Maximizing your returns in a difficult economic climate with IT

For many people, computers and technology are the bane of their lives, a necessary evil in the world of work. Not only can computer systems be unreliable but every so often there is another program to learn or the ‘Save’ button of an existing program which seemed to work quite well is hidden in a completely different place. We end up becoming slaves to IT rather than masters of it.

In an economic slowdown, however, businesses can maximize their return on investment by taking control of their IT system. There is still business to be had and companies can get it by maximizing their exposure to clients and potential clients. This article talks about four relatively new facets of IT, their benefits and utility.


Search Engine Optimisation

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is unique. There is no better way of putting businesses in touch with targeted customers than by placing your company right in front of people who are looking for the services you provide. SEO opens up a market of people who have no idea about your company but who want your products and services.
In order to do this, your SEO firm should take the time to get to know you, your products and services. They should try to get the most targeted visitors to your site rather than maximize the number of visitors (as 100 people interested in the mechanics of a car will not do the same business as 1 person interested in buying a car).They should give you a strategy of changes both on the website and off and their details of a link building strategy. If we imagine that search engines are a meritocracy with the best information being placed first, the more links to a site from authoritative websites effectively mean that there are more votes for that site as an important destination. A link-building strategy thus helps your site leap up in the rankings as it means that sites with authority in your area of expertise are recognising you.
SEO is often much cheaper than an advertising campaign (such as one using Google Adwords) and it is much more long lasting – your products remain in the search engine even after your budget limit has been reached.


Email marketing

Email marketing provides a way of reaching your clients and prospective clients for a fraction of the costs of a mailshot or advertising campaign. A monthly newsletter or a listing of special offers can pique the attention of prospective customers and get them to find out more about you. The Direct Marketing Association in the United States recently reported a return on investment of 57 times. For each £1 spent on email marketing, £57.25 is received in sales.

The advantages of an email marketing campaign are that an unlimited number of emails can be sent for practically no cost (when compared to the cost of a mailshot, this is quite an eye-opener). More importantly, the sender can find out who has opened their email, who has not, who has clicked through onto their site and who has done this many times, helping businesses to build up a picture of those interested in their products.

The downside of email marketing is spam. Your IT consultancy should give you advice on appropriate use of email marketing and should prevent you from killing the golden goose. However, the reason we have spam is that email marketing works and works very well. Although spam might not have a high return, the return on 0.02% people buying a product that has been emailed to 4 million is still very high.

Spam aside, all companies have lists of clients and customers who like to be kept in touch with developments. Many companies build up a lot of good will with clients who like to know about the latest range or discount and, by using this good will responsibly companies can considerably increase their turnover.


Customer Relations Management

Customer Relations Management (CRM) is relatively easy in the early days of a company when there are not many clients and businesses are struggling to find prospective clients. When the number of potential clients and opportunities gets into the hundreds, or even the thousands, it becomes very difficult to keep on top of everything.

In difficult times, companies have to rely more on service and contact with their clients to sustain and grow their business. As a client, t is extremely frustrating when someone says they will call but does not and, as a business, it is extremely disconcerting when you realise that you have missed out on some business because you forgot to make a ‘phone call.

CRM software can make a big difference, automating the processes behind keeping good relations with your clients from reminding you to make a call to helping you see just how many opportunities you are converting, to seeing the return on your investment to linking with the contact page on your website to ensure that clients who reach you electronically are not lost in the bowels of your email.

If you pride yourself on service and want to increase your business in difficult times through good service then CRM can help to take your business to the next level.


Remote access software

Remote access software can be a massive timesaver for businesses. For small companies whose owners go home at night but wish to look at information and emails on the company’s computers, for businesses whose main fee-earners often travel on business and for companies who cannot afford in-house IT staff but need problems resolving quickly, such software can enable companies to work much more efficiently.

IT can be a frustrating and ephemeral sphere but, with a bit of careful planning and advice, in a slowing economic climate, there are numerous opportunities to gain market share over your competition, maintain good customer relations as your business grows and increase your return on investment. IT can, when used with a bit of strategic thought, get workers away from tasks that take time and help them maximize the time that they spend making money.