Software is a term used to describe any computer program, script, or application that runs on a PC or mobile device. This includes operating systems, diagnostic tools, video games, and even utilities that keep your hard drive clean.
The key characteristics to look for in software include dependability, functionality and installability. It should also be easy to use, and not waste memory or system resources.
CRM
A CRM brings your customer information together and keeps it up-to-date. It helps your teams coordinate and collaborate, and makes sure that no opportunity to close a deal or grow your customers is lost. It also helps you recognize and understand people so that your marketing campaigns and communication are targeted to each individual.
Operational CRM has sales automation features to help streamline your pipeline, and service automation features that take all the information the system has about a customer and line up tickets so they are addressed promptly and accurately. This makes a massive difference in the way your team interacts with leads and customers.
A good operational CRM is easy to use, with a clean interface and minimal learning curve. It is affordable, with pricing ranging from $10 per month to free – depending on the size of your business. Some use a subscription model, while others are purchased and downloaded to onsite devices.
Marketing Automation
Marketing automation is a technology that helps marketers bring their strategy to life without dominating their time and resources. It uses a database to track contacts and sends them content at different intervals. The technology is particularly useful for generating and nurturing leads and increasing sales.
It allows marketers to create and launch omnichannel campaigns from a single platform. It also enables them to personalize and track customer journeys across channels. This helps marketers identify the most effective marketing assets and optimize their performance over time.
The technology can also help them respond to customers more quickly by using the data stored in their database. For example, if a customer answers a poll on your Facebook page and says they’re thinking of buying your product, the software can automatically start a follow-up email campaign that includes additional information or offers to help overcome their barriers to purchase. Marketing automation also helps companies build loyalty by rewarding repeat customers with discounts and first access to new products.
Analytics
Analytics applies predictive modeling, data mining, statistics and optimization to identify meaningful patterns in business information. It can help you answer critical questions like how much to invest in marketing or what products customers most prefer.
It can also solve common business challenges such as reducing time to analysis and providing trustworthy insights. In an automated analytics process, self-service data preparation tools document and automate the entire process so that it is repeatable–reducing the time it takes to analyze and get results.
A cloud analytics platform with embedded AI and ML can make all your processes smarter, faster and more reliable by eliminating obstacles and providing a single source of truth for metrics, reports and insight. And with intuitive user interfaces, anyone can do it without the need for IT assistance. This democratization of analytics is key to business success. It’s a major benefit for companies that lead with analytics, often delivering outsized returns and even longer-term survival.
Project Management
Project Management is a set of processes and tools for planning, organizing, and securing resources to accomplish specific project goals within a limited time frame. This is different from management, which refers to ongoing operations, because projects have a final deliverable and a finite timeline.
A key component of project management is the ability to communicate effectively with stakeholders. Whether it’s through regular reports, dashboards, quick emails, or meetings, good communication is critical for keeping everyone on the same page.
Project management also involves identifying and resolving issues that arise during the course of a project. Identifying risks before they happen is important to prevent scope creep, missed deadlines, and other common project failures. A great way to do this is by creating a risk register, which you can then use to prioritize risks and plan accordingly. Project managers also need to be able to track and measure progress on their projects. This is done through the creation of schedules that demonstrate how each task is connected to others.