subject: Top 5 Business Software Applications to Improve Your Productivity [print this page] Top 5 Business Software Applications to Improve Your Productivity
The most effective business people focus on constantly improving process. Gains in efficiency and productivity translate into direct improvement in the bottom line. Reclaiming more time for true innovation is another upside of process improvement. All businesses share certain commonalities; they need to effectively reach their customers, they need to keep track of their books and at some point they need to hire employees. These business processes represent a common foundation across almost every industry. Given the common needs in the business world, software companies have targeted many of the business processes that are shared across industries. As such, the software solutions for the common business needs tend to represent the most mature and effective products on the market. If your business is looking for a boost, here is a list of 5 types of business software products that can improve your productivity.
Accounting Software
When looking to improve your bottom line, keeping track of your accounts is a great place to start. For businesses that currently rely on outdated accounting programs or, heaven forbid, excel spreadsheets, new accounting software offers a tremendous opportunity to save time and boost organization. Many of the top brands offer timesaving features like linking with your online bank accounts, web-based invoicing and the ability to accept online payments for account receivable. Just image knowing exactly who owes you money, getting your money faster and easily keeping your books organized for tax season. Top accounting software brands include QuickBooks Pro and PeachTree Complete.
Customer Relationship Management Software
Automating parts of your customer management process can boost revenue and increase customer satisfaction with your business. Customer Relationship Management Software covers a broad range of categories including sales force automation, marketing, customer service and business analytics. These software packages can include comprehensive solutions to cover the entire range of business needs or a la carte options for more specific requirements. These products can provide automated cues to make additional product offers during each customer's life cycle to help boost your average revenue per customer. They can also help automate data entry aspects of your sales process so your sales team can dedicate more time to selling and more effectively target prospects. Some top CRM brands include SAP, Oracle and SalesForce.
Email Marketing Software
Email Marketing Software can sometimes be included in a CRM package, but often times acts as a standalone product that works alongside your CRM. Email Marketing Software is an inexpensive method for reaching your customers. These products enable you to send bulk email including text and html formats to an uploaded list of customer email addresses. They automate email marketing requirements such as unsubscribe features and also provide a white listed platform to improve email deliverability. Email Marketing Software is generally inexpensive and easy to use. Top Email Marketing Software brands include Constant Contact, iContact and Benchmark Email.
Applicant Tracking Software
The recruiting process is generally one business function most likely to benefit from automation. Applicant Tracking Software offers a powerful solution across all aspects of the hiring process including careers webpage management, automated job listing, equal employment opportunity compliance, applicant management, automated thank you letters and full service analytics packages to identify process bottlenecks. These packages can increase recruiting productivity, improve the quality of new hires and save time and money. Some top applicant tracking software brands include Newton Software and StaffingSoft.
Content Management System
Content Management Systems offer an easy solution for updating your web presence without the expensive services of a web developer. With so much emphasis on the internet, a company's webpage is generally their face to the world and often times a first point of contact for new customers. Content Management Systems empower companies by allowing them to easily update pages across their site using simple graphic interfaces, many times similar to common word processing software. When building a new corporate site explore building your web presence using a CMS backend. These solutions are standard practice for many businesses site and often times they are completely free. Some top content management systems include Wordpress, Joomla and Drupal.
