Here are some ways to leverage a CRM to jump-start your business: Cut out the bad data Bad data in the form of duplicate records, missing information, inaccurate information, and outdated data can cost you almost $100 a record! With automated data capture, CRMs are becoming smarter and doing the work for you, like adding and [...]
For any business, processes are critical to ensure efficiency and quality in many areas of operation. But many businesses have gone too far in recent years and have actually reduced productivity, efficiency, and service quality by burying their employees with ineffective and unnecessary processes. In this article, we examine some of the common problems of [...]
Most technology is non-differentiable. Which means we can’t leave to finding the differences with features alone. So where does this leave us? Branding. Your brand is simply how customers talk about you. Sure, things like colors and messaging matter, but if you fail to align your organization’s story with your actions, even the best logo [...]
Recently, I’ve been thinking about bridges and how “bridge thinking” might help you to be successful. Bridges have always intrigued me. Even since I was a child, I would spot bridges and beg my parents to change their route in order to go over the biggest ones. A favorite bridge is the Navajo Bridge at the [...]
Christmas is just around the corner, but there is still time for small business owners to leverage the season when it comes to sales. There are some last minute promotional tactics for small business owners that can measurably increase sales while also jump-starting customer loyalty and brand recognition. Email Marketing One of the most straightforward [...]
If there was one question that I wish I would get more often it's this: What is the difference between a Contact Manager and a CRM? You may have heard the term contact management as it relates to software for managing interactions with your customers or clients. Most “Contact Managers” or Contact Management Software will [...]
Whether there is one salesperson or 1,000 salespeople outfitting your front line, it’s important that they have the right tools to convert opportunities into sales and ensure your company’s success. Working with your salespeople to identify their needs and provide these tools is the most efficient way to ensure that a company’s sales interactions and [...]
When it comes to setting goals, sometimes it's best to go big or go home! Historically, some of the most famously successful goals have been “Big Hairy Audacious Goals” (BHAGs). This term was coined by James Collins and Jerry Porras in their 1994 book, Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies. A Big Hairy Audacious [...]
I recently had a kickoff meeting with one of our customers, and it was quite refreshing. These meetings are sessions where our Professional Services delivery team meets with a customer’s key stakeholders to “kickoff” a PlanPlus Online CRM implementation. In this particular meeting, the leader on the customer side began the session with a bit [...]
One of the most important decisions to make in having a successful rollout for your Customer Relationship Management software is to choose the right administrator. This seems like a simple step, and often it is overlooked or underestimated. Some organizations and particularly small businesses may think, “We don’t need an administrator” or “we will all [...]
Organizational culture can be difficult to define because its meanings and varieties can be as numerous as the companies that exhibit it. In the most general sense, however, organizational culture represents our group behavior and our shared values. It drives the way that we interact within an organization and the way we interact with external [...]
Productivity is the buzz word of the business world. While it is something the average employee works toward, it can often be confused with simply being busy. Busying oneself with extraneous tasks does nothing to help the company go forward and may actually hold it back from real growth. There are few key elements of [...]
