Long gone are the days when technology played little to no role in the workplace. Nowadays, business owners are taking advantage of technological advances as much as possible since they clearly understand how useful some innovations can be.
After all, imagine what an average workplace would look like today if people still used typewriters. Quite impossible, right?
One thing is for sure – innovations and technological developments need to be fully embraced. That is one of the most certain ways to grow and improve your business.
If you’d like to learn about some software tools that can help you enhance various aspects of your company, keep reading. No matter what industry you’re in, you will definitely find something useful.
Centralized business dashboards
Wouldn’t it be great if you had a complete overview of your business? Imagine having a single system that has all the other tools you are using under a single program.
Fortunately, software solutions called all-in-one business dashboards can do the trick for you. These allow you to see every segment of your business, starting from the progress of your marketing campaigns all the way to finance and project management.
This kind of dashboard is designed to let you have a thorough insight into all of your operations, departments, branches, and so on.
Good and comprehensive business dashboards act as your right hand. To be precise, you get to know the exact state of your finances at any time, as well as what projects and campaigns are currently running.
But, best of all, you will have instant access to all of your important business data. This will help you make better decisions in shorter periods of time.
If you are an organized kind of person, you will appreciate what this type of software solution has to offer.
- 9spokes
This is a good example of a fine business dashboard that allows you to connect all of the apps you use to manage your business.
With it, you will be able to visualize everything in one place. For instance, you can connect Google Analytics to monitor your website, Free Agent to monitor your cash flows, social media accounts to track activity, and so on.
Accounting and finances tools
There is no denying that a decent accounting tool can make a world of difference when it comes to automation and efficiency at the office.
With a good tool that helps you keep track of all the numbers you will not only save each cent, but you will also spare yourself and your employees countless annoying hours you’d have to spend on dull accounting tasks.
That is why many successful entrepreneurs always emphasize the importance of good accounting software.
If you too recognize how good an accounting tool can be for you and your business, make sure to look for some of the following features before you actually invest in this kind of software.
1. Overview feature (all your finances on a single screen)
2. Tax calculations
3. Invoicing tool
4. Quotes, payments, and invoices tracker
5. Finance reporting feature (cash flow, profits, losses, etc.)
Fortunately, there are some really great accounting tools that you can make use of. Below you will find a prime example of a comprehensive tool that can do wonders for your finances.
- Workday
If you have done some digging prior to reading this article, you may be familiar with Workday. Workday is a cloud-based software vendor that specializes in human capital management and financial management apps.
This great software solution uses a single, cloud-based database both for HCM and finances. And, this also makes it easy to integrate it with other business functions that are available in most ERP systems.
However, it’s best that you give this gem a shot before everything gets spoiled with words. Rest assured that you will benefit from Workday implementation.
Project management software
If you are still moving post-it notes across whiteboards, it’s high time you got an update. And, the perfect way for you to update is to invest in project management software.
Fortunately, various project management solutions really work wonders when it comes to streamlining your workflow and getting more out of doing less. It doesn’t even matter what industry you’re in, good project management solutions can be tweaked in many ways so that you meet the requirements of your specific business.
The most prominent feature that made people love these software solutions is the collaboration feature. Back before project management programs, an average department or company would often have trouble due to overlapping tasks.
In other words, some tasks are bound to overlap departmental boundaries. This makes it hard for each team member to be aware of what is happening outside of their immediate circle.
Well, thanks to project management tools, this issue can be eliminated. Some programs offer activity stream features that allow other team members to know what is being worked on and who is working on it.
Another great perk of good project management solutions is the scheduling feature. Thanks to this feature, keeping track of milestones in a project becomes a walk in the park. Every single team member will know what has to be done and when.
- Jira
Jira (Atlassian) is a well-known name among software companies that deal with project management solutions.
This is an agile platform that is used for planning, tracking, and releasing software. Not only can you create stories, plan sprints, track issues, and ship up-to-date software, but you can also generate reports that help improve teams and create their own workflows.
Since it is a part of Atlassian, it can be integrated with many tools that enable teams to manage their projects and products from end to end.
CRM software
Great customer relationship management (CRM) is something that every ambitious company needs to prioritize.
Back in the day, CRM tools were mainly used by sales teams. However, today there is a much bigger need to include this kind of software across all departments.
Now is the time when customers expect better, more seamless interactions with companies. This means that your CRM tool should be used to keep track of all your interactions across all platforms (Facebook, Twitter, your website, email, and so on).
- Hubspot CRM
If you want a software solution that can help you better manage your customers, Hubspot CRM is definitely worth checking out. This software solution is a great option for businesses with over 10 employees.
Hubspot CRM will help you keep track and visualize your entire sales funnel. You will also easily log any sales activity automatically no matter where it happens (social media, email, over the phone).
Web monitoring tools
Web monitoring tools can serve a number of different purposes for companies.
However, they are mainly used by companies to keep track of mentions of a given business online, discover sales opportunities and leads, and find social influencers.
On top of that, many companies use these tools to gain a better knowledge of their industries along with their audiences.
- SentiOne
If you are a marketer or you’d like to keep track of all the mentions and discover potential leads, check out SentiOne.
This is a social listening and reputation management tool that lets you monitor your brand name along with any other keywords you input.
SentiOne searches all the important places online where your brand is mentioned. These include social media platforms, blogs, forums, review websites, and so on.
