If you are looking to get the most out of your marketing process, it doesn't have to be a long and complicated. In fact, we've got some quick ways to improve your marketing process; three, to be precise.
Marketing Software
First of all, your businesses should be using marketing software to stay organized and aligned. CRM software is one of the best choices out there for businesses that want to improve their relationships and communication with clients.
Although not all marketing software are the same, they all serve to improve the marketing process. They can help align marketing and sales teams and keep sales representatives organized and informed when they have several clients. Marketing software also benefits clients because their conversations with sales representatives are much quicker and more efficient.
Split up digital and traditional marketing efforts
There are advantages to both digital and traditional marketing. Digital marketing is cost-effective and good for increasing brand visibility on the Internet. On the other hand, traditional marketing reaches out to people who aren't on social media or don't use email often.
The most important thing is to realize that the two are completely different and shouldn't be mixed together. What works for digital marketing won't necessarily work for traditional marketing and vice-versa. Once you split the two up, however, you'll be able to identify what's effective and improve each process.
Factor in SEO at all times
Search engine optimization (SEO) is affected by all marketing efforts. To sum SEO up, businesses want to be found on Google searches. To do this, they have to post quality content, update their company information, have a record of positive online reviews, and play by Google's rules.
SEO is critical to any marketing strategy and should be considered throughout the entire marketing process. This makes it much easier once companies want to actually concentrate on SEO.
To talk more about this, or anything else, please contact us. Thanks.
Three Quick Ways to Get the Most out of Your Marketing Process
By Steve Stroz on Jul 9, 2018 3:00:00 PM
How Sales Software Equips Sales Representatives
By Steve Stroz on Jun 20, 2018 3:00:00 PM
A crucial benefit of using sales software is increased efficiency in the sales process. With sales software, your sales representatives are more organized and equipped to handle multiple discussions with clients.
The old tactics that sales representatives used were unreliable. They relied too much on memory, intuition, and gut-feelings. Sales software replaces these elements with organization, data, and analytics.
A recent Entrepreneur article talks about the benefits of software-as-a-service (SaaS) models. According to the article, sales software gives employees the tools they need to approach new clients and opportunities:
"Given today’s digital landscape, software-as-a-service models are often best because they give your team access to the tools they need anytime and with any device. By automating sales-funnel pit stops such as totals and targets, open accounts, new leads and opportunities and performance reporting, your sales team will be armed with this insight from the start -- giving them the necessary time to go and do something with it."
Businesses are often looking for ways to increase their productivity, or better yet, increase their ROI. Sales software has a high ROI because it makes sales representatives more efficient and effective in their efforts. In addition, it's not as expensive as some of the other investments businesses pursue.
An important aspect of sales software is that it takes care of automated tasks that don't necessarily require the attention of a human. Sales representatives can spend less time organizing data and more time doing what software can't: meeting with clients, pitching their products, and closing sales.
Of course, businesses will have to train their employees and show them how to incorporate sales software into their daily tasks. But with a little instruction, sales representatives will start to rely on their software and find ways to make their processes more efficient.
To talk more about sales software, CRM software, or anything else, please contact us. Thanks.
The old tactics that sales representatives used were unreliable. They relied too much on memory, intuition, and gut-feelings. Sales software replaces these elements with organization, data, and analytics.
A recent Entrepreneur article talks about the benefits of software-as-a-service (SaaS) models. According to the article, sales software gives employees the tools they need to approach new clients and opportunities:
"Given today’s digital landscape, software-as-a-service models are often best because they give your team access to the tools they need anytime and with any device. By automating sales-funnel pit stops such as totals and targets, open accounts, new leads and opportunities and performance reporting, your sales team will be armed with this insight from the start -- giving them the necessary time to go and do something with it."
Businesses are often looking for ways to increase their productivity, or better yet, increase their ROI. Sales software has a high ROI because it makes sales representatives more efficient and effective in their efforts. In addition, it's not as expensive as some of the other investments businesses pursue.
An important aspect of sales software is that it takes care of automated tasks that don't necessarily require the attention of a human. Sales representatives can spend less time organizing data and more time doing what software can't: meeting with clients, pitching their products, and closing sales.
Of course, businesses will have to train their employees and show them how to incorporate sales software into their daily tasks. But with a little instruction, sales representatives will start to rely on their software and find ways to make their processes more efficient.
To talk more about sales software, CRM software, or anything else, please contact us. Thanks.
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Reporting
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The Most Common Issues with Contact Management Software
By Steve Stroz on Jun 7, 2018 7:15:00 PM
Before implementing contact management software, it's just as important to know what you shouldn't do as it is to know what you should do. Most businesses that purchase contact management software are happy with their decision because they take the time to implement it correctly.
Other companies, on the other hand, aren't so patient. Rather than training employees and teaching them how to use contact management software like ACT!, HubSpot, Salesforce, or Zoho, they just throw it at them. These companies never fully utilize the software because they never implemented it correctly.
A recent LinkedIn article explains what exactly businesses shouldn't do regarding contact management software. Here's a list of why some businesses don't have success with it:
Failure to define your customer experience strategy
Failure to design with sales, service and support staff being the primary internal ‘customers’ and users
Failure to integrate social selling and marketing automation
Failure to embed sales methodology and sales process.
Failure to configure to be a deal management and sales coaching platform.
Failure to integrate as the single source of truth for the entire customer lifecycle
If you've purchased contact management software and were expecting a bigger impact, then you might want to check the list above. More likely than not, the problem stems from one of these failures.
What most businesses don't understand is that contact management software affects the entire company. It's not just something that sales representatives should refer to before speaking with clients. Marketing teams and managers should also look at the software often.
Most problems that businesses face with contact management software are easy to solve. All you have to do is look back at the implementation of the software and see if you skipped any steps. Even if you're past that point, there's always time to go back and fix what's wrong.
To talk more about contact management software, or anything else, please contact us. Thanks.
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Other companies, on the other hand, aren't so patient. Rather than training employees and teaching them how to use contact management software like ACT!, HubSpot, Salesforce, or Zoho, they just throw it at them. These companies never fully utilize the software because they never implemented it correctly.
A recent LinkedIn article explains what exactly businesses shouldn't do regarding contact management software. Here's a list of why some businesses don't have success with it:
Failure to define your customer experience strategy
Failure to design with sales, service and support staff being the primary internal ‘customers’ and users
Failure to integrate social selling and marketing automation
Failure to embed sales methodology and sales process.
Failure to configure to be a deal management and sales coaching platform.
Failure to integrate as the single source of truth for the entire customer lifecycle
If you've purchased contact management software and were expecting a bigger impact, then you might want to check the list above. More likely than not, the problem stems from one of these failures.
What most businesses don't understand is that contact management software affects the entire company. It's not just something that sales representatives should refer to before speaking with clients. Marketing teams and managers should also look at the software often.
Most problems that businesses face with contact management software are easy to solve. All you have to do is look back at the implementation of the software and see if you skipped any steps. Even if you're past that point, there's always time to go back and fix what's wrong.
To talk more about contact management software, or anything else, please contact us. Thanks.
Approach Contact Management Software Empirically
By Steve Stroz on Jun 1, 2018 3:00:00 PM
There are many guides out there today telling you how to purchase the right contact management software. These articles often stress choosing software that's sold by a reputable vendor or buying based off of your friend's own personal experience. Some guides will even tell you to purchase the same contact management software that your competitor has if it worked for them.
Now, these indicators aren't necessarily wrong. The best contact management software for you might be sold be a reputable vendor, recommended by a good friend, or used by your competitor. But at the same time, none of these automatically mean that the software will be right for you.
You have to accept that your business is unique and what works for you might not work for anyone else. Conversely, what works for others may not be effective for your business.
What you should really do is come up with a way to empirically evaluate potential contact management software (ACT!, HubSpot, Saleforce, Zoho). According to a recent LinkedIn article, this is a better way to purchase something as opposed to blindly following other people:
"The CRM that’s best for you and your business should be based off of the careful definition of your operational requirements, not vendor hype, golf buddies, frenemies, free trials, or any other silly reason. If you find yourself falling prey to these, get back to evaluating empirically."
The reason you should choose a contact management software based on your own evaluation is because your management style, sales process, and customer service are all unique.
There are many articles and blogs telling business owners to buy contact management software or CRM software based on what other people are doing. But in reality, it's better to decide for yourself based on your own empirical evaluation.
To talk more about contact management software, or anything else, please contact us. Thanks.
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Now, these indicators aren't necessarily wrong. The best contact management software for you might be sold be a reputable vendor, recommended by a good friend, or used by your competitor. But at the same time, none of these automatically mean that the software will be right for you.
You have to accept that your business is unique and what works for you might not work for anyone else. Conversely, what works for others may not be effective for your business.
What you should really do is come up with a way to empirically evaluate potential contact management software (ACT!, HubSpot, Saleforce, Zoho). According to a recent LinkedIn article, this is a better way to purchase something as opposed to blindly following other people:
"The CRM that’s best for you and your business should be based off of the careful definition of your operational requirements, not vendor hype, golf buddies, frenemies, free trials, or any other silly reason. If you find yourself falling prey to these, get back to evaluating empirically."
The reason you should choose a contact management software based on your own evaluation is because your management style, sales process, and customer service are all unique.
There are many articles and blogs telling business owners to buy contact management software or CRM software based on what other people are doing. But in reality, it's better to decide for yourself based on your own empirical evaluation.
To talk more about contact management software, or anything else, please contact us. Thanks.
Why Introducing Organization is the Ultimate Sales Process Improvement
By Steve Stroz on May 30, 2018 4:00:00 PM
If you're looking to implement a sales process improvement, then you should concentrate on organization. Above anything else, the level of a sales team's organization will determine its success.
When sales representatives are disorganized, they can't communicate with clients effectively. Before meeting with clients, sales representatives should prepare themselves by:
- Researching the client
- Understanding the client's need for the product
- Analyzing the client's past order history
- Disorganized sales representatives aren't prepared to finalize sales because they don't know what the client wants. It's -unprofessional and wastes the client's time.
A recent Harvard Business Review article explains why organization is the number one factor affecting sales representatives. According to the article, high-performing sales teams attribute their success to their organization:
"Fifty percent of study participants from high-performing sales organizations responded they had sales processes that were closely monitored, strictly enforced or automated compared to just 28% from underperforming sales organizations. Forty-eight percent of the participants from underperforming sales organizations indicated they had nonexistent or informal structured sales processes compared to only 29% from high performing sales organizations."
Now, staying organized isn't nearly as hard as it once was. Sales representatives now have access to new software and applications which can help them prepare for meetings with clients.
One of which is CRM software. By using CRM software, like ACT!, HubSpot, Salesforce, or Zoho, sales representatives have access to a large customer database and can track each of their last interactions. All they need to do to prepare for a meeting is check a client's file, study it (with emphasis on patterns in their order history), and get ready to suggest new orders.
If your sales team is currently struggling, then they're probably suffering from disorganization. Consider using CRM software to introduce organization into the sales process and help sales representatives perform their job better.
To talk more about sales process improvements, or anything else, please contact us. Thanks.
When sales representatives are disorganized, they can't communicate with clients effectively. Before meeting with clients, sales representatives should prepare themselves by:
- Researching the client
- Understanding the client's need for the product
- Analyzing the client's past order history
- Disorganized sales representatives aren't prepared to finalize sales because they don't know what the client wants. It's -unprofessional and wastes the client's time.
A recent Harvard Business Review article explains why organization is the number one factor affecting sales representatives. According to the article, high-performing sales teams attribute their success to their organization:
"Fifty percent of study participants from high-performing sales organizations responded they had sales processes that were closely monitored, strictly enforced or automated compared to just 28% from underperforming sales organizations. Forty-eight percent of the participants from underperforming sales organizations indicated they had nonexistent or informal structured sales processes compared to only 29% from high performing sales organizations."
Now, staying organized isn't nearly as hard as it once was. Sales representatives now have access to new software and applications which can help them prepare for meetings with clients.
One of which is CRM software. By using CRM software, like ACT!, HubSpot, Salesforce, or Zoho, sales representatives have access to a large customer database and can track each of their last interactions. All they need to do to prepare for a meeting is check a client's file, study it (with emphasis on patterns in their order history), and get ready to suggest new orders.
If your sales team is currently struggling, then they're probably suffering from disorganization. Consider using CRM software to introduce organization into the sales process and help sales representatives perform their job better.
To talk more about sales process improvements, or anything else, please contact us. Thanks.
Topics:
Reporting
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ACT! Software And Hosting
By Steve Stroz on May 29, 2018 7:35:55 PM
The proper hosting plan for your business will produce several things that are cost prohibitive for your business.
Back Up - Proper hosting requires on site back ups through a Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID). The RAID backup programming prevents data loss due to a hard drive crash. Additionally, your hosting plan will back-up servers off site so that you will not lose more than 24 hours of data in the event of a catastrophe. Redundant back-ups cost money, someone else's system used on a subscription (SAAS) basis reduces your capital expenses.
Security - Using an ACT! Hosting plan reduces the amount of 3rd Party Hardware your customer's information will pass through. This reduces your security footprint, and reduces the chance of breach of privacy. Your costs increase as you have to ensure security on your hardware, website hosting plans, and more.
Physical security - An ACT! hosting plan has to meet physical security requirements. These requirements are easier to provide on scale, and create value for your business that would require an inordinate amount of capital.
Customer support - Building an in-house solution requires you to pay technical support to do on-site repairs. Most hosting services provide free or cheap customer support for your users' end and do all their in-house technical support on the back-end hassle free (on your part).
History - Any endeavor takes time to learn. An ACT! certified partner has shown 6 months of successful hosting via customer recommendations. Your business gains value by using a hosting service for your ACT! CRM software because you gain that experience.
Adequate hardware - With all the experience, backup, security and system requirements required to be an ACT! hosting provider, your business gets substantial gains in the time it takes for trial and error on your own systems. This increases value while decreasing costs to you, since you do not have to upgrade any of your own hardware.
Gold Cost Advisors offers certified ACT! hosting. Please contact us for more information on how a hosting plan can work for your business.
To talk more about your ACT!, or anything else, please contact us. Thanks.