Aligning Business Goals with Technology

Business goals and technological solutions are closely intertwined. Aligning business goals with technology is an essential focus of every successful business.

For small, scaling businesses, technology is the key to growing in a way that’s efficient and sustainable. These solutions include those that cover:

• Security
• Customer relationships
• Branding and marketing
• Computing
• Collaboration
• Outsourcing, including CIO and CTO roles

Let’s go over the connection between long-term business goals and technology. Specifically, let’s delve into the importance of technology in achieving key goals.

Technology to enhance security

Businesses of all types and sizes are targeted by cybercriminals. Without a strong cybersecurity apparatus, your business risks losing everything. This may sound extreme, but 60% of small businesses that fall victim to a cyber attack are shut down within 6 months.

Cyber attacks are increasingly common. The damage they cause is both direct and indirect. For example, data leaks can cause immense reputational damage that indirectly leads to a loss in revenue.

Given this state of affairs, cybersecurity is closely attached to the continuity of your business. Regardless of the specifics of your business goals, effective and up-to-date cybersecurity that covers all your weak links must be attached to your business strategy.

Using technology to increase profits: sales & efficiency

A lot goes into reaching your goals for future profits. But one key where technology can make a huge difference is in sales.

Below are some ways to increase sales:

• Customer relationship management (CRM)
• Sales force enablement and automation
• Additional solutions, including plugins

Customer relationship management (CRM)

A CRM helps you capture new leads and nurture them into paying customers. This is done with the help of several standard CRM features:

1. Chatbots that can communicate with visitors 24/7
2. Ticketing support systems that solve customer queries
3. Employee tracking so you can evaluate your staff’s performance
4. Real-time data on customer behavior

In addition, most CRMs offer additional features, partially through third-party integrations, which lead to more sales and fewer customers going cold.

Sales force enablement and automation

This is often provided through CRM companies, but other sales enablement and automation solutions are available.

Any complete sales enablement or automation solution includes:

• Contact management
• Lead nurturing
• Collaborative features for your salespeople
• Evaluation and data collection on sales performance

Additional solutions

Don’t overlook the ability of your business’ website and social media to serve as important building blocks in helping to align business goals with technology. These tools already have the ability to communicate your brand and messaging both to existing customers as well as new ones.

A good example of leveraging technologies to help achieve business goals is the use of a CRM solution that integrates with your website and email marketing solution, thus enhancing your customer relationships and sales.

Flexibility: collaboration & remote working

According to Pew Research, the Covid-19 pandemic pushed the “trend” of remote work into overdrive. Before the pandemic, 20% of workers worked from home, and 71% ended up doing so during it. The effect has been continuous, and although the number of people who continue to work remotely has declined, it continues to be higher than it was before the pandemic.

To enable an effective remote workforce, a business needs a few things:

1. Collaborative tools where employees communicate, collaborate, and track progress
2. Security solutions like malware protection and VPNs
3. Data backup and recovery tools
4. Cloud technology

Collaborative tools

Otherwise known as “Work Management Platforms,” these are the tools that enable your staff to work together remotely. Your choice of which tool to use will make a huge difference in time and project management.

Technological solutions for collaboration include apps, software, and platforms specifically designed for the purpose. Common examples include Slack for communication and Asana for project management.

These solutions offer business owners the same benefits as CRMs — simplified management in one interface. This helps keep workflows easy to track and manage, freeing up your mental bandwidth for other important tasks.

Security

Working remotely presents unique security challenges. This is a major drawback of remote work: employees can no longer rest easy under the security umbrella provided when working in your office space.

Network use is an important factor that often justifies employee cybersecurity training. But VPNs and proprietary technologies can offer a simple solution by providing a secure communication channel through public wi-fi networks.

Working in the Cloud (data backup & recovery)

Keeping your important data safe means having a secure backup. Remote workers need backup solutions that are unique to their work situation. Cloud technology can present an additional backup, making access outside your office easier.

Using technology to outsource

Technology now allows you to outsource more easily than before. That means you can outsource specific tasks and projects, or entire roles. Even officers’ roles like CIO and CTO can be outsourced now, providing increased efficiency.

Not all small businesses can afford, or even need, a full-time staff member for every role. In fact, outsourcing IT staff, including leadership positions, presents a great middle-ground that offers unique benefits that you wouldn’t receive from a traditional full-time CIO or CTO.

Read more about why you should outsource your IT here

The bottom line

Technology is tightly linked to your business goals from the startup stage to every stage of scaling.

Most of the work your staff undertakes can be made more efficient with technological solutions. In some cases, outsourcing and automation can cut costs while providing even greater efficiency.

Small businesses can benefit from the cybersecurity and managerial tools that are now widely available. The cybersecurity, cloud computing, and content and relationship management industries are highly competitive, meaning you have access to several high quality options for each of them.

For optimal results, you should plan ahead as early as possible. Co-opting the right technological solutions is always a good idea, but the process is smoother if it begins before scaling.

Contact WCA Technologies Today

Considering adopting efficient technological solutions for your business? Contact WCA Technologies so you can focus on running your business.