Meet Bob. Bob is great at repairing bicycles, and started his business out of his garage 5 years ago. Being a savvy technology guy, he decided to use email to take orders, send quotes and invoices, and communicate with clients. Today he has so much business that he often mixes up clients, and frequently loses track of quotes and orders in his ever-increasing inbox. Bob’s customers like him and his work, but are often frustrated by his service.
Next, meet Sue. Sue is in charge of compiling customer call lists for her sales team. She was shown how to generate lists from the company database by her predecessor, however, new privacy laws require some customers be omitted from the lists. Sue was never shown how to make these changes in the company database, and she doesn’t even know for sure whether or not it’s possible. Sticking with what she knows, Sue opens a spreadsheet and uses copy and paste to create the lists for her sales team. Previously this wasn’t her primary task, but now Sue spends an inordinate amount of time copying and pasting hundreds of names and numbers to create these call lists, and has had to hire additional staff to complete her other tasks she no longer has time for.
Is your technology working for you?
Technology has the capability to create amazing efficiencies in business processes and increase our productivity to make our businesses more capable and profitable. Unfortunately this is not always how businesses work. Just like in the examples above, businesses can fall into the trap of “this is how we’ve always done it”, employees can become frustrated by their technology, or are simply unaware of how their technology can assist them. In any case, often what happens is employees end up favouring tedious and manual processes over automated or technology-assisted ones. The end result is inefficient processes, less productivity from your employees, and often lowered employee and customer satisfaction, and reduced profit.
Are your business processes hurting your business?
Every business, small or large, has processes in place to carry out it’s objectives. Often these businesses are so busy carrying out daily tasks they think they can’t afford the time and expense to review their processes, and live with inefficiencies that end up hurting their business. Tragically, these inefficiencies can often be addressed without great expense by leveraging your existing technology and with minor training of your employees.
Improve your business without breaking the bank…
ITgenius.ca can help your business by reviewing your business processes, and offering solutions to increase your efficiency and enhance your business, resulting in happier customers, and more productive and happier employees. We understand small businesses do not have unlimited budgets to acquire the latest and greatest technology to carry out their businesses, and we pride ourselves in applying logical and creative approaches to implement effective solutions that balance your business requirements, existing technology, and budget capabilities. It might be said, “You don’t need a sledgehammer to crack a nut,” …but if you already have a sledgehammer then let’s crack 10 nuts at a time so you can get on to making peanut butter!
Call ITgenius.ca today to learn more about improving your business processes and becoming more efficient and productive, with happier employees and customers. (647)388-7760
