Large enterprise organisations have long since known, that in the current business climate, a mobile first approach is paramount to business success. However, many SMEs have remained resolute to legacy business practices, perhaps due to perceived cost implications or maybe even due to the ‘if it’s not broke don’t fix it’ notion. That said, with sales of smartphones and tablets exploding in recent years, not only because they are perfect for keeping up to date with the latest news and for surfing the net casually, but also because they make perfect business tools, it’s essential that SMEs stop attempting to swim upstream and instead join the mobile revolution.
Mobile technology can help your employees work speedily – and in places that 10 years ago they couldn’t. It makes them more productive and more efficient . Smartphones and tablets are basically mobile computers, and within reason they can help you complete the same tasks as a laptop or PC. From a business perspective, it means you can manage your cashflow, run your accounts, update your social media, chat with employees and customers, and create documents – all on the move.
This, in turn, makes your business much more efficient; 10 years ago being on a train meant you were out of the office, today you can be ‘in the office’ wherever you choose to be. Just imagine how much time your team would save if all employees could update information instantly and send it straight back to head office.
For those still unsure about whether mobile is right for them, here are three reasons why it’s important to embrace mobile working, and how mobile devices, and the applications on them, can help you do business work better, smarter and faster:
- Bring down cost of business: There are two main ways in which the business expenses are brought down with enterprise mobile apps. Firstly, the employees lay out greater involvement by working on projects and tasks whenever they desire to- this leads to higher efficiency and therefore, saves time and money. Secondly, once mobile apps begin carrying out the major business functions, papers will be rarely used. Paper records will find their substitutes in mobile forms. Live data will move through the matrix of company systems with mobile apps.
- Removing the delays in the decision-making process: When decisions are made in a company, the involvement of all the core members along with the affected parties is required. With enterprise mobile apps, audio and video conferences can be held without issues of having to meet at a physical location. For this reason, decisions which do not necessarily require a physical meeting can be easily dealt with.
- Elevate customer experience and satisfaction: Whilst having an online store with a blog is an essential today, what differentiates an enterprise is the way in which it responds to the queries and feedback of customers. Most importantly, how fast do they respond? With enterprise mobile apps, the employees can immediately check responses and cater to them in real-time. The presence of instant support creates a rich user experience leading to high customer satisfaction and eventually, sales and revenue.
Connectivity and effective communication are crucial in business. The use of apps for communication platforms like Slack cuts out the need for – and the cost of – email. You can enhance collaboration and track and participate in the discussions and developments surrounding different projects and issues in the business. Then there are platforms like Dropbox, which are designed for sharing documents and, again, minimise the need to send a volley of emails and documents back and forth.
A mobile app can also help you organise your own schedule and, if your business supplies a service rather than a product, an app enables them to confirm appointments, dates, times, etc., and generally helps you to stay ahead of the game since you can communicate with your customers through the app.
Ultimately, investing in mobile technology will help your business to compete with rivals in your sector, and you won’t be chained to the desktop to lead the charge. Mobile technology isn’t just the future: it’s already here. At Pocket App, we are always more than happy to talk to businesses about how mobile can positively influence their performance, so if reading this article gives you food for thought, feel free to give us a call on 02071 834 388 or email contact@pocketapp.co.uk.