Management software for SMEs, do you need one?

 Managing a small or medium-sized business is not easy, but the implementation of management software for SMEs can make it much easier.

employee management software for small business

Knowing how to manage the limited resources that SMEs have is the best way to increase productivity and business growth . Next, we explain what management software can do for your business and how to implement it.

What is management software?

A management software is a computerized system made up of different tools that are integrated for the management of tasks and processes.

In addition, this system allows the daily and continuous management of the different processes , since it makes it possible to create, consult, modify, merge or delete the different actions. 

Management software , in many cases, can be used as a team and from different devices and allow remote management, which helps with work-life balance and telecommuting in an SME.

Why should an SME have management software?

The optimization of tasks and the control of the company's management are factors that motivate SMEs to have management software . With it , repetitive and routine tasks are simplified and automated , which are carried out quickly and minimizing the margin of error.

Having a management program for SMEs allows you to spend less time on management and more on other activities such as innovation, company growth, sales strategies or the search for new business opportunities.

What is a management software for in small and medium-sized companies?

Companies are divided into different areas and these comprise a large number of tasks that, in many cases, depend on information from other departments. All the work that is generated in a company is very difficult to manage if there is no management software .

Not having this tool multiplies the execution time of the activities, prevents having a 360° control of the organization, contributes to the loss of valuable information and makes it much more difficult to foresee or plan aspects of the processes.  

Management software for SMEs have various functions and advantages :

Analysis of data

These systems allow exhaustive monitoring, with data in real time, from the purchase of raw materials, to delivery to the customer and post-sale. 

Profit margin 

A management software records all the information necessary to calculate profit margins accurately, quickly and automatically. 

Automation

Previously, companies focused more on the automation of the production system. However, with the digital transformation, automation has been extended to all tasks and activities in order to work more efficiently.

business management 

These systems allow you to manage your business and resources from the office or remotely, they are totally flexible and adaptable. 

Due to the events of this last year, companies have had to prepare quickly to manage the business in different circumstances, and management software is the best tool to maintain its stability in the face of any eventuality.

Human and technical resources

The management software helps to intelligently and objectively manage all the company's human resources, since it helps to plan, manage, evaluate and motivate the people who work within the organization. 

Security

Companies are obliged to safeguard their data and information. The management software has up-to-date security measures, which help establish effective cybersecurity guidelines so that all information is safe.

Cost reduction

Having multiple systems or outdated digital tools only increases operating costs. That is why companies notice a considerable reduction in costs when they implement management software .

Reliable and optimized information

Management software eliminates data duplication, modifies information in real time, offers backup copies, collects data automatically and optimizes information to make it reliable.

shared information

These types of computer systems are capable of sharing information in real time with people from any department regardless of their physical location. In this way, for example, purchases automatically know when a raw material is out of  stock , or accounting has access to each sale made at the moment.

Types of management software for SMEs

Business management software

One of the most widely used is ERP ( Enterprise Resource Planning ) . This type of program is designed to manage the company in an integral way .

ERP management software for small and medium-sized businesses can be found with very affordable solutions, but in many cases these management systems are too big or generic. The solution is to integrate them with vertical management software that adapts to the sector and the specific activities of your business.

Business management software

For commercial management, the ideal is to have a CRM ( Customer Relationship Management ) . It is a program in charge of managing customer relationships . Thus, its main function is to control and manage the entire commercial part of the company.

Warehouse Management Software

This software allows the management and control of the activities and products of a company's warehouse. It is fast, reliable and helps to obtain real-time information on the units in stock , the location of the products, logistics, etc.

BI ( Business Intelligence )

This tool manages all the data that exists in the organization, since it integrates all the management systems that are managed. That is, it gathers, cleanses and transforms system data and unstructured information and converts it all into structured information, ready for analysis.

How to choose the right SME management software

When a company is looking for the best management software , the first thing they usually consider is price. However, that is not the most important factor, the following should also be considered :

• Persons. How many people will use the software ? A system for 20 people is not the same as for 500 or 10,000. What are your needs? It is necessary to take into account whether the team always works in person at the office or not, what access to information will be like, etc.

• Customers. On the one hand, how the sale is executed, what customization is required, what customer information is stored. On the other hand, how will customer service be carried out and what is the sales and after-sales process.

• Business. It must be clear whether business growth is planned in the coming years. Also, management software should have a short learning curve.

• Price. One thing is the price and another is the value of the tool, it is about choosing a management software that meets the value criteria of your company and that also has an affordable price.

• Personalization. It is necessary to consider if the management software is flexible, that is, if it allows some type of customization or adaptation to the needs of the organization.

Management programs for SMEs, local or in the cloud?

There are management programs on the market for SMEs that work locally and others that do so in the cloud. To choose the most suitable for your company, you must know what each of them consists of:

• Local management software . This type of software is installed on the organization's own intranet to be used on the different equipment and computers within the office.
• Cloud management software . In this type of management system, the software is accessible from anywhere, you just need to have an internet connection. This is a great advantage for companies that work with teams in different locations, that promote remote work or whose employees travel frequently.

Ekon Cloud ERP for SMEs

Thanks to our experience in management platforms, at Ekon we can help you choose the software you need. We focus on innovation so that SMEs have access to modern systems that can accompany them in their growth.

We offer management systems with technological advances and constant updates that adapt to market requirements.

What areas does Ekon management software cover:

Phases for the implementation of management software in an SME

1. Planning. In this stage, the technical and human resource needs of the company are defined and analyzed.
2. Definition. Once it has been understood how the business works and its needs, the management software that will be implemented in the SME is defined.
3. Setting. At this stage, the management software is configured and adapted to the company. Tests, integrations with other systems and corresponding checks are also carried out to ensure that everything works properly.
4. Implementation. During this phase, the system is started up and periodic controls are carried out to correct errors or introduce adaptations according to the company's operation.

It is clear that, if the objective of your SME is to be competitive, it must have the capacity for agile growth and have control over its different processes. For this, it is essential that you have good management software for SMEs.

Become an expert in sales enablement strategies

Learn everything you need to know about sales enablement strategy and tips to create content that will drive your sales.

In an increasingly competitive market that seeks consumer attention, it is not enough to offer a better quality product or at the best price.

For people to be interested in your business and, as a consequence, sell more, it is essential to create a sales enablement strategy .

After all, with so many resources and tools available in the market, it is necessary to take advantage of each one of them to meet business objectives and demands.

The main objective of developing such a strategy is to prepare the sales team, in order to create the most favorable scenario for the conversion.

However, do you know what it takes to create an efficient sales enablement strategy for your business success and what skills are required to play a productive role in that process?

Read on to get all the facts on the subject and increase your sales performance!

• What is sales enablement and what are its benefits? 
• What should a sales enablement professional keep in mind? 
• What skills are needed to be successful in this job?
• How to create a sales enablement strategy from scratch?
• What content formats work well in a sales enablement strategy? 
• What is sales enablement and what are its benefits?

Before showing you how to apply a sales enablement strategy, it is essential to understand what it means.

In practice, it is a collaborative planning that involves different areas of the company to create content and materials that facilitate the work of the salesperson.

In a widely contested market, consumers increasingly value a positive experience in every contact with companies.

Therefore, the objective of applying a sales enablement strategy is to facilitate and bring the relationship between the two parties closer, boosting the sales potential of the team.

The main benefit of this strategy is to increase the effectiveness of your company's actions.

The idea is that the salesperson has as much information as possible about the potential customer, due to the integration between the Sales and Marketing teams.

The alliance between the two areas tends to generate more useful information for your company.

It aims to avoid wasting time and resources on useless content, which, according to a SiriusDecisions survey, represents 60% of what companies produce.

Thus, you can offer content that is relevant to the consumer and, in addition to lead generation work , facilitate your team's negotiations.

What should a sales enablement professional keep in mind?

Professionals and experts in sales enablement strategies must take into account their main challenges and tasks.

The first of these is to create content that is relevant to the audience and that can be used by the seller.

In addition, it is also their responsibility to prepare the professionals involved in the process to use the solutions correctly.

In terms of tools, they are essential for efficient sales enablement work, as they will allow your team to obtain more practical information about the consumer.

It is also the job of this professional to find and use strategies that increase the possibilities of doing new business, such as cross selling or cross selling, for example.

What skills are needed to be successful in this job?

Some characteristics are essential for the professional who assumes this position, otherwise they will not be able to improve the performance of the sales team. These particularities or abilities are the following:

Be a good communicator

Communication is essential for the professional responsible for implementing a sales enablement strategy to be successful.

After all, he will have to deal with different professionals and make the connection between the different sectors of the company.

Therefore, communication should be as transparent as possible to ensure that everyone understands their roles.

Organizational skills

Another critical point is the organization, since professionals will have this type of demand in their work routine.

It is necessary to organize all the required functions, so that the departments work in an integrated way, avoiding rework and planning errors that damage the entire strategy.

Be a data-driven thinker

It is essential to have technology and the enormous amount of information that a company generates.

For this reason, a necessary skill to be successful in the role is to be data-driven, that is, to use it to make more precise and efficient decisions, always based on detailed studies and analysis.

Promote a healthy organizational climate Whether it's adding a new member or getting the most out of each salesperson, knowing how to deal with the people on the team is critical.

The leader responsible for implementing the sales enablement strategy must manage the professionals well.

Put the focus on constant improvement

Another important skill is to always look for ways to improve performance and work.

In other words, it implies not being satisfied with the results obtained and always looking for tools, solutions and ideas that can make the project even more efficient and accurate.

How to create a sales enablement strategy from scratch?

How can you create and apply an efficient sales enablement strategy within your company?

To help you do this, we will present below a step-by-step approach with all the tips and points to keep in mind if you want to start your own strategy from scratch and get more sales.

Step 1: set clear goals The first step in implementing an efficient sales enablement strategy is determining your goals and aligning them to actions. In other words, do an in-depth analysis and discover errors, faults and difficulties. Then think about the situations you want to improve. 

 Step 2: talk to the sales team What follows is the time to understand the difficulties of the department that will benefit the most from the implementation of this strategy: the sales team . So talk to your members and identify what you can do to improve focus and, of course, to increase sales. This will give you information so that your strategy is really efficient. 

 Step 3: understand your audience's behavior Understanding the behavior of your audience is another fundamental point. It is not only about data and demographic information, but also what they are looking for and what are their main difficulties. So find out what can help you get their attention that will increase your chances of selling. 

 Step 4: don't forget the customer journey It's also important to configure your sales enablement strategy in sync with the customer journey .

Analyze the sales funnel and take into account the needs of your potential customers at this time.

As a consequence, you will also be able to identify with greater precision which content is the most appropriate.

Step 5: select the contents Now is the time to determine what content you will use in your sales enablement strategy. What will be efficient at each point of contact? How will the seller use this content to promote the conversation and increase the chances that the potential customer will make a purchase?

 Step 6: prepare the team for work When defining the strategy, it is necessary to prepare all professionals to implement these actions. Marketers, for example, must create content with a specific goal. At the same time, salespeople need to understand that they must always analyze their conversations to identify areas for improvement. 

 Step 7: grab your tools The next challenge is to gather all the tools you will need to put your sales enablement strategy into action. What resources and solutions can be used to facilitate human work? These points must be carefully evaluated, especially to choose useful tools for your objectives.

 Step 8: Analyze Even when the strategy is in place, the job is still far from done, as now is the time to regularly monitor the results. 

What difficulties arose? 
What materials are working well?
The analysis must be constant. What content formats work well in a sales enablement strategy? 

Now that you know what the sales enablement strategy is, why it is important, and how to implement it, how about checking out some content formats that you could use?

For inspiration, look at some examples that your company can use for different purposes, always aiming for more sales.

Lead generation To improve lead generation, you can use blog posts, white papers, and case studies. The objective at this stage is to get the user to take an interest in your company and help them solve their problems. 

Team support As we said, it's important to prepare your team to handle sales, as only 16% of salespeople say they are ready for the job, according to IDC research . 

 To do this, the most appropriate types of content are forms and spreadsheets that contain information on the performance of the competition. Sales conversion When it comes to making sales, the ideal option is to invest in really interesting content.

 A growing trend is personalized interactive content , which can be produced with the help of tools like Ion Interactive. You can generate better sales results. Creating a sales enablement strategy is essential to boost the performance of your entire team.

 Since there is so much competition, you should do your best to ensure that users always have a good experience with your content and, most importantly, that your sales team is prepared to deal with these solutions. 

Interactive content not only captures the user's attention, it also provides the information that the marketer needs to take a more precise approach and have a better chance of generating conversions. So how about you learn more about Ion Interactive and its features? Here you will find all the information !

How to create an Email Marketing funnel that converts?

While you may hear some professionals in the marketing industry say that email is dead, this is far from the truth.

In fact, Email Marketing remains one of the highest performing strategies that a business can employ in the modern age.

When we design an Email Marketing campaign correctly, we can achieve a significant increase in our ROI .

But, to get the most out of this strategy, generate more leads and increase the sales of your business, you must have a well designed Email Marketing funnel .

That is why we wrote this post, where you can see:

1. What is an Email Marketing Funnel?
2. Why is creating a buyer persona important in Email Marketing funnels?
3. How to create an email funnel for your company?
4. Email Marketing Best Practices to Consider

Email Marketing is more alive than ever and email funnels are working at full steam. Let's take a look at the details you need to know about this topic in order for your business to grow!

What is an Email Marketing Funnel?

An Email Marketing funnel is much more than sending random emails in the hope of converting a lead into a customer.

This type of marketing is designed to nurture potential customers over a period of time that will depend on the customer life cycle of your business.

To create an effective Email Marketing funnel, you must understand and anticipate the needs of your customers.

Your company has more than one type of customer and each one must be led through the appropriate funnel.

Your Email Marketing funnel must meet three objectives:

Capture the attention of your subscriber / lead .

Attract them enough to drive them to your website.

Provide enough information for them to contact you directly with questions.

An email funnel is not a sales promotion, it is a series of emails that are sent at strategically planned times. They can be in time sequences or based on certain activation actions on your website.

Why is creating a buyer persona important in Email Marketing funnels?

Your clients can be grouped into different types of buyer persona that differ completely from one company to another.

However, it is important to identify them because each type of buyer needs a different Email Marketing flow to convert.

We are going to put an example to better explain what a buyer person is. Our fictitious business is a bookstore and we have three different clients:

• University students
• Parents
• Adults

We do not need to delve into these buyer personas to realize that each of them will have very different purchasing needs.

Identifying the buyer persona for the Email Marketing funnel is not that easy. However, once these groups are identified, you can quickly determine how to talk to each buyer persona you have.

By properly placing these buyer personas in the email funnels, you will increase the chances that they will become customers.

How to create an email funnel for your company?

The way to create an email funnel for your company can be divided into four stages.

Each of the stages represents unique points during the customer's journey that require different types of content.

If you don't provide the right content at the right stage, you could lose customers. An email marketing funnel takes time to develop, but it's worth it because the ROI is significant.

The top of the funnel is to generate leads

The top of the funnel is to attract and capture the leads, that is, Internet surfers who are more likely to buy from your company.

Your email list is the big difference between having an acceptable quarter and exceeding your sales goals. However, there are numerous ways to generate leads for the top of the funnel.

The first, and also the best, is to create an email subscription. Usually we create a free offer that attracts our leads and give them an opportunity to voluntarily provide us with their name and email address.

Once they provide it, you can send them all your offers by email and place them in the corresponding funnels.

Another way is to create a landing page . In this case, we have to create a single page that captures all the leads for a particular marketing campaign. All of them will receive the same type of email after converting .

The middle of the funnel is to nurture leads and qualify them

Now that you have leads, you must qualify them so that they become sales. But remember, it has to be in the right measure, we must not over or under feed them.

The goal is to create enough touchpoints that keep your brand in mind, but without appearing authoritative. All the emails you send in your funnel must be in sync.

Producing leads requires a time sequence (i.e. week one, week two, week three, etc.) or they can also be generated faster with a value proposition. These triggers would automatically place certain potential leads on different lists.

For example, a lead looking for interactive content and one looking for a WordPress host would be in two separate lists.

These emails would have a different communication related to the type of service that leads clicked on your website.

Some examples of enriching emails include:

• Personalized communications
• Success case studies
• Customer Success Stories
• User-generated content
• Free webinars

Some companies will cultivate leads for a few days, while others will cultivate subscribers for months.

The length of your sales cycle will determine the frequency and time you need to nurture leads for your company.

The bottom of the funnel is to close deals

As your leads get closer to the end of the funnel, they become more and more qualified to make the big conversion and become customers.

You drew them to your site, converted them into subscribers, then leads, and now it's time to close the deal. Your most qualified leads are more likely to convert. 

For example, there are cases of people who abandoned their e-commerce cart or did not finish filling out a subscription form. You can redirect these leads with an email that encourages them to go back where they left off.

Also, you can end your email funnel by adding messages with a sense of urgency. This will encourage any of your potential customers who are close to making a purchase to finally check out and / or order under your brand. Nobody wants to miss out on a good deal.

But don't overdo it to the point that it sounds too good to be true. These final emails must have just the right sense of urgency to create a positive result. 

Simply nurture the prospect one last time to remind them of the value they are receiving by purchasing from your company right now.

The funnel is circular and everything starts again

It is much cheaper to retain an existing customer than to convert a new one.

This does not mean that you should not continue to grow your email list and win new subscribers with your email marketing funnel. Simply, you should not forget the customer who has already made a purchase, as it is much more profitable.

Identify a new trigger or preference for what you want to see in emails and repeat the process. Keep nurturing him until he's back at the bottom of the funnel and becomes a customer once more.

Email Marketing Best Practices to Consider

When it comes to Email Marketing there are some best practices that should be employed to ensure we retain high-quality subscribers.

If you don't follow these best practices, your domain may be marked as spam. The integrity of your domain is incredibly important because this determines whether it appears in your subscriber's inbox or spam folder.

Customize the email greeting

This is one of the easiest and most important ways to convert leads into sales. A personal greeting makes it look like you're sending your lead an individual email. This creates a positive frame of mind to read the rest of your message.

Stay in the top half

The most important information should stay in the top half. By that, we mean the area where the message is cut off.

Anything that requires scrolling or sliding is considered below the fold. Your potential customers are more likely to click on a CTA in the top half of the email.

Never buy contact lists

You should never buy a contact list. It may be tempting to do so, but you should not send messages to people who have not requested to receive your emails, as you run the risk of being marked as spam.

Use three or fewer typefaces

Your email funnel should not be full of information, nor should it be difficult to read. Create an appropriate text in one to three typefaces. The additional fonts should be used for headlines and to divide the text.

Optimize preview text

With so many people checking email on the go, the preview must be very well thought out.

This little snippet will be what determines if you have a good open rate or not. You can include emojis in your title and preview the text if it's appropriate for your audience.

Take the time to create an attractive preview text, as these are the only seconds you will have to convince your lead to open your email.

Include a signature

If your leads want to contact you, they will look for a signature in the email. Make sure you provide them with a way to email or call you.

Also, make sure they know who they are talking to and who they will need to call. This builds a more personal relationship, which makes it easier to nurture the relationship until the lead becomes a sale.

As you can see, an Email Marketing funnel is vital to growing your business in the modern age. With the right strategy in hand, your ROI can be significant.

To increase your results, you can use an Email Marketing calendar to organize your nutrition flows and ensure the consistency of your strategy. Download our Marketing Calendars right now and for free !

Understand what error 403 is and discover how to solve it easily

 Understand what error 403 is and discover how to solve it easily

Error 403 is a file or access permission failure, which occurs when the server does not recognize or deny entry to the site due to configuration problems in your WordPress.

Anyone with a WordPress site can occasionally encounter the 403 - forbidden error. The problem is not as serious as it seems: illustratively, it would be like having the correct key to open the door of the house and still not being able to enter .

Now, let's consider that you paid for the hosting service , you set up your CMS (Content Management System) on your own and the servers have not decided to take control of your website (an assumption more conducive to conspiracy theories).

To solve this problem, we carry out a tutorial so that they do not prevent you from accessing your own page and keep your Digital Marketing strategy firm . Check!

See the answers to your questions about the 403 error:

• What does the 403 error mean?
• What are the causes of error 403?
• How to solve error 403 in WordPress?

What does the 403 error mean?

The 403 error is related to the access settings of your WordPress page . There are some necessary permissions for the processes to develop correctly, but some minor failure may occur, mainly in the system installation.

The problem can still be identified as HTTP Error 403, HTTP Error 403, or just Forbidden. The messages vary by server:

• your client does not have permission to get URL / intl from the server;
• you are not authorized to view this page;
• no permission to access;
• you don't have permission to access on this server;
• request forbidden by administrative rules.

You will probably spend more time imagining what happened than correcting the error. Despite this, we will describe some of the possible causes of the 403 error below.

What are the causes of error 403?

Same as the HTTP code  - HTTP status code - sent by the page is correct, the server can prohibit access to a URL because it considers that the information sent is not compatible for the maintenance of its communication flow.

This "communication failure" can be useful for diagnosing site configuration problems: in short, the server understands your demand, but it doesn't work because it doesn't have the proper permissions . This is the most common reason for the 403 error.

It is also possible that you have incorrectly configured the protection of the directory or the list of files contained in that folder, that some .htaccess file is corrupted or that some plugin on the site runs with an error.

How to solve error 403 in WordPress?

Before outlining some methods to fix the 403 error, make sure your backup is up to date.

If you haven't set up a backup solution for your WordPress site, please do so immediately; This can save you a lot of headaches, especially with website blocking errors .

Now, follow the steps below.

1. Check the permissions of your files

As mentioned at the beginning of this article, the 403 error is a consequence of the server rejecting a request due to lack of proper permissions . To verify if the permissions are correct, you must use an FTP administrator, in the management panel of your host.

In the WordPress installation folder there is a directory called public_html. Double click:

In each file there will be a number, as shown in the figure:

That value indicates which interactions are enabled for which group of users. For example, all WordPress folders should have a default setting of 755 per standard.

If the column with this data does not appear:

• right-click on the column heading to activate it;
• right-click on each file or folder and choose the "File permissions" option.

This numeric value can be modified manually, which automatically updates the permission capacity:

The value 755 (or 744) applies to folders and allows all users to read and run the files contained in that location. In addition, it limits the owner's permission to make changes.

For any user to insert and edit the files, the code must be 777— not indicated for security reasons .

Individual files are classified with the code 644 (or 640), which has the same specification as 755.

All folders must contain the value 755. You can set that file permission by checking the "apply to directories only" box, applicable only to directories. When you click OK, the FTP administrator will reset the permissions for all subdirectories in that folder.

It is necessary to repeat the process for the files, in this case, the permission of the file will be 644 and the box "apply to directories only" must also be checked. If the error does not go away, continue to the next solution.

[rock_performance lang = »en»]

2. Inspect your .htaccess file

The .htaccess file may also be corrupted and cause the 403 error message. The good news is that this solution is fast via FTP. In the main WordPress directory, the .htaccess file can be found easily: it is usually the first individual file in the folder.

Right click the mouse and choose the "download" option. Then it will be included in the folder defined in the local file directory:

After you have a securely stored backup, delete the .htaccess file and try to access the site again. If the problem is not resolved, resume the backup and continue with the next step.

3. Deactivate or reactivate your plugins

To find out if the 403 error is caused by a faulty plugin, simply disable all of them at the same time and test the website for operation. This saves you from having to disable each one individually.

If the error persists, you will also have to use FTP: change the name of your plugin folder to see if the 403 error has been corrected. If the answer is still negative, you will have to rename each folder until you find the culprit.

The 403 error is a major annoyance for users , but that doesn't make the problem a WordPress villain.

With our tips, you can quickly fix it and resume your access, just follow the sequence: check the permissions of your folder and file, inspect the .htaccess file for faults or deactivate and reactivate your plugins.

Now that you know how to fix error 403, check out our WordPress ebook for corporate blogs and answer any questions about this tool: its main features, plugins, widgets and tags.