One of the challenges that businesses face is how to improve business operations effectively.
This would have been a bigger issue 10-15 years ago. But that is no longer the case.
In this digital era, we are flooded with numerous tools to help us tackle this issue.
So, to make it easier for you to choose, I’m sharing a list of some amazing tools.
Are you ready?
(Hell yeah)
Perfect, let’s get started.
Tools to Improve Your Business Operations
Let’s start with managing your organization’s tasks.
Project Management Tools
In an organization, managing projects and day-to-day tasks efficiently is important.
To do that, you can start using project management tools for effective management.
These tools will help you create and assign tasks among your team members seamlessly.
Let’s take a look at the two best tools.
ClickUp
ClickUp is a cloud-based project management tool. It is used for better task management and collaboration among team members.
This tool is a saviour if you are struggling to manage your tasks.
We at TCC & TABB are also using ClickUp to manage tasks, and let me tell you, this tool makes it super easy. In fact, we’d be more than happy to be ClickUp’s brand ambassadors 😉
It breaks down big projects into smaller, easy-to-manageable tasks. This helps businesses to operate efficiently.
Pros
1. This tool has a free version available with enough features.
2. They offer 50+ integrations on free and paid plans.
3. The tool has a video recording feature to quickly explain a concept to a team member. Pretty good, isn’t it?
Cons
1. The free version has only 100 MB of storage. If you have more storage requirements, then you need to subscribe to a paid plan.
2. Some of the features have limitations even on paid plans.
Monday.com
A powerful project management tool to beat your Monday blues. 😁
Jokes apart, you can manage multiple projects all at once with customizable dashboards.
This tool comes in handy to keep every team member informed on the progress, timeline, and budget of a project.
Pros
1. Its user interface is easy to use.
2. Free version of the tool is available.
3. The free version offers 500 MB of storage which is enough if you have a smaller team.
Cons
1. The time tracking feature is available on pro and enterprise plans.
2. Some important features like real-time chat and in-app video recording are not available.
3. Monday.com is costly for smaller businesses.
Which one is the best?
If you are a larger organization and have some money to spare, then you can go with Monday.com.
Now that your tasks are sorted, it’s time to establish communication channels.
Communication Tools
Communication, be it personal or professional, is a crucial aspect of any business.
It becomes even more important if you are operating a remote startup.
Maintaining clear and concise communication in a remote startup can turn out to be tough.
So, using the right internal communication tool becomes necessary to avoid miscommunication.
Discord
Discord is popular among the gaming community, but it can be used for communication in small businesses.
We also use Discord to communicate with our team members and have some fun conversations.
This tool is pretty easy to use. You can set up channels for different topics. And you can also set up a private channel with individual team members.
One of the best things, there is no limit to searching previous messages. (No need to take screenshots 😛)
Pros
1. It has unlimited storage, so you can send tons of text messages, images, and videos.
2. The voice call feature is super cool. You can add 15 users in the free version.
3. The video calling feature lets you add 8 to 25 users. So, no need to have Google Meet or Zoom.
Cons
1. Customizing the interface is not easy.
2. You can’t integrate third-party apps.
3. There is a limit on sharing files up to 8 MB on the free plan and 100 MB on the paid plan.
Slack
Slack is a messaging platform used as an internal communication tool.
It is transforming the way organizations communicate.
You can easily message anyone inside or outside of your organization.
Just set up the channels in the workspace, and you can literally send anything you want.
Pros
1. You can send direct messages to your colleagues. (No one will know what gossip you shared!)
2. It has more than 2,400 third-party apps that can be seamlessly integrated.
3. It allows you to share files of 1 GB storage at a time.
Cons
1. The free plan has only 10 integrations.
2. Only 1-on-1 voice calls are available in the free plan and can add 15 users to the paid plan.
3. The available storage is only 10 GB even on paid plans.
4. And you can only search for the most recent 10,000 messages.
Which one is the best?
Slack is a full-fledged communication tool suitable for all types of organizations.
Did you know?: Slack is one of the most successful communication platforms.
Now, you are set with the internal communication. Let’s figure out how you can talk to someone outside of the organization.
Appointment Scheduling Tools
As a business owner, you might be getting on so many calls with clients, leads, and your team.
Shuffling between meetings can be a tedious task.
To make your life easy, you can use these meeting scheduling tools.
Doodle
Doodle is a professional meeting scheduling tool. It became popular for its group scheduling service.
This tool can be used for pretty much everything, be it recruitment calls, board meetings, or sales calls.
You simply share your calendar with someone, and they choose a suitable time. And bingo, the meeting gets scheduled.
Pros
1. You can create polls to fix a meeting time. This is an interesting feature.
2. It allows you to effectively collaborate with your team.
3. Booking meetings is straightforward. Users can select a time as per their availability.
Cons
1. Doodle’s free version comes with in-app ads, which can definitely distract you and hamper your experience.
2. It has limited third-party integrations in the premium version.
Calendly
Calendly is an online appointment scheduling software.
This tool reduces the significant amount of time involved in sending emails or messages to fix a meeting time.
It allows you to select your available time so the other person can book the meeting accordingly.
You can also embed a Calendly scheduling page on your website to let prospects book meetings effortlessly.
This is how it looks on our website.
Pros
1. It allows you to integrate your Google Calendar or Microsoft Outlook Calendar.
2. You get full control of your time by customizing your available days and time slots.
3. It provides reports and analysis of scheduling activity.
Cons
1. The mobile app is difficult to navigate.
2. Users don’t have the facility to choose their own time.
3. Integration with CRM/third-party apps is not available with the free plan.
Which one is the best?
You can pick Calendly over Doodle as it provides better features.
Now that you have interacted with your prospects, clients, and team, it’s time to interact with your audience via social media.
Social Media Scheduling Tools
Social media has become an integral part of any business.
You need to keep your customers engaged through social media.
But managing different social media platforms all at once can be difficult. That’s how these social media scheduling tools come into the picture.
I am pretty sure that every social media manager must have felt blessed to have these tools.
Publer.io
We have been using this social media scheduling tool for a long time now.
In my experience, this tool has saved me a lot of time and effort when it comes to sharing posts on social media platforms.
And for me, Publer is no less than a superhero, helping manage social media with less trouble.
It’s an easy-to-use tool to share and schedule social media posts all at once, like a breeze.
Pros
1. The dashboard is easy to understand and navigate.
2. It allows you to track the analytics of social media platforms.
3. You can recycle old posts, so you never run out of content.
Cons
1. The free plan has limited features.
2. You can’t schedule reels and carousel posts from a free account. (This hurts!)
Buffer
Buffer is a social media marketing tool. It also offers social media reporting and monitoring services.
This tool is divided into 3 features: Publishing, Analytics, and Engagement.
Publishing and Analytics features allow you to schedule posts and track their performance.
The third feature, Engagement, is specially designed for monitoring the Instagram business accounts of large organizations. I bet this is a wonderful feature.
Pros
1. It offers in-depth analytics and reports of social media platforms.
2. Many third-party integrations are available in the paid plan.
3. It also has a browser extension that allows you to create new posts without having to open the tool. You get an idea; add it to the scheduling queue. (Easy-peasy!)
Cons
1. Its paid plans are a bit expensive.
2. Instagram and Pinterest post scheduling is only available on the paid plan.
Which one is the best?
Buffer is an all-in-one social media scheduling tool to help you improve your social media game.
Suppose you generated leads through social media. To convert the leads into customers, you need a CRM tool.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Tools
The CRM tool helps you to develop, manage, and maintain a better relationship with your customers.
It is used to generate and nurture leads and track all the communication with them.
This allows your marketing, sales, and support teams to work together to grow your business.
HubSpot CRM
HubSpot is a CRM platform that provides a best-in-class customer experience.
It is designed to align your business departments like marketing, sales, and customer service.
All three teams can track the leads generated, interact with them, and convert them into customers.
You can also use chatbots when your team is not working. Isn’t it cool?
Pros
1. User-friendly interface with more features.
2. It provides better lead management with sorting and grouping options.
3. It’s a robust platform to organize, automate, and track every activity.
Cons
1. Paid plans are too expensive.
2. Advanced features are only available on paid plans.
Zoho CRM
Zoho CRM helps businesses build excellent customer relationships.
It provides module-based CRM solutions for growing businesses and enterprises.
And once you sign up on Zoho CRM, you get access to more than 40 applications from the Zoho ecosystem. All these apps are built to work together seamlessly.
Pros
1. The pricing is affordable, so small businesses can use it.
2. You can easily customize the CRM as per your needs.
3. It allows you to integrate more than 300 popular business apps.
Cons
1. The user interface is not smooth.
2. You might face difficulties in the onboarding and setup process as it’s complicated.
Which one is the best?
If you ignore the pricing aspect of HubSpot, then hands down it’s the best complete CRM tool you should use.
Now that you have successfully converted the lead into your customer, it’s time to retain the customers by sending relevant emails like promotional emails, update emails, etc.
Email Marketing Tools
Of all digital marketing channels, email marketing offers the highest average ROI of 122%.
This statistic is certainly mind-boggling, but creating a fantastic email from scratch can be difficult.
To simplify this process, you can start using email marketing tools.
These tools will help you create stunning emails and send them to customers without much effort.
HubSpot
HubSpot is a marketing automation platform that offers email marketing services.
It’s an easy-to-use tool with ready-made email templates. You also have access to a drag-and-drop editor to design your emails.
You can organize all the contact information on its CRM and start managing and tracking your email performance.
Pros
1. It helps you create targeted lists, automate email campaigns, and expand your database.
2. The dashboard provides you with real-time campaign insights. This will help plan future campaigns.
3. It also allows you to design professional-looking landing pages.
Cons
1. It is a bit expensive for small businesses.
2. You get limited email templates, and you can’t customize them.
Mailchimp
Mailchimp is an email marketing platform that allows you to create, send, and manage email campaigns.
They are empowering millions of businesses to grow with their smart marketing technology.
This tool offers various features like mailing, list management, creating custom email templates, automation, and analytics.
The best thing about Mailchimp, it provides an easy-to-use web builder to develop your email campaigns. It provides ready-made layouts and a range of themes for all purposes and occasions.
Pros
1. Drag-and-drop editor makes editing easy.
2. It allows you to map the customer journey to improve your conversion rates.
3. It provides a detailed analytics report that includes graphs and charts.
4. More than 800 third-party integrations are available, from eCommerce to social media.
Cons
1. In the free version, you can only add 500 subscribers and send 2,000 emails monthly.
2. It doesn’t offer advanced segmentation and automation features, which makes it hard to send targeted emails.
Which one is best?
If you have enough budget, HubSpot’s email marketing tool combined with its CRM platform can produce better results.
Takeaway
All these tools, free or paid, can make your organization’s day-to-day operations smooth without compromising the quality of the work.
They will help you focus more on the important tasks rather than some silly tasks.
This way, you can efficiently manage your precious time and stay productive throughout the day.
So, which tools are you going to use to streamline your business operations? Tell me in the comments below.