Today’s small business world is vastly different from companies in the past.
No longer do employees sit behind the desks all day and work together in a conference room on special projects.
Employees are conducting business while they are away from the office, and more companies are hiring people from around the world to work together.
One thing that hasn’t changed in the small business world is the fact that employees can make or break a company.
However, it is not always the skills and talents of the people but the software they use to work on projects that can make a difference in your company’s productivity and influence the bottom line.
Enhance Communication
Time-sensitive messages can get to the right person faster when you have the best collaboration software. Instead of customers waiting for days to get an answer to an important question, you can find the answer and respond to them right away.
Communication within the company is also just as important as what goes on between staff and customers.
Rather than waiting to find out where someone is on a project, you can see at a glance what is complete and what is still outstanding and follow-up before you miss a deadline or get behind.
If someone has a question about the project, they can pose it to the entire team when you work with a modern communications platform. They can receive an answer faster and move on with their part of the project.
Improve Efficiency
Employees don’t have to wait to get back to the office to look up information in files.
They can answer the customer while they are standing in front of them. They can also create notes while out in the field and everything is accessible to the team and to them once they are back in the office.
Instead of waiting for everyone to get together for an important meeting, you can conference them in over the web.
Pull up the project you are working on and have a brainstorming meeting anytime it is needed. When someone needs help, they can receive it immediately and continue with their tasks.
Collaborative software reduces the downtime for employees and decreases the time it takes to complete a project.
Getting Personal
As the article, “How the Best Collaboration Software can Dramatically Turn Around Your Business” says, traditional communications show up whether you want it or not.
Collaborative software allows you to choose what you want to see and focus on the task at hand.
You can provide a personal response to customers even if you are away from the office, which makes them feel like they matter. It is never fun to get a canned response and then have to wait 24 or 48 hours to hear back when you have a question.
If you can reply with the information the customer wants within one to two hours or by the end of the day at the latest, you will impress them with your customer service.
The right collaboration software can enhance a business in many ways. It improves productivity and communication both within and outside of the company and helps businesses grow.
About the Author: Joyce Morse is an author who writes on a variety of topics, including finance and running a small business.