Everything you need to know about document management

In most companies there are cabinets full of documents that are rarely consulted, but that whenever you need to consult some information you waste a lot of time. Recent research reveals that 90% of the documents we use daily are mixed with documents that are of no use. It has also been revealed that 80% of manually written documents are never consulted and that the time spent in managing this type of documentation represents one of the 10 activities that “steals” time to the employees. Given this scenario, it becomes clear that document management is really necessary in contemporary companies. In today’s article we cover everything you need to know about document management!

What is document management?

Document management is the process of managing and controlling all existing documents in the organization in digital format. These documents may be physical, digital, or versioned in the Cloud, serve as a record and query for business procedures, and remain in the organization for a period of one or two years. Document management involves all documents, from contracts, licenses and emails that are important for creating a customer relationship history. From the moment the document arrives at the company that follows some steps:

  • Dematerialization: the document is received and is soon digitized
  • Classification: being already dematerialized, the document goes through the classification, at which point its importance degree is defined and where it is defined which is the place where it will be stored
  • Life cycle: after classification, the document passes through the defined life cycle of all documents. It goes through publication, approval, forwarding, re-routing with corrections and destruction. With all these steps completed, it becomes easier for the employee to find the file through a search engine.

Advantages of Document Management

Largest organization

The documents are organized by categories and it becomes much easier to find them. The lack of a document management system leads to waste of time in document searching, which breaks down productivity.

Optimization of workspace

This method makes it not necessary to have cabinets full of documents, because the whole file is converted into electronic format. In this way, the workspace becomes more organized and much more pleasant and reduces the risk of loss of documents due to natural disasters.

Greater agility

Simultaneous consultation and presentation of meeting documents is easier, for example when they are digitized. Electronic search methods are also easier when the files are in digital format.

More safety

Document management is essential to ensure that regulations are being met by the organization and this is one of the main reasons why document management should be seen as a priority for the company. It is thus possible to ensure the integrity of the information and its documentation.

Standardized processes

This type of solution allows for a standardization of access to information, managing access rights, changes and submissions. All employees have access to the documents they need and from anywhere. Internal communication is thus facilitated by reducing the flow of printed information.

Simplifying workflow

The flow of creating a document for approval varies by company, but it is often too complicated in almost all of them. One of the reasons is the need to obtain the approval of several people and if there is no good documentary management this process becomes very time consuming and bureaucratic. A simple model solves this question. In document management, most services are implemented with workflows, which makes it easier to process agility, distributing the document created in the system to the person responsible to be able to archive the file. With this simplification of processes, the time to perform a task is reduced, increasing the efficiency of the company!

5 Mistakes to avoid in customer management

The Customer is the most important part of a company. Companies make a lot of mistakes when it comes to dealing with customers and their needs, and these mistakes often lead to the loss of important customers. In today’s article, we talk about the 5 mistakes to avoid in managing customers.

Press Customer

Many companies make the mistake of chasing the customer, either through phone calls or emails. When there is a first contact, you have to give the customer time to evaluate the possible purchase of the product or service offered by the company. No one likes to be constantly bothered and companies need to be made aware that the quality of the contact is worth more than the number of times they contact prospects.

Not knowing the customer and their needs

One of the worst mistakes in managing clients is treating all customers the same way. It is unpleasant when we are attended by an operator who seems robotic and who has a rehearsed speech and does not escape the script. CRM tools help companies to know each customer, their needs and preferences. They also provide information on the most appropriate time to act, either by sending a special campaign or a product sample. You can connect a CRM system to a business monitoring system such as Multipeers. In this way, you will have real-time and always up-to-date information about your customers.

Sell ​​only once

Many commercials are concerned only with the single sale and don’t work towards customer loyalty. Certainly, the first sale is, in theory, the most difficult, since the customer still doesn’t know the company and the products. Focusing on the single sale is a very common mistake that can cause the company to lose sales in the future. Business teams should be concerned about maintaining customer contact in order to guide you toward future purchases and this is achieved through good after-sales service.

Complicating customer service

Unfortunately, there are many companies specializing in this field, especially telecommunication and internet service companies. It is very annoying for a customer to have to repeat their problem to three or four different people. The customer service should always be as pleasant and short as possible because only then can you pass on an image of professionalism. If the customer needs to talk to four people before seeing their problem solved, they will get the feeling that the company is disorganized.

Don’t guide and educate the client

Providing relevant and useful content to the customer about the products or services is a way to educate customers and share important information so that they choose your product. Creating a FAQ section, creating a blog about the area of ​​your activity and having a regular presence on the main social networks are good ways to educate the customer about your product.

Top 5: Technology Myths You Need to Eliminate Right Now

Over time, many misconceptions are fixed in our thinking. The world of technology is one of the richest in myths. It’s time to eliminate preconceived ideas that are false and that disrupt your relationship with technology! In today’s article, we cover the top 5 technology myths you need to eliminate right now!

“MacBooks are immune to virus attacks”

For a long time, Apple pretended that its computers, unlike the machines of Microsoft, were immune to viruses. However, in 2012, a malware like Trojan affected thousands of Mac computers, throwing away the (very useful) myth of Apple. There are still many people who believe that Mac is completely immune to virus attacks, but that’s a myth!

“Charging the electronic devices many times destroy the battery”

This myth was real until a few years ago. However, modern lithium-ion batteries are smarter, knowing when they are 100 percent charged and no longer charging when they reach the maximum battery. It is advised that charging 20% ​​of computers, tablets and mobile phones is ideal for the longevity of the device.

“You should not invest in management systems in times of crisis”

This is one of the most dangerous myths for business survival. Moments of crisis force companies to have greater control over their finances. As a rule, in these periods there is a decrease in the number of employees, which will cause people to be overloaded and the management systems can be very useful in these phases. The adoption of a management system in times of economic recession is essential to ensure greater control over spending and budgets and allows streamlining processes, increasing the productivity of the company. Investing in a management system can be the first (and the most important) step to get out of a less good situation.

“The more tools you use, the more productive you will be”

Sometimes, less is more and in the case of companies and management tools this applies. Many managers believe that using multiple tools simultaneously will be more productive, but what happens is just the opposite, because the focus is dispersed across multiple programs and data sources. At the data analysis level, it is advisable to use a BAM tool such as Multipeers, because the manager will be able to know what is going on in his organization through a single dashboard that collects information from the various data sources of the company. This way, the manager doesn’t need to consult 3 or 4 programs, which avoids wasting time and increases productivity.

“Just keep the system up to date is enough to be protected”

Unfortunately, protecting your system from computer attacks is not that easy. Updating the system already puts the company at risk, so it is critical not to have the automatic updates. It is essential to analyze all the risks of the update, to see if after being updated the system becomes more vulnerable. While keeping your programs and systems up-to-date is important, but it is not enough to prevent attacks. It is important that you train your employees to behave correctly when it comes to data security, as this is a responsibility of all members of an organization.

Find how to choose the best management system for your company

A management software is an important work tool and is a great ally of the productivity and competitiveness of any organization. Choosing the best software is not an easy task as it is not enough to go for the most popular choice on the market. It is essential that the software is the right for your business and it is not always easy to figure out which one will be the best choice. In today’s article, we leave you some important tips for choosing the best management system for your company.

Initial Evaluation

Before leaving for the market, it is advisable to do the homework. Determine the company’s software needs and take into account the opinions of many employees, especially those who will handle the software on a daily basis. Only after you are aware of what you really need you will be prepared to choose the best solution.

Prefer an easy implementation

Software that is very complicated to deploy and which takes a long time to install will not be intuitive and easy to use. Your main objective is to find a software that facilitates your daily work, so avoid the very complex software, because these require a lot of training time for the employees and this damages the collective income.

Be careful about safety

A management software will know everything about your business. The confidential information will be placed there, so it is mandatory to choose software that guarantees the protection and security of your information. If you choose Software as a Service (SaaS), you should carefully review the vendor’s backup policy and if you choose a product installed on a local server, you will need a team that will frequently monitor the security of the information.

Integration

It is fundamental that you choose a software that can be integrated with several applications because in this way you will get a global and integrated view of everything that goes on in the business. The software is transversal to the entire company, so it is fundamental that it can encompass all areas of the activity.

Choose a mobile version

The World is increasingly mobile and in companies this reality is no different. Everywhere, we can check emails and even attend meetings with people on the other side of the World. Before purchasing the software, check that there is a good mobile version.

It is essential to have a good software to ensure that your business will succeed. It is advisable to connect your software to a business monitoring system such as Multipeers, because in this way you will be able to analyze the business in real time and receive specific alerts whenever any situation requires your attention and intervention!

The importance of information: tips for never losing your data

Business information is one of the most important assets in companies today. Business data consists of information about suppliers, customers, competition, strategies, among other documents that must be kept confidential. If these data are not stored properly, they may be lost or exposed to the outside, compromising safety and confidentiality. This type of situation is very damaging to the image of the company, so it is necessary to follow rules and strategies that allow to keep the data safe and private. Find 5 important tips to never lose your company data!

Make backups frequently

Nowadays all the information (or practically all of it) is digitized so it is vital to reinforce data security. It is necessary to keep backup copies in at least two different locations and it is advisable that one of these locations be in the Cloud because it is very unlikely to lose data that are hosted on the web in this type of services. Establish a backup routine so you don’t run the risk of not recovering the latest documents. Cloud services let you set the backup frequency you want in a timely manner.

Automate everything you can

If you have well-defined processes and well-established rules, it will be easier to optimize the work and leave a part of it delivered to the machines. Repetitive work is boring for the developer and to free him from routine processes is a way to leave him free to perform other functions. In addition, automated processes are faster than manuals. Automate backup and recovery frequencies.

Create a security policy

A survey carried out by the Ponemon Institute states that 73% of information technology users ensure that exposure of company data is due to internal errors, negligence or deliberately by employees. To avoid this, it is fundamental to create a security policy that includes e-mail retention (a good example is Office 365), that is, you can define that all emails that contain the word “login” must pass through a Moderator before being sent. Another important point is to define which documents are public, confidential and secret. It is also important that this policy includes penalties for those who fail to comply. In this way, employees of the company will feel more motivated not to make safety mistakes.

Use encryption in files

Files containing important and confidential information must be encrypted in order to ensure that only authorized persons can access the information. There are free solutions that allow you to put this functionality in the files, but it is advisable to do an exhaustive search on the best and safest ones, in order to choose the right tool.

Use VPN

A virtual private network (VPN) is a type of private connection that uses a public network to access your company data. It contains a connection encryption that prevents data interception and IP tracing. This is the safest way to access corporate data through public networks such as hotels and airports.

Learn about IT PEERS security services and ensure the confidentiality of your information!