The Learning Center

More than 58 percent of U.S. mobile users own a smartphone and 42 percent own a tablet, reports Pew Research. Mobile devices have become an important way for consumers and businesses communicate.  With these devices, you can manage your business more efficiently with these mobile applications, get away from your desk and connect more with your customers.

Organize Your Customer Information

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems have come out of the office servers and into the cloud. Products such as Zoho CRM give you a variety of ways to organize your customer data and manage it right from your mobile devices. Customer contact data and order history, sales data and pipeline information are all available on these cloud-based applications. This cloud-based CRM technology affords business owners the opportunity to:

• Keep their sales force coordinated
• Create workflows so customers can follow up
• Generate prospect lists
• Track points of contact. 

You have access to all of this information and more on your smartphone or tablet, so you’ll always have the right information when you visit current and prospective customers.

Collaboration Tools Keep Staff Connected

Cloud-based collaboration tools, such as Dropbox and Box.com, allow businesses to create various work areas and folders to share with staff and customers. This information can include store product and services information to use out in the field with customer demos, policy information and company manuals. These documents, folders and files can all be accessed from a mobile or tablet device, making it simple for employees who work outside of the office or are on a business trip.

Products such as Evernote and Google Docs add a layer of tools that you and your employees can use to work with your information in the cloud. For example, you can create presentations that can be easily modified by your staff from wherever they may be and whatever device they may be using. Your sales team can also store forecasts and pipelines that can be reviewed and updated on a regular basis. All of these capabilities can be accessed from any mobile device, at any time, anywhere.

Maintain Cash Flow

Your mobile devices allow you to accept a variety of types of payments from customers anywhere, such as a trade show booth or convention halls. With this technology, there is no need for expensive mobile POS terminals. QuickBooks has a mobile payment solution that enables you to manually enter payments and swipe customer credit and debit cards from your mobile device.

Many of these mobile payment systems link to accounting systems so you can get a full picture of your accounts receivable, search for customers with outstanding balances or find the loyal clients who consistently pay early and call them to say “Thanks for your business.” The many mobile tools available can help you keep on top of your company’s finances.

A Snapshot of Business

Another Intuit product, Mint, lets you see a snapshot of your finances. Custom mobile apps are available to give you a quick view of your business without having to go into a larger application to find the same information. These mobile tools are a nice complement to the comprehensive financial applications and they are available to you 24/7.

Be in Control

There may be specific business information that you prefer to keep behind the firewall in your office. You can still access it from your tablet or smartphone with Microsoft Remote Desktop. This mobile app, available for Android and iOS devices, lets you connect with your office PC or Mac and control it remotely. Access and transfer files, run applications, stream audio and video files. Use the touch screen on your mobile device to control your desktop computer as if you were sitting in front of it.

Mobile technology is here to stay. Is your business prepared?