When you run a business, one of the most important metrics you need to track is productivity and attendance. If you can make sure that these two remain high, your profit levels will soar.
A tool that can help you track these metrics and make necessary improvements is a time clock software. You need to get it immediately if you aren’t already using one. But you need to be very meticulous about it. As there are hundreds of them to choose from and if you aren’t very careful, you could end up with the wrong one.
Make a list of the essential features you require:
The first thing you must check for is that the time clock software has all the features you require. So, make a short checklist of all the features your potential time clock software requires. The website monitoring service includes all the key features (transaction, FTP, mail server monitoring, uptime report,real-time dashboards, etc.) necessary for webpage performance analysis. They use real browsers from the cloud for the performance check and notify you if any problems are detected by email, SMS, and phone.
This should include…
- How many people will be using the app and if the number will increase? As you need to pick a software that will be able to accommodate all your employees and managers who will monitor it.
- Are their upgrades? You should be able to upgrade your plans and add in more features.
- How hard is it to use the software? Can anyone at the company use the software or does it require technical expertise and do you have an employee who can handle it?
This way make a list that is as detailed as possible. Don’t be afraid to write down a question, no matter how silly it looks. It is important to get the right software the first time because moving to another one will be highly convenient to both you and your employees.
After you make this checklist you can look up words like ‘time clocking software’, ‘time clocking software for business’ and ‘time clock apps‘ on search engines and on software directories like Capterra. This will result in hundred and hundreds of software. You should visit their websites, check them out and make a list of potential tools that meet your requirements to a spreadsheet. Include comments that will help you easily recollect what you liked about them.
See what customers are saying:
After you create the list of potential time clock software for your startup, you should visit their testimonials page and see what customers are saying about them. If the software’s website has some case studies that show you the effect their tool has had on their business i.e. number of hours saved, amount of money made as a result, you should definitely read them.
You can also conduct a quick search on social media to see what people are saying about them as you can find more genuine responses here.
Test out the tools:
After you read testimonials, case studies and social media updates, your list of potential time clocking software to use will become shorter.
Next, you should take each of these tools, sign up for a free trial and begin testing them out. Most of the top tools will offer a free trial. Don’t just get one person to try it out, get some of your managers and employee (all, if possible) to take it for a spin. They will be using it the most and their opinions should matter most.
Ask them to use all the features for a few days. Also, contact customer support a few times to see how quickly they respond. The best companies will respond within 24 hours. Make a note of the performance of the software and the customer support on a piece of paper or spreadsheet. You can rate it on a scale of 1 to 10.
Follow this process and test out at least 5 software for 2 to 4 weeks. By the end of the test you will find the perfect software that suits your business.
Now choose the right time clock software for your startup:
These are the steps you should follow while choosing a time clock software for your business. Make sure you go through all of them. It might seem like the first software you test out has all the features you are looking for, but trust me when I say that there will be better ones out there. Also, as you keep using a software for a while you will begin to see all the flaws in it better. So, take all the time you need.
