Want to go virtual? Work remotely? Go paperless? Make the most of cloud tech?
It’s easier than you think!
Take it from us – we’ve been there, done that and got the virtual t-shirt.
Over the past six years, we at ValueAdd have tried and tested more cloud tech tools than we care to count. CRMs, cloud accountancy software, project management tools… you name it. We put them through their paces, including integrating them to make things work more efficiently…we know our stuff!
So, we thought we’d put that knowledge to some use at last. Here are our top tips when it comes to time-saving tech for your business:
A project management system you can access anywhere
Asana is a lifesaver for us. We track multiple projects for multiple clients in multiple workspaces, pretty much seamlessly. Our blogs are planned out on a Kanban style board, client deadlines live in a separate neat list with due dates and priority tags, and we can kick off in house discussions using the Conversations instant messenger tab.
The beauty of it is that it’s all cloud based and comes with a free mobile app, so we can access projects and tasks from anywhere.
Cloud accounting software that does your invoicing for you
One of our favourite clients invoices the same group of companies monthly. Every month its the same amount, the same description and the same contact they need the invoice to be sent to. When they came on board, they were already using QuickBooks.So it made perfect sense to make the most of QuickBooks’ invoicing functionality to completely automate the process.
It took less than an hour to set up recurring invoice templates. Since then, the invoices go out every month to each customer without even so much as a click of the mouse. When we see the remittance appear in the direct bank feed, we simply click match to add to the books. It couldn’t be simpler!
A CRM that also tracks your sales pipeline
Why bother with two systems when you only need one? Capsule CRM effortlessly stores your contacts, with tags, lists, social media links and integration with Google Apps… basically all the bells and whistles.
What we really love about it though, is that it allows us to manage our sales pipeline in the same space. It’s customisable so we can categorise each stage as we please and it means each potential client is treated exactly the same way. Plus you can generate useful reports (we love a good report).
A time tracker that inspires you
When you work with several different clients, it’s so important to keep on top of your time tracking. That way you know – down to the minute – exactly how much time you’ve spent on their projects. Harvest does all that and more. There’s a mobile app so you can track time on-site with clients too.
You can set it up to deal with multiple clients and staff, view productivity reports and even integrate it with Xero accouting software. This integration means you can automatically raise invoices for clients and push to the accounting software, based on the time tracked in Harvest. How cool is that?
Our favourite thing about it though? Every time you log in to track your time, Harvest hits you with a time based inspirational quote. It’s a new quote each day, and can be from anyone from Amy Winehouse to Maya Angelou. Today’s quote:
“Dont watch the clock; do what it does. Keep going” – Sam Levenson
Well, we hope that’s helped! And if you need advice or training in using any of the packages we mentioned, feel free to get in touch.
