Should your business go paperless?

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Technological advances have sparked a digital revolution and businesses are reaping the benefits. Paperless technology is the next step in making businesses more cost-effective, efficient, and environmentally friendly. With news of just how much money businesses spend annually on paper (over $8.5 billion), it’s no surprise that business owners are looking towards digital alternatives. In this article, we discuss how your business could benefit from going paperless. 

Has the paperless revolution already begun?

Businesses have already begun to implement paperless technology – 3% of them use them for every process throughout the company. With paperless only recently becoming a viable option for businesses to implement, it can be an unnerving installation, to begin with. However, 16% of businesses are actively looking at different methods that will help them remove paper from their procedures entirely.

Some businesses will be slower to take up electronic alternatives as they’re too used to the old way of doing things. In contrast, these businesses actually increased their paper consumption by around 20%. This is due to three key factors; a lack of confidence in digital solutions, the need for regulations and quite simply, humans being content with paper. However, studies have found that 33% of businesses are almost paperless.

Paperless technology has been proven to have a positive impact on businesses. One study suggests that in the first six months of going paperless, 28% of businesses gained a full return on investment. A further 59% achieved a full ROI in less than 12 months and 84% within an 18-month period. After looking at the financial implications paperless technology can have on your business, you’d be a fool not to make the switch. Not only will this offer a return on investment, but it will also allow companies to focus on other areas of their business and not have to think about any administrative tasks that occur when handling paper. Your consumer acquisition costs can decrease dramatically, too.

Important considerations to make before going paperless

Paperless technology has a range of different uses, from helping employees access their payslips online, to allowing customers to order products via a tablet device. Looking at paperless technology that allows people to sign digital contracts solely, businesses can see reduced costs of 60-85% which enables greater savings and reduced budgets on administration expenses.

Switching to paperless is also better for GDPR, as the security requirements for digital storage are greater. Although this is set to strengthen and unify consumer data in Europe, it will also apply to non-EU businesses that are trading with EU consumers. Not only that, but you will also be able to identify the authenticity of documents, as well as the time and location of signatures when using paperless. Businesses can complete viable audits to conduct regular contract searches, reducing the risk of fraudulent activities.

Going paperless does not only help your business financially but will also enhance the customer experience.

It’s also important to consider how paperless technology can improve customer satisfaction. The beauty of a paperless contract is that it ensures that all fields that are required are filled out by the consumer and can easily be sent to the customer through email. Should it be misplaced, it can easily be resent from an administrative interface. If any issues were to occur, contracts can simply be retrieved and shown as evidence.

A lack of storage space is also a common problem for growing businesses – paperless technology helps with this. If you’re looking to adopt more advanced features for your paperless installations, biometrics can be utilised to create an easier flow of signing, which can again enhance the customer experience and increase satisfaction. With the world turning digital, there’s no time to stay behind on the excellent developments that have aims to improve our businesses.

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