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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.

For CRM software to be effective, we often stress that businesses have to train their employees. At first, they may not be so eager to learn new software and change their daily routine. Managers have to get the point across that CRM software will make their job easier by automatically taking care of simple tasks.

If you've never purchased new software before, you'll be in for a surprise when you introduce CRM (ACT!, HubSpot, Saleslogix, Zoho) to your employees. There's a disconnect between the excitement managers feel and the reluctance of sales representatives to learn how to use new software.

This isn't a technological disconnect, it's a mental one. All of your employees can learn to incorporate CRM into their daily tasks. The question is if they'll be willing to do so.

A recent Business 2 Community article explains that in order for employees to use CRM software, they have to see it as a useful tool. According to the article, businesses have to invest in CRM data quality to support their employees.

"CRM software must be seen as a useful tool rather than a hindrance, but it can only be successfully implemented if data quality is prioritized too. The business simply must invest in data quality software that supports employees in their work, without creating new challenges or time drains. The use of data quality tools must be a proactive and ongoing process if it is to stem the tide of manual errors and natural decay."

We've seen both the successful and unsuccessful implementations of CRM software. More often than not, it depends on how the company introduces the software and trains their employees. CRM software will work if the entire company is on board. But if you're struggling to get employees to use it, you'll have to rethink your strategy.

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

Before purchasing CRM Software, you should be aware of all of the potential costs. We try to be as transparent as possible when it comes to pricing, and we make sure that every client understands how much he or she will have to pay.

CRM software requires a one-time initial investment and occasionally recurring costs. The recurring costs depend on the client, the number of users, and what type of software they purchase.

A recent Tech Cocktail article mentions CRM software-related expenses. Here's a list of the potential costs of CRM:

One-time costs include customization, set-up and training.
Recurring costs include licensing per users. per month.
Potential add-on costs include data migration.
Don’t forget to estimate the projected gain from managing your database.
The overwhelming majority of the expenses comes at the very beginning. Businesses have to customize their software and train their employees. Depending on the business, it may have to train its employees from time to time to remind them how to make the most of the software.

Besides the cost, we also like to inform clients of the return on investment (ROI) of CRM software. In order to do this, however, clients need to first know how much they're paying.

It's sometimes difficult to calculate the ROI of CRM software because its impact isn't just limited to financial bottom lines. It helps align the entire company, specifically the marketing and sales teams.

Still, businesses should be able to calculate the increase in sales that comes with the implementation of CRM software. Sales representatives have more success because they have access to new data and analytics related to clients. Businesses can calculate how much sales increase and then compare it to the costs of CRM software.

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

CRM software and contact management software are often confused for one another. While the two software are similar, there are still significant differences between them. We find it important that business owners are aware of both the differences as well as the similarities.

Contact management software is perfect for companies who want to organize their client database. If you're having a hard time keeping track of names, phone numbers, and email addresses, then you should consider using contact management software.

CRM software such as ACT!, HubSpot, Salesforce, and Zoho goes a step further. It's not only used to store contact information, but also to organize data relating to marketing and sales. Businesses can use CRM software to stay organized and align their marketing and sales teams.

A recent CRM search article talks about the differences between CRM software and contact management software. According to the article, CRM is a more complete solution while contact management software covers more basic functions:

"For some small businesses contact management may be sufficient, or may be a segway to a longer CRM journey. However, confusion persists in the tangible differences between contact management programs and CRM applications. The two program types are differentiated by customer strategy, application scope, business purpose and software utilization."

Just because CRM software offers more features and functions, however, doesn't mean that it's the better solution for every business. Your company may well benefit more from using contact management software.

But this is rarely the case. For this to be true, a company would have to have a truly excellent marketing and sales strategy. If not, then CRM software can help improve communication between your marketing team and sales representatives.

At the end of the day, both software will help improve your sales. But the effect of CRM software will be more direct and profound.

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

Businesses can integrate their CRM software to work with their other marketing programs and applications. One of the benefits of the software is that it will twist and bend to fit your marketing process, and not the other way around.

Marketing automation is now in just about every digital marketing platform. You can use marketing automation to access data and analytics about your target market, send personalized messages to a large audience, and take care of simple, yet essential marketing tasks.

Moreover, you can integrate marketing automation with your CRM software (ACT!, HubSpot, Salesforce, Zoho). For best results, businesses will use both of these aspects to improve their marketing and contact management.

A recent Business 2 Community article talks about integrating CRM software and marketing automation. The article explains how the two are separate but work well with each other:

"The more you understand your customer, the more targeted and strategic you can be in your communications. Tools provided by marketing automation can capture relevant data pertaining to your target audience, like how online visitors reached your website, which pages they visited (and for what duration of time), at which page they left, and where they went next."

Marketing automation provides businesses with a whole new well of data and analytics about their target market. Businesses can use this information to carry out more effective marketing campaigns.

In addition, they can also give this information to sales representatives to improve their customer relations. Sales representatives will learn more about their clients' behavior, interests, and purchase history.

Marketing automation is now a cornerstone of digital marketing. Many businesses already incorporate it into their marketing strategies to get data and analytics related to their target audience. To get even more out of marketing automation, you can implement it with CRM software and improve your customer relations.

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

When businesses evaluate contact management software, they typically consider its benefits. With contact management software, businesses can organize their client base, get access to new data and analytics, and give their sales representatives a better chance at finalizing sales with customers.

But there's one crucial aspect that businesses forget to consider all too often. Now, consider once more the fact that contact management software helps you tremendously by organizing your clients (ACT!, Hubspot, Salesforce, or Zoho). Who else would love to have access to that information? What would happen if your client list were to somehow get copied or stolen?

We're talking about security, or course. When you use contact management software, there's also a risk of someone else stealing that data. If your competitors get access to your data and analytics, then what was once a huge benefit would suddenly turn into a colossal blunder.

And that's why you should always ask about security before using contact management software. Here's what a recent Forbes article has to say about the level of security contact management software provides:

"Security is a much more complicated idea for contact management, and this is where many systems have gotten stuck. Do you advocate an open model – where everyone sees everyone else’s data – or something really closed, where you can only see someone’s data given the right combination of a public and private key or other multi-factor auth?"

This doesn't mean that you should avoid contact management software at all costs. The benefits are still the same, but you just have to make sure that the software has adequate levels of security.

Contact management software can have a big impact on a company's sales. But if that software is insecure, then it represents an alarming risk that could destroy a business. Before using contact management software, always ask about its security.

To talk more about contact management software and security, or anything else, please contact us. Thanks.

We often stress that how you implement CRM Software is just as important as the quality of software itself. You can purchase the best CRM software available, but if you don't integrate it with other applications and train your employees how to use it, it won't have a big impact on productivity.

We're drawing attention to this matter since we've seen it happen with so many companies. When there's no dramatic increase in productivity, business owners tend to blame the software. But oftentimes the problem stems from the implementation rather than from the software itself.

A recent LinkedIn article explains that implementing CRM software isn't easy. According to the article, if companies don't implement CRM software correctly, it will comprise its functionality.

"CRM implementation and adoption is not trivial and requires extensive engagement with all stakeholders to deliver the optimal result for the business and all stakeholders. I have experienced personally and continue to witness, CRM projects put at risk because initial functionality works then suddenly stops working – for a plethora of reasons."

There are two things you have to concentrate on when adopting CRM software. First, you have to integrate it with other applications. CRM software (ACT!, HubSpot, Salesforce, or Zoho), for example, is much more effective when it's used alongside social media and email platforms.

The other side is training employees so they know how to take advantage of the software. If sales representatives have access to CRM software but don't use it to research clients, they won't improve their sales process at all. Employees have to learn to incorporate the software into their everyday tasks.

In order for CRM software to be effective, you have to implement it correctly. If you've already purchased CRM software and are underwhelmed by its impact, then you should try training your employees or integrating the software with your other applications.

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

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.

Let’s face it, customer retention is a hot objective for any business model. In fact, it is far easier (and cheaper) to retain an existing customer than it is it gain a new one. Repeat customers are essentially the “bread and butter” to creating residual income and a reputable source for word of mouth advertising. In what ways can you improve your customer retention to maintain these loyal buyers that have a huge impact on your overall bottom line?

The good news is that your CRM software (like ACT!, HubSpot, Salesforce, and Zoho) has the features to help you create an exceptional customer service experience through being proactive in handling customer concerns, keeping your customers happy, and influencing them in a way that they write rave reviews about you on their social networks.

The following are 3 tactics you can implement in your customer service model to boost customer retention.

#1 Be Engaging

Now that your web-based CRM system is integrated with your social networks and email software system, you can engage with customers much faster in addressing complaints, concerns, or even feedback. Take advantage of this feature to be more interactive and involved with your followers. It just shows that behind the company name you are indeed a real person who genuinely cares about the customer.

Here are a few tips to becoming more responsive with your customers:

Reply promptly to complaints with a plan of action of what you will do to correct the issue (or direct them to someone who can)
Try to answer each question/comment…even if it’s a simple “thank you”
Ask questions to get feedback on a certain topic to create involvement
Send birthday wishes …these gestures can make a lasting impression on how your customers view their relationship with you

#2 Delivering Outstanding Customer Service

There’s a lot that can be said in providing incredible customer service. However, the best kind of service is creating a unique, personalized experience that is catered to that individual customer. You know, the kind of treatment that makes someone feel special because you’ve gone out the way to discover their exact needs and pain solutions.

You can deliver amazing service by:

Ensuring your sales force has mobile access to CRM when meeting face-to-face with customers so the details are readily available for retrievable
Having a system in place that all sales members input accurate customer information as it is given to them for fresh, up to date records
Using CRM to email customers when there is an open case regarding an issue or complaint…this keeps customers in the loop on the status and progression
Segmenting high-value customers using groups or list features within your CRM so it is visible to your entire sales team

#3 Reward Team for Excellent Performance

Customer service and retention essentially begins with your sales team. Your CRM system can keep track of individual team members, tracking information such as production, revenue, complaints handled, engagement, etc. Use these numbers to reward your team on a regular basis to keep them motivated and excited about the vision of your business.

Creativity goes a long way with developing staff incentives! In addition to, a great suggestion here is to have ongoing training in the area of customer retention. All sales members (and anyone who has interaction with customers) should be familiar with these strategies to be utilized fully for business objectives.

These simple yet valuable tactics will certainly help improve your customer retention, thus sustaining a loyal customer base and steady residual income. Please contact us for additional tips and tactics on more CRM strategies to retain your customers in your business.

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.