Covid changed everyone’s lives in dramatic ways on many levels. Small and big businesses alike were radically impacted. Restaurants, retail, and events were shut down. Meanwhile, other businesses sent everyone home to work remote.
It’s no surprise that the tech sector thrived during this time. Remote work solutions to online ordering, telemedicine, virtual events and more came online to mitigate the impacts.
Good or bad, a LOT of these changes are here to stay. Read on for 3 of the biggest tech strategies and automation your business should consider.
1. Cyber security protection to avoid or at least mitigate losses
Warren Buffet is famous for his two rules of investing and making money: Rule #1: Don’t lose the money. Rule #2: Never forget Rule #1. Nobody likes to spend money on cyber security. But the simple fact is that if you don’t, or if you underinvest in adequate protections, you WILL lose money. It is not only the money taken your directly from bank account. There are a vast number of costs associated with a breach that most people grossly underestimate.
Without a doubt, cybercriminals went gangbusters during the lockdowns when millions of people were forced to work remote using unsecure home WiFi, laptops and cell phones. The Trend Micro Annual Cybersecurity Report saw a whopping 16 million threats related to Covid-19 in 2020 alone. Business Wire recently reported that 81% of global organizations experienced an increase in cyberthreats and 79% experienced downtime due to a cyber security risk. These threats are continually getting more aggressive, frequent and damaging. So you must have a plan in place to ensure you’re not robbed blind and taken out. Click here for a free cyber security risk assessment to see how vulnerable you are.
2. Using tech strategies to get more efficient with fewer employees
Since 2010, the US unemployment rate has been on a steady decline, from nearly 10% to under 3% right at the start of 2020. Covid shutdowns temporarily covered up this shortage with thousands being laid off. However, now that life is back to “normal” (whatever this new normal is), the labor shortage has crippled many businesses that are trying to reopen but can’t operate at full capacity. This is not only due to an inability to find and keep good people, but also because of the cost of hiring and salary demands are increasing.
This is forcing many organizations to implement tech strategies like automated systems, or artificial intelligence to replace workers. You might see grocery store checkout lines being limited to only two or three open, driving customers to use self-checkout. Another example would be companies switching to AI-driven chatbots, text messages and phone systems to handle the initial customer requests, lowering the need for paid employees.
Another area many businesses are focusing on is to get more productivity from every employee using tech and automation. Many sales departments are using dialers, CRM and marketing automation systems to get a single rep to be far more productive, generating more sales by removing or reducing manual labor tasks and “paperwork” that fills hours of any sales rep’s day.
And finally, another growing area of focus is to ensure the productivity of employees. This has become a hot topic since the shutdowns sent so many people home to work, and many people now prefer remote or hybrid work. To faciliate this, some businesses are utilizing productivity-enhancing cloud solutions that let teams work and collaborate from anywhere. Click here to schedule a quick call to discuss this software for your business.
3. Online ordering and fulfilment
At an event in our industry, Marcus Lemonis, the star of the hit TV show The Profit and CEO of the billion-dollar brands Camping World and Good Sam, shared how Camping World frantically transitioned his retail stores to online. They enabled ordering, shipping and drive-by pickup to allow customers to keep buying when the stores were physically shut down. This investment not only paid off in the short term, it also expanded the company’s ability to generate sales and fuel customer loyalty.
Many restaurants started or enhanced online ordering during the lockdown. Some even became pickup-only establishments with no indoor seating, decreasing the need for more employees while continuing to generate sales. They also started (and many have kept) ordering using a QR code, eliminating paper menus and facilitating ordering and payment. Some have gotten into the business of preassembled cook-from-home boxes. For example, Middlebury Pizzeria, which sells mini pizza kits you make and bake at home. Thus opening a new revenue stream they didn’t have pre-pandemic.
A good question to ask is can you add some type of digital or online ordering and fulfilment? Maybe it’s time to go paperless and collect payments with credit cards or other digital pay systems. This could mean eliminating paper invoices and many of your collection problems once and for all. Many medical companies are now storing clients’ credit cards and bank information for this reason. Of course, this opens up another door for cyber security problems and compliance issues, but the payoff can be huge.
As always, you can schedule a quick 10-minute call. I’ll be happy to discuss tech strategies for going digital for payments and order fulfilment.