4 Ways to Cut Your Businesses Operating Costs with Technology

Listen in! Pick up some expert advice to a reader's question that we selected from CyberSchmooz.

If you're a business owner and you're worried about rising operating costs, there are many things that you can do. You can reorganize your workforce and try to identify wastes in your processes. You could try negotiating better deals with your suppliers and outsourcing tasks, or you could use readily available technology.

Using tech tools could be the most powerful and simplest way to reduce your overhead costs, but you have to know what these tools are and how to use them first. Let's take a look at a few ways your business could cut costs and increase your margins using technology.

Comparison Sites

If you made the mistake of going with the first energy supplier you came across or didn’t shop around for insurance, there’s a good chance that you could make instant savings by flexing your purchasing power and using comparison sites. These services will usually be run by massive brokerage services or consist of a pool of independent brokers. They will allow you to get quotes from hundreds of providers all in one place and switch on the spot if you want. You could either choose to switch to a new provider or use the quotes you got from the service to gain leverage when negotiating a new contract with your current providers.

Get a VoIP Phone System

Another thing you should do, especially if you have remote employees and/or your business is expanding, is switch to a VoIP phone system. VoIP allows you to use an internet connection to make calls and comes with all sorts of perks. With a VoIP system, you won't have to spend money on expensive installation costs and equipment like switchboards. All you need is a VoIP account and a VoIP-enabled phone. Some services won't even require that you invest in a VoIP phone and will allow you to make calls from a laptop, phone, or tablet. You'll also get a flat monthly rate on calls and have tons of money on international calls.

So, what is voip phone? If you want to know exactly what is a VoIP phone system and how they work, the linked blog helps to explain everything. Not only will you learn what a VoIP phone is, but you'll also learn some of its benefits, and why every organization should consider making the switch. They also touch on the different types of VoIP services, and which one would be the best for your business.

Automate Where You Can

Automation will also go a long way in helping you reduce costs. You can try implementing automation if you’re in manufacturing, but there are many other areas that you could automate that have nothing to do with machinery.

You could automate your payroll, accounting, taxation, and invoicing through a single tool like Xero and Freshbooks, for example, and instantly reduce your headcount. You can also automate your sales force and allow information to flow between your customer service department, marketing, and sales team seamlessly with CRM tools.

Automation can be used to eliminate repetitive tasks and they can increase your costs and affect production much more than you can imagine. As a matter of fact, one study found that sales teams spend more than 60% of their time focusing on tasks that bring no direct revenue to their organization.

Automation could help your reps spend less time on follow-ups with clients, for instance. Once a lead is in the system, an initial personalized email could be sent to qualify them. But, if the lead doesn't respond to the initial email, you can have a second email based on a template sent automatically to them after a few days.

Automation also allows multiple tasks to be completed after completing a single action. Tasks could be automatically sent to different departments once a lead is moved through a particular step in the sales funnel, for instance.

Go Smart

You also need to make your facility as smart as possible. If you’re overspending on heating and lighting, then you need to start thinking about installing things like smart LED lighting and smart thermostats. Smart thermostats could be very useful if you’re highly dependent on heating. They will allow you to heat your facility only when you need to. You could set them to automatically shut the heating down a few hours before your employees leave so you can use residual heat or turn on the heating a few hours before people come in so that they come into a comfortable space.

Smart security devices could also allow you to cut costs by reducing the number of human security guards you need to employ. Smart sensors and RFID tracking technology could be used to keep tabs on your security team and make sure that they’re doing their work correctly as well.

As you can see, there are tons of ways that you can use technology to run a much more cost-efficient operation. Take a look at all the tools that are at your disposal and see which ones on this list you could use in your organization.

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