By Mike Cockfield, Founder & Managing Director of Khaos Control Solutions
In the battle to stay competitive and ahead of the curve, many small business leaders are turning to mobile strategies that aim to revolutionize their operational processes. From financing to order processing and stock control, the ability to have a handle on these facets on the go, is seen as integral to meeting growing consumer demands.
Couple this with a decline in traditional office spaces and many employees now working remotely, the important issue of access to vital business data, becomes increasingly more prominent.
With this in mind, an increasing number of independent SME leaders are looking to utilise ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) software, which puts the inventory and power of a desktop PC into one handy, centralised system.
Turning to truly mobile ERP solutions can have many cost saving benefits, critical for those smaller businesses that may already have low margins. More crucially however, it is about SMEs being able to truly drive forward their business on the go.
Take, for example, procurement. Keeping up with demand while making the right calls on a new product is a complex balancing act, often requiring access to key metrics to decide when and what is the best product to invest in. With cloud ERP software, this information is available at the touch of a button, with business leaders able to drill into margins, costs, profitability and much more without ever having to open the office door.
What about customer service? Making a customer wait a day for a response to an order enquiry can be the difference between a sale made or lost, and more crucially, threaten profits. Having constant access to lines of communication with your customers can help build brand loyalty and trust, making them more likely to return to your company the next time an order decision is to be made. Consumer loyalty shouldn’t be scoffed at either – the cost of acquiring a new customer is thought to be seven times that of holding on to an existing one.
Vital consumer insights can also be used to create a truly integrated mobile CRM strategy, with every customer interaction recorded and stored instantly at the touch of a button. This can help an entire team ensure customer enquiries are handled as efficiently as possible moving forward, with previous lines of communication able to be drawn upon should they prove useful in the next line of enquiry.
While not every business can afford to spend vast sums of money on a mobile salesforce, they can invest in ERP software. Placing real-time data in business owner’s hands, SME’s are able to make critical operational decisions at the click of a button, affording them the chance to build a safe and profitable future.
