CRM International

New Consultant/Trainer

2009-10-26T18:38:00.000-07:00

We're happy to welcome Bruce MacKenzie to our consultant/trainer team. See more on Bruce at: http://www.longbowcg.com/home/articles/articlebody.asp?id=65

Exciting SalesRabbit SystemPlugIn release for office products dealers

2009-10-17T13:15:00.000-07:00

Our Longbow Consulting Group division has just released an exciting version of our SalesRabbit SystemPlugIn for DDMS dealer users. Along with summary sales data, we are now bringing invoice history into the new GoldMine 8.5 from DDMS. Not only can users work with invoice history from within GoldMine CRM software, they can build targeted groups from this information! This results in very robust target marketing-at the product level. The groups can quickly be exported from GoldMine to the United eDeals program or to constant Contact for the S.P. Richards Engage program. This is powerful targeted e-mail marketing! The new SalesRabbit SystemPlugIn release will soon be ready for SSI dealers. Britannia dealers will be able to connect in the first quarter of 2010. Our new SalesRabbit Dashboard and Reporting Service will be ready soon-adding business intelligence to this total solution. See all SalesRabbit information at:
http://www.longbowcg.com/home/products/product_salesrabbit.asp

Take Action on Your Information

2009-09-01T20:00:00.000-07:00

Latest article by Neil Saviano:
http://crminternational.com/home/articles/articlebody.asp?id=53

New Agents

2009-08-23T12:58:00.000-07:00

CRM International is pleased to announce two new agents and solutions partners. They are:

Tammy Hegel in the Greater Seattle, WA area

Superior Business Products in Schenectady, NY.

See more information on these two new partners at http://www.crminternational.com/

Our CRM Canada division annouces the following new agent and solutions partner:

Office Stuff - Calgary, Alberta
See more information on Office Stuff at: www.crmcanada.ca

CRM vs. Sales Force Automation

2009-07-28T12:27:00.000-07:00

Did you purchase CRM software and thought you were getting Sales Force Automation with it. It's easy to make that mistake. Though CRM software certainly helps to build and maintain customer relationships through managing information and contact, a missing piece may be the ability to automate sales processes. Process is an integral part of any sales and marketing program, and quite often day-to-day administrative tasks as well as "putting out fires" can take typical sales people away from the repetitive tasks necessary to prospect for new customers and build existing customers. One key feature of sales force automation is the ability to automate these repetitive tasks-acting as a virtual sales assistant. As competition become more global and more intense, and profit margins decrease, sales force automation becomes an integral tool in staying ahead of all of this and helps to maintain ROI for both sales people and the company overall.

CRM Software Helps to Manage Sales People

2009-06-27T20:31:00.000-07:00

Are you using CRM software to truly measure sales person performance? The vast reporting capabilities, including dashboard graphics and analytics, can tell a story about salesperson activity that can lead to significant sales person growth- both personally and professionally. Not to mention an increase in salesperson ROI for the company overall. The number of activities are certainly a metric that needs to be monitored, but more importantly the ratios between activities that lead to achieving the metrics the company sets forth are likely the most important consideration. As an example: If market planning has determined that historically four proposals lead to one sale and three presentations lead to one proposal and ten prospecting calls lead to one presentation-there is a valid basis for measurement. CRM software can track and report on these activities, and provide both sales management and sales people the tools to measure actual results against projected, and the basis for making any needed changes to stay on. Course.

Some Subsciption Page E-mail Marketing Tips

2009-06-17T16:46:00.000-07:00

Hear are some great subsciption page e-mail marketing tips. The Author is Cindy McMillan; Cindy is the leader of CRM Canada and an e-mail marketing specialist as well as a web and graphic designer. cindy@crmcanada.ca www.crmcanada.ca

Your most reliable collection for e-mail addresses is a dedicated subscription page at your Web site.Your subscription or registration page is the best source of e-mail addresses, for two reasons. First, your subscribers are providing the information and showing an interest level or commitment that is important for your business. It cuts down on mistakes and gives ownership and recognition to your mailings. Also your subscription page allows you to present the your e-mail program exactly as you intended it, giving you an opportunity to explain why this program is important to your customer and what benefits they can look forward to in receiving your e-mails.Here are a few simple things you can do to help promote your subscription page:*Ad the web address of your subscription page to your receipts or invoices.*Create a link on your main landing page of your web site.*Include it on printed marketing materials including flyers, letter heads, banners.*Create a new subscriber discount coupon program.

The Goldilocks Syndrome

2009-06-16T03:48:00.000-07:00

Though five years old, go to this very interesting and insightful article by Lisa Picarille on some of the pitfalls and effective strategies in implementing CRM. Go to:

http://www.destinationcrm.com/Articles/ReadArticle.aspx?ArticleID=44367

Market Segmentation

2009-06-13T20:11:00.000-07:00

CRM software enables users to be able to implement effective market segmentation programs. This is especially true with software that has the capacity for many additional fields and screens. Additional fields can store a wide range of information that can be captured in filtered groups (market segments). Segments can then be converted into targeted campaigns. such as e-mail marketing or various targeted marketing activities.

Activity as a predidctor of sales success

2009-06-03T03:36:00.001-07:00

Activity has always been a significant predictor of sales success. CRM and Sales Force Automation software has the capacity to manage both current customer contact as well as the activity that makes up a new customer acquisition process. Basing all current customer activity on a perceived annual sales potential helps assure that both the level of activity is cost effective and the chance of hitting that sales potential. Timed activities within a customer acquisition/prospecting process helps assure that the "steps" in the process are consistent with the activites needed to reach expected approach-to-close-ratios.

CRM Software Can Help Lower Cost of Sales

2009-04-12T18:17:00.000-07:00

Salespeople notoriously cover existing customers, or prospect for new customers, unstructured and historically don't get the best ROI for themselves and their company from their sales & marketing efforts. Unstructured efforts mean a high cost of sales since customer and prospect contact is carried out without consideration of the levels of future business of an existing customer or the potential of a prospect. Simply stated, activities are not planned based on these considerations. CRM software provides the resource to store customer and prospect information to help determine the value of customers and prospects - to classify them - and plan the activities based on these variables. Activities managed through CRM software can be monitored and reported on in order to assure that the cost of sales efforts is commensurate with the level of potential business.

Get More Leads and Do More with Them

2009-03-29T06:54:00.000-07:00

Lead generation is a critical factor in establishing a steady stream of business for most companies in any industry. They attempt many strategies that could include field cold calling, direct mail, e-mail marketing and telephone cold calling (telemarketing). There is, however, a strategy that is often overlooked by companies, specifically those who use telemarketing. Subsequently hundreds of leads are overlooked. These leads come from telephone reps that, because of their maximum level of customer facing, have access to vast customer information ongoing. CRM and SFA software provides places to put all of the information and make it accessible for easy retrieval and usage. This could be information that identifies customer (or prospect needs) that can be addressed by pulling from parts of the product mix the customer doesn’t even know about. What ensues is deeper customer penetration and better customer ROI.

Telephone Sales and CRM Technology – a Powerful Combination

2009-02-04T02:39:00.000-08:00

Telephone sales, integrated with CRM and Sales Force Automation software, is a powerful sales and marketing program for companies of all sizes to help drive higher sales and margins and at the same time result in more cost effective customer coverage.
Historically, telephone sales programs have been an option for companies wanting to lower their cost of sales with smaller customers while maintaining their business. Though this is still a key strategic focus, telephone programs have evolved into a sound new customer development and penetration strategy for medium and sometimes large customers as well. The CRM software component contributes greatly to the strategic effectiveness in all customer segments by providing a high level of information and contact management as well as automated sales and marketing processes.
Smaller customers for most companies historically do not have the sales or profit margin potential to be covered cost effectively by field sales-where the cost of a sales call is high. Take into account commuting time to and from a prospect or customer’s office, time spent in the lobby or reception area and an hour or two can be spent for a 20-minute meeting. The cost for this business is out of sight and the losses can be astounding. Conversely, a telephone sales person in many industries can reach at least 40-50 customers and/or prospects a day, and overall can cover as many as 700 customers. The double benefit is that the cost of sales goes way down while the large number of customers covered results in the potential for high sales without needing the success rates of field sales. Economies of scale are surely on the side of telephone sales.
CRM and Sales Force Automation software drastically enhances the power of telephone sales. This type of software, depending on the industry, has the capacity to store large amounts of information, such as: customer status, customer buying habits, special products or services, as well as demographic information at both the company and contact person/s level. A key benefit is that this powerful combination of information is always available to a telephone sales person while in contact with a customer, resulting in very effective use of information, and strategically timed presentations. Some examples of use of information are: letting customers know of product or service specials that can address their needs, or products that fit key customer applications. In many industries this allows for considerable cross selling into higher profit margins and deeper customer penetration. Field sales people simply do not have this access to information during the selling process as easily, if at all.

CRM Technology Helps Drive Customer Penetration

2009-01-23T21:01:00.000-08:00

Two questions commonly asked by most companies are: “What process should we use to build a new customer’s business? Or “what process should we use to build an existing customer’s business”. These questions generally arise after either a successful prospecting process has culminated in some opening business, or current customer business is just not building. Both dilemmas relate to marketing’s concept of “customer penetration”.

The new and current customer dilemmas include the following: Most opening business is usually a “trial” to see how the new company is going to perform. Unless the opening business is leveraged to create future business that will result in customer penetration and ongoing business, long-term new customer profitability is in doubt. Many current customers’ business is sporadic with no process in place to maximize penetration.

The key to new (and current) customer penetration is to have a structured process in place. Unfortunately, structure has not been the norm for most sales and marketing companies. Most recognize the need to build a customer’s business, and they implement various well-intended follow up programs. Arrays of promotional materials are used, but mostly in unstructured sequences that lack strategically timed customer touches. It’s tantamount to “hit and miss” at best. Also lacking is a system for measuring the effectiveness of a penetration program.

Structured customer penetration programs need to be built around CRM (Customer Relationship Management) software. CRM software can store both demographic as well as business history. Once stored, this information offers a “snapshot” of the level of penetration being achieved. A snapshot could include demographic information such as a customer’s number of employees multiplied by estimated annual business per employee to determine a customer’s annual buying potential. The potential is matched against business history to determine a customer classification based on the level of penetration being achieved. Classifications become the basis for creating customer groups – the groups are attached to structured penetration strategies.

CRM software such as GoldMine can be very effective in implementing structured penetration strategies. Consider the following example: Historical information shows that a group of customers are buying little if any of a particular product or service. They are classified based on their status and subsequently are placed into a sequential process of promotional touches that could also include appointments and/or phone calls by sales people. This is an example of Automated Processes and represents a part of sales force automation. Most companies have well-intended follow up programs; unless they employ some kind of sales force automation they are plagued with the inconsistencies and low return of investment that plague manual unstructured programs. The scenario sighted above is only one example of how companies can build business with GoldMine and sales force automation. Unlimited processes and sales and marketing campaigns are possible.

Keys to Successful CRM Implementation

2009-01-17T13:37:00.000-08:00

The creation and implementation of a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) program is tantamount to the creation and implementation of a strategic marketing plan. As with any strategic marketing plan, a CRM program needs to include not only the rationale for implementation, but also a clear set of objectives along with the sales and marketing and software considerations needed for success.

The reasons for implementing a CRM program in any industry have become obvious and don’t require much space here. In a nutshell, CRM is a strategy to learn more about customer needs and behaviors to be able to develop stronger relationships in order to enhance both new customer development and current customer penetration and retention.

Creation and implementation needs to begin with a realistic timeframe. Some programs can be fully implemented in as short a time as three months, but for some one year or more is a realistic timeframe. A logical starting point for a company should be centered on what it wants to achieve – a clear set of objectives. Once objectives are set, a company must examine its customer centric processes currently in place and decide what’s working and what isn’t and what needs to be changed. A company also needs to look at what customer information needs to be stored and processed, what levels of customer contact are needed, and how is the contact to be monitored.

The planning portion of a successful program needs to involve the company personnel that will be directly involved in the program. This usually includes sales, customer service and sales and marketing management. However, all other customer-facing personnel need to be considered, such as those in accounting and in the warehouse. Sales and customer service, especially, are the personnel “in the trenches” with customers on a day-to-day basis and have a real sensitivity to customer needs as well as what’s working and not working in customer interactions. And above all, they know what most likely needs to be changed in order to enhance customer relationships, customer contact and overall customer problem solving. Historically companies that involve their personnel in the planning process have a much higher rate of program success. Involvement results in far less “fighting” of the changes that programs such as CRM bring to a company. Sales people, especially, resist change most, but are always key players in a CRM program.