CM2 Software - Blog #Process Management

Benefits of Workflows and Process Consistency

Fri, 12 Nov 2021 12:09:57 -0500

Have you ever found yourself explaining and re-explaining how to complete a task? You think that you are being clear in your explanation, and it is common-sense to do it your way. However, not everyone thinks the same way, and not everyone is as passionate about your business as you are. If you find yourself constantly fixing mistakes or following up on missing information, then you likely are in need of better business workflows and tools to create consistency.

Consistent workflows provide the following benefits:

1. Everyone is on the same page

Consistency is the key to work that flows easily from one process or person to the next. If every task is completed the same way every time by each and every employee, then everyone will know what the next step in the process is and how to complete it. Consistency boosts productivity, increases customer satisfaction, and lowers costs.

Employees want to feel productive; they want to know that they are doing a good job and that they have added value to the company. Creating business workflows gives employees the autonomy to do their jobs productively, increasing their job satisfaction and their work output. Likewise, customers like knowing what is coming. They want to work with companies that offer consistency and employees who are confident in their roles.

2. Follow up is easier

When everyone is following the same process, it is exponentially easier to ensure that all work is completed and done so correctly. Management will have increased visibility to the actions of every employee throughout the entire workflow. Again, this keeps all team members on the same page, and it also gives management a better understanding of where their employees are struggling, or what needs to be improved in the future. Risks can be mitigated because they will be easier to identify and course correct. Greater visibility to the process allows errors to be corrected earlier instead of being missed or overlooked later on.

3. Work is completed faster

Consistency lends itself to speed, and time is money. When everyone knows what they need to be doing at each stage of the process, they are able to be more efficient. Muscle memory is real, and it works for brains too. Your employees will be more efficient when they know exactly which tasks need to be completed at each step of the process. There is less confusion and time wasted waiting for a response. Each employee works autonomously to get the task done in an efficient manner, benefiting both the company and the customer.

4. No missing information

When all of the steps of the process are laid out clearly for the employee, there is a greater chance that there will be fewer errors and missing information. As employees work through the workflow, they will be able to enter and update information throughout the process. This will give better results, reduce errors, and minimize risk. Additionally, management will have a greater visibility into the current state of a process. This gives them the opportunity to course correct and identify errors. If process automation software is also used in the workflow, features can be aligned to disallow missing information.

Although time consuming to create, process workflows provide the structure that your business and employees need. Consistency should be at the heart of everything that you do in your business. developing these workflows is not as easy as it sounds, but it provides great benefits to you and your employees. The creation of workflows is not a static process, it needs to grow and develop alongside your business, making room for improvements and change.

4 Do's and Don'ts of CRM

Tue, 26 Oct 2021 10:52:49 -0400

We are living in a digital world where personal connections are difficult to make but remain essential to great customer service, customer retention, and referrals. One misstep in communication can upset your customers and be detrimental to your business. Technology offers great solutions in managing your customer base. Customer Relationship Management software gives your team a platform to communicate with your customers through the entire customer journey, offering personalized experiences focused on your customer’s needs.

Having a unified CRM platform also gives you control on how the business is represented by your sales team. A streamlined workflow used in a CRM tool allows customer information to flow from one source to the next, ensuring that their needs are met by the right people or department at the right time. The data in your CRM can be retained to ensure that nothing and no one is left out.

But how do you decide which software is best for your company and what are the best methods of using CRMs for the most return on investment?

Here are some Do’s and Don’ts of CRMs:

o Evaluate your current work flows and work towards a streamlined methodology from initial customer contact to development, handover, and beyond.

o Encourage buy in from staff as they are the ones who will be using this software on a daily basis. This should be a strategic shift to the new process that involves all who are involved and sets parameters for processes and procedures.

o Audit frequently, as your business grows and evolves, so will your CRM needs. Ensure that the software you are purchasing has scalability and flexibility to change with your business.

o Buy from a firm who best suits your needs and requirements. Consider these three factors – quality of implementation, network infrastructure, end user culture.

Don’t

o Be outrageously ambitious. Ensure that the CRM meets the needs of your business now, with the ability to grow in the future. A software that is too complicated will give poor results and can frustrate staff.

o Create a long laundry list of requirements for the software. You won’t know your exact needs until you start using it. Flexibility in software is important to grow and expand with changing needs.

o Bombard customers with too many newsletters, emails, coupons, and other forms of communication. The communication you provide should be informative, intriguing, or critical to the customer’s needs. Many email providers have filters in place to flag or filter out bulk emails.

o Copy and paste old data directly into the new CRM. You will want to start with new data that is easy to manage through the CRM, giving the tools you are actually paying for. Copied data can contain errors and lead to mistakes later on in the customer journey.

CRMs are the way of the future; they are essential for growth and relationship management with your most important asset – your clients.

Find out more about CRMs

Task Managers keep you Organized

Mon, 30 Aug 2021 14:17:31 -0400

As business owners it is easy to become overwhelmed by all of the tasks that need to be completed every day. Remembering to follow up with current clients, potential clients, and employees can become overwhelming, along with all of the day to day operations. Small things start to slip through the cracks where they can easily be forgotten or overlooked. It’s a lot of pressure to keep all of the wheels turning and not missing a beat. In other words, being a business owner is exhausting.

As the work keeps piling up, it becomes more and more stressful and overwhelming to keep juggling all of the business’s operations. Not to mention, the pressures and responsibilities at home. Spending time with family and friends, enjoying hobbies, taking care of ourselves, and taking care of our homes are all important facets of life that should not be overshadowed by business. However, too often our personal lives get put on the back burner in favor of squeezing in a few more hours at the office. But how productive are those hours?

An essential component of running a small business is finding a method of remaining organized and keeping track of all of those tasks. When your business is small you can rely on programs like outlook calendars to keep track of your appointments, excel spreadsheets to keep track of expenses, and Hootsuite to monitor social media. But what are you using to keep track of all of the tasks that need to be completed?

Many times, developing a good system to keep track of all of the little tasks is overlooked. It doesn’t seem important when there are only one or two tasks in a day, but as you grow and begin to serve more customers the number of tasks that need to be completed each day, week, and month continues to grow along side it. Further, you might begin to outsource some of those tasks to employees and business partners as you continue to grow.

So how do you ensure that all the tasks are being completed without turning into the dreaded micromanager? Project Management task trackers. We highly recommend looking into this type of software that can offer your company an easy method of tracking the progress of a project without the added cost of a full time project manager. Further, you will save yourself from becoming the boss who only ever asks “Are you done yet?” Give access to your employees and empower them to complete tasks on their own and to update the tracker as necessary. Now you can check in on the application and know exactly where your team stands.

A good project task manager will give you the ability to assign tasks to individuals, give them timelines for completion, and have tasks reoccur every day, week, or month. The more automation you build into the platform the better off you will be in the long run. Automation works to eliminate the physical tasks that you have to complete over and over. Making you more efficient and giving your team a more consistent work environment. Do some research, see what task managers can do for your business.

Talk to an expert about Task Manager Software

Small Business, What Next?

Fri, 06 Aug 2021 15:00:00 -0400

What Next?

As a small business owner, you have overcome the biggest hurdles, you have carved out a unique niche in the market and raised enough capital to survive those beginning years. Pat yourself on the back because you deserve it. Many small businesses fail within the first five years of entering the marketplace, and you have survived. This is a great achievement and one that deserves to be celebrated.

As your business continues on its journey of success, it is important to think about what comes next. Even though you are established, and your clients are satisfied with your offerings, you need to look to the future to determine where your business can go and how you are going to get there. Having future plans is the key to success, as you must continue to grow and find new offerings to keep your customers coming back and to identify and interact with new customers.

So, what next?

There is no shortage of answers to this question, and the right path will be different for each unique business. However, technology has to be one of the avenues that every small business pursues. The possibilities of technology are only limited by our imaginations and our goals. For this reason, goal research should be the next step.

Set Goals

Having one year, five year, and ten year goals can give you and your team the motivation they need to keep heading in the same direction. Goals keep the team on the same page and allow for celebration when the goals are achieved. Team unity and goal creation go hand in hand in this next business step. Identify targets that you know your team can reach and then work together to get there.

You should also identify some goals that may be a little harder to reach. Goals that appear too difficult or impossible, may be the best goals you ever set. Once you have identified that impossible goal, have your team brainstorm how to get there. Their ideas can be the foundation of your success, and their buy-in will help keep the goal in the fore-front of their mind.

Identify Solutions

Do your research. Google is a powerful tool, and one that can really help you to identify the possible solutions to reach your new business goals. Look into the varying options for solving your business challenges and growth opportunities as a company. Talk to experts, network with other professionals, and read customer reviews. There is so much information out there that can help your business grow.

Once you have a list of possible solutions, it is time to weigh the pros and cons, and do some real world research. Try out the different solutions and see how they will work for your business. Go back to your team for input about the solutions and re-evaluate your goals.

Does the solution bring you closer to your goal? Does it give value to your employees? Is it beneficial to your customers? All of these aspects should be evaluated to determine if the solution works for your business.

Implement

Now that the right solution has been chosen for your business, it is time to implement! Put that solution to work and use metrics to gauge its success against your needs. The more data you can generate regarding the impact of the solution, the better off you will be. You will be able to fully understand its impact on the business, your customers, and your employees.

Start Over

Now that your goals have been reached, it is time to start all over. Identify new goals and challenges and work towards reaching those goals.

CM2

Here at CM2 Software we believe in the iterative life cycle of development. Just like goal setting, we identify a need, brainstorm solutions, develop a prototype, implement, and then start all over. This system allows us to provide software solutions that solve challenges while also leaving room to develop additional features that can easily be added to the deliverable.

We want you to reach all of your goals and we are here to help you do just that.

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Low Code Software is Taking 2021 by Storm

Mon, 24 May 2021 12:19:28 -0400

There is no doubt that businesses need software tools to help them compete in today’s marketplace. We need to be faster, smarter, and more efficient in everything we do to compete in this global market.

But software is expensive, and it doesn’t always work the way we want it to. Often times, out-of-the-box software can give us solutions that come really close to being helpful, but they don’t always give us the functionality that we want or need.

However, today there is a new trend, No Code and Low Code software. These platforms offer drag and drop solutions that allow customers to create software applications that perform the way they want them to. They are customized to fit a single business. You can send automated email messages to customers, add new sales data to third party solutions like Quick Books or Salesforce, or track invoices and purchase orders. All of this and so much more can be done with no code and low code software.

The biggest benefit of this new trend is that anyone can do it. You do not need to be a software developer or have any coding experience at all to use these applications. (I might work for a software company, but I have 0 coding experience, and even I was able to use low code software.)

Drag and Drop is the biggest component of these platforms. Simply identify the field you want, drag it onto your form and away you go. Forms are what holds your data and where you put all of the information that you will use to create your reports and other data tracking methods. Typically, you can import data from a spreadsheet, or you can manually enter the data yourself. You can create workflows that are designed to initiate tasks after data is entered, edited, or deleted. You can create reports and dashboards that display this data in helpful ways, all without writing a single line of code. The low code or no code platform, holds all of the HTML, CSS, JavaScript, or other programming language that defines the layout and functionality of your software application.

All of this is pretty simple, and something that I would highly recommend to any business that is trying to simplify their processes. Use these platforms to give your business better access and flexibility to your data. It is worth it. On Google, you can find plenty of reviews and commentary on the different no code or low code platforms available, at CM2 Software we use and recommend Zoho.

However, there are limitations, especially if you are not a programmer. If you have never written a line of code in your life, you are limited by the drag and drop capabilities and pre-written workflows of low code or no code platforms. You will be able to create beautiful reports and collect all of your data in one place. But you might be missing out on the added benefits that a software consulting service would be able to offer.

For example, data gathering from outside sources. What if you wanted to know the exact traveling distance from one location to another, would you use Google Maps? What if you wanted to know the current day’s exchange rate for USD (US Dollars) versus GBP (British Pound Sterling), would you know where to find this information without manually updating the data daily? How would you be able to incorporate this data into your new application? If I told you that you could use an API to find this information, would you even know what that means?

I don’t ask these questions to belittle because the truth is, that I don’t know the answers either. But CM2 Software has software developers who do.

There are many consulting services (CM2 Software included) that use low code software and take it to the next level by integrating APIs and developing code that allows the application to talk to itself and outside sources in new and dynamic ways. They are able to create reports that dynamically change based on inputs, search the web and gather data from all different sources, integrate applications across multiple platforms, and customize all solutions to your business’s specific needs.

Could a developer do all of this without using low code software? Yes. But it is significantly more expensive and time consuming.

They would need to create all of the back end code and structure for the application before they even begin the process of customization. Think of a simple application like MS Word (yes, I picked this example as I write this post on Word), a developer created code that defined the size of the application, created the blue header, defined the tabs, created all of the buttons that change the formatting, view, and design. Someone developed code to identify how many lines can fit on one page before moving to the next, how large the font is, the style of font used, and how each change would effect the entire document. The scroll bar was designed to be dynamic and grow with the page as you write. All of this and so much more had to be visualized, designed, and written in multiple programming languages before anyone could write a single line on a word document. Further, one tiny error in the thousands of lines of code (as small as a missing period, or capitalization of a word) could cause the entire application to fail.

Low code removes all of this back end work for the software developer. Now they can focus solely on your application, on the customizations that you need to be successful, and do it all in a timely and cost effective manner. To me, it is a no brainer, low code platforms work – and if you are willing to invest the time into learning how to use it, you can have great success. Consulting services and programmers make low code even better, faster, and more intelligent. The possibilities of software are only limited by imagination.

I recommend that you take the time to look at low code software platforms, sign up for a 30 day trail, and see how easy they are to use. Get creative with your ideas of how software can solve your biggest business problems. See how it can help you to grow and be more successful, and then tell us about it. We want to hear how software has changed your business.