Every job well done is done with great tools. It is no surprise, then, that startup companies look for the best tools to improve productivity, reduce costs, and complete their objectives in the most customer satisfying way.
If you do not want to fall behind other companies, then you need to implement these tools that are essential to keep track of your business’s growth. When the potential of these tools are discovered, you will more than likely keep these tools for the future of your business.
1) Task Management System:
Remember that one meeting you missed with that important supplier because you forgot to read your email? Or that time you had to call your customer, but your secretary was sick, and her replacement forgot to notify you? Well, these and other scenarios can be avoided by implementing a good ‘Task Management System.’ So before you get any more headaches and lose potential customers you need to implement this tool. Here are two great options:
Asana: Email is the one tool you will definitely use to create your startup company. Every company has one, probably each one of your teammates has a registered email address (or a few of them) under the same domain, and you most likely do too. So how do you keep your communication organized? That is where Asana comes in.
Pros: Multiplatform is amongst one of the most important features of any system, and Asana can be accessed through any mobile phone (running Android or iOS), as well as any computer with a browser in it. It is well designed and easy to access. It supports up to 100 members (more members can be added if you get in touch with them).
Its customer service is by far some of the most effective, and their response is personalized by an actual member of their team, no more automatic responses!
Cons: While Asana provides great group and project synchronization, it has no offline capabilities, needs a strong head to implement it, and it is not the ideal platform for graphic-intensive projects.
Basecamp: If you have multiple projects you’re working on with a medium or big group of people, and you want to show your progress and get everyone on the same page as you in your projects without any miscommunication or having to postpone deadlines then Basecamp is for you.
Pros: Multiplatform has to be mentioned again, since this system supports various operating systems. It takes almost no effort to set up, and it looks and feels great. Flat fees, and best of all, you can use it for a trial period of 2 months; that is more than most systems offer for free.
Cons: The only real con of this system is that their trial only offers one project to be worked on, this doesn’t allow the user to see the full potential of Basecamp, at least in its free version.
2) Customer Relationship Management Tool:
CRM is necessary for any company planning on having customers, which is every company’s goal, and if you want your company to be successful, you will need happy customers. Satisfying customer needs is not always an easy task, especially since some customers may not be as easy to talk to as others. If what you want is to provide a good customer service, and one-on-one experience to make your customers feel identified, you need to implement a CRM tool.
Relate IQ: Relate IQ is the perfect tool to make sure all your messages get a response. It also makes it easy to track different actions that might need your complete attention such as meetings, status on different deals, and will provide you with specific information that you need to keep every customer happy.
Pros: Relate IQ provides a platform that notifies as many people as you want, and it lets you know if an email has been replied by another one of your teammates so your customers don’t get double response. Automatic data sync makes sure you miss nothing important.
Cons: Their service can be quite pricey, and its information sharing capabilities are not the best ones out there.
Salesforce: When it comes to CRM Salesforce is one of the first words you will find online. Its reviews and the fact that big companies use it certainly puts them on top of the list when it comes to managing your customer contact and sales.
Pros: Innovation. This company is known for its constant evolution in the services it provides. They seem to be always looking for a way to stay ahead of the game and bring the best user experience possible with each feature they add.
It comes with an easy to use UI, and its cloud integration with other software makes it just work smoothly and effectively.
Cons: It does not provide a Service Level Agreement (SLA) when it comes to its cloud service, unless the customers asks for it. These SLAs are not consistent, and it falls far behind compared to other CRM company’s SLAs.
3) Email Marketing Service:
If your company relies heavily on email marketing or emails form a great part of customer contact, then you need a system that takes care of just your emails and is built for marketing.
MailChimp: MailChimp is not your everyday email reading system, it goes far beyond what other systems may offer its users. It is known for its simplicity and low costs that are designed for entrepreneurs, growing businesses, and high-volume senders.
Pros: MailChimp has many features that makes it one of the best systems to manage your email. It has the ability to set a time and date for when messages will be sent, so even if you have no internet connection or are off the clock, you can relax because that important email will be sent.
Free plan for very small businesses and built in editors that make it easy to personalize your responses with little effort.
Cons: Reports are not in real time, and the free version does lack a lot of the features that make it unique.
Constant Contact: A great example that things can be done right and save time without risking quality. Constant Contact makes it easier to keep in touch with those important contacts so that you do not miss a single conversation.
Pros: Relatively low prices, it imports contacts from Gmail and Outlook, it has a free trial and a mobile version which is always a plus.
Cons: Default storage limited to 5 files, and limited auto response capabilities.
4) Online Faxing Service:
Despite living in this day and age and having the internet, there is no denying that faxes have been, and will be a part of every startup, middle, or big company. Moreover, it will probably be this way for a good few more years. So having this in mind, why not have the greatest tools to make this as easy as possible?
Find A Fax: Find A Fax makes it easier for your company to find the right fax services for your company. It delivers all the information you need to filter out different services and keep the one is right for your business while looking out for your pocket.
Pros: In this website you can filter the search results to make sure that the company you choose is the one that meets all of your needs. From fees, to the amount of faxes you can send, it can all be filtered out, so you only focus on the right service that your startup company needs.
It provides all the data you need to make the right decision when choosing your fax company.
Cons: It can be a little bit disorienting if you do not know exactly what characteristics you want your fax company to have, especially if you do not know how many faxes you will be sending monthly.
5) Social Media Management:
If you want your company to succeed, you will need to have a strong presence on social media. Channels like Facebook, Twitter, and Google Plus among others, bring much traffic and customers your way. So, if you want to make sure you tackle these gold mines the right way, you will need a good social media management.
Buffer: If you are busy managing multiple aspects of your business, you will find yourself with little time to post in your social media websites. Having a strong presence means posting things every couple of hours so you get the most attention possible, and that is when you rely on Buffer.
Pros: Queue your posts so that they are posted automatically without needing you to be in front of the screen every hour to make sure your company gets seen. Access multiple accounts at the same time.
Cons: Buffer cannot tell when tweets are time sensitive.
Hootsuite: Hootsuite is designed for those looking to launch aggressive social media campaigns and marketing. It provides important data from tracking conversations to measuring campaign results on mobile platforms, as well as web activity.
Pros: It offers a free account where you can manage a few networks, but its paid version (depending on the account level) offers a greater reach in the networks it manages.
Cons: The learning curve is a bit higher than other programs, but the features it brings are worth the time invested in it.
