5 Quick Tips On Increasing Productivity With A CRM Solution
Jul 16, 2009 Management
A good content relationship management (CRM) solution can greatly assist your sales team in increasing sales and customer service effectiveness at each step of the sales process. From the early stages of gaining leads and investigating potential opportunities, to fulfilling orders and sending out invoices, a good CRM can keep it all under control–and increase productivity at the same time. Here are a few quick tips…
1. Choose the best solution for your company. There are a number of excellent competing CRM solutions available, all with their own good points. It can be hard to make the right choice, especially if you have no previous experience.
Take time to examine the available options. Do you want a desktop program, or a web-based solution? There are pros and cons for each, but generally the desktop solution has the edge in all round flexibility. Does it have all the features you need? The ability to report on just about everything is a big advantage. Not every CRM can do this. Ease of use with a low learning curve is another consideration. You don’t want your staff taking weeks just to learn how to use it. The leading makes, like GoldMine or ACT!, and especially the new Microsoft Dynamics CRM, can do these things, some are better than others, of course.
2. Use the built-in reporting features of your CRM to maximize efficiency. This is one of the areas of a good CRM that is often underused. If you chose a CRM application that is unable to produce meaningful reports, or one that can only do a few basic reports, then you did not choose wisely.
The best CRM’s will let you set up rules that force users to enter data in a certain way. That standardizes the input data, and when the data is always entered the same way, it can be filtered and output in the same way too. Meaningful reports from live data in other words. Reports that actually let you pinpoint the problems or weak areas and eliminate them or modify them. Reports that can highlight the opportunities or underused possibilities and exploit them or maximize them.
Most good CRM applications will do this for you. Microsoft Dynamics CRM, for example, is one of the best and easiest to use to produce reports that can analyze and dissect everything imaginable.
3. Allow your sales people to effectively monitor themselves. Sales people want to do well. Their performance is crucial to results. When they can see where their weak spots are, and where their strong points are, they can adjust the way they work to produce better results in future. All this is child’s play with a good analytics and reporting capability CRM, such as the Microsoft Dynamics CRM. Its reporting and workflow features allow operatives to monitor and view sales and lead data filtered in a variety of ways.
Increasing productivity with a CRM solution is easy when you make use of all its features. This is only possible when you fully understand what each feature does, and how it affects and complements other features. First and foremost, start out by knowing all there is to know about the application, and make sure that everyone else does too. Then, if that knowledge is not being properly applied, there can be no excuse.
By: Syed Ali
About the Author:
1. Choose the best solution for your company. There are a number of excellent competing CRM solutions available, all with their own good points. It can be hard to make the right choice, especially if you have no previous experience.
Take time to examine the available options. Do you want a desktop program, or a web-based solution? There are pros and cons for each, but generally the desktop solution has the edge in all round flexibility. Does it have all the features you need? The ability to report on just about everything is a big advantage. Not every CRM can do this. Ease of use with a low learning curve is another consideration. You don’t want your staff taking weeks just to learn how to use it. The leading makes, like GoldMine or ACT!, and especially the new Microsoft Dynamics CRM, can do these things, some are better than others, of course.
2. Use the built-in reporting features of your CRM to maximize efficiency. This is one of the areas of a good CRM that is often underused. If you chose a CRM application that is unable to produce meaningful reports, or one that can only do a few basic reports, then you did not choose wisely.
The best CRM’s will let you set up rules that force users to enter data in a certain way. That standardizes the input data, and when the data is always entered the same way, it can be filtered and output in the same way too. Meaningful reports from live data in other words. Reports that actually let you pinpoint the problems or weak areas and eliminate them or modify them. Reports that can highlight the opportunities or underused possibilities and exploit them or maximize them.
Most good CRM applications will do this for you. Microsoft Dynamics CRM, for example, is one of the best and easiest to use to produce reports that can analyze and dissect everything imaginable.
3. Allow your sales people to effectively monitor themselves. Sales people want to do well. Their performance is crucial to results. When they can see where their weak spots are, and where their strong points are, they can adjust the way they work to produce better results in future. All this is child’s play with a good analytics and reporting capability CRM, such as the Microsoft Dynamics CRM. Its reporting and workflow features allow operatives to monitor and view sales and lead data filtered in a variety of ways.
Increasing productivity with a CRM solution is easy when you make use of all its features. This is only possible when you fully understand what each feature does, and how it affects and complements other features. First and foremost, start out by knowing all there is to know about the application, and make sure that everyone else does too. Then, if that knowledge is not being properly applied, there can be no excuse.
By: Syed Ali
About the Author:
Syed Ali, is the lead CRM Analyst for a Toronto based company. His company, offers Microsoft CRM software Solutions www.crmsoftwareprovider.com Syed can be reached at Tel : (905) 815- 1995 ext 22, email :asyed@cqsolutions.com
Tags: Crm Solutions, Customer Service Effectiveness, Increasing Sales
Remote Synchronization Proves Top Benefit for Commence CRM Solution
Jul 7, 2009 Business
Michael D. Warner, CPA and President of Warner Technology, Inc., a business consultancy located in Medina, Ohio, said, “I have been working with Commence CRM since the days of IBM Current in the early 1990’s. I was introduced to the program when I was working at an accounting firm in Cleveland. What prompted the initial need for the Commence technology solutions was, “Our need to find a program where we could store all our data and relate it to other areas of our business. We could enter contact information and connect it to appointments, projects, billing and invoicing information all rolled into one.”
Warner also noted that, “Aside from the fact that we have built a business around providing Commence as a solution to many of our clients, we have been able to streamline our own business processes into one software platform. We have also benefited from the remote synchronization by creating virtual offices and the ability to work from anywhere we are, whether at a client office or home offices.”
Warner even acknowledges that when the firm first started using the Commence synchronization technology, they tried to “break it” by introducing situations in which might cause it to fail. “We would start the synchronization of data from a client copy of the database to the server and then remove the network connection to the Internet in the middle of the process. When we re-established the connection, the data began to flow again. We were amazed. That technology was introduced back in the early 1990’s and is maintained in the current product today. The synchronization process was and in some ways is still ahead of its time!”
The most important feature of Commence that Warner Technology recognizes for the business sector is flexibility. Warner insists, “We will continue to take advantage of the technology in Commence and push into several specific areas of the marketplace where we see tremendous potential for the Commence product.
Many small and mid-sized businesses (SMB) have taken notice of Commence Corporation (www.commence.com), a provider of on-premise and hosted web-based solutions designed specifically for this businesses sector. The company is gaining momentum and marketshare with Commence On-Demand, a suite of CRM (customer relationship management) applications that is deployed as software as a service (SaaS).
According to Larry Caretsky, President of Commence CRM, “We are delighted that Warner Technology is able to gain so much benefit from the technology solutions we provide.”
About Commence Corporation
Commence Corporation is a leading provider of Customer Relationship Management solutions. The company’s products are designed to provide growing businesses with flexible solutions that leverage the Web to offer an integrated platform for managing sales execution and customer service. Commence supports several thousand customers through a worldwide distribution network, with outlets in North and South America, Europe and Asia.
By: Thomas Cutler
About the Author:
Warner also noted that, “Aside from the fact that we have built a business around providing Commence as a solution to many of our clients, we have been able to streamline our own business processes into one software platform. We have also benefited from the remote synchronization by creating virtual offices and the ability to work from anywhere we are, whether at a client office or home offices.”
Warner even acknowledges that when the firm first started using the Commence synchronization technology, they tried to “break it” by introducing situations in which might cause it to fail. “We would start the synchronization of data from a client copy of the database to the server and then remove the network connection to the Internet in the middle of the process. When we re-established the connection, the data began to flow again. We were amazed. That technology was introduced back in the early 1990’s and is maintained in the current product today. The synchronization process was and in some ways is still ahead of its time!”
The most important feature of Commence that Warner Technology recognizes for the business sector is flexibility. Warner insists, “We will continue to take advantage of the technology in Commence and push into several specific areas of the marketplace where we see tremendous potential for the Commence product.
Many small and mid-sized businesses (SMB) have taken notice of Commence Corporation (www.commence.com), a provider of on-premise and hosted web-based solutions designed specifically for this businesses sector. The company is gaining momentum and marketshare with Commence On-Demand, a suite of CRM (customer relationship management) applications that is deployed as software as a service (SaaS).
According to Larry Caretsky, President of Commence CRM, “We are delighted that Warner Technology is able to gain so much benefit from the technology solutions we provide.”
About Commence Corporation
Commence Corporation is a leading provider of Customer Relationship Management solutions. The company’s products are designed to provide growing businesses with flexible solutions that leverage the Web to offer an integrated platform for managing sales execution and customer service. Commence supports several thousand customers through a worldwide distribution network, with outlets in North and South America, Europe and Asia.
By: Thomas Cutler
About the Author:
Commence Corporation
www.commence.com
Larry Caretsky
Marketing@commence.com
1-877-Commence
What Crm Solution Should You Choose?
Jul 7, 2009 Internet
It seems CRM technology is the buzz in business these days. And it’s no wonder customer relationship management is a powerful tool when implemented correctly. So what CRM solution should you choose?
Whether you are in a retail industry, financial services, high tech, telecommunications, computer or any other business to be successful you need to have better customer service than your competition.
This can be a much bigger task for small or medium size businesses who may not have the resources available to them. A billion dollar industry is going to have all the resources. But at the end of the day they have to both accomplish the same thing.
There are ten things to consider when evaluating your CRM software.
1. Company Goals and Strategies - until you know exactly what these are you’ll have trouble dealing with the remaining 9 items.
2. Web-based, Client based - smaller companies may do better with web based services which take care of storage, updates, and anything else related to software. On the other hand client side software resides on your computers and you have full control of it.
3. Budget and the Total Cost of Owning - determine your budget before you start doing your software research.
4. Room to Grow and Expand - it is important to ensure that you have an idea of what type of growth your company will experience in the future and the software choice should account for that.
5. Rapid Deployment - how fast can you install, train, and get your CRM package up and running
6. Customizable for your Business Needs - you should choose software that allows you to customize to your specific company needs.
7. Works with Existing Systems - If you have other software in play such as Microsoft Office or Outlook you will be benefit from software that integrates with it.
8. Vendor Reputation, Product Reliability - It’s important to purchase your CRM software from a reputable vendor so that you can depend on product support, upgrades, and anything else you might need.
9. User Interface Meets User Needs - It is critical that the software work for the company and fit their plans not the other way around so buy because it fits your way of doing business.
10. Functionality - Of course functionality is required because without it there is not CRM solution.
Your CRM needs need to meet the individual requirements of each company. There are many factors you need to consider when choosing your CRM solution but not are all equal in value and you will need to determine the importance of all ten items. Different size businesses are going to have different scales of importance.
Always give attention to both the technology and business objectives. Too often business objectives get forgotten about and the technology gets too much attention. Remember this is an equal partnership and rather than the business fitting the software the software needs to fit the business.
What CRM solution should you choose? These ten points will ensure you choose the right one.
By: Sayed Ally
About the Author:
Whether you are in a retail industry, financial services, high tech, telecommunications, computer or any other business to be successful you need to have better customer service than your competition.
This can be a much bigger task for small or medium size businesses who may not have the resources available to them. A billion dollar industry is going to have all the resources. But at the end of the day they have to both accomplish the same thing.
There are ten things to consider when evaluating your CRM software.
1. Company Goals and Strategies - until you know exactly what these are you’ll have trouble dealing with the remaining 9 items.
2. Web-based, Client based - smaller companies may do better with web based services which take care of storage, updates, and anything else related to software. On the other hand client side software resides on your computers and you have full control of it.
3. Budget and the Total Cost of Owning - determine your budget before you start doing your software research.
4. Room to Grow and Expand - it is important to ensure that you have an idea of what type of growth your company will experience in the future and the software choice should account for that.
5. Rapid Deployment - how fast can you install, train, and get your CRM package up and running
6. Customizable for your Business Needs - you should choose software that allows you to customize to your specific company needs.
7. Works with Existing Systems - If you have other software in play such as Microsoft Office or Outlook you will be benefit from software that integrates with it.
8. Vendor Reputation, Product Reliability - It’s important to purchase your CRM software from a reputable vendor so that you can depend on product support, upgrades, and anything else you might need.
9. User Interface Meets User Needs - It is critical that the software work for the company and fit their plans not the other way around so buy because it fits your way of doing business.
10. Functionality - Of course functionality is required because without it there is not CRM solution.
Your CRM needs need to meet the individual requirements of each company. There are many factors you need to consider when choosing your CRM solution but not are all equal in value and you will need to determine the importance of all ten items. Different size businesses are going to have different scales of importance.
Always give attention to both the technology and business objectives. Too often business objectives get forgotten about and the technology gets too much attention. Remember this is an equal partnership and rather than the business fitting the software the software needs to fit the business.
What CRM solution should you choose? These ten points will ensure you choose the right one.
By: Sayed Ally
About the Author:
Sayed Ally, is the lead CRM Analyst. His company provides, Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0. Sayed can be reached at Tel : (905) 815- 1995 ext 22, email: aSayed@cqsolutions.com.
Smaller CRM Solutions Providers Have Distinct Advantages Including Lower Price
Jul 6, 2009 Technology
Jim Meade, Ph.D, an industry analyst and software reviewer recently noted, “While all the hype and fanfare traditionally surround the mainstream players, every so often I come across a smaller, less-known company whose products do an even better job than the big players of meeting the functional and financial requirements of the customers they serve.” Meade noted that he recently found the same unexpected power and value to be available from lesser-known providers in the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) space. Meade suggested, “While we industry analysts and gurus tend to pay homage to the big guns like Siebel and Microsoft, smaller companies like Commence Corporation of Tinton Falls, NJ that may not appear on our analyst radar screen are quietly meeting customer needs in the CRM sector.”
Commence has been supporting the business requirements of small to mid-size
companies for more than a decade and has an impressive track record for
delivering quality products and services. Positioned squarely between low-end
contact managers and costly, overly complex higher-end solutions, Commence
CRM strikes a nice balance among functionality, ease of use, and low cost of
ownership.
According to Larry Caretsky, President of Commence Corporation, “The company offers a full suite of applications from contact management and
sales automation to marketing campaign management and customer support (or
help desk). In a nice marketing stroke, the applications are modular in design yet
fully integrated, so you can purchase just what you need. Our industrial CRM product rivals the functionality of many higher-end solutions costing thousands of
dollars more.”
Commence (www.commence.com) offers lean industrial companies complete “Freedom Of Choice” to select the solutions and platform that best meets the business requirements of manufacturers and distributors. The comprehensive CRM Industrial application suite is available for use on premise or on-demand as a hosted service. Industrial leaders often build departmental lean CRM solutions with the award winning Commence Lean Industrial CRM Framework. These choices are why so many industrial companies choose Commence as the solution for managing customer relationships. All Commence Industrial solutions support mobile or wireless connectivity and integration to back-office accounting and ERP systems.
By: Thomas Cutler
About the Author:
Commence has been supporting the business requirements of small to mid-size
companies for more than a decade and has an impressive track record for
delivering quality products and services. Positioned squarely between low-end
contact managers and costly, overly complex higher-end solutions, Commence
CRM strikes a nice balance among functionality, ease of use, and low cost of
ownership.
According to Larry Caretsky, President of Commence Corporation, “The company offers a full suite of applications from contact management and
sales automation to marketing campaign management and customer support (or
help desk). In a nice marketing stroke, the applications are modular in design yet
fully integrated, so you can purchase just what you need. Our industrial CRM product rivals the functionality of many higher-end solutions costing thousands of
dollars more.”
Commence (www.commence.com) offers lean industrial companies complete “Freedom Of Choice” to select the solutions and platform that best meets the business requirements of manufacturers and distributors. The comprehensive CRM Industrial application suite is available for use on premise or on-demand as a hosted service. Industrial leaders often build departmental lean CRM solutions with the award winning Commence Lean Industrial CRM Framework. These choices are why so many industrial companies choose Commence as the solution for managing customer relationships. All Commence Industrial solutions support mobile or wireless connectivity and integration to back-office accounting and ERP systems.
By: Thomas Cutler
About the Author:
Commence Corporation
www.commence.com
Larry Caretsky
Marketing@commence.com
732-380-9100
