5 Tools Every Business Owner Should Use

Irrespective of the size of your business, managing it can be demanding and stressful. This holds particularly true if you are a hands-on type of business owner and like to take care of each and every aspect of your organization.

Here, relying on the right management tools will go a long way toward making your life much easier. It’s a fact that many entrepreneurs and small business owners work six or even seven days every week, effectively devoting more than 50 hours weekly to their business enterprises.

Implementing the proper technology can certainly help alleviate your burden to a considerable extent. There are many tools that will not only streamline your operations but also boost your efficiency and productivity. Let’s take a quick look at a few solutions:

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1. Project Management Tools

It is possible to use a screwdriver handle to drive a nail, but using a hammer would be easier and more convenient. The same principle applies to project management tools as well since they allow you to juggle multiple tasks simultaneously, and share them with your team. If used correctly, they can generate and send reminders for upcoming events and tasks. This will also help keep everyone updated and enable the whole team to work together on the project’s agenda, irrespective of their geographical location.

Apart from better time management, the software also allows you to plan projects while taking the team’s previous track record into account. This way, you will be able to ascertain if your team is working slower or faster than before and plan your next projects accordingly.

Project management tools enable you to check and see which team members are more efficient and focused and which ones are veering off track. They will also allow you to keep real-time checks on your projects and communicate with other stakeholders while keeping a record of every action.

Trello is one of the most well-known tools – it is a user-friendly tool that helps improve efficiency and team collaboration by providing lists, boards, and cards to all the team members. ProofHub is another tool that's ideal for outsourced projects as well as work-from-home teams because it is cloud-based.

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2. Use a VPN

A business’s cybersecurity efforts are just as important as its physical security measures. A VPN, or Virtual Private Network, is a tool that protects the company's sensitive data and communications from prying eyes.

By encrypting all internet traffic, a VPN ensures that information transmitted over the internet is secure and private, making it much harder for cybercriminals to intercept and steal valuable data. You can also take it one step further and implement a mobile VPN, which would allow you to securely access company resources while working remotely or on the go.

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3. CRM Software

Customer relationship management is arguably one of the most important aspects of any successful business. Your CRM software will provide a central hub to measure and manage performance at all the touch points of the customer journey. Your CRM tool will help you keep track of everyone receiving your newsletters and visiting your website. It will also enable you to keep your customer data organized and easily accessible.

You can use the information provided by your CRM tool to encourage repeat business. If implemented correctly, any good CRM program such as HubSpot, Salesforce, MS Dynamics, Zoho CRM will provide user behavior tracking and automated customer support. You can even gauge the sentiment of your target market by asking your customers to fill out short satisfaction surveys.  

One example of a CRM is Pipedrive – a deal-driven CRM tool that features a highly intuitive interface and also provides call and email synchronization.

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4. Appointment Scheduling Software

Appointment scheduling software is a vital tool for any business owner who wants to streamline their operations and improve their customer experience.

With appointment scheduling software, businesses can automate the process of booking appointments, reducing the time and effort required to manage scheduling and freeing up staff to focus on other tasks. Additionally, appointment scheduling software can help businesses avoid scheduling conflicts and overbooking, reducing the likelihood of unhappy customers or missed appointments. It is an important investment for any business owner who wants to improve efficiency, reduce errors, and enhance the overall customer experience.

Leadmonk, for instance, gives invitees complete flexibility to book any suitable time using their email address or mobile number. Using a mobile number ensures they get SMS/WhatsApp reminders. This is a great way to decrease customer friction and make sure everyone is on the same page. This tool also allows you to add some buffer time before and after appointments so you are always ready for the next one.

Leadmonk is a mobile-first scheduling platform that offers flexible booking options, automated reminders, and promotional landing pages. It reduces the booking friction by giving the flexibility to your customers to book appointments using their mobile number or email address without the back-and-forth emails or messages. You can let invitees opt-in for WhatsApp or SMS notifications if they book with their mobile number, so they get updates on the go.

Leadmonk is ideal for small businesses and customer facing teams. It also helps B2B revenue teams convert leads into meetings by qualifying, routing, and scheduling in real-time. You can build a qualification track in Leadmonk and let prospects self-qualify to capture all the insights you need without hurting conversion. Instantly route leads based on complex conditions and display a calendar on your website for prospects to book meetings. And make it easy for your customers to schedule meetings on demand without the back and forth.

It's great for anyone scheduling any type of meeting, from individuals to businesses of all sizes.

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We think Leadmonk is the truly versatile inbound lead conversion and scheduling software available in the market for the following reasons:

• ‍Book Meetings From Your Web Form - Seamlessly automate booking demo or sales meetings directly from your Pardot, Marketo, Custom Webform or HubSpot forms using Leadmonk. When a form is submitted on your website, Leadmonk instantly qualifies the lead, routes it to the right sales rep, and displays the booking page so your prospect can book a meeting - all in a matter of seconds.

• ‍Scheduling Simplified - Make it easy for your customers to schedule meetings on demand without the back and forth. Distribute incoming meetings fairly using round robin, prioritizing availability, or with equal weight or a weighted average.
• ‍Boost your conversion rate by 150% - Schedule meetings quickly by adding Leadmonk to your website, emails, text messages, WhatsApp, or social profiles. Watch conversion skyrocket by up to 150%.

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• Round Robin Meeting Distribution - Distribute incoming meetings fairly using round robin, prioritizing availability, or with equal weight or a weighted average. Suitable for sales calls, support calls, and client onboarding.

• Schedule any type of meeting: Meet one-on-one or in a group or as a team (multi-host scheduling and round-robin). Meet online or in person. Leadmonk supports all meeting combinations. 🤝

• Easy Repeat Business with Packages -Sell multi-appointment bundles, combine different types of appointments, and even include group classes in your packages.🎁
• Give multiple duration options to invitees. At the time of meeting booking, the invitee can choose his/her preferred meeting duration. ⏱️
• Give multiple meeting location options to invitees. At the time of appointment booking, the invitee can choose his/her preferred location.🗺️
• ‍Multiple calendars support - Not only you can connect 6 calendars to your account but also you can take appointments to any of these calendars. This is helpful to manage your work life efficiently.🗓️
• Collect payments using Stripe and PayPal.

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• All-in-One Meeting Hub for Every Team: Single platform that meets the needs of Sales, marketing, customer success, recruiting, and other meeting heavy teams.
• Automatic time zone detection, setting lead time and buffer time for appointment booking, automatic SMS/WhatsApp/Email reminders to reduce no-shows, and many more.

• Integrate Google Analytics with Leadmonk to get valuable insights into how your clients engage with your booking page. 📈
• Add UTM parameters to your booking links to track conversions directly within Leadmonk.
• Promote your branding at every touch point using a custom domain, branded email notifications, and branded SMS notifications.

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• Segregate Duties with Clear User Roles : Make use of roles such as Owner, Admin, Team admin, and User for better segregation of duties.

• Connected to your revenue stack: It integrates natively with G-Suite, Google Calendar, Google Meet, Outlook, Office365 Calendar, MS Teams, Zoom, Salesforce, HubSpot, Pipedrive, Zoho CRM, and other popular business apps to support your business in a wide range of prospect and customer scheduling scenarios.

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Who is it for?

Leadmonk simplifies scheduling meetings with your prospects, customers, candidates, and other external stakeholders. It is built for customer-facing teams such as Sales, Marketing, Customer Success, and Freelancers/Consultants. It is also suitable for industry sectors such as Doctors, Dentists, Chiropractors, Entrepreneurs, Educators, Coaches, Recruiters, and Professional Services companies such as Legal, Accounting, and Real Estate. It is perfect for any person or business no matter if you are starting off or have been around for a while.

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Pricing - Get the features you need at a price you can love

• Essential Plan - $12/user/month (annual plan) - When you need advanced team scheduling features such as round robin and multi-host scheduling features.
• Advanced Plan - $30/user/month (annual plan) - For teams requiring routing form, lead qualification and routing automation features.
• No platform fees
• No minimum license requirements
• No Admin License: Admins do not require a subscription for any of our paid plans in Leadmonk. We only charge for users who have meetings booked on their calendars. Users who access Leadmonk for account setup and reporting purposes are not charged a subscription fee.
• Free trial for 14 days for upto 10 seats - no credit card required.‍
• Free plan: This is suitable for individuals with basic scheduling features.

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5. Workplace Communication Software

A growing business will always need modern digital communication tools so that your team can stay in touch. From file sharing to messaging, your communication tools should enable your team to do it all. Video conferencing is another great option that will also facilitate workplace communication since it allows people to talk to each other as if they are in the same room.

Microsoft Teams is a nifty platform that allows team members to share screens and data and also hold real-time conversations. Slack, WhatsApp, and Skype are all useful communication tools with a wide range of features to ensure seamless communication.

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Conclusion

McKinsey & Company conducted a global survey regarding the use of technological tools in business organizations. They found that the vast majority of organizations across various industries had either already adopted multiple automation tools – or were preparing to do so for one or more of their business processes.

From project management to CRM, there exist multiple tools designed to streamline your work, increase efficiency, and enable better communication amongst team members. At the same time, appointment scheduling software can help you manage your time when scheduling appointments with your customers and employees alike.

Using cutting-edge automation tools will help ensure that you retain your edge against your competitors and create a more vibrant and productive organization – one that will be able to forge ahead into the 21st century.