Is Web-to-MIS is the way forward? Emerson Welch, marketing manager at Clarity Software, argues the point for such development.
Get integrated, sell more. It’s a simple phrase, but one that’s resonating with forward-thinking printers as they strive for new ways to reduce costs, increase output and win more deals at top margin. The Web provides the perfect platform to make it happen, which is why 94% of surveyed Clarity customers want to use it to expand their businesses.
In a diversifying 2013 print market there’s a persistent demand to use the power of cloud and mobile systems as part of the daily process flow. Having adequate systems working in isolation no longer seems to be the best answer to growth plans.
Think on these questions: Does data move between your website and desktop systems freely? Can you access live quote information and raise new opportunities sat next to your customer? Do you know how many Web enquiries turn into sales? Do you know if your contracts have been delivered, signed off and invoiced from wherever you are?
Stand-alone systems may have performed well until now but your business needs to flow around a single unified working environment to be ultimately efficient. Your systems must be a team, just like your employees, interacting with each other in real time; receiving, pushing and sharing instant information to those who need it the most.
There’s no doubting that the savings made from eliminating data entry duplication and automating menial business processes are clearly visible on the bottom line. Consider the hours being wasted by importing and exporting data from one system to another. Think about how much it costs and restricts every department in your business. And to make it worse, as soon as you’ve done it, it’s out of date again. But how do you hook your online and offline systems together? And how do you access everything you need from wherever your diary has placed you on that day? What’s the secret? It’s Web-to-MIS.
By seamlessly integrating your website, cloud software and mobile apps with your desktop management information system you can react faster than your competitors to all your online and offline enquiries and sell more print jobs at top margin.
By using Web browsers over 3G/4G or Wi-Fi for many tasks, your preferred computer devices can now be rolled out to your staff allowing tablets, smart phones and other convenient portable hardware to become the number one machine to use for regular duties. 72% of surveyed Clarity users have this on their priority to-do list.
Enabling simple data movement in real time gives a higher quality of working life which everyone in the business can look forward to experiencing. It removes the individual stress that employees feel by improving communications and relaying information immediately to others. Delays are minimised and faster decisions are made based on true facts that are collated from right across the business and shared centrally from your MIS.
With Web-to-MIS simplifying operations, you can build and integrate an e-commerce website with your MIS and generate a new, highly efficient sales channel. Historically, websites have been considered as a completely different asset to core business software. The technology is here now to combine one with the other and use your MIS as the interface to add new product items, images and descriptions to your live website shop.
Linked cloud-based software packages means you can carry out email and website marketing campaigns using central MIS contact data. All generated leads pass directly back into your core MIS and users receive email notifications as soon as they arrive.
Whether you are office based or estimating out on the road, contact and enquiry information captured from the web is presented to your key employees as it happens, optimising the chances of converting opportunities to orders or impressing customers with an outstanding service response.
Web-to-MIS can really shape your business for the future. Its ‘one system’ structure places you in a commanding position to challenge for all the business available in the evolving market, rather than just a slice of it. It reduces overheads and breathes fresh air through your workplace, motivating your staff and giving them the modern tools they need to realise their potential. The rewards are immediate and the possibilities are endless.