It’s rare to be a one-of-a-kind business, with no competition. If that describes your business, you are fortunate, assuming there is a demand for your business. Nonverbal alien communicators may have a niche in the marketplace, for example, but it might be too small to be profitable.
Most of us, however, compete with other businesses that provide similar products and services, or at least meet the same felt needs as other products. After all, how many companies produce “whole grain” breakfast cereal with cartoon figures on the box or bag?
How will you rise above the competition in the minds of potential customers? What sets you apart? What is unique 
or remarkable about your business that is going to get people talking about you, and eventually referring your business to others? It’s not enough to have a solid product or a sought-after service. If your business is not perceived as special, you’ll have to rely on where you sit alphabetically in the yellow pages or sit on page 4 in Google.
Years of slick promotions and bait-and-switch offers, combined with a still-struggling economy have left consumers somewhat skeptical and reluctant to spend.
What they are looking for includes:
- Value. Will this product or service add something to my life or the lives of those around me? Will it make life easier or more interesting?
- Honesty. Will this product or service do what it says it will? Will I have any problems getting the product serviced or replaced if necessary? How will you make it up to me if I’m not satisfied?
- Love and Respect. Does the person behind the counter see me as a person or an interruption? Is this product designed to meet my unique needs? Does the company care about my opinions about the product? Will the service providers leave my home like they found it? Will they work around my schedule?
- Wow Factor. Was working with this company a memorable experience? Is this something I can talk about around the water cooler? Is it a business I would recommend to others?
Businesses are built on referrals. Referrals come from happy customers. Happy customers are created when you exceed their expectations. Once you create happy customers, they become the greatest resource for building your business. So, it is vitally important you track your interactions with them and treat them like individuals. CRM software can help you do that.
Referrals need to be easily identifiable in your CRM System as they are a key ingredient in your business relationship development strategy. And by using the related knowledge linked to the referral contact you can grow your business more quickly and build a long term asset.
So go ahead. Make your business as unique as you are. Give them something to talk about.
What have do find in the real-world of business development that your customers are really looking for?
If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment below or subscribing to this feed to have further articles delivered to your feed rea
der.
Convert this page to a PDF or print
Having a mindset that CRM is Technology is certainly a limited approach. It restricts the long term relationship building success. Over 20 years ago I heard a wise CRM guru state that CRM is 60% about the people, 30% about the processes and only 10% about the technology.
The limiting mindset that CRM is just technology misses the core principles of business relationship development that is central to a CRM strategy and system.
It is the “relationships among people” that drive long term business success.
Yes, there are the external customers, clients, leads, prospects, vendors, patients, and so forth that are traditionally considered part of a “customer-centric” people strategy.
But let’s not forget the internal customers- the sales reps, the customer service reps, the receptionists and others within a business that really provide that front end to a positive customer experience. These are the front line resources a business helps to develop and to support with systems like CRM
The true believers of the broader purposes of CRM realize that intelligently moving through the know, like, trust relationship building process is critical for personal and business success.
How many times do we remember our commitments without a system to help us?
Do you remember the conversations you had with a prospect a month ago or the details of that quote from 6 weeks ago, without having a trusted database system?
Do you remember that her son is playing basketball for the Michigan State Spartans or his wife sits on the board of a local and influential not-for-profit organization?
Additionally when the sales representative is out on vacation or unavailable, can the customer service representative easily turn to their CRM system to get up to speed on the current relationship to quickly build rapport?
Making that external customer feel at home and comfortable quickly is a requirement in our crazy busy world for those businesses that want to excel.
Better Decisions:
Finally we can all use reliable information from our knowledge database system to make those quality executive decisions, faster and easier. The sales manager who can quickly view those opportunities that are stuck can now more intelligently provide support and advice- thus improving the relationship with the sales staff and the development of the relationship between the prospect and sales rep.
Journey and Mindset:
Achieving success with a CRM strategy, system, processes and technology is a journey. The right mindset on what’s important and where to focus can make or break a business.
What is your mindset, and is it holding you back from available opportunities?
If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment below or subscribing to this feed to have further articles delivered to your feed reader.
Convert this page to a PDF or print
Social media marketing has a lot of moving parts and processes which make it hard to get up to speed. This challenge is only compounded by the ever-changing nature of the market, in which new applications and opportunities arise daily.
As an Inbound Marketing Certified Professional I have found that blog articles from Hubspot can help business people get up to speed quicker. At a recent Sage Partner conference I found several business owners, consultants and sales people looking for similar educational resources. Many times Hubspot.com came up in our conversations.
For instance, Hubspot's 22 educational social media diagrams article is useful if you learn through visual images. Sometimes it is easier to see concepts visually to get a basic understanding and then do further research on the topics that are most relevant to your business.
People participate in social media in different ways. This image shows various roles and related tools/resources.
The Comprehensive Social Media Marketing Resouces link is the Social Media marketing hub. Use these resources to learn how to use social media to help achieve your business and marketing goals.
Use these links to view more of our articles about Social Media and Social CRM and point your way to success with CRM.
Our web site section about Success with Social Media and CRM has additional material about Business blogging, LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter tools.
A social media marketing strategy and the various tools found in social media can help to extend your reach and obtain more qualified prospects. Call us to discover ways to extend your reach into the Internet more effectively.
What resources have you found to help you use social media in your business?
If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment below or subscribing to this feed to have further articles delivered to your feed reader.
Convert this page to a PDF or print
The Sage SalesLogix Cloud Advantage
Software as a Service (SaaS) or on-premise CRM? You no longer have to choose. With Sage SalesLogix Cloud you get the best of both worlds-the flexibility and rapid time-to-value of traditional SaaS solutions, combined with the security and control of on-premise solutions.
Sage SalesLogix Cloud offers unique advantages over SaaS CRM vendors including:
Peace of Mind
You can have peace of mind that your data is secure and only accessible by you, not intermingled with the data of thousands of other companies. You own and control your data right from the start so in the future, should your business needs change and you decide to switch from a cloud-based solution to an on-premise solution, you get your data back intact-in a usable, standard format. And, rest assured, Sage will take care of you so your IT department doesn't have to worry about it-from setup and backups to expert product support and 24-hour monitoring.
Don't Get Nickled & Dimed on Storage
Most businesses require plenty of data storage-so right from the start you'll receive greater storage space per user than some other CRM vendors, with favorable rates to increase capacity as your business grows and changes.
CFO Friendly
Not all businesses are the same. That's why Sage SalesLogix Cloud offers a variety of flexible payment, subscription, and license options that fit your business requirements and financial preferences.
Plays Well With Others
Sage SalesLogix Cloud was built on a flexible, standards-based platform that enables integration with your other business management solutions, desktop applications like Microsoft Office and Outlook, and Web services for increased productivity and a complete, holistic view of your customers.
You're in Control of the CRM Experience
Change, like a software upgrade, can be disruptive-to IT, to users, and even to management. Sage SalesLogix Cloud gives you control of upgrades so you can perform them when it's right for your business-not when the vendor decides.
The Sage Advantage
Sage has offered a comprehensive portfolio of business management products and services focused on SMBs for over 30 years including ACT! by Sage, Peachtree, and Sage MAS ERP. Sage SalesLogix is a celebrated, established leader in the CRM market for nearly 15 years and supported by a network of expert, local Certified Sage Business Partners [Success with CRM Consulting, Inc.] who can deliver CRM advice and expertise.
Full Featured CRM
- Account/Contact Management
- Opportunity Management
- Microsoft Outlook and Office Integration
- Process & Workflow Automation
- Sales Forecasting & Territory Alignment
- Lead Qualification & Management
- Multi-channel Campaign Management & ROI E-marketing
- Ticket Management
- Defect Tracking & Returns
- Mobile Access
- Business Analytics & Reporting
- Back-office Integration
- Data Mashups Capability
- Advanced Customization Capabilities
For more about Success with SalesLogix select this link. For SalesLogix cloud offering Product information sheet.
Try It Today.
We can have a full evaluation copy available by simply calling Dick at 269-445-3001.
If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment below or subscribing to this feed to have further articles delivered to your feed reader.
Convert this page to a PDF or print
There are several add on software products for ACT! by Sage that link with Quickbooks, however there is only ONE product that has raised the bar - QBSalesData.
Many of my clients currently have Quickbooks as their accounting software and want to know what integrated software would I recommend.
They are the only Quickbooks software integrated with ACT! that actually has the QuickBbook (QB) data stored in the ACT! database.
What this means to you:
1. Use QB field to perform key lookups in ACT:
- Lookup all customers with past due balances.
- Lookup all customers that haven't ordered from you in 6 months.
- Lookup all customers that spent more than a certain amount with you last year.
2. Use QB fields to create strategic dynamic groups in ACT:
- Customers with past due balances.
- Customers that haven't purchased in 1 year.
- Customers by QB Sales Rep.
3. You can include QB field data in ACT reports and other reporting tools
4. You can merge QB field data into ACT letter and e-mail templates
Include a summary of the customers YTD sales in a Thank You!
5. You can include QB field data in your ACT dashboard utilities
Display YTD and prior YTD sales of your top customers and view sales trends.
6. You can use the ACT Layout to customize the QB data fields specific to your companies needs.
ACT has ability to modify your data forms to show what you want to see, where you want to see it.
7. NEW!- QB Items tab quickly shows what items the customer has purchased
Now salespeople can quickly see what products the customer has purchased without having to drill down into every transaction. Read more here.
Want to see how it works for yourself? Check out a Webinar hosed by QBSalesData. Click Here.
Coming at Sage Insights 2010: QBSalesData will be releasing Opportunities to QB Transactions functionality (Next Week!)
As an ACT certified consultant and user of QBSalesData I can help answer your questions. Give me a call.
If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment below or subscribing to this feed to have further articles delivered to your feed reader.
Convert this page to a PDF or print
HubSpot has created a Great Audio/Visual presentation with valuable and practical ideas and actions for marketing in this recession - check it out here. In 75 minutes you'll gain new insights from Mike Volpe, VP of Inbound Marketing, at HubSpot. So close your office door - invest time in how you can use your brains instead of dollars from that very limited marketing budget.
Key take-aways I found useful and that have reaffirmed my beliefs:
Be Your Own Media
I found this statement powerful: "Think like a Publisher". You can now create, publish and obtain feedback on your own content. David Meerman Scott drills on this point in his book The New Rules of Marketing and PR: How to Use News Releases, Blogs, Podcasting, Viral Marketing and Online Media to Reach Buyers Directly. A very insightful, useful read. (I have both the book and audible version).
What to publish? It can be in a blog, podcast, video, photos, presentations, eBooks, news releases and so forth. Use multiple avenues- they are all free or very minimal in cost.
Seriously get involved with the move to an Inbound Marketing focus
Inbound marketing makes sure you can be found first when the prospect is ready. Inbound marketing uses the best of what social media has to offer.
I have covered the importance of and tips on Social media engagement in several blog posts. Social media powerfully combine with a CRM system to increase business and gain success with your CRM business strategy.
Business Blogging works - in many different ways.
You are a publisher of your content- you don't have to wait for another high priced advertising firm or a web designer. A blog is lead nurturing. Be yourself and let your remarkable content flow as you educate your audience. More on Business blogging...
Create content to match the buyer phase and concerns. Make sure the content is targeted to buyers in today's economy.
Participate in Q/A and Discussion Forums
For Business to Business companies use Facebook discussions and LinkedIn Q/A or get involved in discussions in Groups of your interests. For a B2C company, you should check out Yahoo answers.
SEO - Search Engine Optimization is both a science and a Art.
Everybody uses Google to find information and being found first takes an effective SEO plan. Content is king, and knowing the keywords used by your prospects to find you is paramount. Your business blog will help to push you to the top of Internet search listings.
Twenty-five percent of SEO comes from your web site pages and blog articles. Some comes from the visible content of key words people use to find information and some is the invisible technical part.
More importantly 75 percent of SEO is off page - recommendations you get from friends and inbound links TO your site/blog. These links are online recommendations and valuable feedback on how you are attracting other people.
Use tools to Measure your Return of Investment
Use the www.Grader.com tools: Website Grader, Press Release Grader and the social media grader tools for Facebook and Twitter.
If you have Hubspot (like we use) there are several Analytical tools for Keyword grader, Page grader, (inbound) Link Grader, Blog analytics (views/links), etc.
The number of subscribers, the number of leads and the conversion percentage to customers are trends you can use to measure success.
Analytics provide you with the ability to make better marketing decisions.
Set Priorities
Mike recommends you split your time up into thirds:
Spend 1/3 of your time consuming information by reading and reviewing the information. Subscribe to key industry blogs of the RSS feeds through Google Reader. "Listen" to what others are saying and topics on their mind.
Spend 1/3 of your time producing new content. Publish content in your blog, presentations on sites like SlideShare and video on YouTube.
Spend the remainder 1/3 engaging your prospects. Discuss and communicate the value of your products and services with the needs you hear from those conversations.
Other useful resources:
Would you like to learn more about Extending your Reach and Attracting Qualified Leads?
We offer a free marketing consultation session to help get you started. As an Inbound Marketing Certified Professional, I enjoy looking forward to our conversation.
If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment below or subscribing to this feed to have further articles delivered to your feed reader.
Convert this page to a PDF or print
One of the first questions I hear from my clients during End User training is, "Ok, I know that ACT! has integration with Social Media sites like Facebook. But, how can that be helpful to me on a daily basis?"
Most people have had to call a repair person to fix something at one time or other. Well, have you ever received a follow up call from the repair company you hired to fix your dish washer or Cable?
Can you imagine if the follow-up call went like this?
"Hi, Mrs. Jamison, this is Sharron from XYZ repair company and I just wanted to first say congratulations on your new job and I hope the transition is going well for you. If you have a moment, could you take a short survey on the services that you had just received from our company?"
Just how did this person know that you had just changed jobs after 15 years, and wanted to know how you were settling in? You might be thinking, "WOW, this company really cares about me as a customer! I'd be happy to take a survey for them.
When you go the extra step to make your current customers feel valued to your business by adding a "Personal Touch", you are then creating a relationship that they will not forget.
By using the Social Media integration in ACT!, you can talk about the sunny weather your client is experiencing on the other side of the U.S. You can let them know that you loved their comment on Facebook about their oldest daughter in college.
ACT! 2010 uses the contact fields to specifically search Facebook, Google Maps, LinkedIn and many others. Need driving directions to a new client's office? Not a problem!
Building and enhancing relationships is a big part of what CRM can do for you.
Interested in a full-feature 30 day trial or how to get started with CRM- click here.
If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment below or subscribing to this feed to have further articles delivered to your feed reader.
Convert this page to a PDF or print
Learning more about your customers' true needs helps you build knowledge to make better decisions.
Business Intelligence comes from Success with your CRM.
Learn:
- What do they love about your business ?
- What improved product needs have they requested ?
- What changes in your service do they needed ?
- Can they get the answers when they need them ?
- How do you need to change your marketing plan, based on customer feedback and sales leads?
- Who among your internal customers needs an update in improving their customer experience building skills?
Learning feeds your mind and lights the way to better understanding and awareness of reality.
But learning requires an investment.
You must make the personal and business investment in the present to get ready for the future.
-
Dedicate time to get the business culture focused on customer service and increased sales.
-
Invest in a successful Customer Relationship and Management system that is easy to use and provides timely and valuable information.
-
-
Provide the discipline for you and your team to use the CRM system as intended and then to gain insights from the real data entered.
Better Customer Information + Better Decision Making = Better Business Results
New Knowledge Leads to Better Decision Making. That's business Intelligence you can take to bank!
P.S. Also this knowledge is helpful in crafting your Unique Selling Proposition.
What could you learn from your customers that would allow you to make better decisions and thus become more Successful with CRM and with Business?
If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment below or subscribing to this feed to have further articles delivered to your feed reader.
Convert this page to a PDF or print
Do you use ACT?
Do you use Quickbooks?
Wouldn't it be nice if the two could talk to each other??
I've use Quickbooks and ACT nearly everyday. And I've tried every method I could find to link the two together with absolutely no success - until now. I've finally found a product that actually works. I never realized how much time I could save in a typical day. I also have several clients successfully using this integration component to gain more success with CRM.
One of my clients now feels that they are more aware of their customer's payment history. At a click of a button they can now see within ACT! the amount of purchases per month for each customer. They could even compare sales per month, this year verses previous years. Also knowing the AR balance is helpful with having a conservation with the customer.
At the click of a button I can:
1. Create a new QuickBooks record from ACT
2. Create a QuickBooks invoice, estimate or sales order from within ACT
3. View all of my QuickBooks sales data in an ACT tab
4. Create an ACT lookup based on QuickBooks sales information
Having direct access to your accounting sales invoice and payment history can help to build business relationships. As CRM consultants we can help you integrate ACT and Quick Books for increased productivity.
Please refer to Success with ACT for more information.
Read more on our recommended Quickbooks and ACT by Sage Integration.
If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment below or subscribing to this feed to have further articles delivered to your feed reader.
Convert this page to a PDF or print
To Obtain Success with CRM- consider the following requirements:
For Part I - 18 Requirements for Success with CRM
10. Communicate, Communicate, Communicate 
Keep people informed of the goals, objectives, and progress. People feel better during the management of this big business change if they know what's going on. Communicate the "quick wins" as they occur to fuel enthusiasm.
11. Invest in Training
Training helps to empower end users and helps them become involved. Training should not merely focus on demonstrating how to use the software's features. Instead, training should teach employees how to effectively execute the business process enabled by the CRM system. Give your end-users as much time as needed with the new solution before going live - it makes the transition much easier. Over time, additional reinforcement training will provide even more benefits.
12. Phase-In the Roll-Out
Focus each phase on a specific CRM objective that's designed to produce a "quick win" - that is, meaningful results in a reasonable amount of time. Smaller, more manageable phases can yield more momentum and higher end-user adoption. You're building a holistic approach, using a step-by-step process.
13. Start with and Maintain Quality Customer information
Behavioral data is the lifeblood of CRM. CRM requires accurate customer information, so start by cleaning up any migrated data and duplications. Do this before a roll-out. Make it easier for people to tackle the tough job of data quality, access, and maintenance.
Enhance personalization by identifying the customer's social network links - identify their LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter handles.
14. Minimize Financial Risks
It's important that executives come to grips with the fact that CRM is not a one-time investment. As more and more users access the system, additional functionality will be found useful and other benefits become evident. CRM is a journey not a destination.
15. Consider Migration Paths
Understand where your company is heading. Make sure the software vendor you've selected can provide the additional functionality you might need in two or three years. Select one that will enable your CRM software to grow as your company grows. Make sure it can be customized for your business and personalized for the desired customer's experience.
16. Plan for Disruptions - Companies Change
Companies change. They make acquisitions or they get acquired, sections are sold off or outsourced, and executives get replaced. When implementing a CRM strategy, management must be ready for these kinds of changes. Refer to #15.
17. Measure, Monitor, and Track 
Once the system goes live, your company must measure, monitor, and track the system's effectiveness, with an eye to continuously improving performance. Changing behavior is a long-term process, so monitor to track progress.
18. Choose a Champion of Change
When you're making a full-suite implementation, start with a single department and let the dominoes fall into place. Choose a department with a manager who's behind the implementation, realizes its benefits, and whose department will also find the most success early on. Nothing jump-starts a CRM implementation more than a manager who always has that can-do attitude. CRM success can be contagious.
Back to Part I - 18 Requirements for Success with CRM
I designed and coded my first customer management system in 1983, later adding in sales force automation and integrating accounting systems. Today's commercial CRM software solutions, such as ACT! by Sage and SalesLogix, now provide the business processes and functionality for multiple business benefits so you can truly achieve faster success with CRM.
Our firm offers CRM readiness analysis and CRM optimization consulting services so you can grow your business faster and have a more integrated, effective system.
If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment below or subscribing to this feed to have further articles delivered to your feed reader.
Convert this page to a PDF or print