As a business owner, you are always – always! – looking at your bottom line. Every product, person or program you bring into your business has to carry its weight, either in overall benefit or simple necessity. Some purchases actually help to grow your business and make you more money. A visitor management system can fall into this category of having a positive return on investment.
There are several benefits you can reap from a visitor management system that propel your business forward.
One of the most beautiful things about using a digital visitor logbook is its built-in ability to keep records. Every person who walks through your door is a potential relationship: customer, client, vendor, member, employee, or visiting guest from the head office.
Essentially, by keeping track of visitors and collecting their information electronically, you can seamlessly integrate your visitor management system with your customer relationship management software (CRM).
Certain situations, in particular, lend themselves to collecting contact information for clients and guests.
Having their information collected and stored allows you to easily and effectively contact them for all sorts of different reasons.
Almost every business person knows that paying your employees accounts for the largest percentage of your outgoing money. Running on a shoestring staff and/or working your people to the bone is not the best for business either. So how do you keep your staffing budget appropriately low without sacrificing value?
One way is by using automation where possible. An iPad receptionist can serve a vital role in an organization without requiring a salary. Such a system certainly has a cost, but let’s compare:
It’s easy to see that, strictly monetarily, a digital system is bound to make a much smaller dent in the budget, especially over time.
Other cost-savings benefits are less obvious, but perhaps more beneficial. Many offices rely on administrative assistants and office managers to handle visitor registration and check-in. This means using a valued employee’s time in a less than optimal way. Good office employees can better utilize their time organizing events, taking and ordering inventory and supplies, scheduling meetings, and other necessary duties.
The same goes for flex workspaces and coworking locations. Most of these are minimally staffed – the majority of the people onsite are actually members engaged in doing their own work. When visitor management is handled by an app, staff can focus on building relationships and growing the membership, while members can continue to grow their own businesses. (And if they are less likely to be interrupted by having to deal with a visitor, they are more likely to recommend their coworking location to a friend!)
It is likely your organization spent a lot of time – and maybe a lot of money – putting together an effective visual brand for your business. Your logo, colors, typeface, and style are the “face” of your business online and in print media. It can also be a part of the very first impression visitors get when they check in at your front desk.
With a digital visitor check-in kiosk, you have the opportunity to take your visual brand and bleed it right onto the screen. Visitors will see those logos, and you can even show photos of your organization or latest products. You start building a relationship with them the moment they walk through the door, and that is done visually as well as through the people they meet.
Using this platform to showcase what you do best and communicate your message and vision is a great way to start your relationship off on the appropriate footing.
A visitor management system takes the “guest book” to a whole new level. By building your list and integrating with your CRM, networking and keeping relationships becomes a snap. You save time and money through productivity when a computer can handle the nuts and bolts of visitor check-in instead of a person. Branding your kiosk helps build familiarity and showcase exactly what you’d like to your visitors. Taken all together, these benefits allow you to get your money to work harder while you grow your business.