By Emma Miller, 10x Management Guest Writer
In an online world without borders, companies aim to work with clients from all over the globe, which means managing different time zones, different cultural backgrounds and different expectations. In other words, you have an entire slew of possibilities where something can go wrong.
Have you sent the right report to the right client? Have you included all your team members in the latest email alert?
Handling your in-house communication and increasing productivity are all the more possible when you have the right tools in your digital toolbox. The goal for most companies is to minimize stress, shorten their list of digital apps, programs and platforms in current use, and to move onto multi-functional, intuitive tools that can do the work of several of their similar siblings.
Let’s take a look at a handful of tools that are at the forefront of this trend, making it easier for companies to tackle their growing pains without losing clients in the process.
The Liquid Planner
Real-time communication is a necessity. In a fast-progressing work environment where you handle multiple projects for multiple clients simultaneously while growing your own company, priorities tend to change in a matter of hours. Hence the need for a tool that reflects those changes automatically, and gives you an overview of the tasks at hand, as well as the status changes in other aspects of your work.
And that’s how Liquid Planner was created to turn your creative chaos into a highly-functional, fluid environment where your project management is no longer a few steps behind, and you don’t have to do all the manual work yourself.
The tool gives you an overview of who is available for upcoming projects, and you can balance your company’s workload among all your employees properly. Gone are the days when someone has their plate full while others slack off in the rec room.
Slack
While we’re on the subject, every company needs a simple tool for in-house communication on a regular basis. This is especially true of companies that hire globally and remotely, which can be a pain in the neck for establishing loyal employees and ensuring retainability without a proper way to communicate without delay.
And we’re not talking about emails, since they are showing a disturbing tendency to actually destroy productivity on a long-term scale.
Slack is an app that shows the potential to override the need for emails altogether, and since it’s already used by major names such as Walmart and The New York Times, companies worldwide are starting to take notice of its flexibility and simplicity. And perhaps most importantly, it offers company-wide transparency many other apps and communication systems lack, even though there’s an option for private chats as well, the ability to track exchanges cross-company means fewer misunderstandings and better control in the long run.
Reportz
Anyone who has even for a moment found themselves in the constantly changing atmosphere of SEO and marketing knows that hectic doesn’t begin to describe it. Marketing experts all over the globe spend hours every week crafting analyses and weekly reports for their clients and their own teams, by juggling a multitude of different tracking systems and analytics tools with dozens of different metrics waiting to be compared, analyzed and sent out – manually.
In order to focus on what really matters –data and results – marketers need an intuitive tool for creating SEO reports in a matter of minutes, automatically, in real time, and with a focus on the right KPIs for a particular client. And Reportz does just that, since it is designed to eliminate grunt work, potential mistakes from manual data import, and wasting time and resources.
It’s basically personalized reporting automation that keeps all sides in the loop. Now you can finally allocate those precious hours on something more meaningful and productive for the entire company.
Zoho CRM
Multi-channel communication is one of those buzz-phrases that makes most marketers get all tingly, and for the right reason. Instead of using separate lines of communication for each and every client opportunity, influencer engagement and ongoing clients via email, social media or even on your cell phone, merging them into a single system of client management is a dream. And Zoho in that scenario is a dream-come-true.
Keeping track of existing customers, potential clients and market trends makes it easier to close deals in less time, as stated on their own website, and what company doesn’t aim to do just that? Add to that the ability to recognize, track and manage leads more effectively, and you have yourself a tool that grows alongside your business due to its scalability and omni-channel implementation.
It’s also a smart way to boost your own productivity with automated workflow, since you’ll get all the right triggers and notifications in time, and you’ll be able to assign the right people to the right client.
Insightly
If anything, your company knows the value of long-term relationships, so it makes perfect sense that you need a solution that helps build and nurture those relationships successfully and hassle-free. A tool that has proven to be diversity-friendly and used across all industries, by small and medium-sized business alike, Insightly has become the project management paired with contact management bundle wrapped in a single user-friendly package.
Whether you’re monitoring your leads or keeping track of current clients, this tool easily connects the dots on its own – from social circles, recognizing mutual connections, email correspondence, to putting useful information in a single place, it provides insight (go figure) into the digital and actual footprint of your clients. It takes it a step further by making it mobile-friendly as well, so that you can stay tuned while on the go.
The Importance of Remote Work Tools
No matter your industry, number of employees and current projects, every company needs to take into account their prospective growth and future shape, and choose the right digital assets accordingly. Depending on your company size, number of clients and your roadmap, you can select some of these tools to optimize your project and client management processes and help your business thrive.
Emma is a digital marketer and blogger from Sydney. After getting a marketing degree she started working with Australian startups on business and marketing development. Emma writes for many relevant, industry related online publications and does a job of an Executive Editor at Bizzmark blog and a guest lecturer at Melbourne University. Interested in marketing, startups and latest business trends.
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