Ways of Increasing Productivity in The Workplace

Staying productive at work can be challenging at times. Online services have enabled most companies to stay productive in the current competitive market. Online services can enable you to achieve the following:

Handle your suppliers. Communicate with your customers, and get their feedback on your business.

Offer services online. Enable customers to make reservations or appointments online.

The following are some of the online services that can increase productivity in your workplace:

1. 1. The do-it-yourself phenomenon: As a concept, self-service is nothing new. Customers want to be empowered to get things done at their convenience. Recently, we have seen the do-it-yourself culture move into customer service. Today’s customers are busy and often mobile and need to be able to solve a problem quickly and preferably independently. Customers” demand for better self-service experiences, as well as expanded channels for self-service, is driving higher investments in most companies.

From paying at the petrol-pump or supermarket self-checkouts to online health fund rebates, consumers do not want to have to wait for something if they know they can get it themselves. It is no different in the workplace. At its most basic, an employee self-service system gives employees access to certain key details about their employment. Because it’s normally hosted on a company intranet and accessed over the web, staff don’t have to be at their desks to use it. They can log in from home – or anywhere else with an internet connection. When they first emerged, these systems did not allow people to do much more than change a line of address or amend bank details. These days, thanks to more robust data encryption, employees can apply for leave; look at policies, share information, book training or download pay slips.

1. 1. Email and text push notifications services: Following Amazon’s lead, many companies, especially shipping companies, now automatically send customers an email or text notification when their order has shipped, if something is backordered, or when something pre-ordered or backordered is available. Similarly, many service businesses, instead of calling a home phone to confirm an appointment now send a text to the customer’s mobile phone, along with the ability to confirm, cancel or change the appointment. This attracts customers increasing productivity.
   2. Social media customer service. Forget phone, email and live chat: Facebook, Twitter and other social networks are the new front lines for customer service questions. In fact, the number of messages requiring a response that people sent to brands has increased.

Social media presents an amazing opportunity for companies, making customers happy while their friends are watching. As a result, most companies are building out their strategy and processes for social customer service. Airlines, such as Delta, even have separate Twitter accounts just for handling customer service and support issues. Companies that develop and manage reactive, proactive and preemptive social customer care programs end up being the most successful. Positive results also occur in companies that ensure that the people who manage their social channels are properly trained and keeping track of important metrics like response rate and time.

From cutting down on the time you spend on your email to tracking your workload, you can make sure you are accomplishing more with your workdays using online services.