The focus shouldn't just be on leads.

Most people who work in a sales position or a marketing position recognize that sometimes there is a disconnect between the goals each sets.  Sales tends to look only at numbers and marketing looks mostly at leads.  So how can marketing provide more support to sales?  Below are a couple of paragraphs from a CRM Magazine article written by Lisa Cramer pertaining to this subject:

"What role do marketers really play in sales? And I mean directly in sales. The answer to this question is actually quite different for each company. Some marketers go about executing campaigns with no particular concern for the outcome of their marketing tactics on eventual revenue. It's hard to believe this situation still exists, but we've seen it time and time again.

The reality is that most often marketing is motivated not by sales but by the number of leads or "clicks" it generates. Conversely, sales is driven solely by the numbers, how many sales close and how much revenue is generated. Thus, a large gap exists between marketing and sales organizations."

Read the entire article here.

-Brianna

Choose your message well.

We have all ended up in a someone's voice mail and left a message, but when you are working a sale leaving the right message is key.  Below is a paragraph from an article published by Miller Heiman about the importance of the message you leave:

"Before you leave your next voice mail for a prospect or client, consider the most important part of your message: Why should they return your call?

This is planning season for a lot of companies, so it’s a great time to get their executives' attention. If you have a solution that will help executives solve a business challenge or take advantage of a trend, let them know in your message. If you leave it up to them to figure it out on their own, you’re wasting your time."

You can read the entire article here.

-Brianna

For social media.

Below are a couple paragraphs from a humorous article by Steve McKee about New Year's resolutions for users of social media:

"A few years back I wrote a column offering a dozen New Year's resolutions I wish advertisers would make. Given the season, and the suitability of the topic, I thought it might be time for a handful of resolutions dealing with social media.

Below are eight resolutions I developed with the help of some of my social media friends. They're more focused on the professional than the personal, but if the shoe fits for your personal interactions, feel free to wear it. Some are things to start doing; others are things to stop doing. Some are resolutions I need to make for myself; others I wish everyone would adopt. See if you agree." 

Read the entire article, and his 8 resolutions, here.

Have a happy New Year!!

-Brianna

 Improve your customer experience and strengthen your brand.

 Besides improving your customer experience and strengthening your brand, being proactive with your customers can also improve your bottom line.  Below is an excerpt from an article written by Lauren McKay:

"Imagine a customer renting a car to move three short blocks in Brooklyn, N.Y. She calls on Zipcar, a membership-based car-sharing service—an alternative to buying or renting a car. After sweating in the July heat, hauling various household items up and down three flights of stairs, and making the same right-hand turns throughout several trips from one apartment to the next, her five-hour rental time has gone by in a flash. Suddenly, she finds herself nearing the rental deadline with not enough time to finish moving and return the car to the parking garage. Panicking, and checking her phone in disbelief at the time of day, she sees an SMS text from Zipcar, asking if she needs an extra 30 minutes. Elated, she texts back, a one-word affirmation and avoids a Benjamin-valued late fee and complete loss of her composure.

What Zipcar offers, an easy way to extend rental time, is nothing revolutionary. However, that simple proactive communication may be the difference between a consumer’s bad experience and a very good one."

You can read the entire article here.

-Brianna

The order makes a difference.

To create a successful campaign, marketers need to gather information and the 5 W's - who, what, when, where, why - can be helpful to campaign planning.  The order of the 5 W's can make a difference and, for marketing purposes, who shouldn't be the first question asked.  Below is are a couple paragraphs from an article by Steve Mckee that explains in what order marketers should use the 5 W's, and why:

"You've heard of the Five W's: who, what, when, where, and why. They're the elements of information needed to get the full story, whether it's a journalist uncovering a scandal, a detective investigating a crime, or a customer service representative trying to resolve a complaint. There's even an old PR formula that uses the Five W's as a template for how to write a news release.

Most of the time it doesn't matter in what order the information is gathered, as long as all five W's are ultimately addressed. The customer service rep's story may begin with who was offended, while the journalist may follow a lead based on what happened. The detective may start with where a crime was committed while details of who and what (not to mention when and why) are still sketchy."

Interested in reading the whole article?  You can do so here.

-Brianna

Mobile, Social, Real-Time.

Below is an excerpt from an article in CRM Magazine online about how the internet is changing the playing field for CRM:

"Fifteen years ago, when the Web was still in its infancy, the driving force for CRM was a device that had been around for more than a century: Alexander Graham Bell's world-changing telephone. Customer service was conducted almost entirely through this medium, and CRM innovation was driven by almighty contact center metrics such as "average handle time" and "first-call resolution." Time on the phone was the only currency you had with customers, and eliminating as much of that time as possible was a measure of your efficiency. For a while, it seemed like keeping the customer at arm's length was the goal.

Not anymore. Here are six ways that the new Internet -- a mobile, social, and real-time Internet -- is changing the playing field for CRM and putting customers back in control.

1. Now is the new "on hold"

Twitter added 105 million users in just four years; Facebook added more than 500 million users in the last six. What these hundreds of millions of people have in common are their expectations. Customers now expect instant responses from their friends on their location-aware mobile devices, along with immediate service. Customer service organizations are challenged to provide real-time responses to customers on any channel, anywhere, on any device. To do so, service agents need to be empowered with a full set of contextual CRM information, including a customer's current location, integrated sales-and-service history, social media interactions, analytics, and relevant product and service recommendations. One recent example of this occurred in South Africa for the 2010 World Cup, when South African Tourism provided real-time service to over 300,000 mobile, social fans on Twitter, and delivered an amazing customer experience to World Cup visitors."

Interested in reading the entire article?  You can do so here.

-Brianna

4 Ways.

A new Forrester Research report takes a look at how low-performing companies can implement strategies that high-performing companies use:

"In his most recent research, Hagen looks at the differences between the top-performing and the low-performing firms on the CXPi. High performing companies generally have well adopted multi-channel strategies, and focus on making online interactions more enjoyable. GA_googleFillSlot("dCRM-TextAds");

Largely, Hagen found that although low-performing companies might blame budgets for misaligned strategies, it's the money they lack, it's the perspective.  In comparison to high performing companies, low-performing companies, he writes, often complain of the following inhibitors:

• Insufficient budgets. 
• Lack of executive support. 
• Focus on online channels. (18 of 21 survey respondents from lower-scoring companies say that improving online usability is a major objective in 2010)

Low-performing companies should take nods from their top performing counterparts. Such efforts include:

1. Create (or revisit) customer journey maps that cross channels and silos.
It's difficult to understand what your customers want without knowing where they are coming from. Forrester recommends creating a customer experience journey map to lay out the various touch points the customer might have withy you, the vendor. For instance, a customer may first get an impression from a search engine, and then the customer visits the online channel, leaves to consult social media reviews on a third-party portal. That same customer might spend two weeks considering, then upon viewing an email promotion, decide to visit your brick-and-mortar location and make a purchase in person. That journey, although a bit complex, is nothing unusual for today's multi-channel customer. Understanding how and why a customer finds you and your products can befit you for reaching the customer and providing the right messages at the right part in the journey."

You can read the entire article here.

-Brianna

Your advertising efforts will benefit.

I just read an article in Businessweek by Steve McKee about how to create better advertising and it brought me back to my college business courses - in a good way.  It is amazing how easy it is to loose sight of the basics of business, and advertising is a great example.  Below are a few paragraphs from the article:

"Conventional wisdom says the secret to great advertising is developing a big idea for a campaign. In reality, the trick is developing a campaign for a big idea.

Mere semantics? Not at all.

As a young company takes root and expands, it begins to establish its brand. With each passing day, the things it does enhance (or detract from) the value of that brand. Over time, that equation begins to work in the opposite direction as well, and branding can be used to enhance the meaning and value of the company. But for this process to be effective, the business and the brand must remain intertwined.

The world's best marketers understand that as valuable as their products and services are, products and services come and go. Brands, however, live on indefinitely. As a result, they invest in and celebrate and protect their brands in every way they can, wrapping them around big, everlasting ideas."

Not that effective branding is the easiest thing to do, but if you loose sight of that idea you won't be building a business that lasts.  I enjoyed this article, and if you would like to enjoy is as well, you can do so here.

-Brianna

3 steps to follow.

We all know that implementing a CRM system can be time consuming and costly.  The main reason for this is usually poor planning up front.  Even if your current CRM implementation is less then stellar, you can still turn it around.  An article by Juan Martinez discusses a recent Gartner report about 3 steps to create a successful CRM strategy.  Below are a few paragraphs from the article:

"Gartner's recent report, "Three Steps to Create a CRM Strategy," aims to help CRM project managers, executive sponsors, and operations executives create an effective CRM strategy. The report is an assemblage of findings collected since 2002 by Gartner's annual CRM Excellence Award committees, comprising hundreds of CRM initiatives. In the report, Gartner identifies the factors that drove the winners and finalists above other entrants.

Ed Thompson, the report's author and vice president and distinguished analyst at Gartner, attributes returning interest in CRM strategy initiatives as the reason for the report.

"As things have been picking up [economically] we started to see conversations again about CRM strategies and cross-departmental stuff," Thompson says. "This paper reflects the return of big CRM projects to the agenda. The $100 million project or program is quite rare now but they're starting to appear again."

Thompson says that there was a year-and-a-half-long period during which he fielded few questions about CRM. With the surging economy, however, companies are now financially able to return to the strategy."

Interested?  Read the entire article here.

-Brianna 

And you may sell more effectively.

How are some companies so successful at marketing their products?  Staying on message is part of the equation.  Below are a couple paragraphs from an article by Carmine Gallo about this important aspect of marketing:

"In April consumers will be able to purchase Apple's (AAPL) new tablet computer, the iPad. There's a lot of speculation among analysts but despite the iPad's elegant technology, nobody really knows for sure how well it will sell. It may or may not turn into another hit like the iPhone. What is known is that Apple has once again provided a case study in marketing and promoting a new product. From a communications perspective, the thing that Apple has done exceptionally well is to stay on message.

According to Apple, the iPad is a "magical and revolutionary" product. So many news outlets picked up that message that a Google (GOOG) search for the phrase iPad + "magical and revolutionary" returned 2.8 million links this weekend. Even CNN couldn't resist repeating the description. The world's press was speaking from the same playbook because Apple never strayed from its key message.

Visit the iPad Web site and you're greeted with the headline: "A magical and revolutionary product at an unbelievable price." The first sentence of Apple's press release reads, "Today, Apple announced its magical and revolutionary iPad…." Steve Jobs is quoted in the same press release as saying, "We're excited for customers to get their hands on this magical and revolutionary product." When Jobs himself announced the product in January, he began by saying: "Today we're introducing a magical and revolutionary device at an unbelievable price." Apple controls the message—always."

 You can read the entire article here.

-Brianna

That depends...

Conducting market research can be a valuable tool or a huge let down depending on how it is used.  I don't know how many of you use market research but I read an article by Steve McKee with some pointers on conducting meaningful market research and I found it interesting.  Below are a couple paragraphs from the article:

"My colleagues and I conduct quite a bit of market research, both for our own company and on behalf of our clients. We've seen it used both for good and for ill. Here are a handful of thoughts that can keep your research from causing you pain.

1. There are things you can measure and things you can't. Don't mix them up.

How much do you love your wife? What's the value of poetry? What is a life worth? Ask most people these questions, and you'll get a funny look—or get into a metaphysical discussion. Some things just can't be quantified. Yet in business, we often act as if everything can.

In a 2008 Wall Street Journal story, Adrian Van Hooydonk, director of design at BMW (BMW:GR), explained how the carmaker evaluates vehicle prototypes: "We don't use customer clinics. They will be judging it based on the world today. Design needs to look good in eight years' time. You can't ask a customer whether he will like the design of the car in 2018." Van Hooydonk and his team must be onto something, because BMW has arguably been the most stylish and best-performing car company of the past two decades."

If you are interested in reading more, you can do so here.

-Brianna

Hint: it's not a bone.

Keeping the top sales people in your organization motivated to continue performing at their best is good for business.  So what drives them?  Below are a few paragraphs by Jeff Schmitt regarding this topic:

"Few of us ever planned to work in sales. It was a way to get in the door, a quick stop before moving into something sexier. Back then, we saw it as a necessary evil, ambiguous and messy, requiring pandering, compromise, and (gasp) humility. Years later, many of us still find ourselves in sales. Maybe we were passed over, or amassed a mortgage and dependents.

More often than not, though, we grew to love it.

You see, we live for the chase, craving that euphoric validation from the close. Sure, we endure complaints and condescension every day. Sometimes, we invest months building relationships at bistros and ball games, only to finish second. Yet, we dust ourselves off to hit the pavement again. Like all rebels, we sneer at the status quo, always knowing the odds are stacked against us.

And every day, we bear a terrible burden: If we don't close, our peers don't work."

You can read the entire article here.

-Brianna

Building a simple bar graph.

Are you familiar with, or have you ever tried, building a graph with Crystal Reports?  This topic came up in a recent blog by George Jensen, below are a couple of paragraphs:

"I have done very little on graphs.  Honestly, I have not really worked with them all that much so blogging on this topic will provide me a reason to really get to know and use the different graphs that come with Business Objects Crystal Report. 

We will start with the simple bar graph.

The goal today will be to build a small little bar graph that provides the total number of Accounts base on the ACCOUNT.TYPE field.  To start, build a report using report wizard that contains the SalesLogix Account table.  We will need the Account and Type fields from that table.  Also, we will want to build a report group using ACCOUNT.TYPE."

You can read the blog in its entirety here.

-Brianna

Listening and taking action.

In a perfect world we listen to what our customers need/want and then respond accordingly.  Unfortunately, the world isn't perfect.  Below are a couple paragraphs from an article by Jessica Tsai about a recent study performed by Boston Consulting Group:

"The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) released its first Customer Insight Benchmarking report recently -- a study that surveyed more than 800 executives involved in either line management or consumer insight roles. Participants were from 40 global companies with at least $1.5 billion in sales, with many, the report notes, exceeding $10 billion. However, budgets are rarely the most pressing issue when it comes to raising the customer voice in the business conversation. In fact, BCG found that oftentimes, the companies that the best — performing companies actually spent less on market research studies per full-time employee (FTE). According to Mary Egan, partner and managing director in the firm's New York office, companies spending a lot per FTE were "swimming in data" and, therefore, more inclined to get stuck on tactical research, instead of focusing on strategic imperatives.

As a consulting firm, BCG was noticing a disconcerting trend among its clients. "We were observing a real gap between the aspirations of the leadership team — what they were saying in mission statements about being customer centric — ...and the actual ways of working in most companies," Egan says. Among the most pressing reasons for this, which became the impetus for this report The Consumer's Voice: Can Your Company Hear It?, was the fact that customer insight teams were actually feeling "sidelined," their work largely un- or undervalued."

Read the entire article here.

-Brianna

Improving your "yes" rate.

The majority of the time we would rather hear yes then no.  Have you ever thought about how you can influence how often you receive yes for an answer?  Below are a few paragraphs from an article by Arlene Johnson that explores how you can improve your yes rate:

"If you are getting more no's than yes's when asking others for support, resources or important agreements, heads-up.  You might consider reversing the pattern!  First, let's check your yes rate.  Thinking of the last requests that you have made of others, a colleague, boss or customer (or spouse), what percentage of their responses were yes versus no?  Your answer is your yes rate.  If your yes rate is above 95%, congratulations!  You can use this information to reinforce what you're doing right, and to use as a coaching tool for others!

Any yes rate below what you consider to be an optimum percentage, could impact what you want to achieve in your business or personal life.  So, assessing your yes rate is definitely worthy of your time and consideration. 

Here's the good news:  you can easily and effectively improve your yes rate by using a collaborative conversation approach, and by understanding and speaking to an individual's or group's most important yes factors and no factors."

You can read the article in its entirety here.

-Brianna

And the organizational changes that will follow.

Ok, so I'm still on the whole cloud computing thing.  I can't help it, it's everywhere!  That said, have you ever thought of the impact cloud computing will have as more and more organizations migrate technology to the cloud?  Below are a few paragraphs from Vanessa Alvarez's article, Cloud Migrations Trigger Organizational Challenges:

"When organizations migrate to cloud computing, most of the focus is on technology components such as security, automation, and policy management. There is, however, another key element that's necessary for a cloud model to work within enterprises, and it involves organizational behavior.

Enterprises today are grappling not only with evolving operational models within their data centers, but also with challenges presented by internal organizations struggling to adapt to those technological changes. Often, the human element of cloud computing is left out of the broader discussion.

Key to any cloud computing deployment is understanding that it will spark changes not only an enterprise's data center, but also in the enterprise's organizational behavior. These changing behaviors will need to be addressed if enterprises are to successfully deploy cloud computing."

You can read the article in its entirety here.

-Brianna

Hint: Be engaging, not boring.

Whether you are training your staff to use a new customization in SalesLogix Windows client, to use new features in SalesLogix Web, or are training your staff on something totally unrelated to SalesLogix, it is important to keep everyone engaged.  Below are a couple paragraphs from an article by Carmine Gallo about how to make training a true learning experience:

"Make a connection early. Carroll makes it a point to learn attendees' names and some information about them ahead of the session. He arrives early, greets everyone by name, and establishes some familiarity. This shows the attendees that he cares about them. This makes for a better chance that they'll care about him and the information he's imparting. When he starts the training he opens with a question such as: "When is the last time you had a remarkable training experience?" This gets the discussion going and signals that the audience can expect a conversation, not another boring lecture.

Embrace multimedia. Some training experts discourage using PowerPoint. That's nonsense. PowerPoint is the most common tool to transfer knowledge. Carroll points out that it must be used in an engaging way. Carroll's PowerPoint deck had few if any bullet points. The slides were mostly photos and video clips. Carroll selected video that resonated with the twentysomethings who made up the majority of the staff and which always related back to the theme."

You can read the entire article here.

-Brianna

New security application.

Many companies have begun using Facebook to connect with and market to their customers but Facebook is vulnerable spam and links to malware just like any other site.  Not to worry, there is new product to help keep your Facebook page secure.  Below are a couple of paragraphs from an article by Adam Ely, an author for Information Week.

"Today Websense released what is touted as the first security application for Facebook, developed via its recently acquired Defensio brand. Facebook users can now monitor their pages for unwanted content, including spam comments, profanity, and links to malware. This could be valuable for companies that want to control their online images and brands.

Facebook users add the application, choose which settings to activate, and receive alerts when content is posted that violates their policies. Besides monitoring for profanity and spam comments, users can disallow links based on URL categories. All URLs are scanned in real time and compared with Websense’s URL database."

You can read the article in its entirety here.

-Brianna

Seven is coming.

Many of you are using SalesLogix Mobile, or are considering an implementation of the SalesLogix Mobile client in the future.  SalesLogix Mobile works with Blackberry and Windows Mobile devices which brings me to some information I just read about the future of Windows Mobile.  Below are a couple of paragraphs from an article by Ed Hansberry, titled Details On Windows Mobile 7:

"The rumors surrounding Windows Mobile have been heating up lately. There were some vague references to it at CES and many expect a big announcement about it at Mobile World Congress in February. Now we have a ton of info coming out about what WinMo 7 will actually look like. It is still early yet and things could change, but let's see how it looks so far.

The first big news is WM Experts is saying the name will just be Seven, not Windows Mobile 7. I find that a bit surprising for two reasons. First, I think that will too easily confused with Windows 7. Second, for a company that is famous for names like "Microsoft Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition for Pocket PC Phone Edition" just "Seven" seems too short."

It will be interesting to see if the new version of Windows Mobile will have any impact on the use of SalesLogix Mobile.

-Brianna

Two things you can do to help.

I read a brief article from the Miller Heiman Sales Performance Tips that shares two things that you can do to help close your sale.  You can read the article here.  I think sometimes it can be hard to accomplish was the article proposes, but it is always worth a shot, especially if it means a win.

-Brianna

Prospects that are a waste of time.

The above statement may seem harsh but let's face it, some prospects are a waste of time.  The sooner you can identify the prospects that will drain the life from you, you can focus on the prospects that are looking for a win-win situation.  I read an article from Miller Hieman's Knowledge Center that offers an exercise to help you determine who to pursue and who to let go.  Read it here...

-Brianna

For all my system admins out there...

One of my co-workers, George, recently wrote a blog on synching views out to remotes.  He has blogged on this topic before, but he is now convinced that he has the absolute best way to sync views out to remotes.  His instructions are detailed and include screenshots so you can't mess it up

-Brianna

What we would like our customers to do...

The third quarter is coming to an end and we would all like to finish the year strong.  Many people are going to start to scramble to meet their quotas and would like to see their customers sign off today, not next week.   Read this article from Miller Heiman about closing your year strong.

-Brianna

There are at least 15 ways...

I read an article in Business Week about how to give a bad presentation.  The 15 examples listed made me giggle because people do these things all the time and don't realize how awful it makes an otherwise solid presentation.  Read through the list, and if you ever find yourself doing one of the items listed, reconsider.  Please.    Read the article here...

-Brianna

7 tips you can use.

I just read an article in CRM Magazine that discusses possible ways to accelerate sales in a down economy.  Making the most of your resources is key to being successful and the article offers 7 tips to succeed:

1. Target to Increase Accuracy
2. Personalize Communication
3. Focus Messaging on Value
4. Mix It Up - Try Variations on Content
5. Touch Your Prospects Regularly
6. Expand Coverage on Good Targets
7. Don't Forget to Test Often

If you would like to read the article in its entirety you can do so here...

-Brianna