July 28th, 2007 4:47 pm | No Comments

The ABCs of Interactive Voice Response (IVR)

phone.jpgInteractive Voice Response (IVR) solutions have long been used by companies of all types and sizes to increase the efficiency of customer service personnel and reduce the cost of service delivery. But, now, IVR is proving to be one of the best complimentary technologies to CRM applications.

IVR is a phone-based software system that detects entries from a touch tone keypad, as well as live speech, during the course of a call. Callers can enter or speak their account numbers, order tracking numbers, or other identifying data to retrieve important information, which is delivered via pre-recorded text messages. More sophisticated IVR systems allow for processing and execution of simple transactions, such as funds transfers between bank accounts.

With an IVR system, customers have immediate, around-the-clock access to service – without the assistance of a live representative. Companies who use IVR as part of their overall CRM strategy can boost satisfaction by delivering faster, more convenient service to their clients, while dramatically reducing support-related expenses.

Some of the leading IVR vendors include Avaya, Nortel Networks, Genesys, InterVoice, and Cisco.

Customer Service/Support
July 28th, 2007 4:42 pm | No Comments

ScreenPlay Turns to Entellium for Sales Force Automation

“ACT! and Goldmine weren’t really upgrades from Excel, and Salesforce.com made us pay for a great deal of functionality we didn’t really need. Entellium eSalesForce offered multiple sales processes, whereby each sales rep could use the ideal process for their role. We were up and running within a week.”

– Mitzi Graham, executive director, ScreenPlay

The Challenge

logo-entellium.gifIn May of 2005, ScreenPlay reached a critical juncture. With six product groups and eight sales territories, as well as rapidly growing sales and service teams (40 and counting), ScreenPlay had maxed out Microsoft Excel’s limited ability to track customers.

“Excel isn’t really meant to be a CRM tool, and we were experiencing the pain of trying to make it do too much,” said Mitzi Graham, executive director at ScreenPlay. “The inefficiencies were crippling and the lack of data visibility across the company hamstrung our ability to make good decisions.”

As a result of using an inadequate CRM system, ScreenPlay faced the following issues:

• Non-centralized data. Customer information was typically stored in Microsoft Outlook on each salesperson’s computer, putting the data at risk should something happen to the individual’s computer.

• Manual reporting inefficiencies. Graham spent an average of eight hours a week compiling status reports, pipeline forecasts and revenue projections from each sales rep into a single spreadsheet. The complexity of each report reduced the amount of actionable insight available to management.

• “Double calls.” Occasionally two sales people would call the same prospect or company offering complementary products and services. As a result, sales “synergy” was lost.

Read more »

Case Studies, Sales Force Automation
July 28th, 2007 11:49 am | No Comments

How to Protect your CRM Database

You ask the questions, and our resident CRM guru shares her wisdom.

crm-advisor.jpgQ: “What steps can I take to protect my CRM database?”

Read more »

Business Software Advisor, System Management
July 19th, 2007 4:50 pm | 1 Comment

Six Imperatives for Building Customer Equity

john1.jpgJohn I. Todor

Customer equity leads to higher profits, higher lifetime value, and the powerful impact of word-of-mouth. Yet, most businesses are compelled to compete on price and convenience. Why? They lack customer equity and have no systematic process for building it.

Customer equity is the value of the relationship that exists in the customer’s mind – it’s emotional or psychological. When customer equity is strong, customers have a greater desire for the offering, are less price-focused, forgive snafus, seek advice on big picture issues, see the relationship as helping them deal with the future, and become advocates.

In today’s marketplace, customers are confronted with abundance, overwhelming choice and aggressive competition for their business. Consequently, most products are seen as roughly equivalent, and therefore are to be bought on the best trade-off between price and convenience. In this mindset, customers are indifferent to brands or relationships. No customer equity accrues.

The differences between most products are not meaningful to customers. It is through the experience the customer has buying and, especially, using the product that the customer gains value or meaning. Experiences create emotional and psychological reactions – negative, indifferent, or positive. The outcome of the experience lasts and impacts the relationship and customer equity.

The customer experience is the vehicle for building customer equity!

Six Ways to Build Customer Equity

1. Shift the Focus of the Relationship
A highly competitive marketplace encourages customers to buy on price and convenience. Yet, customers want trusting relationships. Relationships that deliver meaningful experience and help them deal with their issues. Truly trusting relationships simplify things for customers in an increasingly complex world. Yet, few companies deliberately nurture the right type of trust.

Read more »

Building Customer Relationships
July 13th, 2007 10:39 pm | No Comments

Gartner Releases Latest Sales Force Automation Magic Quadrant

gartner-magic-quadrant.gifMarket research firm Gartner released its latest Sales Force Automation magic quadrant late last month. The magic quadrant, a tool that aids companies in the evaluation and selection of technology vendors, places CRM providers in one of four categories - challengers, leaders, niche players, and visionaries - based on several criteria, including viability, functionality, market share, and customer support.

Gartner notes the key trend that has continued in the past year is the continued adoption of on-demand SFA or hosted SFA for companies of all sizes. Some of the notable companies included in the report were:

* Microsoft CRM (View Demo)
* Landslide (View Demo) - First time mention
* Entellium (View Demo)
* NetSuite (View Demo)

For more details on this latest Gartner quadrant, or for other CRM reports and research from Gartner, visit www.gartner.com.

Sales Force Automation, Software News
July 13th, 2007 10:34 pm | No Comments

Taking Care of Your Customer Data

You ask the questions, and our resident CRM guru shares her wisdom.

crm-advisor.jpgQ: “Who should have access to my customer data?”

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Business Software Advisor, System Management
July 13th, 2007 10:17 pm | No Comments

Taking CRM for A Test Drive

Shopping for a new CRM system? It’s best to see any potential CRM software in action BEFORE you buy.

car-key.gifHere are a few CRM vendors that make their solutions easily available for a quick “test-drive”. Check out the following CRM systems:

Infusion CRM
Offers periodic live demos that show you - first hand - how to grow your business quickly and profitably with CRM.

InsideSales.com
Offers a free trial sign up . They promise a 2 minute setup which provides you with full access to the only CRM with built-in telephony automation.

Salesforce.com
Provides a variety of streaming clips, in which company experts will walk you through the sales force automation, marketing automation, customer service automation, and analytics applications.

Entellium
Get a live demo of eSalesForce that’s personalized for your unique business needs.

Leadmaster
Check out their free no obligation 30-day test drive, or simply watch the quick tour demo.

SugarCRM
View a variety of role-based demos for sales, marketing, and support, as well as executives and administrators.

Sage Software
View a live demonstration of SalesLogix, brought to you over the Web.

Business Software Resources, CRM
July 13th, 2007 3:33 pm | No Comments

Get More of What you Want, Without Working Harder

Big Help for Small Business:
Get More of What You Want, Without Working Harder (Or Spending More)

patty-england-large.JPGThere comes a point where you simply can’t work any harder. There are 24 hours in the day, and even if you worked all 24 of them, your business can’t grow if you keep doing things the same way.

There is one major thing that prevents businesses from growing - always putting immediate revenue ahead of doing the things that are required to grow your business. Your number one responsibility as a business leader is to prepare yourself and your business for its growth. This is true in any size business. You need to focus time on working ON your business versus working IN your business. And to do this, you need to find a way to “make room” in your days to do the things that ensure the long term growth and success of your business.

In this “Big Help for Small Business” article series, I will give you ideas and practical approaches that you can apply in your business to accomplish the things you need to do to grow it. Here is a preview of the topics for the year ahead:

Developing Your Brand
Why should you care? Because the only thing your competition can’t copy or under-price is your behavior, and how you serve your customers. THIS is what branding is about. It’s not about your logo or your advertising strategy. And if you’re not doing it, you’re losing business. Period.

Your Customers
Your customers are your greatest asset. Do you know who they are? Have you put them to work for you? Developing and managing the right relationships with your customers will keep them happy, coming back, spending more money with you, and recommending you to new customers.

Marketing
Many businesses waste a lot of money on marketing that doesn’t work. An integrated marketing plan that supports your brand, and targets the right customers in the right places will have a big payoff. You don’t need to be bullied by people selling advertising.

Reach more of the right prospects, and increase your chance of converting them into customers. Consider PR, partnerships, events, customer marketing, and the Internet. It’s easier than you think if you have a clear brand platform and you build a marketing plan.

Sales
How you sell is even more important than what you sell. Does your sales team deliver a consistent experience to your prospects and customers that reflect brand values? Do you have a clear sales process? Is everyone trained? Having a specific sales plan, training, and measurements will increase your revenue and your profits.

Employees
You business, your customers, and your brand are all in the hands of your employees. What is your plan for ensuring that your employees do what you need them to do? Interview, hire, inspire, and lead your employees so they deliver value, free your time instead of drain it, and do all the right things for your customers.

Leadership
It is so important to be intentional about your role as a leader in your business. Everything you do (and don’t do) speaks volumes to your employees and customers. Your leadership behaviors have a big impact on the success of your business. Are your communications and behaviors enhancing the performance of your business or degrading it?

Stay tuned each month for an article on one of these topics that you can use to reach more customers, inspire your employees, make more time in your days, and build value in your business.

You can build the business you desire.

About the Author

Patty Azzarello is the CEO of Azzarello Group, a unique services organization focused on helping business leaders actually get done what they want to do, and get a bigger payoff from their hard work.
www.BigHelpForSmallBusiness.com.

CRM
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