Innovative technology continues to bombard small businesses. With more than 80 percent of small business owners using some type of mobile device for business purposes each day and 17.3 percent using them more than 10 times each day, integrating this technology into your business is likely way past due.
Even if you have already begun using this tech for business purposes, there is a good chance you are failing to use it to its full potential. According to Manta’s SMB Wellness Index, these devices are being used by small business owners in the following ways:
- 5 percent use the devices for customer communication and appointment scheduling
- 30 percent use the devices to create to-do lists or notes
- 29 percent use them for monitoring or managing social media
- 24 percent use them for financial/banking purposes
Unfortunately, these stats represent quite a bit of untapped potential. Some of the ways tablets and other mobile devices can be used for your business, which are still not considered ‘mainstream’ include the following:
Ability to Access Information Anywhere
Running an equipment rental business requires constant updates from employees, clients and customers. Tablets and smartphones allow seamless communication via cloud technology and the ability to easily share data and documents. No longer do employees have to call in to ask questions and all requisite information is at their fingertips.
If you are looking for a way to manage where your employees are, then installing a phone call tracker is a great idea. This will give you and them the power to track and route calls with ease.
The benefit?
Workers no longer have to carry around folders, bags or clipboards with endless mountains of paper. Not only is this inefficient, it can easily become lost or damaged. This results in inefficient employees and reduced customer satisfaction. If these issues are not addressed, it can result in lost revenue and profits.
Digital systems also provide date and time stamps of communication, data access and storage and payments received. This allows management to keep employees accountable, while tracking inventory and profits.
Keeping Employees Accountable
According to Salary.com, more than 89 percent of employees have admitted to wasting time at work on a daily basis. While the loss of 30 minutes to an hour of wasted time may not seem significant, the lost productivity can eventually result in a loss of profits.
Integrating tablets and other mobile devices allows management to track what employees are doing, where they are and how they are using their time. Viewing reports created by employees is a breeze and factors such as locations, dates and times can be recorded. There are a number of software applications available to create daily productivity reports, allowing management to see productivity of employees quickly and easily.
Appraisal and Payments Made Simple
Equipment rental business owners have to keep track of inventory, note damage caused by clients and continually inspect and maintain their equipment. What was once a tedious process can be simplified with the use of tablets and other smart devices? Photos can be captured and sent to the proper departments with the click of a button, minimizing downtime to wait for appraisals. Faster turnaround times also minimizes the potential to lose out on a sale due to extended wait periods.
Thanks to the evolution of apps and payment systems, payment for rentals can be taken on-site from debit or credit cards. These transactions are recorded and sent to the proper departments with a swipe and click. Once the payment is received, the information is recorded on the cloud, minimizing the potential for information to be lost or misplaced.
Go Paperless
As mentioned before, mounds of paper represent a number of productivity and efficiency issues. With the integration of tech for your business you can eliminate paper altogether. Using cloud storage, data, receipts, reports and inventory information can be stored and accessed on the cloud. You can even send receipts for a purchase to customers via email, eliminating the need for paper completely. .
If you are on the fence regarding introducing tech into your business, think about the benefits it offers. These devices are the wave of the future and failure to embrace their potential can put you behind your competitors. In most cases, employees will welcome these processes, since it can help them be more productive and minimize the time organizing paperwork and creating reports.
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