Can information systems improve companies’ operations and increase their profits?

Nowadays, you can see very high competition in every industry. The market is saturated with law firms, photovoltaic installation companies, cosmetics sales or restaurants. Every company, whether it is manufacturing, transporting, or selling products or services, needs to stand out from the competition in order to stay in business. How to do it?

Products and services in other companies may be of similar quality. Today, quality alone, if crucial, is not enough in a fiercely competitive market. When choosing a company of a particular industry, customers pay attention to reviews posted on the Internet by people who have already used its services. Positive reviews will encourage people to use the services but negative ones will cause the person initially interested in them to abandon the cooperation after all. The reasons for the negative reviews are often unpleasant service, not answering the phone or replying to messages, the long time it takes to prepare an offer and then execute it, or the lack of use of modern technology.

If two pizzerias prepare the same good pizza, but in one establishment you have to wait 45 minutes for home delivery and in the other 2 hours, you will choose the one with the faster delivery time. Suppose we are planning to replace the windows in the house and two companies offer the same quality product. In one company the contact is nice and efficient, and you receive an offer in a few hours, and in the other the employee does not answer the phone and has not sent an offer for 4 days despite promises. It is known that we will choose the former company.

Dozens of similar examples could be cited. The conclusion is that in addition to the quality of the product or service, it is necessary to provide the customer with top-quality service and fast turnaround time. So how do you streamline your company’s procedures to reduce costs, improve company processes, provide the best service, gain customer satisfaction and increase profits?

CRM systems

Customer relationship management support systems are designed to increase the number of customers, gain consumer satisfaction, and make more and more profit. There are many CRM systems on the market tailored to different industries – so you can easily choose one that will be perfectly tailored to your business profile (e.g. SolarCRM for the photovoltaic industry or LegallyCRM for law firms).

There are many benefits to implementing a CRM system in a company and these include:

• A single database that allows both improved customer service but also analysis to facilitate further management decisions.
• Each customer has its own tab, which the system user completes and sets statuses, which allows for top-level customer service and the ability to send text messages and emails from the system will also streamline and improve contact with the customer.
• The system’s web or pdf offer generator to customers improves customer service and the contract generator with electronic signature capability will speed up the decision-making process.
• Integration with Google Ads and Facebook Ads gives you the ability to do standalone marketing and increase your customer base.

ERP systems

Enterprise resource planning support systems are designed to streamline the operations of all company departments and improve many company processes. Such measures can make a real difference in reducing costs and saving time that can be spent on effective activities that increase company profits. ERP systems consist of a number of interconnected modules (e.g., procurement, production, transportation, human resources and payroll). The company can choose only the ones it needs and possibly add more as the business grows.

The benefits of implementing an ERP system in a company:

• A single, common database for all departments facilitates work and contact between departments and divisions of the company.
• Generate analysis and reports that greatly facilitate management and follow-up planning.
• Automating processes in all departments saves time that can be used more efficiently and money through, for example, better production planning or inventory quantities.
• Using modern technological solutions and offering employees to work on modern tools will raise the value of the company in the market, which, if properly managed, can lead to significant growth.

Systems for MLM network marketing

Multi-level marketing is a sales model that involves salespeople selling products or services by creating their own sales structures and earning commissions from the sales of subordinate salespeople. This model is used by many companies, including compensation and insurance law firms or those selling cosmetics or household appliances. The sale of products and services is increasingly done online, and there is no location restriction, so MLM structures operate over large areas. More and more companies are therefore choosing to implement an information system (e.g. MLMSeed.pl or Saleswizard.pl).

Pros of using an information system by companies using network marketing:

• A full database of customers and customer information allows us to analyze the needs of consumers and adjust further actions to offer the highest quality services.
• Connecting to an online store, generating offers from the system, or contacting by sms or email from the system allows automation of the sales process, which in turn leads to saving time for all parties in the process and providing better customer service.
• The ability to create marketing plans, register a network of merchants and make multi-level settlements makes management easier.
• Empowering and automating sales and management processes saves time and money that can be spent on acquiring new customers.

Individual Reservation Systems

People looking for accommodation for vacations or a short weekend getaway usually enter well-known booking portals such as Booking.com, Trivago.pl or AirBnB.pl . The reason is that when looking directly in most cases you have to call and inquire about available dates, which is problematic. A customized booking system (e.g. Bookable.co.uk) is an opportunity to propose your services without intermediaries while giving consumers the ability to check available dates and make reservations anytime and anywhere.

Pros of an in-house booking system for hotels and apartments:

• Own website with a complete offer, photos, booking calendar available to customers 24 hours a day so that two parties save such valuable time.
• Not incurring booking commission fees for well-known platforms (up to 15%) is a real gain that can be used to offer an even higher quality service.
• Banel’s site and reservation management also has marketing functionality to attract more customers.
• Building your own customer base gives you the opportunity to establish a relationship with them (e.g., through a loyalty program)

Online ordering systems

Employees at standard restaurants spend a lot of time handling phone and in-person requests, answering questions about the composition of dishes or allergens. Such order taking also unfortunately leads to many errors and misunderstandings. These problems were further exacerbated when the coronavirus pandemic began. The food service industry has begun to look for IT solutions (e.g., Foodeliver.co.uk) to streamline their work and allow them to increase order volumes.

Some restaurateurs are still shying away from implementing their own online ordering system, but it’s only a matter of time, as it has many advantages:

• Giving customers the ability to take a leisurely look at the entire menu anywhere, anytime, place an order with the delivery or payment parameters of their choice, and make payments online.
• Significant savings in restaurant service time , which can be allocated to marketing activities or improving the quality of service.
• An in-house system allows you to promote yourself and strengthen the brand of your own restaurant – such a system is also much cheaper than the commissions paid to well-known sales platforms for brokering.
• An online ordering system with its own customer database and with marketing functionalities such as generating discount codes or a loyalty program allows you to increase the number of orders.