Branding Rant

Every day exciting new technologies are released to make our jobs easier, improve efficiency or cut costs.

Whether it’s the ease of a one-click WordPress install, the diminishing cost of buying a new computer or the endless stream of performance tweaks that help us improve our efficiency, there is always things out there to save our time. The way I see it, there are two things that you can do with these savings.

• Be lazy/tight pocketed with the savings
• Put those savings into creating more value for customers

I’m totally guilty of giving into the instant gratification when it comes to saving money or time. We all are. This is just an idea which I have recently stumbled onto and become aware of. While many business owners and professionals rejoice at the idea of making savings – do they do anything with those savings? Do they invest their time into creating more value for customers? I don’t think so.

Another way to look at it is like this – historically, adoption rates for new technology take several years. If you’re an early adopter and you decide to implement new, cost saving technology, you can spend more on creating value for your customers than your competitors can for a good while. This will create a competitive advantage that your competition won’t even know about until it’s too late.

So, next time that new reporting software takes automation to a new level, why not add a personal touch to those reports? Maybe if you get a new computer that converts videos quicker, you could add a personal touch to your customer service with your freed up time? Perhaps, when your new CRM system is up and automating parts of your sales process for you, you could gather MORE customer data to help create value? The list is endless…

What technologies have saved you time and money in your business? Do you usually take the lazy approach or are you creating value to help you compete?