Three ways bespoke software will increase your productivity

Bespoke software is designed and developed to meet a customer’s unique business needs.

It is the counterpart to off-the-shelf or commercial software which is designed for the mass market. Why should you consider bespoke development over an off-the-shelf solution?

The productivity your company gains from using a bespoke solution to satisfy business needs is immense. Bespoke software can increase productivity in the following three ways:

Automation

Firstly, bespoke software can automate repetitive and time-consuming tasks. Commercial solutions often require manual data entry. Take, for example, the outdated system that our clients, Forest Schools, were using.

Their staff had to enter all bookings and contacts manually into their system, which was an extremely time-consuming task. Forest Schools approached Appt, wanting a more efficient solution.

Appt designed their bespoke software so that any new contacts could be added automatically, along with their bookings. By automating this menial task, the Forest School staff had more time to focus on critical tasks than tedious data entry.

Integration

As well as this, bespoke software solutions can integrate existing websites, client portals and other software packages to ensure a smoother, more productive workflow.

Staying with Forest Schools, their old system was clunky, outdated and didn’t integrate with their existing website.

This meant the staff spent a lot of time entering booking details from the website into their off-the-shelf CRM (client relationship management) system.

Appt ensured the new bespoke system was integrated fully with their website so that the staff didn’t have to enter each new booking from the website into the CRM software.

The software provided staff with a central platform to manage bookings, contact clients, and manage the administration of their courses. Several different off-the-shelf solutions previously handled all of this.

The central platform has made it much easier for Forest Schools’ staff to manage their workflow, increasing productivity as staff don’t have to use multiple software solutions.

The app we developed for Pier Management is a further example of integration creating a more productive workforce. Pier offers property management services for leasehold and freehold owners throughout the UK. The app was designed to integrate with Pier’s existing Qube CRM and their payment gateway Sage.

Pier’s staff now have a central platform from which to monitor payments and their client database. Like Forest School, the software integration gives Pier’s staff better workflow management, ensuring they can focus on more critical tasks and increasing overall productivity.

Accessibility

Another benefit of bespoke software solutions is that they can be designed to allow third-party access from outside the company.

Our clients, The Snowdrop Project are a Sheffield-based charity aimed at helping victims of human trafficking. They have developed a risk matrix to access the independence of their clients; however, due to their software, none of their partner organisations could access this critical information.

The Snowdrop Project offers a vital humanitarian service to victims of human trafficking, and their time is incredibly valuable in helping these victims move on with their lives after devastating trauma.

With limited access to the risk matrix, it was hard for the Snowdrop Project and its partners to work collaboratively and begin to help their clients.

Appt developed a CRM system which incorporated the risk matrix. The system made the matrix and client data accessible to partners for the first time.

Access to the software allows their partners to view client data and matrix scores instantly.

This has allowed the Snowdrop Project and its partners to focus on their clients and deliver the best recovery for them. The accessibility of the software has increased productivity but crucially has enabled the staff to focus on getting the clients the help they need.

This, in turn, increased the Snowdrop Project and their partners’ productivity.

To read more about the work we created for our clients, click the images below ⬇️