Using External Services to Build a Competitive Small Business
By Courtney Rosenfeld – gig economy specialist gigspark.biz
Running a business in this day and age is a significant challenge. Modern-day customers are picky and, so, not always easy to satisfy.
Furthermore, most niches are saturated, meaning small businesses frequently have to go toe-to-toe with big ones with larger budgets and more expertise.
How, then, is an up-and-coming business to survive and, indeed, thrive in such conditions?
The answer could be by leveraging external services delivered via technology.
Today, WritingConversions takes a closer look at how you could potentially build a more competitive business and grow your bottom line by taking advantage of external services:
Customer management solutions
Building a customer-centric business is essential for your profitability. This means you should offer an experience that’s on par or better than your competitors.
You can leverage services – such as customer service apps – to make this possible.
Some examples are customer relationship management (CRM) solutions, customer survey solutions, chatbots, and customer experience software. With the right tools (or teaming up with the right agencies), you can get to know your customers better, speed up your customer service, and offer a more personalized experience.
SupportBee lists 50 solutions that are worth checking out.
Employee management solutions
Productive, happy, and disciplined employees are essential to a company’s well-being.
Managing employees is tough – it involves training, rewards, performance appraisals, goal-setting, rewards, and morale building.
You can use HR-oriented solutions to facilitate employee management. Some tools at your disposal are payroll software, time-tracking software, education tools, and human resource software solutions. Social Hire has handpicked several HR solutions that make for potentially worthwhile investments.
Time-Saving Solutions
When you use time-saving tools or tricks, you have more time to spend on the things that matter – such as your customers. Business productivity apps can help you get more done in less time.
Email management solutions can help you automate email responses.
Visitor management software can help you optimize your schedule.
Registering a formal business structure – such as an LLC – can also save time. It can reduce your paperwork burden and offer some other benefits – like tax advantages.
You can use a formation service to conveniently register your LLC without you having to do the legwork on your own or paying an (expensive) lawyer to do it for you.
Marketing solutions
Marketing is essential to raising your profile, making yourself understandable, and crafting stronger relationships with customers.
It’s hard to market effectively – customers are hard to sway and often suffer from marketing fatigue.
You can work with marketing experts to create marketing campaigns that can effectively engage customers.
Optimizing your website for a better CX
Your website can be an enormous asset – it allows customers to get to know you, get a feel for what you do, and (if applicable) transact with you conveniently.
Optimizing your website to offer a smoother, more streamlined customer experience (CX) can make your visitors happy.
You can add web personalization features to your site to create personalized, relevant experiences for them. This would be based on firmographic, behavioral, and geographic data.
By researching options related to website personalization software, you show that you understand customer needs and are ready and willing to meet them.
Conclusion
There are many services out there, both paid and free, that you could use to improve your business. Many successful businesses outsource key tasks and entire work processes – such as marketing or website optimization – to run more efficiently, and so could you. It’s a good idea to carry out an ROI study before you pick a service (or a combination) to ensure you’re getting your money’s worth.
Mark Bellini of WritingConversions is a freelance small business marketing consultant, content marketing strategist , and editor who can help you take your business to the next level. Reach out today to get started!