Why businesses should embrace technology
The worlds of business and technology have gone hand-in-hand for far longer than you may have considered. Even before the days of the internet, it was the enterprise that heavily adopted the personal computer. First from companies like IBM before the familiar days of Windows became the norm.
Today, computing devices come in all different shapes and sizes and much of the software that we rely on is hosted in the cloud. However, the primary reasons that businesses embrace technology remain the same.
Become more productive
Arguably the real purpose of technology is to make our lives easier. Whether this is through the ability to check our email while we’re on the go or to automate previously time-consuming tasks, this makes us much more productive in our roles. If you run a small team, consider setting up a Slack channel so that your employees can more easily communicate with each other on their projects. This is available for both mobile and desktop OSs, and best of all it’s free-to-use to get started. Similarly, you can take advantage of modern CRM systems to better understand customer preferences and market trends. This will go a long way in improving retention and ultimately driving sales.
Save money in the long-run
The advent of the internet meant that even small startups could easily connect with customers from all over the world. The reverse situation of this is that consumers are no longer restricted to purchasing goods from local retailers. Competition is fiercer than ever and, for many small business owners, finding new ways to cut costs without sacrificing on quality is an essential part of the job. Fortunately, not only will many new technologies improve efficiency, but they’ll also end up saving you money in the long-run. Ditching paper-based backups in favour of cloud-storage platforms like Dropbox could slash your average office bills, while companies like Sogeti offer a range of services ranging from cyber security to app development.
Connect to your customers
Finally, one of the most powerful functions of technology in recent years has been to bring people together. Social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter aren’t simply a means to reconnect with long-lost school friends, though, they’ve also become a powerful marketing tool for businesses. Facebook is the perfect place to host a fan page for your business. Here, you can share updates about your latest products and services as well as link to content that you feel your customers may be interested in. Likewise, for many people Twitter has become the go-to destination for customer service enquires because of its fast-paced nature. According to the latest market research, 71% of customers say that valuing their time is the most important thing a company can do to provide good service.
