What Makes a Modern Business Successful?

Keeping up with the competition can be a lot of work. There will always be other businesses doing similar things to you, and it’s your job to make sure you’re standing out from the crowd. The best marketing strategy in the world may not help you reach the top of your industry, however. Customers may not care about your brand name or your offerings if you can’t keep pace with their demands. Part of the job of every growing business is to stay relevant to their customers, and with the continual growth of technology that helps alleviate pain points, any truly successful business will be one that uses that tech to solve problems. But using modern technology will not only help your customers, it will also help your own business outpace the competition and become more efficient. Here are a few ways to modernize your business using the latest and greatest tech. [content_upgrade cu_id=”355″]Free Download: 5 Signs It’s Time to Modernize Your Business[content_upgrade_button]Click Here[/content_upgrade_button][/content_upgrade]

Analytics

Chances are good that you’re already using some type of analytic tools to monitor your traffic and sales numbers (if not, you really need to modernize a.s.a.p.) but did you know that your analytics can be doing more for you? Analytic software has improved significantly in the past few years and it can do more than just tell you how many people are visiting your homepage; it can also give you valuable insights into things like customer behavioral patterns and marketing performance. For example, Google Analytics can help identify holes in your sales funnel by telling you which pages are converting and which are underperforming, which types of users are visiting your site, what page they land on, where they go next, and how long they stay. With this data, you can create marketing strategies to target users more effectively and ultimately improve your sales funnel. But if you don’t take the time to use all of the features provided by your analytics software, you will end up missing out on potentially vital information that can help your business grow.

Cloud Software

Cloud computing has helped many businesses modernize over the last several years, and the technology available for both public and private cloud services is improving every year. One reason many companies are making the switch to cloud software in lieu of on-premise solutions is that the cloud is significantly more flexible. Data and tools can be accessed from multiple devices from anywhere in the world at any time, opening doors for team collaboration and expansion. You could hire top talent from all over the globe to work for your team, and that’s part of the appeal. The cloud also gives you better storage and speeds, complete document control, improved security, and scalability – all of which will help you stay competitive in your industry.

CRM

Successful modern businesses also tend to get the most out of their CRM software and strategies when looking to improve their customer experience. Ideally, your CRM should be giving you accurate and up-to-date information so that you can support customers where they need it the most. A modern CRM will:
  • Align with your customer experience strategy
  • Support customers through revenue uplift
  • Improve operational efficiencies
  • Personalize engagements with customers
  • Be as user-friendly as possible
If your current CRM doesn’t fit into any of the above categories, you may run into problems as your business grows. This is especially true if your current CRM isn’t user-friendly, because data entry will ultimately take up time that can be better spent elsewhere.

Version Control

Version control – or more specifically, distributed version control – is another key component to success for the modern businesses. Version control enables multiple people to work on a single project simultaneously, and each person has the ability to make edits and changes to files they’re working on without affecting the rest of the team’s work. It also allows a single user to access multiple computers, improving efficiency when not working in teams, and it can keep track of any changes made so that data can be recovered if a crash occurs. Distributed version control systems like Git, which have been made popular in the last several years, take this a step farther by allowing users to copy and store entire repositories of information on their own systems. This has several advantages, including allowing workers to access important information offline, share changes and feedback with team members that need it, and updating systems faster and more efficiently. For businesses that work with legacy systems in particular, having a way to make quick and reliable updates is essential to bringing old software into the modern age.

Custom Applications

Speaking of legacy systems, the best way to modernize your business is to use custom software and applications to improve or replace any outdated functions of your current system. If any part of your legacy system is out of date, the rest of your business will suffer. New software and automations are being released every year, and they can save you enormous amount of time and energy. But new software isn’t always compatible with older systems, and many businesses that wait too long to modernize may find themselves stuck integrating old and new systems unsuccessfully. Waiting to modernize a legacy system can also impede any innovation or changes to your business in the future. If your company is moving towards different solutions or offerings than you focused on when your system was first installed, you may find it challenging to switch systems. But a truly modernized business will be able to innovate and change depending on customer demand. That’s why having the ability to quickly update and modify legacy systems will be so important. Because replacing an entire system can be expensive and time consuming, having a custom-made application will add all of those modern efficiencies without driving up costs, saving you time and money in the long run. [content_upgrade cu_id=”355″]Here are 5 telltale signs that it’s time for you to modernize[content_upgrade_button]Click Here[/content_upgrade_button][/content_upgrade]

Final Thoughts

While not all “modernized” businesses will look the same, they all will have one thing in common: relevancy. The goal in keeping up to date on the latest technology trends is not to make your business look shiny and bright, but rather to help meet customer demands and create relevant solutions for your industry. The best things you can do to modernize your business to meet the demands of the day include taking full advantage of current technology like analytics software and cloud computing, and creating custom solutions to meet future needs, like adding custom tools to your legacy systems and using version control to assist workflow. Ultimately, modernizing is really about getting the most out of today’s tech so that you don’t have to spend time worrying about software and you can focus on making your customers’ lives better.