Working as a salesman for many years you I cannot stress the importance of closing sales as soon as possible. This is going to improve the closing rates of your salesman and ultimately making you more successful.There will be a few thing you will need in order to make your smart phones and tablet more efficient for your business. You will need to purchase things like a mobile scanner and software to process credit cards. After you have everything you will want to contact your web design company and discuss getting a mobile app that will allow you and your sales force to process everything. Mobile apps really have the ability to free up your business to be able to do things that just 10 years ago we would of thought was impossible. My suggestion is that you go to your web design and layout all the challenges that your business is having and see what type of app they can create for you that will provide a solution to those problems. If the web design company is experienced in mobile apps they should be able to help you no problem.
- Monitor Social Media – Think about how much time you spend on social media websites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and 4 square. I am sure some of you are saying 10+ hours a week. Now, why not spend some of that time growing your business? Social media allows you this opportunity. Many small businesses don’t understand why their social media marketing campaign is failing and it is because they aren’t putting in the time or the effort to make it successful. By simply monitoring your business pages on social media the same way you do your personal account will be a great place to start. Now just monitoring it is not going to be enough. You will need to respond to people that is commenting, sharing and yes even complaining about your business. None of us like the idea that somebody is upset at our business however, a complaint on social media will do far more damage if you ignore it. My suggestion is to respond to the complaint and show other users that you care about customer service and customer satisfaction means a lot to you.
- Use Your Camera – Now you may be thinking that I am telling you that you should go out and take images for your website. Well, if this is what you were thinking you are wrong. Your smart phone camera can end up saving you a ton of time. Yes, I know how can your camera save me a lot of time. Well, rather than typing things into your smart phone or writing them down in a note pad you can simply take a picture where possible. You can do this for receipts, documents, notes and contact information. Then you can use programs such as drop box to organize and store these images for later use. This way you won’t be trying to remember information because you were running late for another meeting and did not have time to write the information down. Next time you are in a hurry remember you have a camera that can save you a ton of time.
- Take Your Documents To The Next Level – When you go to signup a new client, whether they are a business or a person it doesn’t matter they will expect you to bring you A game. If you don’t bring your A game then the chances of converting them into a sale goes down dramatically. That is why you need to make sure that you dazzle them during your presentation and apps such as Slide Rocket allow you to do this. You can use your tablet to create an amazing sales presentation that will almost sell your product for you. I really wish we were able to use this technology when I was in the field as a salesman.
The competition for your small business is only going to increase. Many small business owners who don’t take advantage of technology only see the down side of technology such as creating competition from all over the country and even possibly the world. This is a glass half empty point of view but the glass half full point of view would be finding out how this technology can help you take your business to the next level. Then either keeping up with technology so they can be proactive rather than re active or hiring somebody who will keep up with this technology for you is a necessity. I understand that change can be a frightening thing but if you use technology correctly you will end up growing your business. Rather than being worried about companies around the world taking your business. You will turn into the guy that is selling his or her products around the world that is causing other business owners to stress out. It is a dog eat dog world and if you don’t take advantage of this technology then you will be eaten and your business will go out of business.