Every business is unique. However, there are some common tools every business should try. These tools can help increase productivity and improve communication within their company.
Here are 5 tools that should be in your business toolkit.
1. G Suite
G Suite is it’s own business toolkit. Seamlessly integrate within its Gmail, Docs, Drive, Calendar, Meet and other applications. G Suite allows your employees to have their own Gmail accounts for your business, for example – name@yourbusiness.com.
Google Calendar is the backbone for scheduling calls with clients and setting project deadlines for important deliverables. An added bonus is Google Calendar in G Suite has the ability to create multiple calendars that are accessible to everyone in your company.
Google Drive which allows you to store, access, and share your files in one secure place. Google Docs and Google Sheets are great because they allow editing and commenting in real-time. And you can create an unlimited number of versions.
2. Google Analytics
Every business that has a website (which should be every business) needs to have Google Analytics. Analytics are important because you can gain powerful insights on who is coming to your website, when they are visiting, from what source, and how long there are staying. Important metrics to pay attention to are new vs. returning users, bounce rate, exit page and session duration.
Analytics allows you get the whole picture of your customers experience and journey on your website. Analyzing your analytics will give you a deeper understanding of your customers, and using this valuable information you can refine your business and marketing strategies to deliver better experiences and drive results.
3. Client Relationship Management Software
As you grow your customer base you are going to need a smart way to keep track of your customers. From the prospective lead stage, through the sales pipeline, and for ongoing client communication – investing in a CRM is a necessity.
While there are many free CRMs out there, our recommendation is HubSpot, which also has a free trial so you can try it out first. With this tool you have access to your sales pipeline in real time. CRMs are a tool that will save your sales team time tracking their leads and clients so they can focus on more sales.
Other useful features of CRMs include: email tracking, meeting scheduling, prospect tracking and live chat.
4. Internal Communication Platform
Being able to have efficient means of communication within your company and teams is critical for business operations. Two popular internal collaborative chat platforms used by many businesses are Slack and Microsoft Teams. Using these chat services allows you to create different channels for different teams within your organization so that everyone stays connected; much more efficient that countless email threads.
Benefits of using these types of chat platforms include:
Increased Transparency – everyone can see what is going on, information is not siloed. You don’t have to worry about CC all the right people on long email threads, everyone in the team chat can see all of the messages. Use the @ symbol to direct a message or question to a specific team member.
Time Savings – when that team meeting can transform into a chat conversation on an app, this saves everyone time and effort. The chat history feature with the search function also makes it easier to find key information you are looking for, rather than sifting through numerous emails.
Increased Collaboration – online chats create a more collaborative environment where everyone has an equal voice. People can create separate channels for each project task, and you can also self-select to join different channels that you want to engage with.
5. Workflow Software
There are lots of workflow automations software out there. Some you may have heard before are Trello, Asana and Jira. Trello uses dashboards, lists, and cards to keep your projects organized. Asana helps remote teams organize projects and manage shifting priorities in one shared space. Jira is created primarily for software teams to help plan, track, and release software products.
All these workflow software use visual dashboards to help you see the workflow process and the tasks associated with each stage of the project. They are great tools for project management.
Chatnels is an AI-powered chat platform for B2B and B2C workflow communications. Integrated with Slack and Zoom, you can have chat conversations and online meetings. Chatnels also comes with digital attendants that can be programmed to answer your client’s questions 24/7.
Try Chatnels free for 90 days as part of our COVID-19 business as usual offer. And see how this communication collaboration tool can help you business keep running smoothly during this challenging time.
