Showing posts with label CRM. Show all posts
Showing posts with label CRM. Show all posts

Monday, January 10, 2011

4 Ways to Use Auto-Responders to Build Sales

By Sales Tracking Portal [ Free Online Sales Tracking Software]

Auto-responders, email systems which are built to deliver multi-step messages over time, will add value to your business in four ways: auto-responders can educate customers about your products and services, auto-responders can build rapport with your prospects, and auto-responders can carry much of your customer support and customer training load. These systems are always working for you delivering important and valuable information. Please see several ideas on how to do this below:

1. Communicate with Customers: Enter company data and product information into a series of auto-responders. Messages should be informative for your customers and should include an offer of value which the recipient can respond to. The auto-responder cycle can add value by making your company information more accessible to your clients.

2. Increase New Business Sales: Put a lead management system in place with auto-responder functionality. This will solve a common problem. Sales people will work a lead list, and burn a lead if it does not respond. The multi-step auto-responder system keep your company in your prospects's mind. The AR system spark a low fire into the mind of your prospect and build mind-share touch by touch.

3. Distribute Training: Training is critical to customer adoption and customer retention. Training is expensive and can eat up valuable sales and operation time. Distribute training to customers, new and existing, with an AR. The messages can range from the "Welcome on-board" basics and can evolve to advanced learning. Why not create advanced usage streaming videos and content and load up a 7 or a 10 message AR and put this Advanced Training offer to your customers for a fee?

4. Distribute Support: Set-up  an auto-responder with Frequently Asked Questions. Determine what customer queries are asked and put a series of answers into your auto-responder. Put your AR to work for you by distributing your FAQ to your customers and your trial users.

The auto-responder sequences are fluid: work always to improve your messages and your offers. Your auto-responders can differentiate your business by optimizing customer communication and getting the most from your lead generation and marketing systems.

By Sales Tracking Portal [ Free Online Sales Tracking Software]

Friday, December 3, 2010

Choose a software client relationship management (CRM)


In the Internet era, it is important to understand the expectations and needs of your customers. Especially if you bet on the web to grow your business. A dissatisfied customer can switch to the competition with a click. To limit this risk management software customer relationship management (CRM English) help you better define your business strategy. And words, to increase your profits. So how to choose the CRM is right for you?
·         What is a software client relationship management (CRM)?
·         Of what CRM professionals?
·         Features and benefits of a CRM
·         The functionality of a CRM
·         Benefits of CRM
·         Things to know before installing a CRM
·         CRM software: which to choose?
·         Office Software
·         CRM-mode external or internal?
·         CRM few generalists in external mode and / or internal
·         Benefits of SaaS CRM
·         The CRM thematic oriented SMEs

What is a software client relationship management (CRM)?

Solutions Customer relationship management is a major strategic asset for your business. They help you identify your best prospects, retain and keep track of your personal customers. The CRM solutions are especially suitable for sale on the internet or any other rapidly evolving business environment. 
 

Of what CRM professionals?

Software for customer relationship management adapt to several categories of professionals:
  • Finance
  • Technology Products
  • Pharmaceutical products and well-being
  • Distributors (wholesalers, retailers)
  • Customized products and crafts (in mail): customizable clothing, etc. gastonomiques products.
  • Professions / Independent

Features and benefits of a CRM

The functionality of a CRM

CRM software has a specific role in each step of the sales cycle (pre-sales, sales, after sales).
CRM software will allow you, among others:

Benefits of CRM


The advantages of a manager of customer relations are primarily economic. CRM allows to:
  • Increase company profits (margin on each client)
  • Increase the rate of customer loyalty (which costs 5 times less expensive than win new)
  • Save time by automating certain tasks (increase productivity)
  • Optimize collaboration between the various company departments (sales, marketing, customer service)
  • Improve responsiveness to a specific problem (eg declining sales figures)

Things to know before installing a CRM

A preliminary evaluation of your needs is essential before choosing the right software for customer relationship management. The installation of a CRM is a complex choice that changes in work organization and relations among company employees.

Choosing a CRM is not the same if you want to refine your communication strategy, or simply manage your contacts. An audit can be very useful to help you choose. 

CRM software: which to choose?

So it depends on your type of activity, and the look you wish to expand. There are simple solutions, and other more complex 

Office Software

A simple Excel spreadsheet or a database manager for relational data (such as Microsoft Access) may be sufficient to act as an accounting application / tracking orders or collect customer data.
Major drawback : the software has limited options (eg collaborative features, communication tools). 

CRM-mode external or internal?

You'll have to choose between outsourced CRM, that is to say, available via Internet on a remote server, and CRM internalized, that is to say installed on your corporate server:
  • Selection criteria
If your priority is cost control, flexibility of use (eg on the move) and if your customer service has many employees, you will opt instead for outsourced mode in "SaaS".
The internal mode is best suited to newly established SMEs. Anyway, you can always upgrade to the external mode.
  • CRM external mode (SaaS)
The external mode means that applications are available on a remote server, accessible via the Internet. Multiple users can view and edit data simultaneously. SaaS involves the payment of a subscription to the hosting services. 

Benefits of SaaS CRM

  • Choice of formulas : Sales Tracking Portal, customer relationship and made to measure (custom applications).
  • Best opportunities for collaboration and updates / upgrades instant data. use while mobile optimized.
  • Economic : no installation costs (purchase of license), or mobilization of resources of the company
  • Possibility of free trial.
Cons : Access to a remote server is the problem of data privacy, and that the dependence on external service.

Article Source: Kenny Blog 

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

SaaS CRM

What is SaaS CRM?

CRM software is designed to ensure that your relationship with customers is strong. It ensures that, through sales and communication, there is a growing relationship between the various parties. The general hope is that the customer will be comfortable returning to the company time and again for their business. SaaS CRM, then, is the software that you rent this power relationship.
The name of the software as a service shows that the software can take the part of customer service in some cases. In this case, the software takes care of keeping the customers happy. It provides information to the customer. The overall objective is to attract new customers, retain existing customers, convince customers to go above all by reducing marketing costs.

The benefits of SaaS CRM

The benefits of SaaS CRM are great. To begin with, because you pay as you go, you do not have to worry behind the actual software. They can not manage the server. Therefore, the cost of entry is very low. And 'cheap to start using this CRM. Another advantage is that since it is not in management, the program is ready and faster and can be used first. This means more profits. Finally, security of infrastructure and power to put behind the CRM SaaS by the seller has no rivals. So, you've found a very strong product.

SaaS CRM Disadvantages

For starters, you are in rent. While it is cheap to enter and use at first, will be perpetually pay for CRM. If you decide to stop paying, you lose the CRM. If you went with a more traditional formula, you have to buy it, but do not pay a monthly, quarterly or annual fee. Sometimes, you can not go CRM SaaS specific field. If you had an expert working for the company and a traditional CRM, you would be able to specialize the CRM. Unless you have clear objectives, SaaS will be a waste of money. It's not magic. Without goals, it will simply drain resources from society.

The decision to go with whom, however, is fully in society. For the most part, if the company has the funds to run a traditional CRM package, they will. Otherwise, you can choose to go with a CRM SaaS and spend it later.

Article source: Kenny Blog

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Sales Success Requires a Tracking Process Part 1

The most challenging task in business is selling. Everyone in your company should be selling, as they are an ambassador for the company, no matter where they are. This is very evident in today's social media world, where employees need to heed what they post on a public web site.

When we talk with CEO of a company, we tell them that they must be selling all the time, or they are just overhead. The head of a company must constantly sell to customers, partners, suppliers, bankers, investors and employees.

Today's companies need a tool to track their successes, failures and interactions within organization. Creating a process with a sales tool will increase your success, plus improve the efficiency of your sales force. This article describes a series of steps to take as you evaluate different sales tools.

Selling is perceived to be difficult. Selling is just a process that you establish, follow and track. Michael Gerber, author of The E-Myth, has shown that everyday people create wildly successful companies with processes. One of the most important processes in sales is the follow up. Follow up should occur any time you and your customer interact. An interaction happens when you are either listening to them, or reaching out to touch them. Success comes from making sure that the right information flows to your customer at the right time.

Your customers go through a buying cycle. This buying process may vary, but the primary steps are need, information gathering and desire. Throughout the whole buying decision process, emotions direct the customer. People buy with their heart and then justify the decision using the gray matter between their ears. Therefore, all information that flows to your prospects and customers must guide their emotions at that particular point in time. Follow up is critical at each step. Good Sales tracing system will be valuable for your sales force in helping you achieve this critical process.

As you provide information to potential buyers, you must focus on them. You need to please their requirements and wants. The sales cycle will focus on your customer and their buying cycle. You must identify their process, and find the steps your customer goes through. Then get the right information and right people involved to please your customer. It is not easy to keep track and get the right correspondent to your customers at all time. Different customers possess different buying process. You need to have an efficient tracking system to aid your sales operation to keep up performance.

Most of us provide more than one product to a customer, as we can usually sell ancillary products and on-going services. Every customer should be looked upon as a future referral. The result is that we must focus on all customers for the long haul.

From the owner's or boss' point of view, critical indicators to track include sales increases, number of customers, sales efficiency, and sales per customer (or better yet, profit per customer). Sales managers want metrics to measure their sales force efficiency - calls per day, close ratio, new calls, etc. Your customer only has so much money to spend, and you want as large a share of his wallet as possible. An effective sales reporting system should be put into place to track these vital indicators, plus others that you deem important.

Increased efficiencies for sales people usually mean more sales per day or week. The more that you can automate the tasks of the sales force, the more time they spent pleasing the customer, and more time in front of them. All sales tools must be easy to update from any wireless devices. Sales people want efficiency in their lives and they will spend as little time as possible entering data.

Part of the tracking process is capturing information about the customer. Customer information includes customer dynamics, demographics, history of interactions between your companies, customer needs, buying habits and how often the customer is touched. Touching a customer or prospect includes face-to-face discussions, phone calls, emails, ordinary mail, your website, blog postings, tweets, and other information your customer can find out about you. Do you know what your customer is posting on their blogs, websites or in tweets?

In conclusion of this part 1, you need to know buying cycle of your prospects and organize your tasks properly to response with right action in the right time. You need to know how to gather customer information properly in order to help they solve problem. A good sales tracking system will be like your magic wand in helping you do these jobs. I will discuss more about how to take into next step in order to seal the deal in Part 2 of this article.

Article Source: Kenny Blog