subject: Tips for Using Technology to Improve Business Efficiency [print this page] Tips for Using Technology to Improve Business Efficiency
During unsure economic times, the businesses that often stand out among the pack are those who develop a fearless business strategy and rush headfirst with reckless abandon in order to ensure their success. When sales begin to slide there are realistically only two options to keep the doors open; find new ways to advertise and gain new clients or downsize and accept defeat. Neither option appears particularly appealing when finances are tight, and any amount of indecision on the part of a business owner is a surefire way to end up inside a bankruptcy court and wondering what the heck just happened. Stepping outside our comfort zones is never easy, so Coupon Shack has decided to share a few of the more effective internet secrets on how to save money.
Utilize your existing contacts
While many of us feel like social networking could be the eventual downfall of personal privacy within America, it is tough to argue with the fact that free advertising is always a positive advantage. By creating a social networking account for your business and encouraging your customers to follow your posts, information can be exchanged quickly for instant feedback, especially when promoting a new product, campaign, or idea. The brilliance of this type of strategy is that if your business carters so certain age groups or demographics, your current followers will each have several friends linked to their account that fall directly into your target audiencegiving massive advantages over the competition.
Explore Internet Savings
A large portion of North America no longer uses conventional phone lines thanks to the World Wide Web and VOIP technologies, and one simple internet connection can easily replace expensive phone networks without a bit of additional hardware necessary. Using that same logic, it would make sense to replace stamps with emails, staff members with outsourced independent contractors, and product catalogues with web searches to find the least expensive vendors. For many businesses carrying inventory is entirely a thing of the past; ordering online and drop shipping products is becoming a very popular trend.
Some businesses are also implementing a fully virtual business model by taking advantage of websites like GoToMeeting, because it eliminates the need for office space, utility bills, and a host of other expenses involved with running a brick and mortar storefront. By using this technology, it is entirely possible to have a handful of employees all over the world and to work with them as if they were in the very next room.
Stop Chasing Clients
Of course, we mean that in the most literal sense possible, because time is ultimately money and every minute spent on traveling to see a client is a minute that could have been used to expand your sales in other areas. The internet can bring you face to face with clients and distributors worldwide, so there is literally no reason to waste precious time and expenses on airfare and hotel rooms anymore. In fact, a recent survey showed that over half of all Fortune 500 companies have reinvented the way they do business within the last thirty-six months, and the switch to working more productively over the internet directly corresponds with how they managed to become more profitable during one of the worst US recessions in the history of our country.
While many small businesses were hesitant to switch over to applications such as GoToMeeting, within six months of implementation their labor costs dropped by 60%, their travel expenses were eliminated, and productivity and sales increased by as much as 300%. If triple the clients and a fourth of your current expenses sounds appealing, then the internet is literally the only option that can produce such dramatic results.
