Customer Service Is About Establishing And Building Relationships.

Any type of relationship can be fragile. Your new business can only succeed if those relationships are guarded, protected and nurtured. You do that by treating your clients as if they were cherished friends. When you call a friend you probably expect a call back within a reasonable time. Your client also expects that call within a reasonable time too. If you e-mail a question to your friend or family member don?t you expect an answer as soon as they can? Of course you do. Try to answer your e-mail within twenty four hours and sooner rather than later if you can. If you can?t do it yourself get a staff member to do it. Isn?t it true that you would prefer a personal response rather than a canned response like ?thanks for contacting us?? Treat your clients as you would like to be treated. It?s common sense.

When you have good news don?t you rush to call your friend and also like to be updated with your friend?s good news? I?m sure the answer is yes. So if you have good news let your clients know. They really want to hear about your new baby, moved into a new house, new puppy and all your other good news. People enjoy good news about people that they like.

When you get on the phone and ask a question concerning your friend isn?t it true that you would expect him or her to answer without attitude, with respect, and a gentle manner. If you got rude answers from your friend I?m sure that you would be hurt, upset and disappointed and even angry with him or her. So assume that your client expects the same courtesy that you would give and expect from your friend.

Other elements of good customer service are the many moments that you have to compromise in order to keep that client happy. If you want relationships to continue you have to sooth ruffled feathers sometimes which included an occasional apology for appointments or services not delivered, and a substitution if a product is unsatisfactory. Also one of the simplest examples establishing a relationship with your client is to listen to him or her. Don?t jump in, don?t interrupt, just listen. That goes a long way to show your client that you care about him or her. Respect your time together, and don?t commandeer his or her time. Put some of these common sense practices into place and you will have good clients for a long time.

Katheryn Hoban is the publisher of R-U New to a Business newsletter which gives FREE practical tips for starting and running your own on-line and or off-line business, from start to finish from your home or office. The pitfalls, rewards, every-day tips and things that you need to succeed, freebies, and more. For signing up you will receive a FREE report on STEPS ON HOW TO MANIFEST EXACTLY WHAT YOU WANT IN THIS LIFE. To subscribe send an e-mail to runewtobusiness@aweber.com to reach Katheryn ph 201 970-9340 or katscoolcorner@yahoo.com

CRM - Customer Relationship "Management" Is a Myth

Now that Peter F. Drucker has passed on, I feel almost duty bound to share some of his insights with you, little observations, pointers and gems that simply aren?t in his books or popularly known.

I had the pleasure of studying with the management sage for two and a half years. Much of the MBA I did at the Drucker School of Management, named in his honor, in fact, was in classes with Drucker, himself.

And I had the pleasure of serving as his informal chauffeur on Saturdays, when many of our classes met.

So, we talked.

He was fond of admonishing us to ?invest in the customer? and specifically, to ?invest in the customer relationship,? because it is one way to get clients to select and to prefer us, a very valuable habit.

But to my knowledge Drucker never called the process customer relationship MANAGEMENT.

In fact, on many occasions he said relationships are fundamentally UN-manageable.

His fondest example was one?s family. He said, ?You can?t apply management principles to your family; they won?t work.?

When I told him about the arrival of my first daughter, he reminded me of this notion and then asked: ?Is she ruling the roost??

?Yes,? I replied, ?She has us all at her beck and call.?

?That?s the way it should be,? he beamed.

If you?re managing a person, you probably have something different than a real relationship, like an employment contract, or some other sort of business commitment or alliance.

But interpersonal relationships have their own dynamics. Power, for one thing, is shared. We cannot order a customer to come back and buy again, just as we can?t order our relatives to love or respect us.

We can use persuasion, guile, charm, guilt, and incentives, but we can?t MANAGE that outcome as we can manage a salesperson, say by telling him he has to hit his quota this quarter, or hit the highway.

If we aren?t managing customers what are we doing?

We?re NEGOTIATING relationships. There is give and take, concessions are made, and equities are balanced out, if not in the short run, then in the longer term.

All of this is fine, you might be thinking, but what practical difference does it make if we call it CRM or CRN, for negotiation?

Management is a term that signifies superior power and resources.

When we interact with customers we are facing the opposite of being in power. We?re relatively powerless, providing we?re operating in a competitive marketplace.

Customers have choices. They can more readily and inexpensively say ?no,? and walk away from a deal.

When we consider customer transactions and the residue of doing many of them, it would be more advantageous to see our counterparts as ongoing negotiation partners, but never as friends, peers, or family.

In non-business interpersonal relationships, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts; in business, there are only parts, no enduring ?marriages.?

The sooner we straighten out the otherwise mystifying rhetoric ushered in by CRM, the better off we?ll all be.

Dr. Gary S. Goodman is the best-selling author of 12 books and more than a thousand articles. His seminars and training programs are sponsored internationally and he is a top-rated faculty member at more than 40 universities. Dynamic, experienced, and lots of fun, Gary brings more than two decades of solid management and consulting experience to the table, along with the best academic preparation and credentials in the speaking and training industry. Holder of five degrees, including a Ph.D. from the Annenberg School For Communication at USC, an MBA from the Peter F. Drucker School of Management, and a law degree from Loyola, his clients include several Fortune 1000 companies along with successful family owned and operated firms across America. Much more than a ?talking head,? Gary is a top mind that you'll enjoy working with and putting to use. He can be reached at: gary@customersatisfaction.com

The Reality About Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

While Customer Relationship Management (CRM) technology has promised much, the reality for many has been disappointing. Industry analysts estimate 50-60% of implementations fail, or produce marginal return on investment. Our exposure to small and medium enterprises (SME) suggests that this rate may well be significantly higher. The irony is that the problem lies less with the technology itself (though that may receive much of the blame), but in much more easily addressed flaws in the way that organizations approach and implement CRM projects.

CRM technology should help organizations generate more leads, convert a higher

proportion of them, and retain customers longer through enhanced service, and more profitably through the more effective promotion of additional products and services.

CRM technology is a unifying technology supporting the operational needs of ?front-office? departments such as sales, marketing, and customer support, sharing a single database of information about customers, prospective customers, channel partners, suppliers, competitors etc. The CRM database works as a central repository of data typically integrated into other key systems such as finance. The system is designed to be accessed remotely to meet the needs of organizations spread across multiple locations, and staff who may not be office based. Typically this unifying CRM technology aims to benefit marketing, sales and service departments.

Successful CRM isn?t that difficult, but there?s more complexity involved, and more commitment required than many organizations had envisaged. With greater levels of planning, executive support, and awareness of the challenges surrounding user adoption, organizations can effectively drive CRM technology to deliver the promised vision. With so many struggling to get it right, the rewards for those that do will remain very high.

In summary, CRM technology should help organizations generate more leads, convert a higher proportion of them, and retain customers longer through enhanced service, and more profitably through the more effective promotion of additional products and services. Our ?Vision and Reality? white paper sets out our views on why this has happened, and outlines strategies for minimizing the risks and maximizing the returns from CRM.

Read more about why the current approach to CRM - Customer Relationship Management is marginalizing returns on investment and why you should work with an independent CRM consultant at http://www.mareeba.co.uk

Customer Relationship Management With Microsoft

Successful companies recognize the importance of customer service and although that can be accomplished the old fashion way with pen and paper which is very ineffective or the new, effective method using Microsoft Dynamics CRM Software.

Stats show that customer service and thus customer satisfaction has taken a real drop in the last decade, When it comes to customer relationship management more and more companies are jumping on the bandwagon and beginning to work towards bringing customer services back into the forefront. But raising those levels requires a comprehensive plan.

That company slogan you?ve got about the great customer service ? well it?s time to live up to it. Microsoft Dynamics CRM software can be an integral part of your plan. Here are some simple steps to get you started.

1. Understand the vision, mission, and goals of your company.
2. Define what it is you want to provide for customer service and which direction you want to head.
3. Ensure that customer service is defined as a key element of your business and ensure all levels of the company know where they stand with customer service.
4. Invest in your CRM software and get things rolling.
5. Hire the right people to carry out your vision

When you implement a Customer Relationship Management solution for your company you make everyone that works for the company accountable. Everybody understands that anybody can handle the problem. No excuse, no passing it off with the hope that somebody else will pick it up. Suddenly entire workforce is on the same page.

You need to establish an effective delivery process so that you are providing smooth, uninterrupted service to your clients. Your service delivery system should be transparent from beginning to end. That?s what CRM software does just that and it?s so flexible that as your company grows or changes with they times your CRM solutions can easily change never missing a beat and creating no interruption in customer service.

Microsoft Dynamic CRM is empowering. There?s no need for somebody to go digging for information before they can help the customer. There?s no need to be looking at old information and then trying to make a decision.

Today?s market is extremely tough. With so much new competition making it to market keeping the revenue becomes even tougher. Using CRM is an excellent way to maintain your revenue and increase it by building customer loyalty. The company that get?s on the customer service and loyalty bandwagon is going to reap the benefits long-term.

Microsoft Dynamic CRM will save your company time and money and it will provide instant answers to your customers from start to finish and beyond allowing for excellent follow up servicing.

The result is that customer service improves dramatically and thus so does the profit line. In order to deliver outstanding service it is essential that you build long term customer relationships and the way to do that is by utilizing Microsoft Dynamics CRM software.

Sayed Ally, is the lead CRM Analyst. His company provides, MS CRM. Sayed can be reached at Tel : (905) 815- 1995 ext 22, email: aSayed@cqsolutions.com.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM V3.0 ? Customer Relationship Management

Customer Relationship Management software effectively implemented, provides business owners and management with an extremely powerful tool for bringing the front-office functions of sales, marketing and customer support together and working far more effectively as a combined team.

Many businesses think wrongly that a CRM solution is only for enterprise class concerns with large check books when in fact software providers such as Microsoft offer scaleable versions for all company sizes. Microsoft Dynamics Software has evolved from their enterprise class Great Plains software however versions have been developed and aimed specifically at the small and mid-range business market.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM v3.0 allows businesses to respond to the growing challenges in the modern business environment by bringing client and prospect information into a central repository, organizing the information and allowing users throughout the business to access the data when they need it. Microsoft Dynamics CRM v3.0 delivers the ability to manage the customer relationship throughout the entire sales cycle from initial enquiry in response to a marketing or sales campaign, through to pre-sales meetings, the actual sale and post sale issues such as delivery and repeat ordering.

Microsoft Dynamics software empowers every decision maker in your business to satisfy customer demands by providing the most up-to-date and accurate client information they need when they need it and ensure that the history of the relationship is encapsulated for all to share. Decision makers in this context need not necessarily be management but a customer service representative with a customer on the telephone asking about an order or information on your other products. All staff in contact with prospects and customers will be able to see at a glance what is happening with a particular account and in customer relations, knowledge is power. Customer relationship software provides everyone in your business with the ability to demonstrate an outstanding level of customer service not possible by traditional reporting methods.

The ability to integrate a customer relationship software solution with existing applications already employed by your business allows for the transfer of information between your word processor and spreadsheet applications and the CRM. Microsoft CRM software has been specifically designed with Microsoft Outlook and Office in mind, and allows a seamless user experience. Mobile workers reliant upon email are able to access Microsoft Dynamics CRM v3.0 via their Outlook client, while marketing and sales campaigns can use data imported from the Dynamics Suite directly into Microsoft Word and Excel applications for marketing campaigns and mail shots.

If your business has several office and site locations, it is still possible to implement a customer relationship software solution across the whole company. Microsoft Dynamics v3.0 is well adapted to be delivered to remote locations via Microsoft Terminal Services, Citrix and other ?thin client? solutions. An example is where a business has a central warehousing facility in Detroit with sales offices in New York, San Francisco and Chicago and they all are able to utilise the customer relationship software solution almost in real-time.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM v3.0 benefits your business by saving time and costs, minimizing non-productive activity while maximizing sales revenue by ensuring that sales leads are followed up and do not get lost or ?fall between the cracks?, while customer retention is improved by enhancing customer relations and service.

Syed Ali, is the lead CRM consultant for a Toronto based company. His company offers, Microsoft CRM Software Syed can be reached at Tel : (905) 815- 1995 ext 22, email :asyed@cqsolutions.com

Some Of The Benefits Of A Microsoft Customer Relationship Management System

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems provide a formalized system gathering, organizing, maintaining and manipulating customer and contact information. With an effective Microsoft Dynamics CRM in place, business owners are provided with a powerful tool to successfully manage and develop their business.

Why a business should adopt and implement a Microsoft Dynamics CRM can be readily appreciated by considering some of the benefits provided. An effective Dynamics CRM, properly implemented and adopted will greatly help to maximize sales and reduce costs and time while management who have a better view of what is actually going on a lot faster than without a Dynamics CRM, are far better placed to manage the risk to their business.

Managing the sales cycle is expensive and time-consuming, so knowing where you are with a contact or set of customers is important if you intend to maximize the results of your business generation activities. A Microsoft Dynamics CRM will provide accessible information at your fingertips which means that a business owner can look at the ?Big Picture? or macroscopic view while at the same time break business performance down to see what activities and customers are contributing to the bottom line. This allows business owners and managers to see where to concentrate their efforts to maximize sales and minimize costs.

Generating new business is the most expensive part of the sales cycle, and because a Microsoft Dynamics CRM system provides the ability to categorize contacts and identify which are suitable prospects for a particular sales and marketing campaign, a business can most effectively deploy resources. Knowing which prospects are likely to buy, when they are likely to do so and where the prospects are geographically will help your sales team to maximize their efforts, reduce wasted time and money, and provide a greater return on the investment of time and money in acquiring that customer base.

Existing customers are most likely to buy from you again, and because a Microsoft Dynamics CRM system will provide a business manager with the ability to manage, maintain and develop the client relationship this means that a business is likely to generate greater revenues from understanding a customers requirements better and produce overall cost savings as a result of improved customer retention rather than chasing new ones.

As a Microsoft Dynamics CRM software solution provides a repository for all your client information, including sales history, seasonal variations in sales, and improved ability to forecast turnover from repeat sales, business planning and goal setting is simplified and there is an additional benefit in saving staff and management time searching for information which is readily available. Reducing the time required planning your business activity and development allows more time to be spent on generating business and managing activity where the sales revenue is actually created - with your customers.

A Microsoft Dynamics CRM will provide a business owner with the ability to see at a glance what is happening with their sales and customers. We live and operate in a fast changing world where trends and tastes change, sometimes overnight, and the ability to see how these variations affect our overall business performance allows management to quickly adapt to changes in trading conditions which under more traditional reporting methods may not be observed for some time. With a Microsoft Dynamics CRM providing accurate and up-to-date business information on results and activity, business management is better placed to take advantage of trading opportunities while also minimizing business risk by alerting management of adverse trading conditions.

Finally, an often overlooked benefit of all Customer Relationship Software is found when looking at implementing such a solution to begin with.

Implementation of a Microsoft Dynamics CRM solution invariably forces business owners and management to reconsider their business and how they are managing it, not to mention the benefit that is derived from a thorough review of the overall business goals and objectives. Often this has not been done for some time, if at all, and considering how a solution will be tailored to fit the business frequently breeds the realization that things could be managed better.

This doesn?t derive from the customer relationship software itself, but from planning how to implement and adopt such a solution; owners and management are compelled to confront their current business practices and perhaps revise them. This is probably the greatest insidious benefit to be derived from a Customer Relationship Management solution for a business.

Syed Ali, is the lead CRM consultant for a Toronto based company. His company offers, Microsoft CRM 3.0 Syed can be reached at Tel : (905) 815- 1995 ext 22, email: asyed@cqsolutions.com

Improving Your Business Efficiency With A Customer Relationship Software Solution

A Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solution provides your business with a formalized means for gathering, organizing and storing customer contact information. There is a wide variety of software solutions, such as Microsoft?s Dynamics Suite, on the market serving small, mid-range and enterprise sized businesses and the solution can be tailored to meet your own business working practices.

If you are a company that has as one of its? primary objectives the delivery of a first class customer service, then a Microsoft Dynamics CRM solution is a powerful tool to ensure that all stakeholders within your business are in possession of prospect and customer information when it matters, and especially at the point of customer contact.

Too often sales opportunities are missed because information is not readily available when it is needed within your business; for instance, a pre-sales enquiry cannot be dealt with on a timely basis because the representative who has been handling the initial relationship is not available and the prospect is about to make the decision to buy. What do you normally do in those circumstances? Advise something along the lines of ?We?ll get back to you with the information you need as soon as possible.? Would it not be far better if a staff member can pick up the thread of the relationship and provide an appropriate response to your potential customer there and then?

Once a business launches a sales or marketing campaign, getting the best out of the results coming in is problematic at best and any of us that believe we have not lost sales opportunities that have fallen down the cracks in our business? organization is either na?ve, dishonest or is already operating an effective CRM solution. The obvious benefits from a Microsoft Dynamics CRM solution are to prevent loss of sales opportunities, improve customer relationships, improve sales revenues and minimize costs.

Microsoft Dynamics Software provides a customer relationship software solution that empowers management and staff with the ability to make decisions based on the most up-to-date information available on customer contact and activity. Time is better used in revenue generation activities instead of getting bogged down with finding out what is happening with a prospect or customer, instead the information is there, it is a matter of looking after the prospect or customer at that point.

Businesses benefit immensely from the savings in time and expense of valuable man hours, while effectiveness is greatly improved in dealing with prospect and customer sales and support.

Maintaining a good record of contact information with a customer allows your representatives to acquire a detailed understanding of what a customer is looking for and perhaps more importantly, what a customer may want next. This is sometimes referred to as a ?holistic? approach, in that gaining an understanding of a customers needs in a wider context allows a business to place itself more directly in their shoes.

Such an understanding provides customer facing staff and departments with the ability to ?second guess? what a customer wants before they know themselves or, at least, the effect is that a prospect or customer comes away from the encounter with your business with a very positive perception of how you operate.

A Microsoft Dynamics CRM solution improves business efficiency by reducing non-productive administrative time and improving your business? understanding of a customers needs, this is turn increases revenues and enhances your business image in the eyes of your clients.

Syed Ali, is the lead CRM consultant for a Toronto based company. His company offers, Microsoft Dynamics CRM Syed can be reached at Tel : (905) 815- 1995 ext 22, email :asyed@cqsolutions.com

The Importance Of Crm Customer Relationship Management

CRM Customer Relationship Management is one of the newest innovations in customer service today. CRM stands for customer relationship management and helps the management and customer service staffs cope with customer concerns and issues. CRM involves gathering a lot of data about the customer. The data is then used to facilitate customer service transactions by making the information needed to resolve the issue or concern readily available to those dealing with the customers. This results in more satisfied customers, a more profitable business and more resources available to the support staff. Furthermore, CRM Customer Relationship Management systems are a great help to the management in deciding on the future course of the company.

As mentioned, there is much data needed for the CRM system to work. These fields include the customer name, address, date of transactions, pending and finished transactions, issues and complaints, status of order, shipping and fulfillment dates, account information, demographic data and many more. This information is important in providing the customer the answer that he or she needs to resolve the issue without having to wait for a long time and without going to several departments. With just a few mouse clicks, a customer support representative for example can track the location of the customer?s package or order. This is infinitely better than the cumbersome process of tracking shipments previously. Furthermore, the customer service representative will also be able to see the previous concerns of the customer. This is a great help especially if the customer is calling about the same issue since he or she will not have to repeat the story all over again. This results in less time in resolving the issue, thus, higher productivity of the support staff.

CRM Customer Relationship Management systems are also important to the top management because it provides crucial data like customer satisfaction and efficiency of service by the frontline crews. A piece of customer relationship management software will also be able to generate the needed reports for product development or new concepts. Furthermore, this system will also be a great help for the top management in deciding the company?s future course of action, whether it involves phasing out one of the products on the shelves or making adjustments to one of the products sold.

The reports generated by CRM systems are also invaluable to your advertising and marketing planners, as they will be able to pinpoint which ideas works and which do not. Because of CRM systems, you will be able to release advertisements or plan marketing campaigns more in tune with your target market. This will also lead to more responses to your advertisement and a more effective marketing campaign.

Successful integration of a CRM Customer Relationship Management system in your company, however, might not be as easy as it seems. The following might give you an insight why CRM systems fail in some companies? Most companies fail to prepare for CRM systems. By this, I mean that most companies fail to integrate all the departments that need to share the information for it to be effective. Furthermore, CRM units scattered all over the company?s departments is often more effective than just making one big CRM department. This will ensure that each department will get the information and data that they need.

A CRM system will also help you a lot in expanding your business. As CRM systems are capable of handling enormous amounts of data, CRM systems will help you a lot in coping with the increased numbers of customers and data. With a CRM Customer Relationship Management system installed and properly utilized, you can be sure that all data is maximized and used to ensure that your business will be successful and your customers a lot more satisfied than before.

Steven Taylor is a Marketing Consultant to http://www.Retronix.com - one of the most innovative and effective suppliers to the electronics & semiconductor industries. Services include BGA Rework and De-Bug Services.

CRM - Customer Relationship Management

Customer relationship management (CRM) is a strategy employed at corporate level. For any company, it is the focus on the creation and maintenance of lasting and meaningful relationships with its customers. It can perhaps be described as a holistic approach of a company's philosophy where the emphasis is placed primarily on the customer.

To simplify this process, there are a number of commercial software packages available. Two of the market leaders are GoldMine? and ACT!?. Their programs allow a high degree of mechanization through a central database. Many tasks can also be automated, which allows greater overall control and sophistication.

However, simply installing and integrating a CRM such as the GoldMine? software, or the ACT!? software is not enough by its own. A successful CRM strategy requires the correct response at all levels to reshape a company's business activities to incorporate a fully customer-driven approach. In the design stage of implementing a CRM, it may be wise if a decision is made to retain greater and more extensive information on primary customers, and keep less information on clients with a low margin.

Sales, marketing and customer service all need to be seamlessly integrated. In this way the contact management software can keep track of all the relevant aspects involved in selling to customers, or following up on leads and prospects. The success factors in gaining customers can be highlighted for re-use, and the approaches that failed, or were marginal, can be abandoned, or even revisited for further evaluation at a later time.

A CRM can be considered in three distinct but equally important parts. There is the operational part, which focuses on basic business processes such as sales and marketing, as well as customer service. There is the analytical part, which can analyze the behavior of customers and produce reports, show returns on investment, and report on the pattern of the sales team, either individually or as a whole. Finally, there is the collaborative part, which focuses on the basic contact with the customer. This can be direct, or through automated follow-up emails, for example.

Any company considering scaling up to utilize a CRM software should think equally about staff training. Only through properly identified and properly delivered training will a CRM, such as the GoldMIne? software, or the ACT!? software, be found to be cost effective and worth the expense and trouble of implementing. While a good CRM can be worth its weight in gold, it will only be as good as the management who run it, and the sales team who use it.

A good CRM software will provide reporting and analytical tools, which can be used as highly effective feedback. Analysis of sales can identify hidden opportunities, expose weaknesses, highlight areas of strength, and reveal the current performance level of sales people. Using intelligent reporting facilities to maximize strengths and eliminate or minimize weaknesses, is indeed a powerful tool to have at your disposal.

That, coupled with the proper training in how to put the tools to their best use, will provide any company with a solid customer relationship management strategy that will prove to be highly effective.

Syed Ali, is the lead CRM consultant for a Toronto based company. His company offers, GoldMine CRM and ACT! Software CRM Syed can be reached at Tel : (905) 815- 1995 ext 22, email :asyed@cqsolutions.com

Business Growth, Customer Relationships and Profit: How do you Build Valuable Relationships?

My experience of working with small businesses is that sales growth relies on relationship building. This is a skill that you need to employ continuously, with all your business contacts.

Prospects

You are surrounded by prospective customers who do not know you nor do they know what benefits you offer. When you approach cold contacts, the statistics suggest that you get a 1% to 3% response rate whether you use direct mail, telephoning or door knocking.

Warmer contacts develop after you have met a new prospect several times or when a client gives you a direct referral. As you meet the warm contact to build your relationship, listen for what they need, explore their interests, and ask about their purchasing habits.

When you know what they want and you have educated them in what they want to choose, these prospects develop into hot contacts, who are ready to trust you and to buy from you.

Customers

If you have a delivery cycle, you can continue to build your relationships through keeping your customers informed how the delivery process is progressing. No one likes surprises, so if the delivery slips or you find that there are quality issues, help your customers to plan around the delivery issues and they will appreciate the care you invest in communicating with them.

After you complete the sale, continue to track your customers' needs by maintaining sufficient contact that you can respond ?just in time?. People value this extra service especially if your competitors think that customers place volume orders in response to cut prices.

When you make a sale well, a customer can often refer you to three new customers so you can draw a good profit from creating long term relationships with customers.

Clients

Generally it costs 30% less to sell a second and third time to a current customer than it does to convert a prospects into a new customer. Where customers buy from you several times, you can gain useful market intelligence if you ask them what they value about your services and products. Feedback from these repeat customers will point to the benefits that give you a competitive edge.

Where your long term relationship enables you to fit into your client?s purchasing habits, you can relieve stress in their business and ease their life: this makes them keen to work with you again and again. Although deep client relationships take time to build, they create a barrier that can exclude competitors from entering your market.

Supporters

Some regular customers will support you by recommending you to their colleagues. These recommendations can take prospects directly to the stage of being customers with very little of your effort.

So keep these supporters informed about your plans and developments, and introduce them to people who matter in your world. Where you can encourage them to feel involved in the success of your company, they will repay your relationship in growing profits.

Nothing beats doing a good job and if you continue to deliver an excellent service over a long period, your customers will continue support your business growth. So the fastest route to business growth is to take a long term view on growing your relationships.

Adrian Pepper coaches people through business and personal difficulties, helping companies figure out what to do, how to move forward and what to get organised. You can contact him through Help4You Ltd, through his website at http://www.help4you.ltd.uk or by phone +44-7773-380133. At http://feeds.feedburner.com/help4you, you can listen to his podcast for small businesses.

About Customer Relationship Management

Customer relationship management (CRM) encompasses the capabilities, methodologies, and technologies that support an enterprise in managing customer relationships. The general purpose of CRM is to enable organizations to better manage their customers through the introduction of reliable systems, processes and procedures.

Customer relationship management is a corporate level strategy which focuses on creating and maintaining lasting relationships with its customers.

CRM, in its broadest sense, means managing all interactions and business with customers. This includes, but is not limited to, improving customer service. A good CRM program will allow a business to acquire customers, service the customer, increase the value of the customer to the company, retain good customers, and determine which customers can be retained or given a higher level of service. A good CRM program can improve customer service by facilitating communication in several ways:

Provide product information, product use information, and technical assistance on web sites that are accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Identify how each individual customer defines quality, and then design a service strategy for each customer based on these individual requirements and expectations.

Provide a fast mechanism for managing and scheduling follow-up sales calls to assess post-purchase cognitive dissonance, repurchase probabilities, repurchase times, and repurchase frequencies.

Provide a mechanism to track all points of contact between a customer and the company, and do it in an integrated way so that all sources and types of contact are included, and all users of the system see the same view of the customer (reduces confusion).

Help to identify potential problems quickly, before they occur.

Provide a user-friendly mechanism for registering customer complaints (complaints that are not registered with the company cannot be resolved, and are a major source of customer dissatisfaction).

Provide a fast mechanism for handling problems and complaints (complaints that are resolved quickly can increase customer satisfaction).

Provide a fast mechanism for correcting service deficiencies (correct the problem before other customers experience the same dissatisfaction).

Use internet cookies to track customer interests and personalize product offerings accordingly.

Use the Internet to engage in collaborative customization or real-time customization.

Provide a fast mechanism for managing and scheduling maintenance, repair, and on-going support (improve efficiency and effectiveness).

The CRM can be integrated into other cross-functional systems and thereby provide accounting and production information to customers when they want it.

Ismael D. Tabije is the Publisher-Editor of http://www.BestManagementArticles.com, a unique niche-topic article directory that features exclusively business and management topics. For a large dose of customer relationship management tips, ideas and strategies, see http://customer-relationship-mgt.bestmanagementarticles.com

Customers Want a Relationship

Would you rather go out to a different store every time you want to buy something, never being completely satisfied with what you get, and having to look for a new store on each new shopping trip or would you rather go to the same store and get everything that you need and want each time you go? The same is true for your customers. Just like anyone seeking a relationship, customers want a long-standing business relationship not a one night stand. To get your business to flourishing you need to focus on your customers and their satisfaction.

The real value of your customers is found in the second and third purchase and every one after that. You can grow the value of your business by growing the value of your customer base. When you create a marketing campaign, look at both the immediate return on investment you expect as well as the long term customer value that you are providing.

You need to get in your customer?s shoes. By having an intimate knowledge of what your customers really want from your product or service or what their real pain or desire is you will be able to create customer-driven marketing. Rather than a traditional campaign that screams ME, ME, and more about ME, a company with a customer relationship focus approaches it from the opposite angle of YOU, YOU, YOU. Try using secret shoppers. This doesn?t need to be an expensive initiative but it can yield a priceless return. Sit down and make a list of what needs to happen to create an excellent customer experience for anyone interacting with your company. Have someone test your operational process on how you do in each of these criteria. Identify areas for improvement and come up with a way to implement those improvements.

In-store surveys are another easy way to determine the level of your customers? satisfaction. If you or one of your employees speak with your customers ask them to be candid with you about your product or service and ask them to tell you what they are satisfied or dissatisfied with (always asking for both so you can get an understanding of your strengths and your weaknesses). Making efforts in these areas shows your customers and your employees that you are creating a culture of continuous improvement and one that encourages open feedback. Make sure that you act on what you uncover. There is nothing worse than asking people how you can do better and then ignoring their response. Not only is it a waste of your time, it is also insulting to those you asked.

Customer relationships are more profitable than transactions. When you look at the cost of acquiring a new customer versus the cost of retaining an existing customer the mathematical conclusion is obvious. It is much cheaper to keep who you?ve already got, than to go out and try to market and sell to a bunch of strangers. Instead of launching a marketing campaign that will target new customers, look into campaigns that will encourage your current customer base to expand their relationship with you, and introduce you warmly to a friend. You can use promotional items with your existing customer base to further ingrain your brand into their life. By keeping an existing customer happy and giving them a useful gift you are enabling them to do grassroots marketing for your business by toting your brand name around. They are more than likely to promote you to their friends and family when they?re happy and it?s very likely that those people are also your target customers, as birds of a feather tend to flock together. With this tactic you can kill two birds with one stone, making this both efficient and effective.

You also need to focus on how your employees treat customers. A company that encourages employees to mirror their customer?s mood, being extra friendly to customers that are seeking that kind of relationship and being quietly at the ready for a new customer that seems to not want to be bothered by a salesman is a company that is going to earn long-standing relationships with all sorts of customers. Training videos can be a useful way to teach employees these kinds of techniques when working with different types of customers. You can disseminate the information widely and have it for posterity, and not have to reinvent the wheel each time you hire someone new.

Without customers you don?t have a business. Keeping that at the forefront of your business plan, and making every effort to find and keep good customers, your business is sure to flourish. For more information on how you can form lasting relationships with your customers, visit www.flourishingbusiness.com.

Elizabeth Gordon, founder and President of The Flourishing Business, LLC, is a visionary leader who has a passion for helping others achieve their entrepreneurial dreams and enjoy more of the best in life. With a vast and diverse background in many business arenas, Elizabeth regularly has the opportunity to share her business acumen with clients, large and small. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO), Atlanta and the Board of Directors of the American Association of University Women (AAUW) Atlanta. She is an Accredited Executive Associate of the Institute for Independent Business (IIB) and a certified Life Coach.

Nestle Waters Johannesburg needs customer relationship coaching

Nestle Waters in Johannesburg needs help. It's abundantly clear that in order to get a job in their accounts department you must score zero on emotional intelligence and if possible, even lower on a customer relationship-marketing index.

My little business paid over R 1 000 in advance for Nestle bottled water. Because I've been out of commission following surgery, I probably didn't notice that I'd been billed some R 300 for the annual rental of their water cooler. They didn't pick up the phone to tell me that. They just discontinued the service - 'put the account on hold' is their sad euphemism for the same action. Whichever way you explain it, they cut off the water delivery. Yet, overall, I'm still in credit with them.

I queried the absence of deliveries with their customer service people. The guy put me through to their accounts department where one Vanashree told me our service had been put on hold due to non-payment. I told her to have her superior call me.

He did. He's an arrogant man named Francois Roos. He shouldn't be allowed to talk to customers because he doesn't know how to. Having told me to keep quiet while he explained 'their system' (remarkably I managed to) he then proceeded to butt-in non-stop when I attempted to point out that the semantic nonsense of 'account on hold' still means cessation of service. When I told him that halfway-decent business professionalism decrees phoning a client before messing with the relationship and their service, he said, 'We're too busy to phone 6 000 people.' Interesting. When Nestle Waters one day start losing market share, as they surely will with this sort of gauche behaviour, he will have been a significant contributor to the fall-off.

He actually had the gall to laugh at me when I threatened to escalate the issue within Nestle and said, 'You do what you want.' Having worked as an Ogilvy advertising executive on Nestle's brand business many years ago, I was of the impression that they once were gentlemen. The Nestle water experience I've just had leaves no doubt that those days are gone.

I've put in two calls this afternoon for someone at Nestle Head Office in Johannesburg to call me back. Nuthin' - they're probably too busy cutting off water deliveries on the instruction of the anal customer-toxic accounts department.

Fortunately for Nestle I prefer the taste of their bottled water over most others. Otherwise I'd tell 'em to come collect their water cooler. Nasty people to do business with.

Clive Simpkins is a Change Architect and Strategist. http://www.clivesimpkins.com

How Empathic Listening Can Help Build Long Lasting Customer Relationships

I first heard the term Empathic Listening many years ago at a Stephen Covey workshop. He was talking about the principal and how it had helped several sales people make more sales. I was intrigued. Having been a sales trainer in several organizations, I knew effective listening was one of the hardest skills for many sales people. Myself included.

We all leave training armed with product knowledge? amazing features and benefits? and enough information to be dangerous. But no one teaches you how to listen. What helps you understand what?s going on in your customer?s world? Certainly not product knowledge. Listening is one of the most important, and least utilized skills, in most sales training programs.

Empathic listening takes listening to a completely different level. Most people listen to be understood by the person they?re talking to. Empathic listening is listening with the intent to understand the person you?re talking to. See the difference? If you are trying to understand what your customer is telling you, they know you?re listening. If you keep speaking trying to get them bought into your agenda, it?s because the call isn?t about them?it?s about you and your agenda. The customer certainly knows who listens to their concerns.

It?s about finding a way to get in a person?s frame of reference. There are some simple ways to use this in you everyday business. For example, if you do a lot of customer interaction on the telephone, always ask, ?Is this a good time for you to talk?? You never want to try and have a conversation with someone who is distracted. This simple question tells your prospect you respect their time and have empathy for their situation. It?s much easier to reschedule than to try and have an ?information gathering? conversation with someone who isn?t listening.

If you do a lot of face to face customer meetings, a good way to open the conversation is with the question, ?Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?? This is a non-threatening way to open a meeting. It also signals that you?re ready to listen.

The better you get at listening, the easier customer relationships will become. A recent conversation I had with a friend illustrates this point. He is a VP of Sales in a large corporation. He was on a customer visit with a member of his sales team.

The customer had a lot of complaints and wanted to voice them to someone in authority. After the meeting, the customer pulled the VP aside and thanked him for coming. He also commented, ?I really feel like you listened to me. I can?t tell you how much I appreciate that. Your sales rep, by the way, doesn?t listen. Which is why I wanted to speak with you.?

The customer just wanted someone to listen. By listening, he validated the customer?s concerns. Even if the ultimate answer was that the problems would take a while to solve, it?s the fact that he listened that was important to the customer. Unfortunately, his sales rep wasn?t up to the task.

Ask yourself, how do you ever understand the needs of your customer if you aren?t listening? Imagine the relationship you can develop with a customer who believes you have listened to his concerns and acted accordingly!

In all of the sales training I?ve taken through the years, I don?t believe listening was ever mentioned. Most sales seminars are focused on some new process, and never get around to such a basic idea. Is anyone teaching you how to put yourself in your customers? shoes? I doubt it. If you?re losing a deal, and don?t know why, how can it hurt to ask, ?I would like to understand your current concerns regarding the recommendations I?ve made. When you feel I understand your situation, then we?ll review the proposal I made. Do you have a few minutes to discuss this with me??

We have 2 ears and one mouth for a reason. Spend more time listening and less time talking and your sales calls will go a lot more smoothly. Maybe you?ll discover some hidden needs, and be able to provide solutions that involve your product or service.

It?s always important to remember that empathy is not the same as sympathy. Empathy allows you to ?walk in your customer?s shoes?. Sympathy is the expression of an emotion. Just because you empathize with someone, doesn?t mean you are agreeing with their position. Remember, your goal is to understand their position. Once you understand, you can move forward with addressing any objections. You?ve taken a customer who was ready to walk away, and have brought them back to the negotiation phase of the sale. Instead of having to discount price or give something away, you?ve created more value for yourself. All by listening.

It always sounds corny to say, ?People buy from people they like?. It?s true. I?ve always believed that if I had a good product that was competitively priced then what tips the scale in the deal would be likeability.

And listening is something that makes you likeable. Listening can create rapport with a customer in a way that nothing else can. I can?t imagine someone disliking a sales rep that took the time to really listen to his or her concerns.

If you?re looking for a way to improve your skills as a sales professional, I suggest making an effort to use empathic listening. Listen to your customers and really try to understand what they might be trying to tell you. Don?t end up being the person who has to have a VP come visit, just so your customer feels ?heard?. It?s your job to hear your customers. You just need to start listening.

Former Learjet Sales Star, Susan Adams, has sold products and services for some of the world?s most respected companies?..General Electric, Pitney Bowes and Bombardier Aerospace.

She takes a ?real world? approach to all sales topics. ?Successful sales people are experts at having conversations with customers. If you can empathize with people, create an environment of trust and really listen to their concerns, you?ll be a top sales performer.? More importantly, you?ll be able to develop long term relationships with your customers.

Susan has successfully sold to CEO?s, High Net Worth Individuals and celebrities. Twenty one years of talking to customers has give Susan a unique perspective on how to build a sales presentation that connects with your customers, and compels them to buy.

Susan has golfed with David Duval, raced cars with Bobby Rahal and dined with CEO?s from Fortune 100 companies. There is no sales situation she hasn?t seen?.

http://www.susanadamshome.com

Building Customer Relationships by Staying in Contact

Do your customers see you often enough? Do you have a regular system of contact that makes sure your products and services are consistently in front of your customers? Businesses lose out on more sales than they know because their customers forget about them.

Experts say it takes 7 contacts to turn someone from a stranger into a customer. But don?t stop making contact after you?ve made the first sale. The first sale should be the foundation for a real relationship between you and your customers. And relationship selling is in many ways the easiest: you know the customers?needs, often before they do, and your customers feel comfortable going to you when they have needs.

I believe a certain amount of our business should come just because we are the most visible vendor on our customers? radar. We keep our products and services in front of customers, which makes us the easiest and most convenient choice. Here are a few ways you can keep your business in your customers? line of sight:

1) Acknowledge customer milestones. When something important happens for a customer, congratulate them. Did they successfully introduce a new product into the market? Did their corporate VP get an award for industry excellence? These are great opportunities to show these customers that you are paying attention to what?s important to them.

2) Keep them informed about your company?s big events. Are you putting out a product that one of your potential customers might need? Have you expanded your service so that your customer can get product sooner than before? Customers can?t take advantage of your superior product or service unless they know about it. Use some sort of regular communication, like a newsletter, to let your customers know what you have to offer.

3) Technology is your friend! Many companies are having success with newer forms of communication, like blogs and podcasts. The secrets for using these to reach customers are simple: pick topics that interest your customers, and keep your posts and podcasts short, informative, and on topic.

4) Short and simple is good. Not every contact with your customers needs to be elaborate and involved. A simple phone call or written note lets your customers know you have them in mind. It?s better to have more, regular contact than more involved contact that makes a bigger impression.

Woody Allen was right when he said, ?Eighty percent of success is showing up.? If your company keeps ?showing up,? you are likely to get business that your competitors miss. There are many ways to stay in touch. Just be sure you do it consistently. Keep reminding your customers that you are uniquely qualified to solve their problems. They?ll come to you first for solutions!

Richard Jarman works with small and medium-sized businesses who aspire to communicate with their target audience. He helps clients highlight their company's unique strengths, so they can attract and keep customers. See what he can do to improve your business! Visit his web site today at http://www.jarmanbusinesswriting.com. Sign up for the free newsletter, The Next Step, and receive the special report, Essential Keys to Successfully Marketing to Business.

Customer Relationship Management - 2 Secrets Every Small Business Owner Should Know!

When was the last time you received some form of communication, such as a postcard, phone call, or email, from a business asking how satisfied you were with their products and services? If you're like me, you may not be able to remember the last time because it has been so long (almost three years for me).

When was the last time you received some form of communication from a business to thank you for using their products or services or to simply maintain friendly contact with you? Once again, if you're like me, it has been a very long time.

In fact, the last time a business did that with me was almost seven years ago. I had spent several nights at a Bed & Breakfast in Colorado during the summer of 1999, and I received a Christmas card from the owners that Christmas with a picture of their house during one of Colorado's famous blizzards.

It was a nice follow-up on their part. When I received the card, it brought back the memory of the great experience and fun that I had while staying there. It also made a very nice impression on me that they had taken the time and effort to send me such a nice Christmas card (in reality, there wasn't much effort involved on their part, but recipients of this type of communication always magnify the effort in their minds).

This type of follow-up is one area in which almost all businesses fail miserably. Customer relationships are the life force of every business, yet business owners continually neglect these relationships. And it costs them dearly.

Think about all the money that a business may spend on advertising to bring in new customers. Think about all the money that a business may spend on creating a high-quality experience for their customers. Now think about how much most businesses spend to cultivate and reinforce their relationships with current customers.

How about your business? What do you, as a business owner, do to cultivate your relationships with your current customers? A current satisfied customer is your greatest asset. Not only are they already predisposed to continue doing business with you, but they are one of the absolute best sources of new customers through the power of "word-of-mouth" advertising.

Sure, your paid advertising promotes your business as being "the best". But paid advertising is almost never viewed as being objective. After all, everybody's paid advertising promotes their business as being "the best".

On the other hand, when a customer who has no profit motive enthusiastically recommends your business, that recommendation is worth its' weight in gold. People will trust the independent recommendations of others. That's just one of the many reasons why you should always take good care of your customers.

Okay, so how can you cultivate a high-quality relationship with your customers? Let's start by developing a simple action plan that you can begin to use immediately.

First, you need to collect contact information for your customers. Ideally, you should choose a method of contact that fits your type of business. In my example above, the postcard with a picture of the Bed & Breakfast was a great method of contact for that particular type of business. It was personal and effective. If you sell very expensive items, then you may want to consider a personal phone call. For many businesses, email contact may be the best method.

Whatever method of contact you choose, just be sure to let your customers know that you value their privacy and will not disclose their contact information to anyone else (trust is a huge part of any relationship). In some cases, you may even have to offer a little something to encourage your customers to provide their contact information. If necessary, do so.

Second, follow-up with your customers on a regular basis. You will need to decide what that regular basis should be based on the type of business you own. If you own a dress shop, then you may want to contact your customers and let them know that you just received a new inventory of the very latest fashions from one of your best suppliers. In this particular case, email or possibly snail mail will be your best method of contact.

If you own a boat dealership, then you may want to send recent boat buyers a note letting them know that you just received a new shipment of accessories that they may be interested in seeing. You may want to send less recent customers a note telling them about the new boat models you now have in stock and the incredible trade-in program you are currently running. Or maybe you can tell them about a "Customer Appreciation Sale" that you are having.

Perhaps you can contact your customers and offer them a special deal that will allow you to smooth a seasonal demand that your business may have. If you operate a small engine or lawnmower repair shop, then March and April are going to be pretty busy months for you. Why not send a note to your customers in January offering a special discount on lawnmower maintenance if they act by February 15th? That will allow you to level your workload and avoid the huge peaks and valleys in demand that you would normally have to deal with.

I do have one word of caution though; be very careful with the content of your communication with your customers. Always try to provide some value whenever you contact your customers so that they don't just view your contact as nothing more than a cheap and poorly conceived sales pitch.

If you do a good job of cultivating your relationships with your customers, then your business will reap the rewards. So don't delay. Use what you have learned in this article to begin building a strong and lasting relationship with your customers. You'll be glad you did.

Gerald Cook holds a Bachelor's and a Master's Degree in Business Administration, and he has extensive real-world business consulting experience. Gerald is the author of the "One book every small business owner or manager should read!" Visit http://www.discovergreatsuccess.com for more details.

Is Customer Relationship Management Right for your Small to Mid-sized Business

Customer Relationship Management has been a holy grail for Big Business for the past ten years. So what about Small to Mid-sized Business (SMB) applications? If you talk to CRM software vendors they will claim that CRM systems help SMBs become more efficient, drive more sales (your ROI) and increase the accuracy of your forecast.

A few consultants have an alternative view: they see CRM as a process rather than a software product. A CRM process allows you to effectively manage your customer interactions (get to know your customers). This way you actually get to use the nice shiny tools that the CRM software vendors offer.

While I tend to agree with the latter, my experience with databases is as my algebra teacher used to say: GIGO! (Garbage-In Garbage-Out).

Regardless of which view you take, you?re going to need to do a lot of research and soul-searching within your organization in order to get the most from your CRM. Here is what you need to think about to get started:

What is Customer Relationship Management?

Well...the answer depends not only on who you talk to, but also on who you are.

If you are a sales rep, CRM simply means effectively using Outlook or Act or some other contact manager to track potential customers as they move through your sales cycle.

If you're a business owner or CEO then it means tracking all of your customer's information as they touch your organization at key points. This is how you know when they'll need to buy your widget or have their new wiget serviced or whether they'll want to know about an upgrade to a particular line of widgets.

As the owner, CRM means you will be able to provide your employees with access to customer information at all levels of your organization from a centrally managed location. This improves service and aids in customer retention.

The big idea here is to keep vital knowledge about your customers within your organization, even if your employees change.

Is CRM Right for You?

It depends on who you are, and how you apply it.

If you're a Big Company CEO then you've probably already sunk millions into a strategic alliance (bought their product) with Oracle or SAP. Then you paid their developers millions more to automate your broken business processes. This generates tons of overtime hours from overworked employees as they fix customer issues "in the back office". Fortunately, your stock went up anyway because you talked big to Wall Street analysts about your million dollar magic database system which makes your organization appear more efficient. Operational inefficiencies are quietly choking this organization, but your golden parachute will probably open out as soon as the fan begins to blow your way.

HOWEVER, in all likelihood if you are reading this you're probably not a Big Company CEO. Perhaps instead you run a mid-sized private company with multiple regional locations. In this case you may have several different systems that require your employees to spend their time faxing documents back and forth between departments. Despite this your customers are pretty happy because they get to speak with Sally (their favorite customer service rep) everyday and the product gets out the door.

OR you?re a small business owner that knows almost all of his customers by name because you?ve managed to enter MOST of them into your Outlook address folder. SOMEDAY you?ll be able to find the rest of those business cards from last year?s convention. Anyway, you?ve managed hire a few key employees that remember the rest of your customer?s names, what they?ve ordered and when they?ll need to re-order new stock. Because of this you can usually come close to a forecast of next month?s sales.

Now for the nitty gritty:

So, what can CRM do for a Small to Mid-sized Business?

Properly applied, CRM can:

* Make every customer count - The cost associated with finding a customer means that you need to make every customer count. While it?s important to secure new business, it?s your repeat business that means long term success. * Help you know your customers - When you're a small business knowing your customer means knowing what they need now and what they may need 30/60/90 days from now. This knowledge is often the key to survival. * Generate cross-selling (making suggestions) of product enhancements or alternatives. * Target marketing communications to your customer?s specific needs. * Increase customer retention and repeat business. Repeat business from existing customers means reduction in overall cost of sales.

Okay. So you?ve decided that you?re sold on CRM and you want to buy a system to bring in those customers, get inside their heads and bring ?em back for more. Now you?re going to need to know your CRM options in terms of software systems.

Pros and Cons of ASP vs. Boxed Software:

There are two models for CRM. Application Service Provider model and software based. There are a number of advantages to both the ASP and software models.

Application Service Providers ASPs offer web-based CRM services. The ASP model is a decent option if you want to implement a solution quickly and your organization lacks the in-house talent or resources to customize an existing application or build from the ground. ASPs are good bet if you?re an internet based business or small business that needs a fast and low-cost start-up solution.

Pros * No software updates to manage or install * No servers to support or purchase * No back-ups of critical customer information required * Generally low start up cost (hardware, software and training included)

Cons * ASP's can go out of business, taking critical customer information with them * High-speed internet connection required * Internet connection outage means critical customer information is not available

Boxed or Off-the-shelf software Several software manufacturers produce CRM solutions that work with existing packages (Lotus, Outlook). Often these companies offer stripped down or basic versions of their packages targeted to small businesses. This can be low-cost solution if you?ve already invested in standard Microsoft business applications and can deal with most of the standard modules they offer. If you?re flexible and willing trade some functionality for convenience and price then boxed software may work for you.

Pros * Application is theoretically available on a 24/7 basis * No high-speed internet connection required * Business critical information is securely stored on company servers and back-ups are easily accessible * Business is not immediately interrupted due to a change in the developers business situation

Cons * Generally high-start-up costs (server hardware, software and training) * On-going support required: Back-ups, updates and service packs etc. * Data can often be stored in a proprietary format that will require conversion in to new format

Other CRM Solutions: Custom Development If you?ve the budget, time and patience then a gaggle of consultants, CRM solution providers and software engineers will beat down your doors to develop a custom CRM system that works flawlessly with your existing systems. I?d recommend this option only if you?re spending other people?s money, get a big bonus and then are able to leave the company before it falls apart. If you do select this path, carefully work through your specifications with your ?partners? and good luck! Managed Solutions ASPs offer to create a customized brand-version web of their web CRM applications. These are usually on a dedicated server and often sell for a flat development fee PLUS lots of other customized options. It can be solid choice if you?ve got the budget and are willing to be flexible with some of the functionality.

Who Are The Players?

Unfortunately, in the CRM market the question is more like who isn't a player. Using the broadest terms you can call a Rolodex a CRM system. The important thing is to define CRM for your organization.

Regardless, here?s a quick list:

Product Name: Sage CRM Solutions Software: Sage SolutionsFeatures: Customer Care, Marketing Automation, Microsoft Outlook Integration, Offline Synchronization, Sales Automation, Wireless PDA Access, Customer Care, Marketing Automation, Microsoft Outlook Integration, Offline Synchronization, Sales Automation, Why On-Demand CRM Microsoft Windows, Microsoft SQL; Oracle DBMS'.

Product Name: Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 Company: Microsoft Price: $5,000 to $50,000 Features: Sales, Customer Service, CRM Mobile, Marketing, Suns Legacy Partners, Hutchinson and Bloodgood, Kindermusik International Microsoft Windows;Microsoft SQL. ASP/Web interface environment; Microsoft .NET Framework

Product Name: SAP Business One CRM Company: SAP America, Inc. Price: $11,250+ Features: Sales Opportunity Management, Business Partner Management, Service Management built-in reporting, internal workflow and alerts, highly customizable, embedded CRM.

Product Name: Oncontact V Company: Oncontact Software Price: $1,000-$1,500/user Features: CRM Account Management, Sales, Marketing, Customer Service, Toolkits Microsoft C#;Microsoft .NET platform.

Product Name: Entellium CRM Company: Entellium Price: $50 per user / month

eSalesForce, eCustomerCenter, eMobile, My*Entellium ASP

Product: Neocase Company: Neocase Software, Inc. Price: <$1,000 per seat w/server; <$100 a month on demand Features: Parent/Child Cases, Contract and Service Level Agreement Management, Self-Service Solution, Customizable Partner Portal, Searchable Knowledge Management Tool, Dashboards and Reports

Product Name: Parature Company: Parature Inc. Features: eActivity, eAsset, eChat, eContact, eDownload, eForum, eKnowledge, ePortal, eProduct, eReport, eSurvey, eTicket Web-based Product: Pivotal CRM Company: Pivotal Corporation Features: Pivotal Sales Suite, Pivotal Marketing Suite, Pivotal Service Suite, Pivotal Partner Management Suite, Pivotal Analytics, Pivotal Technology, Pivotal Mobile CRM, Manufacturing, Financial Services, Home Building and Real Estate, Healthcare Payers, Medical Device Manufacturing ASP;MS-SQL

Product: NetSuite CRM+ Company: NetSuite Inc. Price: CRM Software From $129/user/month Features: Real-time Dashboards, Business Intelligence, Sales Force Automation, SFA: Order Management, SFA: Upsell/Cross-Sell, SFA: Incentive Management, Customer Support & Service, Partner Relationship Management, Marketing Automation, Productivity tools, Document Management & Publishing NetSuite CRM+ is a web-based CRM solution.

Product: Maximizer Enterprise CRM Company: Maximizer Software Inc. Price: $499/user + Features: Sales Force Automation, Outlook integration, Wireless CRM, Web-Based CRM, Marketing Automation, Customer Service and Support Management, Customization, Business Intelligence, Workflow Automation, Accounting Link, Partner Relationship Management, StemCell Technologies, Inc., W&O Supply, Inc., Microsoft Windows, SQL, .NET, Outlook, Office, IIS

Product: ADAPTcrm Company: ADAPT Software Applications, Inc. Price: $1,000 to $1,500 per seat Features: Campaign Management, Accounting Integration, Sales Management, Service Ticket Management MS SQL 2000

Product: OfficePax Company: eTouchware, Inc. Price: $179.00 per seat Features: Group Calendar, Email, Invoicing, Time Management, Project Management, Group Contact Management, File Sharing MS Access; MS SQL

Product: e-Synergy Company: Exact Software North America Price: $5,000 + Features: Web Shop, Event Manager, Sarbanes-Oxley, Software Development Kit (SDK), Customer Relationship Management, HR Management, Document / Knowledge Management One-X; MS-SQL

Why can't we be friends?

Fast forward 2 years later. Your CIO has quit, the budget has been cut and your CRM implementers are sending flaming emails to each other about whose fault it is that billing?s screwed up. It?s possible that your CRM project has turned into a stanza from the Mariners Tale (origin of the term "albatross around my neck") for a few key reasons:

*Lack of commitment. In order for most organizations to become ?customer-focused? upper management must lead the cultural change. This requires first admitting you have problem, followed by a genuine attempt to view your operations from the customer?s perspective. Without this painful process your CRM will help your organization screw up more efficiently. This means losing customer relationships and revenue.

*Lack of communication can prevent buy-in. In order to make CRM work, all the relevant people in your business must know what information you need and how to use it.

*Lack of leadership could cause problems for any CRM implementation plan. Unless your management (you) is willing to lead by example and push for a customer focus on every project, CRM will not help you. If a proposed plan isn't right for your customers, don't do it. Send your teams back to the drawing board to come up with a solution that will work.

Eating the Elephant: Small Bites, Chew Slowly

Some organizations try to install every single module at once in order to get it over with quickly. This can be a sign of lack of commitment with in your company.

Look hard at those that are pushing for an ?aggressive implementation? timeline because most likely they?re working an agenda?the failure of the implementation. Take a deep breath and remember that any business approach that brings cultural change will generate resistance.

Breaking down your CRM project into bite-size pieces with small pilot projects and simple, measurable and realistic milestones will often keep the feeling of success surrounding your project going and draw-in all the necessary departments. Small focused groups allow you the flexibility to make on-the-fly adjustments without increasing the political noise level.

More Is More

When it comes to data, always get more than you need and peel it back. It?s easier to reduce the amount of data you need than to attempt to create new.

Thorough analysis of the data you?ve collected is necessary to insure that what you?ve collected is truly mission critical.

Grab Your Sox and Drop Your?

Understand the rules around Sorbanes-Oxley. If you have more than a few employees then yes, you?ll need to setup a project leader or team to insure that your system is ?SOX Compliant? and leave it at that. There are a number of great resources to assist you in understanding the legislation on the internet?go look ?em up on Google.

Solution Providers: Marry in Haste, Repent at Leisure

For any organization CRM is a large investment so choose your ?partners? with the same care you?d choose your spouse.

Considering that the divorce rate is at 50% it's obvious that people often make expensive mistakes when choosing a partner. In this case, the wrong partner could cost you your business. Before you impulsively join in a ?strategic partnership? with a solution provider you may first want to ask them a few key questions:

The Company
* How long has the supplier been established?
* Who are their partners?
* Who are their suppliers (Office equipment, software, development etc.)
* What are their Mission, Vision and Core Values? Look at those statements carefully. Often those are not ideals that have been achieved but where they want to go.

The Product
* Be sure to understand the licensing, purchase and on-going development costs. Seems obvious but it?s worth saying. What are the specific costs associated with the product; i.e. a one-off purchase price, an annual renewable license, a charge per user etc?

Drive Before You Buy
*Does the supplier offer any form of evaluation software so that you can try before you buy?
*Do they have an analysis or assessment process prior to installation?
*Will they do a pilot implementation for a specific area?

Specifications
*Is the system scalable to grow with my business?
*Is the system written in open-source code? Is the code written to industry standards? Is there a developer community?
*What operating systems does it support?
*What are the bandwidth requirements?
*What are the client-side requirements? Hardware? Software?
*Are there special service packs, patches or other OS or applications updates that need to be installed prior to implementation?
*Ask for a security statement. What security risks or potential risks are associated with this product?
Support
*Will they assign an implementation project manager (NOT a sales rep) to co-lead the implementation?
*How much is charged for technical support? Is it on a per call basis? Monthly? Is it 24/7 coverage?
*Does the supplier provide consultancy and, if so, at what rates?
*Can the supplier recommend any third-party developers that make use of their core CRM products?
*Is there an active independent user group where experience and ideas can be freely exchanged?
*Can the supplier provide references for businesses in your industry sector using their software?
*Does it offer training in the CRM solution and, if so, at what typical cost?

The Final Analysis

OKAY. What have we learned so far?

*CRM has broad applications, benefits and drawbacks. There?s no easy CRM push-button solution.
*CRM is a process that requires cultural change aided through the use of technology tools.
*CRM software will not instill customer centered focus within your organization.
*Customer centric behavior is driven by leadership example, communication and ultimately organizational buy-in.
*Beware the need for speed! Implement your system using small achievable milestones to build on success and use that success to draw in participation from other departments
*Choose your supplier carefully and ask LOTS of questions.
*Get more data!
*Good Luck?you?ll need it.

Jason Baselice, Managing Associate for *net.marketing associates (www.netmarketingassociates.com). You can contact Jason at: j@netmarketingassociates.com

Is Customer Relationship Management Right for your Small to Mid-sized Business? By Jason Baselice ? 2006 *net.marketing associates

Jason Baselice, Managing Associate for *net.marketing associates (www.netmarketingassociates.com). You can contact Jason at: j@netmarketingassociates.com

Knowing who's who, where, what and when - 10 Tips for Good Customer Relationship Management

I have been serving customers, guests, clients, friends and family for over 23 years. Serving customers has brought me more and more into the realm of technology where I have been blown away by what I can buy to help me "manage" those relationships better, more effectively, faster.

With new Customer Relationship Management (CRM) technology I can cross reference data until my imagination becomes tired, extract a myriad of reports, know in detail who is saying what to whom and when in my organization. In different organizations I have seen staff spend hours and hours typing up phone calls, meetings and other interactions - I have also seen these system unused, these entries unread. As much as organizations like to believe their CRM software will keep their staff informed in reality people like to talk to people about people. This is why I see a return to human customer relationship management, the return of the Relationship Manager - the point of contact for the customer and the organization.

23 years ago, as a student, I started out working with a famous hotel chain and they taught me something very valuable - good customer relationship management. Now this was never based on needing to know everything about the guest in fact respect for privacy was always a priority, no, good customer relationship management was about the human touch, the relationship between the customer and me.

10 Good Customer Relationship Management Tips

1. Respect your customer and that means respecting their right for you not to know everything about them.
2. Show genuine interest and learn to actively listen, aim to always help.
3. Trust is everything.
4. No surprises. Do not let your customer or client find out about something that impacts on them from another source.
5. Give notice, if something is going to change let your customer know in advance and prepare them for the change.
6. Be professional, never talk about other clients or customers to others,
7. Put the customer first; even if you do not agree actively try and come to a good solution.
8. Stay in touch.
9. Always say hello, if you are at an event or just walking down the street, always acknowledge with a smile.
10. Ah yes, always acknowledge with a smile.

For further tips on maintaining good customer relationships go to www.contactcenter.in

Nic Howard is a website planner and lover of excellent customer service.