Communication tools are important in today’s dispersed workforce. Standardizing on a communication tool that works for your company helps to establish a smooth workflow in your business. Make sure that the tool you select includes the important features needed to fit your business needs and your personal style.
These internal communication tools will be used primarily by anyone who is involved in the operations. In addition, they must be completely accessible to increase efficiency across all teams and, to promote productivity wherever you are. Consistent communication and feedback will also stimulate employees' motivation.
To determine which specific software or tools your business needs, here are 3 examples of communication tools that I use with my Virtual Employees to give you some options that can be beneficial for you too:
Online Chat & Group Messaging Apps
Ideally, these are the essential tools that every client needs for the business and for their employees. The basic Tools for Virtual Employee is what we have come up with our previous topic which suggests some tools that are commonly used to communicate internally and remotely. Although public spaces like Facebook Groups may work, dedicated online communication services will ensure that everyone is just a tap away.
Ticketing Software and CRM
In our modern environment, customers would always want the ability to connect with your business across a variety of channels. Whether it be through social media or customer support in general, you want to be sure that you’re well equipped solving these demands and have necessary tools that offer a 360-degree approach to your support and service department. No matter how good or trained your virtual employee is, ticketing or tracking software should go hand in hand to accomplish the best internal resolution while keeping your business optimized and complete all throughout the communication process.
Emails and File Sharing Tools
Sharing important documents and sending or receiving valuable contents are inevitable and should always be dated and done in written forms. With such software could be an ideal way of creating a more personal experience for both customers and employees which can then increase efficiency between larger departments, teams, and clients consistently.
Most importantly, although there are tons of available software or ideal apps for communication to choose from, we must remember that great collaboration starts with your business culture & core values, a positive environment, and a practical way of promoting your business.
To know more about communication tools and how we can help improve your business, feel free, and book an appointment with me today!
Last week I had the pleasure of speaking at a regional NARPM conference about Solving You Biggest Operational Issue in 30 Days. It was a great event and I loved connecting and providing great information to my fellow NARPM members. As a Broker of my own Property Management business, I know firsthand the troubles and challenges that we all face. However, since I came out of the corporate world of selling IT Consulting, I am all about plugging up the holes with processes and procedures. When we find a problem, we fix it and generally don’t have that issue again.
In my presentation, we were hypothetically walking through the issues with maintenance. If you are a PM, you know the headaches that department can create. It is the number one bone of contention between owners, tenants, and the property manager. As we were walking through the steps, one of the issues that we talked about was tenant’s expectations being too high. I shared some of the tips we use to help with that as well as some things to help tenants solve their own issues.
By far the biggest “ah ha” moment in the room was the introduction of my Green Tags. Want to know about my green tags? They are how we tag every water cut off so that when a tenant has a leak, they can quickly identify a cut off and turn the water off.
They look like this:
You can easily install them on every cut off. When we do a move in inspection, we explain what they are, show them the main cut off and how they work. Whenever a tenant calls in with a water leak, whether during business hours (which quite frankly never happens) or after hours 99% of the calls, my after hours maintenance people ask the tenants to find the green tags to shut the water off to minimize any further damage.
Funny enough, we had this happen the night before the conference. Tenant called at 7:30 stating that there was a leak, the carpet was soaked, they found the green tag, stopped the water, and called. It works like clockwork. It is amazing how some of the simplest things can have a big impact on your business.
At HireSmart Virtual Employees, we help businesses like Property Managers reduce the time and headaches so that they can focus on revenue-generating tasks. If you would like to know if our system is for you, book a call to speak with us.