Suffolk Computer Consultants, Inc. Blog

Picture this: you’re at a major industry conference. The coffee is mediocre, the lanyards are itchy, but the networking is pure gold. You strike up a conversation with a peer, an owner of a competing company. After some friendly back-and-forth, they ask, "So, how are you guys handling lead follow-up from these events? It's always such a manual grind for us."

You smile as you pull out your phone. "It used to be," you say. "Now, we just do this."

You tap a custom form on your phone, enter the information, and press submit. "There," you say. "That person is now in our CRM, they've just received a welcome email with our digital brochure, and a follow-up meeting is already being proposed for next week. The whole thing is automated."

The look on their face? A perfect, beautiful blend of awe and envy. That’s the ultimate conference flex: showcasing a business that runs like a well-oiled machine. It’s a silent testament to efficiency, foresight, and having the right technology in your corner.

Have you noticed the profound impact modern technology has on your business? Do you want to leverage it to your advantage? If you want to surpass your competition, then you’ll need every advantage out there. Let’s look at some of the technologies that your business can implement to give itself a leg up through marketing efforts.

Much of our blog content discusses the technology used by businesses as a part of their operations, but technology is extremely valuable for several other parts of running a business, including managing relationships with existing and potential customers. The technology of marketing can be remarkably effective for getting the word out about your goods and services, and you will want to ensure your IT is up to the task of managing it.

Some of the best technologies blend in with everyday life. For example, smart speakers are designed in a way to be both functional and inconspicuous. Conversely, some technology that you may have dismissed initially can present some serious benefits for your company. One of those technologies is the digital sign. 

The Internet of Things is nothing to shake a stick at - with well over 15 billion devices connecting to the Internet, it has become a force that cannot be ignored. This applies not only to the consumer devices that many associate the IoT with, but also the many IoT applications in the business world as well. Here, we’ll go into the IoT’s significance to businesses of all types.

Business cards have long been part of business etiquette. In the late Renaissance period, visitors were announced with special cards that signified the arrival of the guest and reminding the recipient of their social obligations. The Industrial Revolution transformed these into trade cards, and the professional business card as we know it got its start. Today, the business card is a useful networking tool, even though transferring the information into a phone can be a hassle.

Billboards have been around in one form or another for millennia, starting with the humble handbill in 1450, or under a looser definition, with carved inscriptions on ancient Egyptian monuments. Today, technology allows us to leverage billboards and other forms of signage in new ways. Below, we’ll examine how these technological changes can benefit the small-to-medium-sized business’ use of this marketing medium.