Do Your Competitors Have a Better Records Management Strategy Than You?
A Paper Chase Blog Series
This may surprise you – but did you know that document management has a direct impact on customer acquisition and retention, efficiency and overhead costs, employee satisfaction, business security, and more? This 4-part series will help you identify areas of weakness within your current document management process and offer practical solutions that you can implement in 2019 to ensure you’re staying competitive and relevant.
In Part 1 of this series, we’ll introduce three ways your competitors are beating you when it comes to document management. Parts 2, 3, and 4 will take a closer look at each factor and offer resources to help ensure your document management strategy is keeping you competitive, increasing customer satisfaction, and maximizing efficiency.
It’s the beginning of a new year, and like many companies, you may be evaluating your current document management processes and searching for ways to improve, become more efficient, offer better customer service to your clients, work more productively, and keep employees happy. We know that’s a lot to think about. And while assessing your records management process can be daunting, if you want to stay relevant and competitive, it’s necessary for your document management strategy to continue evolving — by leveraging new technology and adapting to new standards in data and information management.
You might think it doesn’t matter whether you manage information and data the same way your competitors do, and in some respects, you’re right – as long as you’re doing it better. No matter the industry you work in and the information you handle — whether it’s medical records, tax records, HR files, insurance records, AP files and invoices, etc…these document management best practices for 2019 can set you apart from the competition.
1. Automation and Document Workflow
The increased efficiency gained by using and electronic document workflow solution will allow your organization to significantly improve service to your customers, pay vendors faster without needing to increase staff or budget, give employees more time to focus on important responsibilities, and create more effective communication between departments.
In addition to enhanced productivity, the transition to managing documents electronically will improve employee efficiency, free office space by eliminating the need to store massive volumes of hard-copy records, and help internal processes run more smoothly.
2. Record Retention, Security, & Compliance
Any breach of private information has the potential to negatively impact your organization – both financially and professionally. Your customers trust that you will keep their information secure, and when you don’t, your professional reputation is tarnished, customers may leave you for a competitor. Negative Google reviews, issues with auditing and compliance, and hefty fines are just a few of the negative impacts of poor records retention and security protocols.
What does a secure document management strategy look like?
- Record Retention: A document retention schedule is a vital component of information security. Records retention laws vary by state and industry, however, as a general rule of thumb, it’s important to assign business records certain retention limits and document destruction deadlines. If you’re currently storing records that have outlived their usefulness, your office is vulnerable to a data breach.
- Data Vaulting: Data recovery and disaster recovery are also an important component of security and compliance. Although cloud software offers many conveniences when storing and managing electronic documents, the most secure form of data storage is data vaulting. Store your backup tapes and media in a secure, offsite vault. In the case of a natural disaster or server crash, you will still have access to all of your data. Can your competitors say that?
- Document Shredding: Partnering with a document shredding service reduces the risk of a security breach by ensuring that all confidential records are securely and ethically destroyed. Secure document shredding prevents identity theft and is recommended as a best practice for 2019.
3. Customer Service & Operations
It’s common sense that excellent customer service separates you from competitors. But did you know that an inefficient information management strategy can cause your customer service to suffer? Disorganized records storage, fumbling to find lost files, struggling to accurately create an audit trail, and more.
Having instant access and retrieval of customer files available from the convenience of your desktop can empower your customer service team to resolve issues faster and more accurately, answer questions related to billing and invoicing, and even help the Human Resources department streamline their onboarding process to ensure you’re hiring the most capable and resourceful employees.
We’ll take a deeper dive into each of these aspects throughout the series in the coming weeks. Until then, if you have any document management questions or need help implementing a new strategy right away, please reach out to us!
A Paper Chase Blog Series
This may surprise you – but did you know that document management has a direct impact on customer acquisition and retention, efficiency and overhead costs, employee satisfaction, business security, and more? This 4-part series will help you identify areas of weakness within your current document management process and offer practical solutions that you can implement in 2019 to ensure you’re staying competitive and relevant.
In Part 1 of this series, we’ll introduce three ways your competitors are beating you when it comes to document management. Parts 2, 3, and 4 will take a closer look at each factor and offer resources to help ensure your document management strategy is keeping you competitive, increasing customer satisfaction, and maximizing efficiency.
It’s the beginning of a new year, and like many companies, you may be evaluating your current document management processes and searching for ways to improve, become more efficient, offer better customer service to your clients, work more productively, and keep employees happy. We know that’s a lot to think about. And while assessing your records management process can be daunting, if you want to stay relevant and competitive, it’s necessary for your document management strategy to continue evolving — by leveraging new technology and adapting to new standards in data and information management.
You might think it doesn’t matter whether you manage information and data the same way your competitors do, and in some respects, you’re right – as long as you’re doing it better. No matter the industry you work in and the information you handle — whether it’s medical records, tax records, HR files, insurance records, AP files and invoices, etc…these document management best practices for 2019 can set you apart from the competition.
1. Automation and Document Workflow
The increased efficiency gained by using and electronic document workflow solution will allow your organization to significantly improve service to your customers, pay vendors faster without needing to increase staff or budget, give employees more time to focus on important responsibilities, and create more effective communication between departments.
In addition to enhanced productivity, the transition to managing documents electronically will improve employee efficiency, free office space by eliminating the need to store massive volumes of hard-copy records, and help internal processes run more smoothly.
2. Record Retention, Security, & Compliance
Any breach of private information has the potential to negatively impact your organization – both financially and professionally. Your customers trust that you will keep their information secure, and when you don’t, your professional reputation is tarnished, customers may leave you for a competitor. Negative Google reviews, issues with auditing and compliance, and hefty fines are just a few of the negative impacts of poor records retention and security protocols.
What does a secure document management strategy look like?
- Record Retention: A document retention schedule is a vital component of information security. Records retention laws vary by state and industry, however, as a general rule of thumb, it’s important to assign business records certain retention limits and document destruction deadlines. If you’re currently storing records that have outlived their usefulness, your office is vulnerable to a data breach.
- Data Vaulting: Data recovery and disaster recovery are also an important component of security and compliance. Although cloud software offers many conveniences when storing and managing electronic documents, the most secure form of data storage is data vaulting. Store your backup tapes and media in a secure, offsite vault. In the case of a natural disaster or server crash, you will still have access to all of your data. Can your competitors say that?
- Document Shredding: Partnering with a document shredding service reduces the risk of a security breach by ensuring that all confidential records are securely and ethically destroyed. Secure document shredding prevents identity theft and is recommended as a best practice for 2019.
3. Customer Service & Operations
It’s common sense that excellent customer service separates you from competitors. But did you know that an inefficient information management strategy can cause your customer service to suffer? Disorganized records storage, fumbling to find lost files, struggling to accurately create an audit trail, and more.
Having instant access and retrieval of customer files available from the convenience of your desktop can empower your customer service team to resolve issues faster and more accurately, answer questions related to billing and invoicing, and even help the Human Resources department streamline their onboarding process to ensure you’re hiring the most capable and resourceful employees.
We’ll take a deeper dive into each of these aspects throughout the series in the coming weeks. Until then, if you have any document management questions or need help implementing a new strategy right away, please reach out to us!
