There are only a finite number of ways to save money in your business. For example, you can cut expenses, increase productivity, and decrease costly mistakes. Although these are broad categories, using certain software programs can help you achieve these goals.
For instance, there are key software applications designed to save you money by helping you increase productivity, cut expenses, and reduce costly mistakes. When you start using the right software, you’ll start turning more of your revenue into profit.
What software do you use in your business? Check out the following list of applications to see if you’re taking full advantage of all the applications that will help you become more profitable.
- Fleet management software
Do you run a business that operates a fleet of vehicles? If you have motor vehicles to manage, you have some big responsibilities. Thankfully, there are software programs designed to make the process easier.
For example, fleet management software from Cetaris makes it easy to manage your vehicles from top to bottom, including maintenance, repairs, and even warranty reimbursements.
Unfortunately, about 70% of warrantable claims go unfilled, and you lose money when you don’t know which repairs are eligible under your warranties. When you use fleet management software, you’ll be able to identify cost-saving opportunities, especially where warranties are concerned. Your staff will be alerted anytime a warrantable part breaks down.
This software will also help you optimize your inventory by reducing what you carry to only what is necessary. Best of all, you’ll be able to get the right parts exactly when you need them.
- Project management software
Perhaps the most important piece of foundational software is project management. To meet deadlines and deliver work on time to your clients, you need a robust project management platform that will manage overall goals, milestones, and daily tasks.
Some of the best project management applications include:
- Monday
- Asana
- Basecamp
There are several other options, but these three seem to be the most popular and have affordable paid plans.
- Workflow automation software
Workflow automation has become a huge deal in recent years and for good reason. Automating workflows eliminates mundane, repetitive tasks and allows employees to accomplish more in a shorter period of time.
According to data published by smallbizclub.com, about 30% of employees say automation saves them money and 44% say automation saves them time. This makes sense, given that time literally is money.
Automating workflows helps employees work smarter and more efficiently, which results in higher productivity, more deadlines met, and ultimately happier teams and clients.
- CRM software
A Customer Relationship Management (CRM) application will help you manage all of your client and customer relationships, including leads. The whole purpose is to support you in growing your business through developing stronger relationships with your customers.
A typical CRM will support your marketing and sales teams, customer service reps, and recruiters by storing information from your leads, customers, and clients. Sales teams can identify hot leads, take notes during sales calls, and document service issues as they’re identified.
There are many different CRMs on the market, and some are better than others. The best ones combine several additional important functions into one application, for example:
- Lead tracking
- Email marketing and segmentation
- Marketing
- Ecommerce processing, including a shopping cart system
- Customer support tickets
- Analytics
Two of the top competing CRM applications are Salesforce and Infusionsoft. Both bring power to the table, but each have their own strengths and weaknesses. They’re also varied in price, which means you’ll need to do plenty of research and schedule demos to figure out which one meets your specific needs.
If you’re on a budget, you’ll probably need to choose a smaller, more affordable CRM since both Salesforce and Infusionsoft come with hefty price tags, even at the lowest tier.
- Receipt tracking software
Receipts are a pain when you wait until the last minute to sort them all out, but who wants to manage receipts every day? When you have a receipt tracking software system in place, you can easily record your receipts on a daily basis so they never pile up in your office.
The best receipt tracking applications will turn a picture of your receipts into text and automatically enter the amount you spent into the system. You’ll want to verify the numbers to make sure they’re accurate, but it’s still far less work than manual tracking.
Let your software do most of the work
If you haven’t already, start using applications to automate and streamline your business processes. When your business is more efficient, you’ll save time and money at once.