In today’s digital world, every business needs technology to survive, especially small and medium businesses (SMBs), with their smaller workforce and limited resources. The right tech tools bring reliable and timely insights that empower SMB owners to make better strategic decisions, take advantage of emerging opportunities and limit risk.
What’s more, technology automates business tasks and streamlines processes. This saves time and money, frees up employees for work that drives revenue, and makes business operations more efficient, allowing SMBs to compete more effectively against large corporations.
The challenge is finding the right SaaS tech stack among the many solutions on offer, one with all the functionalities they need. In this blog, we’ll list all the SaaS for SMB that small businesses need to maximize their competitive edge and run smooth business operations.
A fully stocked CRM
A customer relations manager (CRM) solution is crucial for SMBs to keep track of client details, nurture leads, and build strong customer relationships. Lead management capabilities, including lead capture, lead tracking, and lead scoring are vital to collect information about and convert potential new customers.
A good CRM should integrate with email marketing and SMS tools, so users can send, receive, and track messages all in one place, and support segmentation for personalized emails and messaging. Robust reporting and analytics are also a must, to show which channels, messaging, and lead sources are the most effective.
CRMs that integrate with the rest of the tech stack, such as their calendar to automatically schedule meetings, save time and effort for users. Additionally, a CRM should be easy to use and mobile friendly, so that small businesses can maximize value from day one.
Scheduling tools
Effective scheduling tools connect to the business user’s personal and business calendars, while offering a self-service booking widget for clients. This reduces the back-and-forth of finding a mutually convenient meeting time, simplifies scheduling for the business and the client, and saves clients the frustration of waiting to get through by phone. The best solutions automatically send appointment confirmations and reminders via email and SMS, to minimize no-shows.
Payment facilitation tools
Chasing down payments can be frustrating and time-consuming for small businesses. They need a SaaS for SMB solution that makes it easy for customers to pay, by accepting multiple payment types and offering simple online payment processes.
Ideally, payment tools should automate tasks like preparing invoices, sending payment reminders, and creating and sending receipts, to save time and effort for SMBs. They should also support advance payments and recurring payments, to minimize the risk that the client will forget to pay and reduce friction for both the business and the customer.
Invoicing software
Managing invoices can be time-consuming for small businesses, but good invoicing software can relieve much of the burden. Digital invoicing tools automate the process of creating invoices, pulling data from existing forms and the CRM to populate the invoice. This helps reduce the risk of manual errors.
Invoicing templates ensure that all invoices are consistent and look professional, while allowing users to add their own logo and color schemes so that every invoice matches the business’ branding. Invoicing software makes it much easier to produce professional invoices, removing the need to create a new invoice from scratch every time.
Accounting software
Efficient accounting and bookkeeping is vital for every business. Powerful accounting software can help automate and manage workflows in ways that save time and help reduce the risk of errors. Most solutions connect to business bank accounts to access data and automatically pay bills and salary on time.
The right tools track expenses and income, producing clear reports that make it easier to monitor cash flow and manage business finances. They simplify invoice production and payroll management, automating tasks like calculating benefits, pay, vacation time, overtime, and shift work, and producing accurate payslips. A good accounting solution should also include tax management features to keep track of tax obligations and prepare and file tax returns.
Project management tool
Project management capabilities empower small businesses to manage projects and meet deadlines more effectively. Reliable project management SaaS for SMBs enables teams to organize tasks and monitor progress, helping them to stay on track to meet obligations and complete work in time.
It encourages collaboration by providing a single central location for everyone to brainstorm, share updates, and access project resources, and offers an easy way to communicate with clients and keep them informed about progress.
Cloud storage and file sharing
A secure way to store and share files in the cloud allows small businesses to improve their file management and client communication. Small businesses can easily exchange files and updates with clients without confusion, and without risking exposing sensitive data or breaching privacy agreements.
With cloud storage, employees can access files from any location, so they can work remotely without hassle. It automatically syncs the stored file with the latest version, so everyone sees the same version and no one wastes time sorting through email threads for the most recent update.
Social media management tool
Social media is a crucial channel for small businesses to promote their products and services, increase brand awareness, and keep track of changing customer demands. A social media management tool can make social media use more efficient by scheduling posts. Some alert the business whenever it’s mentioned on a platform or someone responds to its posts, so that the SMB can engage with followers and nurture new customers.
A good social media management tool allows SMBs to see all their content across all its social media channels in one place, with analytics that show which posts drove the most engagement so they can improve on their content.
AI tools
Small businesses can benefit a lot from a SaaS tech stack that includes artificial intelligence (AI) tools. AI-powered chatbots and virtual assistants can respond quickly to basic customer inquiries 24/7, providing better customer experience and improving customer satisfaction.
AI business tools also offer content generation, which speeds up the process of producing business content like emails, social media posts, and service and product descriptions. AI-driven business advisors help business owners make better decisions by analyzing business data and delivering tailored, specific advice about topics such as growth strategies and pricing decisions.
Do it all-in-one
Any SaaS tech stack that includes all these capabilities will succeed in meeting most of the needs of any growth-focused small business. But it’s even better to combine all these tech tools into a single SaaS platform so that SMBs can access them all in one place. In fact, 90% of the respondents to our SMB tech survey in 2023 said that they want an all-in-one solution.
This is exactly what vcita’s inTandem platform provides. inTandem is a complete all-in-one business management solution that’s designed specifically for large organizations to offer to their small business clients. It includes a CRM, AI and payment tools, secure cloud storage, and accounting, invoicing scheduling, and more, all packaged with an intuitive and easy-to-use interface and a mobile app for remote access.
inTandem also contains built-in integration points, which can seamlessly connect to almost any app or digital service. inTandem partners can use it to integrate their own apps and services, or third-party apps that their customers use frequently, so as to create a customized app market that delivers an elevated user experience.
An all-in-one SaaS for SMB solution is a dream come true for your small business clients
The right all-in-one SaaS tech stack can make all the difference to your small business clients. It gives them the capabilities to manage their business more efficiently, make better strategic decisions, and forge stronger customer relationships. With a powerful SaaS for SMB offering, your organization can also benefit from greater satisfaction and less churn from your SMB clients, improving your relationship with your SMB customers and boosting your bottom line.
