CRM 1080

With all the options in mass advertising today, is it hard finding one you can trust? Are the number of clicks and opens you get not satisfactory? Are you starting to think that consumers are becoming more knowledgeable and have higher demands?

Are you stuck in this social, tech and marketing dilemma?

Well, that is because the targeted segments are getting smaller and smaller. The new media offers hundreds of new ways to receive news, updates, ads, promotions, coupons, newsletters. The consumer has lots of options to pick from and the competition for a marketer is fierce.

Also, it has become much easier to publish. People are surrounded with websites, blogs, portals, forums, viral communities, podcasts, social media sites etc. Just as the Marketing Guru Seth Godin would put: “Everyone’s an expert on something.” Customers speak their minds; they blog it, comment on it, forward it, share it and collect it. No bad customer experience is a well kept secret any more. All it takes – even for a loyal customer- is an internet access to tell the world how lousy the service was last Friday at the local restaurant.

Who is to blame? The internet!

The good news is that internet is also very much marketer friendly if your mind is set to “Customer Engagement.” Let’s put this phenomenon on the table by using Kirkpatrick’s Model on the Degree of Involvement (click-consume-understand-act).

Visiting

The user has taken the first step into the customer journey on your website by basically liking your subject line or title. Although this user group’s adaptation level is low, he or she has willingly clicked on your link which means that you are given the explicit permission to promote. Use it wisely. Search Engine Marketing and Optimization can help you learn these visitors’ behavior pattern while they are surfing on your site and what you need to improve. These “clickers” love to click! Get them to bookmark or tag your site.

Consuming

Now that you deal with prospects who actually are interested in what you offer, make them read your material. Keep in mind that consumer’s average attention spin is low and that the consumers tend to filter automatically. This is one of the disadvantages of this age where everyone is bombarded with marketing messages. Be simple, to the point and interesting in both design and content. Be remarkable! If you are successful at this level your site will be rated, voted or commented.

Understanding

The user gets more involved into the process. Your goal is not only to present the information that the reader seeks but also to facilitate experiences that will help them master the knowledge. You need to cater to as many learner types as possible: visual, auditory and kinesthetic. Visual demonstrations such as tables, charts, images will be helpful to paint mental pictures. One the transformation from a simple reader to the “aware consumer” is completed, you will realize that the consumers start to create content by uploading comments, blogging, referring or creating mash ups.

Acting

Have you get them excited enough to act on it? This level will reveal it all. The consumer who was successfully carried to this level is considered to be “Social”. You, as the marketer have planted the seed. Now, it will grow into satisfaction and then networking, creating communities, sharing with friends. Remember that only a highly engaged customer is loyal.

In other words, to “Keep your Customers for Life ™,” you need to invest your time, energy and resources in your customer to engage them with your brand. Now that we have Internet and the right tools it is easier to keep up with consumers and their preferences.

CRM is first and foremost a strategy and corporate philosophy that puts the customer at the center of business operations so as to increase profits by improving customer acquisition and retention.

It involves identifying high-value customers and automating processes so that sales, marketing, and service efforts will be more efficient and effective. In its complete form, CRM provides a 360-degree view of the customer and integrates all necessary information about the customer at every touch point – be it traditional voice, Internet-based, or wireless.

 A CRM software solution is the vehicle that enables the 360-degree view. The major integrated system components that make up a CRM system include account and contact management, sales automation, marketing automation, customer care (service and support), and integration with back-office applications.

Like many technologies that have profoundly changed the way we do business, CRM is here to stay. Just like e-mail, once embraced by all your employees you will wonder how you ever survived without it.

The key is to spend the necessary resources to identify your needs and partner with a CRM Software vendor that will support you today and help you grow into the future.

With your CRM strategy and software in place, you will be able to win more deals, have a better relationship with your customers, vendors and suppliers and you will have a better handle on the health of your business.

CRM Benefits -- CRM 1080

Hello all!!!     

Have you ever been frustrated because you can’t find your agreements? Or don’t know which of your employees last spoke to a client? Or which one of your sales brochure is the latest version? Or why don’t your employees realize that “Bob” is your high valued customer that requires special attention?  

If this sounds familiar, you are in dire need of CRM. When implemented successfully, a CRM initiative will transform your muddled, messy, mis-managed and disorganized business into a lean, mean, tech-savvy machine!   

Here is 15 benefits of a CRM system would bring to YOUR BUSINESS…      

1. Enable everyone in your organization to achieve operational excellence with a single 360-degree view of the customer.     

2. Facilitate successful execution of business performance philosophies such as Six Sigma, Lean, TQM, and the balanced scorecard.     

3. Increase customer acquisition, retention, loyalty, and profitability with standardized and improved sales methodologies.     

4. Automate redundant sales processes to better target resources, increasing the number of opportunities closed and accounts managed per sales representative.     

5. Empower your sales team with real-time pipeline and forecasting to direct focus to the most profitable opportunities.     

6. Keep in touch with your customers, even when you are on the road, with access to complete account information on laptops, even when disconnected from the Internet, and other mobile devices that are always in sync with corporate sites.     

7. Quickly identify and provide prioritized response to your most profitable customers and prospects.     

 8. Utilize powerful business rules to automate tasks and target your best clients through up-sell and cross-sell marketing initiatives.     

9. Enable marketing executives to quickly measure responses to marketing initiatives on a real-time basis, identify trends, and maneuver to leverage the most successful campaigns.     

10. Increase customer satisfaction through not only decreasing customer inquiry response time but also through providing the right response the first time.     

11. Provide customer self-service options to reduce costs, improve access, and increase customer satisfaction.     

12. Provide timely customer service responses using sophisticated business rules based on questions or other content such as keywords.     

13. Reduce unnecessary problem and inquiry escalation through the automated monitoring of customer interactions such as representative response times and frequency.     

14. Increase effectiveness and reduce costs by routing customer service calls to the most appropriate customer service representative, such as by geographic location, specialty, or acuity.     

15. Enable executives and management to be less reliant on IT to monitor the state of business through management analytics.

CRM Solutions today offer many features and functionalities.  But core CRM feature are still the main reason for selecting a CRM system that can help you retain your customers while acquiring new ones.

So…. take the poll below and learn how the general public is using the system compared to how you use it.

Hello there Marketing Enthusiast,      

By now, you must have heard about email marketing… and if you have not, there is a good chance that you have received mail from an email marketing campaign. eMail marketing is one of the fastest growing marketing strategies right now.     

Email Marketing — CRM 1080

  E-mail’s ROI in 2008 was $45.06 for every dollar spent on it, according to the Direct Marketing Association’s Power of Direct economic impact study. This compares to $48.34 in 2007, and a projected $43.52 for every dollar spent in 2009.   

 So, its about time that your business realized its full revenue potential using email marketing campaigns.  Still not sure why it may be right for you?    Here you go…. my Top 10 Reasons why Email Marketing may be the right for your Business:   

1.  Cost Less than Traditional Marketing.   Let’s face it, mailers and other forms of advertising can put a real dent in your pocket.  With email marketing, you reach thousands of prospects at minimal costs.   

2.  One Marketing Campaign Does NOT fit all. Consumers tend to respond to communication that they can relate to.  With email marketing, you can do just that — Target and Personalize your communication with your audience.   

3.  Schedule your Delivery. Unlike traditional advertising, with email marketing you can make sure that prospects get the message when you want them to get it.   

4.  Ability to Get Consumers to Act. One of the unique power of email marketing campaign is that you can provide a link or a button that allows your consumer to act immediately.  We all know how we have bought things on an impulse.  The right solution with the right incentive and easy means to purchase always works for the business.   

5.  Know the Truth Immediately. Because email marketing is as Real Time as it gets, you will be able to see results within hours and sometime even minutes of sending email.  The truth sometime hurts, but there is even some good news even if your campaign is failing — you can quickly change it (message, time-sensitive discounts, target, etc.)   

6.  Provide Opt-In/Opt-Out Options. Today’s consumers want to control when and how they want to communicate with you.  By providing personalized opt-in and opt-out options, consumers are more likely to engage in receiving marketing content because they are in control of what they want to receive and when they want to receive.  And with Online solutions, the entire management of who gets what is managed by your audience — so you don’t have to worry about it.   

7.  Easily create Drip Marketing.   If you have been in business long enough, you know that it takes at least 6 touches before consumers are comfortable with a particular product line.   

8.  Know which Marketing Campaign works! By that I mean, brings the best ROI.  So, that you can continually improve your delivery for the campaigns that don’t work as well.   

9.  It’s more than just a Sales & Marketing Tool. eMail marketing is fast becoming the method of choice for both business and consumers to communicate… whether it is Upcoming Events, Tips & Tricks, Business Update, Guides and more!   

10.  It’s Integrated with your Customer Database.  An Online CRM Solution (there are plenty of them out there) that supports email marketing with easy to use templates will manage not just your email marketing activities but also all your other communications including sales and customer service tracking.   So, one great solution that integrates all key components for success.   

Now, it’s time for you to act — start using an email marketing solution that is part of a broader CRM solution to help you achieve all your marketing needs.  In just a few steps and a few days, you can reap the many benefits thousands of companies are already experiencing…  Btw, here is a video on YouTube that may provide further clarity on the subject:      

Email Marketing Overview.       

On your side,
Zeynep

Why CRM, Why Now? CRM1080

What almost seemed like a fad in the mid 90s is now a way of life… or is it?   If you read some of the recent pundit analysis on CRM usage, you will find that most companies have not completely adopted CRM — and those that have, not all of them have done it successfully (which is a whole different subject for another time).   

So, for those on the sidelines, why CRM and Why Now?  Here is the simple answer:   

Why CRM?  CRM technology, when combined with Strategic Execution has proven to increase Sales/Revenue, Reduce Customer Service Costs, Increase Efficiencies, Improve Customer Loyalty, Increase Retention, Standardize processes and the list goes on and on…   

Why Now? Now… this is an interesting question…   My first thought was, if you have been educated about the value of CRM, then why not now?   It’s like saying,  “I am going to wait because I don’t need all that CRM offers.” So, that in itself should be enough.  But just incase you are not convinced, let’s add a few more reasons:   

• The Current State:  Heck why not?  Everyone is talking about how the economy and its negative impact on their business.  So, why would you not invest in changing the state of your business for the better? Small price to pay and perhaps…. just perhaps the key to keep your business alive!
   
• Affordability:  The common excuse: I simply can’t afford it.  Well my friend, you can.  CRM is no longer for the big boys – the playing field is now level — you too can utilize automation to provide the best value for your customers.  Credible CRM software are available for as low as $40 per user per month.   Like the old saying goes — you pay for what you get.  So remember not to be sucked into Free solutions or Fire-sales!
   
• Reach:  I remember doing business with companies within 50 miles of my business.   With the Internet, the entire world is within 50 miles of my business.  The proof is in the pudding — just sold to a company in Estonia, Saudi Arabia, Ireland and in talks with a company in Madagascar.   Wow!  Madagascar — never thought that the movie I so much enjoy watching with my kids would actually be a place that could use my products and services!  
   
• Easy Deployment: I want to do it but I don’t have the technical know-how.   Okay, we have heard that one too…   So, do you use Gmail or Hotmail or Yahoo Mail?  In many ways, you can start using CRM — like opening up a new Gmail account.   (I am just talking about opening the account — don’t forget the strategy side of things).   With Online CRM, securely hosted somewhere else in the Internet Cloud, you can start using CRM today without hiring a full-time IT person or consultant.  Just find the solution that is right for you (another topic for another day), and get cranking!  Hey the best part about online CRM is that you won’t have to worry about Software purchase, installation, maintenance, upgrades and backups because all reputable online vendors include these features as part of the monthly cost.  

As Winston Churchill put it so well, If you mean to profit, learn to please.   Learning to please in today’s world requires the right tools.   So, what are you waiting for? Search for “Small Business CRM” or “Online CRM” or “CRM Software” and start looking at the many solutions available to help take your business to the next level.     

Regards,
The CEO