If you think accounting software is just for tracking expenses and generating financial reports, you’re losing out on an opportunity to improve your bottom line.
By taking advantage of insights provided by your software solution, you’ll benefit from a more informed approach to marketing and customer service – and by making the most of all the ways your software can improve productivity you can take meaningful action to increase profits. Here’s how.
Understand buyer behavior
In addition to storing real time financial data, your accounting software can also retain important information about your clients. Insights into your customer buying history and preferred payment methods, for instance, can help you tailor your marketing strategies to each type of client you serve. Use what you know about customers to set up a segmented mailing list. Marketing directly to the clients who tend to hire you for a particular service is a much more effective way to make sales than approaching your customers with a one-size-fits-all email campaign or in-store promotion.
Reporting capabilities built in to your accounting software can show you who your best customers are and your most popular products. With this key info, you’ll hit your sales targets by only promoting the goods and services that you know your customers really want. The real time data your accounting software provides can also translate to an improved overall experience that will win over your customers. For instance, when a client gets in touch with a question you’ll be able to respond quickly with useful, accurate background info. With more in-depth knowledge of your customers you’ll be able to cross sell and upsell more easily by suggesting additional products that might meet their needs.
Free up time to reach more customers
One of the great things about accounting software is how much time you’ll save by automating processes like invoicing and payroll. And if your software solution integrates with your other small business apps as well as your CRM, ERP or POS systems, your business will be even more productive. By getting more efficient, you’ll have more time to touch base with customers and find new clients.
Consider making the most of that extra time in your schedule to
- organize professional development opportunities that improve your team’s sales skills
- update your business plan based on real time financial data and enhanced reporting
- determine the best on and offline marketing strategies for your business based on what you know about your customers’ spending patterns
- implement loyalty rewards for your return customers that you know will appeal to them – a sure fire way to spread positive word of mouth
- implement growth strategies designed to scale your business and
- make more informed decisions on every aspect of your business to cut costs, improve productivity and boost your profit margin.
How will you boost your bottom line?
Now that you’re fully aware of the customer insights and time-saving capabilities your accounting software provides, what will you do differently to build a more profitable and successful business?
