COVID-19 and the subsequent nationwide lockdown has meant that businesses have closed their offices and their employees have started working from home. This remote working scenario has made the strongest possible case for digital transformation. We realise that for small businesses, a complete and extensive digital overhaul may not be feasible as you gear up for the new normal. Instead, consider taking incremental steps. Adopt ready-to-use, subscription-based solutions to automate and streamline certain processes. Later, when you have the time and resources, you can choose to scale up and digitise more of your business processes.
Here's how you can get started:
1. Move data to the cloud to make it accessible to everyone
Your colleagues may no longer be a pat on the shoulder away, but you still have a lot of collaboration and brainstorming to do. This means having to share heavy files and data for your team to study, work, and collaborate on. Seamless data sharing will enable effective and productive co-working. Moving to the cloud ensures that your team can view, modify, and use data, anytime-anywhere.
Google Drive, iCloud, and Dropbox are some good cloud storage options, offering both free and pay-as-per-use storage options.
2. Streamline customer relationship management for instant customer service
Your customers must continue enjoying uninterrupted access to your products and services. For any issues faced, they expect instant support. This means that your customer service teams need a 360-degree view of customer data to take quick decisions in real-time. Adopting a reliable Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solution will boost your customer success efforts.
Salesforce, for instance, offers good solutions for small businesses. You can try them out for free and choose to subscribe later, based on your needs. To help you stay connected and responsive to your ecosystem including customers, community and partners, Salesforce Care is now available for free.
3. Strengthen data privacy and security
With your employees on work from home mode and in instances also using personal devices to access business-critical data, it is the right time to focus on data security. As a small business, it may not be practical to restrict employees from using personal laptops or mobiles during WFH. Instead, why not look at an identity management platform that gives you both data security for business and ease of access for employees?
Salesforce Identity and Authenticator, for example, offer seamless access to all your apps, anytime, anywhere - supported by multi-factor authentication that provides enterprise-class security. With these tools, you can enhance the security of your Salesforce deployment without sacrificing user experience.
4. Leverage the power of analytics for data-driven decision-making
Use data-driven insights to make informed business decisions, better understand customer preferences and empower your team. Take the guesswork out of decision-making by leveraging AI-powered business analytics tools. Data visualisation tools and business intelligence platforms like Tableau can unleash the power of data. Tableau offers a unified dashboard, actionable analytics reports, and a plethora of user guides and tutorials. It has a free trial period and flexible pricing models available for prolonged use.
5. Build an online business community for seamless collaboration and service
Social distancing may have hampered regular networking with your industry peers. But that doesn’t mean that building relationships and partnerships have to stop. You can continue to build strong partnerships through online communities. Solutions like Salesforce Community Cloud allow you to implement a partner community easily and quickly. Choose a template as per your need, customise, add content, connect your data and processes, and voila, you have a portal ready for launch. With an online portal, you can stay in touch with your business community and service your channel partners too.
This is probably the best time for you to consider digital transformation if you haven’t already. At Salesforce, we recognise the value that you, as a small business, provide in galvanising the economy. Which is why we’ve brought you Salesforce Care - a virtual toolbox of free resources, solutions, and tips.
Salesforce Care will help you re-energise your business, continue providing customer delight and keep employees productive and in high spirits. So, get started now for a competitive advantage when we all return to business as usual.
