CRM On Budget: How To Develop and Stick To a Realistic Budget for CRM

It seems that having a project come in On-Budget is the holy-grail of project management, especially when it comes to CRM projects. With their 70% failure rate, CRM projects represent a significant risk to a small business' financial health and warrants more "measure twice, cut once" consideration before beginning.

Coming in On-Budget does not mean you managed to squeeze your project into whatever arbitrary budget you came up with when you first started. It also doesn't mean that you started with an overly generous budget.

It does mean that you develop a budget that takes into account an analysis of 4 critical areas:

1. PAYOFF. You need to know exactly how your CRM system is going to generate ROI. This will help you focus your project on the right areas. By knowing how you expect payoff to be achieved, you can plan to achieve it.

2 RISK. You need to figure out where the risk is in your project because "risk=expense". By figuring out what can go wrong, you can take measures to minimize and contain that risk.

3. SERVICES. Be sure to fully account for the variety of services that will be required. A few often overlooked areas that can increase your services bill significantly incoude: meetings, testing time, debugging time and "while you're here..." time.

4. TECHNOLOGY. Choosing the wrong technology is can be a huge waste of money. From the worst case scenario of a totally failed project to having to spend extra money to make the wrong software do things it wasn't intended to do.

What makes putting together a realistic budget so difficult for small businesses is that it's not what they do and they don't have the experience of having done several before. It's not what they do. So, they rely on the Sellers of CRM who have their own vested interest in not scaring off their customers with numbers that are perceived to be too expensive.

By putting together a realistic budget, you may very well find that the project is going to cost much more than you were intitally prepared to spend. It's best to find this out now and before you "sign on any dotted lines".

If you do find out the project is going to cost more, here are a few ideas of what to do:

- WAIT & SAVE. Perhaps you need to wait 6 months until you have a bigger budget. Use this time to get prepared for the project: learn more about the software choices, make sure you're business processes are as fine tuned as they can be, and focus on how CRM software will generate ROI.

- GO AHEAD. It may be more money than you were expecting, but may still be within your budget. If you're clear on how the CRM system is going to generate ROI and you're otherwise ready, go for it!

- SCALE DOWN. If you have a very clear idea of how the CRM software is going to achieve ROI and you can't afford the full project, focus in a smaller area to begin with that will have a payback. Use this payback to help fund future projects. It's always a good idea to start with smaller, high-payoff projects first.

- FIND MORE ROI. If you have a really clear and compelling business case for how a CRM system is going to improve your bottom-line, it's much easier to find the necessary funds to implement it.

- DOUBLE CHECK. Make sure you're choosing the right technology. Cheap software can often be expensive to implement. Double check to make sure you're basing your budget on the right CRM software. You may find that a software that costs more in licensing, ends up being an overall more affordable solution.

Coming in On-Budget means you started with a realistic budget. The Insider's CRM Success System goes into great detail on how to develop a realistic budget and provides the control forms and worksheets you'll need.

Scott Gingrich, founder of The CRM Coach (www.thecrmcoach.com) is the creator of "The Insider's CRM Success System", the world's most complete and only CRM Success System guaranteed to save thousands, developed specially for small business.

Microsoft CRM Customization: Integration with third party SQL Application/Database

Microsoft CRM Client Relationship Management package from Microsoft Business Solutions was initially designed to be customizable with Microsoft Visual Studio.Net and one of its programming languages C#.Net or VB.Net. You can use ADO.Net, Web Service, Transact SQL scripting and stored procedures, deploy such SQL Server tools as Linked Server to all ODBC/OLEDB compliant database, including ORACLE, Sybase, Ingress, DB2, Unidata, Pervasive SQL, Ctree and even Lotus Notes/Domino. In this small article we would like to give you the clue on programming the integration with SQL third party Database.

First use Microsoft CRM SDK to initiate communication with Microsoft CRM, we have it in C#:

String[] arr1 = coll.AllKeys;

int loop1, loop2;

for (loop1 = 0; loop1 0?1:arr1.Length); loop1++)

{

String[] arr2 = coll.GetValues(arr1[loop1]);

for (loop2 = 0; loop2 < arr2.Length; loop2++)

{

strAccountId = arr2[loop2].Replace("}",null);

strAccountId = strAccountId.Replace("{",null);

}

}

if (Page.IsPostBack==false)

{

// Server should be set with the name of the platform Web server

string Server = ConfigurationSettings.AppSettings["ServerName"];

// VirtualDirectory should be set with the name of the Microsoft

// CRM Virtual Directory on the platform Web server

string VirtualDirectory = "mscrmservices";

string strDir = "http://" + Server + "/" + VirtualDirectory + "/";

// BizUser proxy object

Microsoft.CRM.Proxy.BizUser oBizUser = new Microsoft.CRM.Proxy.BizUser ();

oBizUser.Credentials = System.Net.CredentialCache.DefaultCredentials;

oBizUser.Url = strDir + "BizUser.srf";

// CRMAccount proxy object

Microsoft.CRM.Proxy.CRMAccount account = new Microsoft.CRM.Proxy.CRMAccount ();

account.Credentials = System.Net.CredentialCache.DefaultCredentials;

account.Url = strDir + "CRMAccount.srf";

Then you use ADO.Net for calling stored procedure with parameters to do the integration job:

try

{

string SQLStatement="ICS_UpdateAccountPrivate '"+

strAccountId +"' , '" + this.TextBoxWorkPerformed.Text +

"' , "+doubleEncode(System.Double.Parse(this.TextBoxAnnualRevenue.Text))+" , "+

intEncode(System.Int32.Parse(this.TextBoxNumberOfEmployees.Text.Replace(",","")))+" , "+

doubleEncode(System.Double.Parse(this.TextBoxAverageGrowthRate.Text))+" , "+

"'"+this.DropDownListOwnership.SelectedItem.Text +"' , "+

intEncode(System.Int32.Parse(this.RadioButtonList.SelectedItem.Value))+" , "+

intEncode(System.Int32.Parse(this.TextBoxCredit.Text.Replace(",","")))+" , '"+

this.TextBoxComments.Text+"'";

System.Data.SqlClient.SqlConnection tmpConnection =

new System.Data.SqlClient.SqlConnection(ConfigurationSettings.AppSettings["ConnectionStringICS"]

);

Andrew Karasev is Chief Technology Officer in Alba Spectrum Technologies USA nationwide Great Plains, Microsoft CRM customization company, based in Chicago, California, Texas, Florida, New York, Georgia, Colorado, Oregon, Washington, Canada, UK, Australia and having locations in multiple states and internationally (www.albaspectrum.com), he is CMA, Great Plains Certified Master, Dexterity, SQL, C#.Net, Crystal Reports and Microsoft CRM SDK developer. You can contact Andrew: 1-866-528-0577 andrewk@albaspectrum.com.

akarasev@albaspectrum.com

 

CRM - Everyone You Meet is Fighting a Hard Battle

Relationships... Money... Health..The Past...Failure..Mental and Spiritual Battles..Time Constraints...Professional pressures..

Relationships... Money... Health..The Past...Failure..Mental and Spiritual Battles..Time Constraints...Professional pressures..

At any given moment you, your clients, and employees are dealing with one or the other of these challenges in life. No one has escaped from this life untouched by problems, both big and small. No matter how people may appear on the outside, they battle with some problem that is unmanageable on the inside. The clearer this is to us the easier it is to be extrodinarily kind to others.

But if we are also suffering how is it possible to do this? It is not easy, it is a learned skill. It needs to be taught to all your employees. It must be practiced and practiced until it becomes habit. This habit needs to be policy and employees need to be encouraged daily until the habit is developed.

Customer Relationships are built on this knowledge. Why people act a certain way is always based on their level of life challenges at a given moment. This includes both employees and customers.

We cannot solve all their problems nor should we, but the fact that a person might be struggling in their personal or professional life needs to in the back of our mind whenever we deal with people.

There is nothing as memorable as a person's kindness when we are in a difficult situation.

Help your clients to solve their immediate problems (pertaining to your business!)and they will be satisfied. Give them reason to smile and they will be impressed. Do it every time they contact you and they will never leave you. Client loyalty is a reflection of the level of care they preceive they are getting from a business. This does not mean we sacrifice our profits and productivity. It means that we increase our profits and productivity. Happy employees work better and exhibit higher levels of company loyalty when dealing with customers and happy customers will return and tell their friends.

No matter what you sell or manufacture; from fertilizer to real estate, from preschools to restaurants, you are first in the business of providing solutions for people. These solutions need to include how the person feels when they walk out the door, and you must always keep that in mind.

Owner Lasting Impressions 2 - Custom Business gift baskets, greeting cards, Customer Service Tips
www.lastingimpressions2.com

CRM: Technology vs Culture

CRM: Its at the forefront of todays business vocabulary. $6.7 billion was spent globally on CRM software in 2001 - communication, behaviour and culture are equally crucial factors in making CRM successful too.
CRM: Technology v Culture By Cheryl Rickman

CRM: Its at the forefront of todays business vocabulary and, according to Meridien Research, $6.7 billion was spent globally on Customer Relationship Management software in 2001. However, businesses are increasingly learning that technology and software alone cannot make a CRM system successful, and that communication, behaviour and culture are equally crucial factors in developing a successful CRM strategy.

New Internet technologies have arisen, such as Computer Internet Integration (CII), Chat, Push, and Callback, which enable one-to-one customer/consultant conversations and let advisors take control of the customers browser to help them navigate and buy. However, in the same way that companies have traditionally had problems managing effective in-house call centres, today web companies are finding live customer service to be time consuming and labour-intensive.

Some companies say they have the solution. Microsoft (obviously in there somewhere) will be releasing their new customer relationship management product, MSCRM, due out by the end of the year. This promises increased sales force automation for small businesses and is, apparently, not aiming at the enterprise market.

A company aiming at the both the SME and enterprise market is SalesForce. They aim to become the world's first "enterprise automation utility" by delivering (CRM), sales force automation (SFA) and financial software over the Web, competing directly with giants such as Siebel, PeopleSoft, SAP and Microsoft Great Plains. And with customers paying as little as $65 per month for their low-end service, its a more affordable CRM application, which is apparently quick and easy to implement.

The Professional Edition application (its current offering) does not allow for real-time integration with back-office systems and offers only limited customisation. To address these shortcomings Salesforce.com has announced its Enterprise Edition, which is aimed at larger companies, plus an introductory offline edition, available for use on a laptop, and a wireless version accessible via any PalmOS device.

Another solution comes from Transform People International (TPI). Unlike the aforementioned companies, TPI is not a software company. Its a management consultancy, specialising in behavioural analysis and transformation, organisational change and training. Naturally they focus less on the technology and more on developing connections and transforming behaviour, attitudes and styles the grass roots of CRM know how your customer thinks, what their needs and wants are; how you think and how to best engage effectively with each person to generate optimum results.

Its the value of knowledge about customer needs and buying habits that is becoming more important along with changing business cultures and deepening connections with customers. TPI understand this and have launched their new Connections Tool as a result: an online diagnostic tool that aims to improve connection and communication with customers in 4 simple steps. Rising above regular sales techniques, the Connection Tool builds on both CRM technology and behavioural understanding. The output provides a written summary of the main characteristics of the person, with an overview of how they act when under pressure. It also provides an overview of what drives that person, with key tactics and strategies for better connection. http://www.transformpeople.com/connections/tpiintroduction.htm

The TPI Connections Tool grew out of Transform People Internationals experience in delivering organisational change in many global corporations across a wide cross-section of vertical markets ranging from communications and technology to packaging. As well as an acute awareness that, by understanding behaviour, businesses can improve communication and develop relationships more successfully.

Technology V Culture

An Information Masters survey revealed that, Technology and information are responsible for, at most, 25 per cent of your CRM competence. Other assets that are important include brands, messages (sadly neglected), staff knowledge, policies, processes and rules.

And, according to Robert Shaw, founding director of the consultancy CRM Best Practice, The danger is that many organisations are now investing huge sums in the wrong things. The technology is excellent in many cases, the problem lies with how we apply it. We invest too much time in selecting one-hit solutions and too little time in creating the business vision, adds Robert. Bad CRM is easy. You just read the press, go to a few exhibitions, choose some software, hire some systems implementers, and bingo, you have a Web site, a call centre, or a mailing database. Most important for good CRM is to have an offensive strategy, not a defensive one. Waiting until competitors threaten you, then responding to them or copying them is a recipe for failure. You need to take time out to create the vision.

And that vision includes developing an analytical attitude towards customer, staff and client behaviour. A vision mirrored by Transform People.

How you asses the person youre developing a relationship with, how you assess your own behaviour and your organisational behaviour, and how you engage with people are crucial to making CRM more effective, Says Ian Mills, Director of Transform People International.

Arthur OConnor, leading expert on CRM and columnist for www.ecrmguide.com, agrees, Some businesses spend a fortune striving to engage, attract, and sell prospects -- only to take extreme measures to avoid interacting with these same people after they become customers.

He adds that the Call Centre hasnt been the best choice for those striving to improve CRM. Many companies brought in poorly trained, ill-equipped people to serve as their primary customer interface, says Athur. Resulting in Corporate Schizophrenia.

Evidently then, it is the behaviour of staff, the behaviour and experience of your customers, combined with a winning strategy and good technology that will improve a CRM strategys chances of success.

Afterall, a CRM package only has real and tangible value if it is backed by a strategy, agrees Ronni T. Marshak, senior vice president of the Patricia Seybold Group.

In building a robust customer relationship objectives should include reducing the cost of acquiring new customers, cross-selling and up-selling to existing customers, closing more sales, targeting more lucrative markets, and creating conditions to make those goals more obtainable. "Most of those conditions have nothing to do with CRM technology itself," says Marshak.

"A company that wants to become truly customer-centric rather than just paying lip service to the notion may have to reengineer fundamental business processes and change prevailing attitudes altogether," he concludes.

Evidently then, the success of CRM rests on both technology and organisational change and the willingness of organisations and individuals to assess and analyse behaviour to improve connection and deepen relationships.

The best technology in the world cannot incur the required cultural, organisational and behavioural change that is needed to drive effective CRM strategies. The difficulty is getting people to change the way they work, to use the technology and to interact with the customer differently. So says Micheal Juer, Director of Sales Pathways Ltd.

There is now a shift occurring where businesses are beginning to realise that they have to work with their customers, and technology is becoming a secondary issue to that. But it is that cultural shift that you need to do, in order to actually deliver good customer service and differentiate yourself from your competitors in the market place.

Customer relationship management should be seen as a strategic response to a set of customer, staff and business needs. And as long as businesses focus on those crucial points and not just technology alone: working with customers and facing organisational and cultural change, their CRM results will improve.

7 Tips for CRM Success:

Define your business objectives and goals against which results can be measured. Give each CRM project three dimensions: people, processes and technology. Establish a systematic approach to project management including team development, IT, marketing, services, sales and management, as well as software. Clearly identify corporate and customer needs. Research requirements, behaviour and how to engage and deliver effectively. Manage organisational change effectively. The human factor is imperative to a projects success. Invest in training more essential than any piece of software. Focus on proactive selling, management and relationship building to effectively upsell and cross-sell.

Cheryl Rickman is author of '111 winning ways to promote your website successfully' and contributes regularly to Better Business magazine, Digitrends.com and Internet.com. She offers website appraisals, copywriting and marketing via http://www.webcritique.co.uk

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

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.

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.

Improving Your Customer Relationship Management With Blogging Technology

Before I address the following questions: What is a blog? and What can a blog do for your business?, let me pose a few "What if . . ." questions to you.

Keeping in mind that before your prospects and customers buy from you, they need to know you, like you, and trust you. In other words, they need to know, whether overtly or covertly, that they have a trusting and ongoing relationship with you. What better way to accomplish for them to get to know you, trust you, and like you than with a blog?

Now, here are my "What if . . ." questions:

* What if less than two minutes after creating and publishing your blog, it were to be promoted to thousands of prospects without any extra effort or cost on your part?

* What if your blog gave you immediate access to hundreds of international prospects?

* What if you had immediate access to hundreds of prospects in your city, state, or country who had interests and hobbies similar to yours?

* What if every time someone clicks on a hyperlinked keyword in your Profile that describes your hobbies, occupation, industry, favorite books, movies, music, or artist, your blog pops up?

* What if every time you left a comment on someone elses blog, you could leave a hyperlink to your website, blog, or email? (a mini no-cost commercial!)

* What if whenever someone enters your name or business name (completely or partially) into a major search engine, your website or blog pops up in their search results?

* What if every time you post content on your blog, it would bypass the spam filters and instantaneously appear on your subscribers desktop without any extra effort or cost on your part? (- an excellent opportunity to get your sales, special messages, or time-sensitive announcements into their hands, or actually in front of their eyes!)

* What if your satisfied customers had the opportunity to place their self-generated testimonies on your blog? (Although some will take the initiative to do so, others might need encouragement. That's all right. Just make an incentive opportunity of it! Offer some incentive for their efforts.)

By now you should be beginning to see the powerful marketing potential a blog offers you. These are just some of the powerful customer relationship management features a blog offers you.

But wait! There's yet more!

* What if you were to combine these powerful features with other online and offline efforts such as a blogathon, teleseminar, webinar, online articles, and others?

* What if doing so would enhance your customer relationship management?

* What if doing so would decrease returns and refunds?

* What if doing so would increase sales?

Think about it! I realize that successful marketing and sales are still high-touch entities; however, I also realize that when you combine your high-tech efforts with your high-touch efforts, you're bound to be successful!!!

Now to answer the original questions, What is a blog? and What can a blog do for your business?:

A blog, short of web log, is an interactive web-based journal that encourages participation from viewers. It looks like and does everything a website does and more! A blog serves as an excellent supplement to your website and other marketing efforts. Entries, called posts, are published by date on the page according to your predetermined quantity and are archived in the margin according to your predetermined frequency.

A blog offers your business countless marketing options. Specifically, a blog:

* gives viewers, prospects, customers, and subscribers who might have had difficulty in the past immediate access to you.

* helps to reduce your time spend distributing emails and other messages.

* improves your content delivery rates by 100%.

* improves your search engine rankings.

* publishes constantly fresh content.

* bypasses spam filters completely.

* improves your online visibility.

* enhances your web presence.

* generates more visitors.

and more . . .

So, if you don't already have a blog, I only have one question for you: What are you waiting for? !?

Don't let this cutting-edge technology, this powerful marketing tool, pass you by. Online companies are popping up all over the internet offering you free blogs. My recommendation is that you grab one, or two or more! Most, if not all, are extremely easy to create, but may be time-consuming, according to your already hectic schedule, to maintain.

If that's the case in your situation, you might want to call in outside help. Consider the high school computer techie next door, or the college-age computer-major son or daughter of a friend who could always use a few extra bucks.

I leave you with this wish: May you always be successful in looking for and using new and creative ways to maximize your earning potential.

Remember: When you maximize your potential, we all win! When you don't, we all lose.
Etienne A. Gibbs, MSW, Management Consultant and Trainer, conducts lectures, seminars, and workshops, and writes articles about helping you maximize your potential for individuals, schools, small businesses, non-profit organizations. Reach him at http://www.MasterBlogBuilder.com.

The Lazy Way To Create Effective Customer Relationships Using Email AutoResponders!

You want to build trust through constant communication. Constant communication is your ticket to building trust and credibility with your prospects and customers. Of all of your marketing efforts, this is possibly the most important key to your success. People are more apt to do business with you when they trust you. Offline though, this may be an expensive endeavor; especially when using postal mail. The Internet however, opens up a whole new playing field.

Use Sequential (Email) AutoResponders You can automatically and almost effortlessly stay in touch with your prospects and customers for as long as you like using Sequential autoresponders. Almost effortlessly means, you do have to create some messages to send to your prospects, or at least have them created for you. All you have to do then is load your email autoresponder with your messages, set the delivery schedule, and voila; you're on your way to increased sales and profits.

Sequential autoresponders allow you to send a series of timed messages to your prospects and customers at set intervals. It's been proven that it takes approximately 7 contacts with your prospect before he/she will buy from you. This information has been re-hashed and regurgitated so much that it's a wonder many people don't know this already. At any rate, it's true.

Online, sequential autoresponders allow you to do this effortlessly, effectively and automatically. I like the word automatic. That means I don't have to touch it. I Set It And Forget It! ... And so can you. All you have to do is get your hands on a good autoresponder! There are many autoresponder services available on the Internet today, even my own, but more on that later.

Keep in mind, there are NO envelope, stamp, and envelope-stuffing costs associated with using sequential autoresponders, and no advertising costs. These costs can get outrageously high if you're running a sizeable campaign. With sequential autoresponders, you only have a nominal monthly service fee. If you've got a good product and marketing campaign, your sales will more than pay the measly cost of your autoresponder service, many times over.

Do Not SPAM Your Prospects!!! Give, teach, and/or train your prospects with good quality content or just some product/service updates. It's okay to make offers inside your messages, but I would not do it in every single message. Why? Because, personally I hate being on lists that just promote - promote - promote! You can get promoted to anywhere online, so why would you want to see it in every single email message you get? There are some others that would dispute this, but it's your call. I know, "I", tend to stay subscribed to the lists that don't view me as simply another $dollar!

...So, what I am saying is, GIVE your prospects/customers something. Don't just take - take - take. Even if what you're giving is just Good-old, Rock-Solid information and advice, give it to them and make it as clear and as concise as possible.

Call Them to Action! I know I just told you not to take-take-take from your prospects and customers, but I also told you, it's okay to make offers too - Heck! - that's the purpose of your autoresponder anyway - to make you money! You decide how often you want to make product/service offers. You can always ask your prospects to click through on a link, to call you, or email you to take advantage of your special offer at the end of each message; however, don't try to sell them a different product every time you contact them, unless this is the nature of your business.

Again, give your prospects and customers good information they can sink their teeth into, or maybe even give them some freebies (good ones) then, ask them to click through to your website or affiliate link, or ask them to fill out a form, email you, or call your office.

Happy E-mailing!

Ettione is the Automation King, specializing in E-Business Automation. Visit his website at  http://www.prowebware.com/list_management.html to learn more about Effortless, Email Marketing using AutoResponders.

How to Build Great Customer Relationships Via Phone

Business is about creating and maintaining customer relationships.
But what is a relationship? It means communication. If you ask
people in a work setting, "What would improve work, profits and
customer service the most where you work?" the answer is almost
always "Better communication!" Communication plays a vital part
in success or failure of any business.

But what communication tool is used most frequently in the world?
Internet, e-mail, TV, radio? Definitely not! The most essential
communication tool is a phone and hardly any business works
without a phone. And whenever you are in contact with people by
a phone regarding your business, it is also a representation of
your business.

Sounds good, huh? But the important question occurs,
"What is the effective way to improve communication via a phone?"
The computer-based answer (I am a programmer, not a psychologist)
is personalization of your customer with call center.

Learn Something New about Your Customer Constantly.
A successful marketing campaign starts with a keen understanding
of your customers. When you are curious (not snoopy!) about the
people who call you, you are giving them respect. People love to
be respected! Find out how their family is doing, or more about
their favor hobby. If you know your customers more personally
than employees of your competitor know their customers, it's
easier to delight them.

Build a Customer Database.
A centralized database is essential to delivering a unified view
of customers and contacts. That is goal number one. Create a
personal data warehouse about your customers on your PC. Keep
track of your contacts made with customers via a phone. If you
know when your customers called and what information they
searched for or how many times they've called about a particular
product, that lets you track customer behavior. If you know this,
you can respond to your customers effectively and efficiently.

Transmute Your Computer and Phone into Call Center.
Have you ever heard about call center?
I suppose you automatically think that it is something extra
expensive and complicated. And it is just for the "big boys"
like Sony, SAP, Dell and other Fortune 100 companies. But what
is a call center (I prefer the term "contact center")? As a rule
this service includes contact management tools, telephony
integration and tools personalizing every customer interaction.
Great! You have the same: a phone, a customer database and
contact manager software (see below). What hinders you to make
your own small contact center right now, which is increasingly
at the heart of your company's day-to-day interface with its
customers. By recording and analyzing the calls and other
interactions between your contact center and its' customers you
can listen to and act on customer feedback to improve you skills
and business processes, leading to improved customer service -
and hence customer loyalty.

Discovering Value Hidden in Your Data.
Effective customer experience management solutions must capture,
store and replay all live interactions between the customer and
your contact center. Capturing this live information and
embedding it within your customer database gives you the
opportunity to share the information collected in the contact
center with other parts of your business. If you fail to do this
you are missing out on a big opportunity to make every profitable
customer feel that you care about them personally and help
establish a new business relationship with them.

Finding the Right Software.
What difficulties are in selection of the right software for your
small business call center?
The biggest one is chaos. Obtaining a complete understanding of a
company's customer requires the ability to store and manage a
myriad of different information from a variety of sources. In
addition your demands to kept data level can be varied from day
to day. Yesterday you were satisfied if your customer database
stored their names, phone numbers, addresses, birthdays. Today's
demand is to keep customers' emails, webs, credit cards. Tomorrow
you maybe wish to store in the database data about customers' cars,
their favorite colors or birthday of their grandmothers.
But as a rule similar contact management software have only
strictly fixed (structured) numbers of fields in their databases.
If your selected computer application is too small and simple it
will not be enough for you. Or these data fields will not be used
completely if an application is too big and complicated
(and expensive!).

iReferent - Aim to End Result.
iReferent is an contact solution for small and home business that
decide the foregoing problems. It provides a strong feature set
that stands up well against other similar programs on the market.
However, iReferent's real achievement is its unique database
structure: at any time you can input into the database any (!)
number of the description fields, from name of your customers to
their car marks. But for all that you might fill only those
specific fields in every record, which are really necessary. Also
this contact manager gives you the opportunity to keep the detail
phone call history.

Want to know more? Visit our web site at
http://www.sitex.com.ua/en/products/iReferent or contact me via
e-mail to sergkruts@yahoo.com.
You can also download your personal Call Center from here
http://sitex.com.ua/download/CallCenter_e.zip
(file size is 981 Kb, 30 days free trial) and estimate it
yourself.
But what is a relationship? It means communication. If you ask
people in a work setting, "What would improve work, profits and
customer service the most where you work?" the answer is almost
always "Better communication!" Communication plays a vital part
in success or failure of any business.

But what communication tool is used most frequently in the world?
Internet, e-mail, TV, radio? Definitely not! The most essential
communication tool is a phone and hardly any business works
without a phone. And whenever you are in contact with people by
a phone regarding your business, it is also a representation of
your business.

Sounds good, huh? But the important question occurs,
"What is the effective way to improve communication via a phone?"
The computer-based answer (I am a programmer, not a psychologist)
is personalization of your customer with call center.

Learn Something New about Your Customer Constantly.
A successful marketing campaign starts with a keen understanding
of your customers. When you are curious (not snoopy!) about the
people who call you, you are giving them respect. People love to
be respected! Find out how their family is doing, or more about
their favor hobby. If you know your customers more personally
than employees of your competitor know their customers, it's
easier to delight them.

Build a Customer Database.
A centralized database is essential to delivering a unified view
of customers and contacts. That is goal number one. Create a
personal data warehouse about your customers on your PC. Keep
track of your contacts made with customers via a phone. If you
know when your customers called and what information they
searched for or how many times they've called about a particular
product, that lets you track customer behavior. If you know this,
you can respond to your customers effectively and efficiently.

Transmute Your Computer and Phone into Call Center.
Have you ever heard about call center?
I suppose you automatically think that it is something extra
expensive and complicated. And it is just for the "big boys"
like Sony, SAP, Dell and other Fortune 100 companies. But what
is a call center (I prefer the term "contact center")? As a rule
this service includes contact management tools, telephony
integration and tools personalizing every customer interaction.
Great! You have the same: a phone, a customer database and
contact manager software (see below). What hinders you to make
your own small contact center right now, which is increasingly
at the heart of your company's day-to-day interface with its
customers. By recording and analyzing the calls and other
interactions between your contact center and its' customers you
can listen to and act on customer feedback to improve you skills
and business processes, leading to improved customer service -
and hence customer loyalty.

Discovering Value Hidden in Your Data.
Effective customer experience management solutions must capture,
store and replay all live interactions between the customer and
your contact center. Capturing this live information and
embedding it within your customer database gives you the
opportunity to share the information collected in the contact
center with other parts of your business. If you fail to do this
you are missing out on a big opportunity to make every profitable
customer feel that you care about them personally and help
establish a new business relationship with them.

Finding the Right Software.
What difficulties are in selection of the right software for your
small business call center?
The biggest one is chaos. Obtaining a complete understanding of a
company's customer requires the ability to store and manage a
myriad of different information from a variety of sources. In
addition your demands to kept data level can be varied from day
to day. Yesterday you were satisfied if your customer database
stored their names, phone numbers, addresses, birthdays. Today's
demand is to keep customers' emails, webs, credit cards. Tomorrow
you maybe wish to store in the database data about customers' cars,
their favorite colors or birthday of their grandmothers.
But as a rule similar contact management software have only
strictly fixed (structured) numbers of fields in their databases.
If your selected computer application is too small and simple it
will not be enough for you. Or these data fields will not be used
completely if an application is too big and complicated
(and expensive!).

iReferent - Aim to End Result.
iReferent is an contact solution for small and home business that
decide the foregoing problems. It provides a strong feature set
that stands up well against other similar programs on the market.
However, iReferent's real achievement is its unique database
structure: at any time you can input into the database any (!)
number of the description fields, from name of your customers to
their car marks. But for all that you might fill only those
specific fields in every record, which are really necessary. Also
this contact manager gives you the opportunity to keep the detail
phone call history.

Want to know more? Visit our web site at
http://www.sitex.com.ua/en/products/iReferent or contact me via
e-mail to sergkruts@yahoo.com.
You can also download your personal Call Center from here
http://sitex.com.ua/download/CallCenter_e.zip
(file size is 981 Kb, 30 days free trial) and estimate it
yourself.

 

Sales Force Management and Leadership: Increase Profitability By Understanding Your Sales Team

Have you ever closely examined why some people are wildly successful at selling, meeting and exceeding every goal placed in front of them, while others lack either the self motivation or certain key skill sets to get them to their next level of growth and performance? After all, they all have the same product, the same tools, and the same compensation structure. They?ve all been through the same sales management-training program. In my experience of 25 years selling, building sales organizations and leading and managing thousands of salespeople, the answer has to do with the fact that virtually all sales? organizations are comprised of four different kinds of salespeople:

1. The Performers ? The Top Producers

These high achieving sales executives are the best at bringing in the numbers, but chances are that you spend a fair share of your time cleaning up her messes. Seems like they?re either sky-high or down in the dumps. When the performer is down, they are out of their selling zone, and productivity comes to a standstill. But when the performer is up, look out world!

2. The Professional ? Another Top Producer

This top producer is very consistent, a total team player, even tempered, patient, and consistently bringing in the numbers. Professionals are also part of the elite members on the sales team, but they seem to be missing some opportunities that would catapult them to super stardom if they made some slight changes to their selling game. Instead, they stick to self-proven conservative approaches.

3. The Caretaker ? Stuck In A Major Comfort

These are the sales executives that are simply stuck in their lackluster comfort zones -- giving you a solid month about every third month, or giving you about seventy percent of what they have all the time. They have the potential, but they?re consistently mediocre. You just can?t get them to perform the difficult tasks that it takes to produce at top levels with any regularity. Worse yet, they?re passive aggressive. You say to yourself, ?If I could only wake them up, they?d be right up there with the best.?

I was giving a speech on ?Four People, Four Paths? to a leading company in the California real estate industry where I was emphasizing the importance of knowing exactly who you are. While I was quoting my book The Four Kinds of Sales People and explaining in detail the struggles and breakthrough opportunities for each of the four kinds of sales people, a woman in the audience yelled out, ?Oh my God, I?m a Caretaker!? The crowd laughed and I congratulated her on her honesty and pointed out to her (and others who were not so forthright) the tremendous opportunity that existed if she made the conscious decision to change and begin doing the difficult things that it takes to produce top results on a consistent basis.

4. The Searcher ? The One That Belongs In Any Career But Sales

All sales leaders have made some bad hiring decisions that result in sales reps that just don?t belong in sales. They perceived a sales career to be easy and they were wrong. Producing top sales is hard work. These misfits are consumed with fear, and if truth be told, they honestly hate sales. They have no real intention of making the necessary changes to be successful. You?re better off helping them find more fulfilling careers.

My point is that while the individual make-up of sales forces may vary, there are always only four kinds. Management?s goal is to get the best to keep getting better while building a team with as many top producers as possible. That means management must influence those that are ?stuck? in their comfort zone to break through to the next level. That means management must perform the unenviable task of helping those that don?t belong to find other career paths. In my experience, management gets too preoccupied with these two challenges and neglects the opportunity to get their top producers to reach for their next level of achievement. They have more potential. That?s why they?re the best. And can be even better.

If you want sales to improve, particularly in highly competitive sales environments, then leaders must create a growth-oriented atmosphere that thrives on constant improvement, regardless of market conditions. By the way, that means leaders and managers must also be striving to break through to their next level as well. Sales is about creating and sustaining momentum, and then creating even more of it. Consistently.
Breakthrough mentor and sales guru, Chuck Mache, has more than 25 years experience in selling, managing, building and leading sales organizations regionally as well as internationally. Use his transforming knowledge and expertise in building heavy-hitter sales organizations, by buying his book, "The Four Kinds of Sales People" today at http://www.thefourkindsofsalespeople.com/PR/ and increase your organization?s productivity and profitability.