Technology for Small Business

You don't have to have read "The Cluetrain Manifesto" to realize how the web has changed the way consumers do business and frankly if you're reading this Post you're headed in the right direction even if you don't have a site for your small business yet.

For "Grease Monkeys" and Hair-stylists alike, having a website developed with contact forms or simple email doesn't have to be as confusing or painful as it might have seemed years ago...



Even eBay can offer new avenues of contact with consumers, you can create a seller profile and post items with pictures in 10-15 minutes - that's how intuitive the process is, and those that create web presences have gotten really good at making it a great experience for any small business owner. Today's IT professionals speak our language and know how to deliver a product that makes sense to and for us.

Why do you need a web presence? It doesn't matter if you sell widgets or fix widgets today's consumers are not reaching for the phonebook as often because they want to know who they are doing business with not just how to contact you. Consumers are looking for deals with dependability, local talent with world-class service, and they want to know NOW!

And technology doesn't stop with getting the business, how about learning about your business patrons and your business in general, keeping your business patrons, or getting business defectors back? Today's Customer Relationship Management software, or CRMs, are easy to use and maintain, and have attributes that will pay for themselves in no time. If business slows down what do you do now? Put out a sign in front of your shop? Spend more on advertising? Not bad ideas yet with a CRM you can populate mailing lists (Mail Merge), or email lists, and send correspondence to your customers letting them know you want their business again in a matter of minutes depending on complexity. You can even integrate the information you're storing in P&R software, like Quickbooks, into most CRMs where the data is much more useable from an after-sales view.



Another great technology would be Intranet and/or Corporate Portals. As the Internet allows us to reach out globally to interact with outsiders, an Intranet provides networked access INSIDE your organization with multiple uses. Many businesses run on what is commonly known as "tribal knowledge" where some employess carry different experiences and skills with them causing isolations of skills or information within your company. An Intranet allows you to post knowledge-bases (or FAQs) accessible by all employees by permission where they can find information that previously was held by just one person. Intranets can also support Portals where remote employees can still access company information, CRMs, even place Orders!

For more about this post use comments or email: randall.mckee@hotmail.com