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It's understandable that businesses want to acquire CRM software as soon as possible. It makes managing client relationships easier, it organizes the company, and it increases efficiency in many departments.

But even if companies are particularly excited, they shouldn't rush the acquisition process. Companies will be extremely disappointed if they set up the CRM software only to find out that they purchased the wrong solution. This frustrating example happens surprisingly often amongst companies that rush to get the software.

A recent Destination CRM article explains why businesses should take their time and do their due diligence before purchasing CRM software. According to the article, having the wrong CRM software is just as bad as not having the software at all:

“Adopting CRM software that doesn't meet your organization's needs is almost worse than not having it at all, as it will only lead to frustration for everyone involved. Before purchasing a CRM software solution, determine your business needs and objectives, and then go through a comprehensive vendor selection process to ensure that the technology you purchase will allow you to meet them.”

Luckily, businesses aren't alone during the purchasing process. They just need to ask CRM providers exact questions about their software, technology, and requirements. If they understand exactly how the software functions beforehand, there won't be any surprises when they finally set it up at the office.

After businesses are sure that they've found the right software, they can purchase it, set it up, and start to improve their relationships with clients. CRM software makes it easier for sales representatives to inform themselves about clients prior to any meetings or discussions. In addition, businesses can use the acquired data to improve their marketing program and narrow down their target market.

If you would like more information about CRM software, contact us.

Over the past decade, businesses have been investing more and more in customer analytics . This investment has been proven to be effective in improving communication with clients. CRM software can assist businesses with their customer relationships and has a good ROI.

New research shows that companies that invest in customer research outperform ones that don't. Here are the results of a recent report conducted by Aberdeen Group (the percentage symbolizes the year percent change):

19.7% customer win-back rate for users, 9.0% for nonusers
6.8% cross-sell and up-sell revenue for users, 2.6% for nonusers
6.2% customer retention for users, 3.6% for nonusers
3.7% improvement in average customer care costs for users, 0.7% for nonusers
3.3% revenue from customer referrals for users, 1.6% for nonusers
3.3% customer lifetime value for users, 0.9% for nonusers
As you can see from the statistics, customer analytics have a major impact on sales and customer relationships. In just about every major statistic, companies that use customer analytics outperform companies that use a more traditional approach.

If your business is considering CRM software, like ACT!, Hubspot, Salesforce, or Zoho, but is not sure if it's worth the money, then take another look at the statistics and compare it to the costs. If you're looking to increase customer win-back rates or up-sell revenue, CRM software can help you finish the job. For companies with these needs, CRM software will almost definitely have a positive ROI.

In addition, compare the cost of CRM software to other steps you would take to increase your customer win-back rate. Inbound and outbound marketing may be useful in this area, but they aren't free services, either. One way or another, businesses are going to have to pay to increase their win-back rate. CRM software may be the most cost-effective solution of the bunch.

If you would like more information about CRM software, contact us.

To us, it's clear why someone might need CRM Software, but you might need some convincing. Well then, here's six reasons to consider.

Better customer relations

We'll start with the most important benefit of CRM software (e.g. ACT!, Hubspot, Salesforce, and Zoho). Ultimately, the software collects information and data about clients which representatives can use for future sales. This leads to more efficient conversations with clients. Here's what a recent Business 2 Community article had to say about CRM software:

"I’m a firm believer that the more information you have, the better customer support you can offer. If your customer service team can dig into a customer profile and see that she’s called before on this same issue, they can quickly read the previous notes so the customer doesn’t have to repeat herself and tell the whole story again!"

Stay organized

Sales representatives can have all of the data and information in the world but it wouldn't mean anything if it wasn't organized. CRM software doesn't just collect information, it also organizes it so it's easy for sales representatives to read.

Assist sales representatives

Investing in sales representatives will eventually show up in your bottom line. If they have an easier time selling to clients, the business will have more total sales. CRM software is one of the best resources companies can give to sales representatives.

Positive ROI

CRM software isn't free, but it's a worthwhile investment. In the end, businesses will receive more money from the investment because it will have a positive impact on their overall sales.

Easy transition

Transitioning over to new software isn't as hard as it used to be. In addition, incorporating other software with CRM usually isn't a problem. Let us know if you need any help with you switch over to CRM software. But usually, it's a pretty smooth transition for businesses.

To talk more about this, or anything else, please contact us. Thanks.

Deciding which CRM software to purchase isn't an easy decision for businesses. There are many different kinds of software out on the market and it's not always easy to know which one is best for your business.

Two things that buyers always look at are interface and integration. A CRM software's interface is certainly important. It plays a major role as to whether employees will be able to figure out how to use the software. In general, the more simple the interface, the better.

Integration is the other side of the equation and is even more important. Before purchasing the software, businesses have to understand how it will be integrated with other programs and apps. Most CRM software, like ACT!, Hubspot, Salesforce, and Zoho, can be integrated with other software such as an email client. But you want to be sure before you make any buying decision.

A recent Enterprise App Today article explains why integration and interface are so important when it comes to CRM software. But according to the article, businesses should place more priority on integration:

And then there is integration, an issue that makes many user eyes' glaze over. Yet integration is essential for companies that want to leverage their CRM systems to offer a better and more holistic customer experience. Lack of integration is a particular problem for mobile CRM.

Put it this way: If employees don't like the software's interface, they'll eventually get used to it over time. This is really mostly subjective anyway.

On the other hand, integration has nothing to do with subjectivity. It's either the CRM software integrates with your other programs or it doesn't. This probably won't change, either. If your CRM software doesn't fit in well, then you're stuck with it.

Make sure you sort out your priorities before purchasing CRM software. Focus on integration rather than interface.

If you would like more information about CRM software, contact us. Thanks.

One of the most flexible and popular CRM software choices in the industry is ACT! software. This software has millions of users worldwide, across a variety of fields and industries. The CRM system comes with the tools and features your sales team needs in order to maintain and manage all the sales. Another wonderful thing about ACT! software is that it will not put a dent in your wallet. 

ACT! software's layout is simple and easy to figure out. Your employees will not have a difficult time staying on top of their sales, nor will they have a difficult time printing out their previous sales history. 

One of the best perks of this software is that it allows all of your employees to manage and organize the contact information in an efficient manner. All the information your employees need can be accessed from one page; this will save your employees from having to hunt down the information they need. 

ACT! software with some additional features will make sure your business will have a great return on its investment. You can integrate support tools and management into your software; this will especially be beneficial when you have a technical support team who does not work with your ACT! system. 

You will have customer service, support, and a troubleshooting-ticket system that can be created using additional programs from the outside. This will be a good choice because all of that information can be synced into the system. 

The versatility of ACT! software gives business and organizations the ability to use it for all their operations, regardless of the industry. The learning curve is not difficult, but if you want to become a master user, you will need to receive the right training that is offered for the software. 

If your business or organization wants more information about ACT! software or training, contact us today with your questions. 

The last concern that businesses should have regarding CRM software is its future use. CRM software has been around for years and has improved many businesses' marketing processes. For a relatively low cost, it keeps businesses organized and its sales representatives informed.

But for some reason, not everyone is optimistic about the future of CRM. Some think that the software has failed in terms of its ability to generate leads and sales.

A recent ZDNet article responds to these claims and explains why they have no basis. According to the article, the claim is inconsistent and doesn't change the fact that businesses will be using CRM for the foreseeable future:

"CRM is evolving and — in a few years — it will be what it has been for the last decade — the operational and transactional technologies needed to drive customer engagement."

The article makes the point that the claim that CRM software has failed implies that thousands of business owners are stupid. Apparently, for some unknown reasons, they continue to invest in the software even though it has no effect on their sales or customer relations.

The reason why CRM software is so successful is because it keeps things simple - something that businesses are always striving for. It helps sales representatives keep track of their clients and know when they're ready for new orders. It keeps clients happy because they don't have to start from scratch when placing a new order. And most of all, it keeps the company unified and aligned. Marketing and sales teams can both use the software so they're both on the same page.

When it comes to CRM software, it's best to stick to the facts and not listen to uninformed opinions. If you'd like to talk more about this or anything else, contact us. Thanks.

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.

If business is slow, then what you need is a sales process improvement. There are different ways to go about improving your sales process, so we though we'd give you four ways to do just that:

CRM software

Marketing software has changed the way businesses approach sales. CRM software, like ACT!, Salesforce, and Zoho, organize and stores every transaction made. When sales representatives want to look back on customer orders, they can organize the information by client, date, or product sold.

CRM software gives sales representatives more tools to do their job better. It's an investment in your sales department that will pay itself off.

Lead generation

Lead generation has changed considerably with the increasing importance of digital marketing. You need to practice lead generation to extend your market reach.

There are a few ways to do this. You can set up an email newsletter, attract followers on social media, or even purchase an email list. Whatever you do, just make sure those prospective customers are in your target market.

Data and analytics

Whether it's social media marketing, email marketing, or CRM software, make sure you take advantage of the data and analytics your software provides.

Data and analytics can help you narrow down your target market, detect trends and patterns among your followers, and determine the effectiveness of your marketing efforts. Basically, they can help you improve your entire digital marketing campaign if used correctly.

Marketing and sales alignment

With all of the digital tools that marketers have at their disposal today, there should be no excuses for the nonalignment of marketing and sales teams.

If you're a small business owner, one of your most important objectives is to align your marketing and sales departments. This ensures that you get the most out of your marketing investment. CRM software can be used to align the two teams by keeping everyone on the same page.

If you have any questions, or would like to talk more about this, or anything else, please contact us. Thanks.

Creating and keeping customer relationships should be one of the top factors in any type of business. If a business has negative relationships with customers, it will be very difficult to be successful, no matter what type of industry your business is in. This is why it so beneficial and important to have contact management software or a customer relationship management system that allows you to run your business operations effectively. 

Your Contacts

Contact management software like ACT!, Salesforce or Zoho, will allow you to add convenient information for every contact that you have. This will allow you to touch all of the bases when it comes to presentations, meetings, conferences, phone calls, and other things. This type of information will be placed with the contact's information. When you are able to pull up a contact and see all of this information, it is certainly effective and highly efficient.

Prepared For Conversations

If a customer or client unexpectedly calls you, you can quickly type in the person's name and see all of the information that you need. You will also be able to see any other calls or conversations that took place previously. When you can see why they have been calling, you can handle the conversation with ease because you will be prepared.

Every department in your office will be prepared for conversations with customers and clients. Once one of your departments receives a call and takes the order of a customer, the other departments in the office will also be able to see that same information. Your customers will be impressed and satisfied with the level of production and efficiency of your business. When you can improve the way you handle your customers and their needs, you will be able to keep those customers and receive recommendations for additional customers.

Even if you have the best technology skills, it may not always be easy to figure out how to use every feature of a new software or platform. You will not be left in the dark whenever you have questions. You will have a support team that will relieve you of any headaches that may come ahead.

Contact us if you are looking for ways to improve your business so you can leave your competitors far behind.

Data and analytics are the bread and butter of CRM software like ACT!, HubSpot, Saleslogix, and Zoho. They're what the software does best and are the reason why so many businesses now invest in CRM.

There's just one tiny problem. Some businesses don't check their CRM data for accuracy. It would be nice to assume the data is always 100% correct, but the reality is that errors can happen along the way. To stay on the safe side, you should regularly check and revise your CRM data.

A recent article by Smart Data Collective explains what happens when CRM data is inaccurate. According to the article, inaccurate CRM data starts a negative domino effect that can ruin the consumer experience.

"Without this data, the sales team cannot use the CRM to close deals. The marketing team cannot segment its data accurately. The customer is frustrated that they’re receiving multiple copies of marketing messages, complete with mis-spelled names and email addresses that should have long since been removed. The IT department is becoming irritated with the requests to fix the data it cannot change."

If employees are making the most of CRM software, they'll be using it everyday. Sales representatives won't even talk to a client before referring to the CRM data and reading the client's file.

This is great and it's what we encourage. But if you're going to base your entire company's operations off of CRM software, it makes sense to check the data for accuracy once in a while.

This isn't exclusive to CRM software, by the way. Accountants check their numbers and percentages from time to time. Engineers check their work to make sure there are no inconsistencies.

Chances are that your data is fine. But if you're reading this, don't just assume that every figure is accurate. Check them every now and again.

To talk more about this, or anything else, please contact us. Thanks.