It can be difficult to navigate your way through the plethora of software on offer for small business. No-one in small business wants to spend money on software that they won’t use, so how do small business owners determine what software programs they need? How do you make sure you are investing in software that will meet your needs and not be redundant, or worse, make tasks even more complex? There is a lot of software out there so you it’s a good idea to do your research and ask lots of questions.
Here are three software programs that all small businesses need.
Customer Relationship Management
Your customers are your lifeblood and you need to foster and maintain good relationships with them. If you have only a few customers this will be manageable, but as your customer base grows so will the difficulty you have in communicating effectively with all your clients. A good CRM system will enable to you to keep tabs on your customer relationships. You will be able to see at a glance when you last contacted customers, what offers they have taken up, and what you have done for them.
CRM software is invaluable for sales staff as it enables them to keep a track of their progress with prospects and helps them to communicate in a timely manner to close the deal. CRM software usually incorporates email systems that allow businesses to regularly correspond with customers, offering them the latest deals and thanking them for purchases. CRM offers the tools to help you stay in touch with your customers, helping to keep your business top of mind. CRM can also be utilised to contact old customers to try and encourage them into renewing their relationship with your business.
Account Software
Keeping a track of your business’s finance is essential and a good accounting software package will make the job a whole lot easier. You can record all transactions by entering the data into your accounting system. Accounting software will enable you to create invoices and monthly statements, manage payroll, tax, GST and BAS requirements. Accounting software will also give you the capacity to create financial reports easily and will keep a record of inventory and orders.
Anti-Virus Software
Almost every small business uses the internet in some shape or form and no-one is immune to the threats posed by viruses, spyware and malware. Having good anti-virus software in not optional, it will protect your computer from attack and potentially save you thousands of dollars in repairs. Anti-virus software is highly effective at keeping your computer secure. Any business that has suffered the devastation of a computer virus will understand the necessity of anti-virus software. Unfortunately these threats are not going away and are in fact on the increase. Anti-virus software will filter out viruses and keep your system safe. Most programs will offer frequent updates to keep you protected from the latest viruses.
