Hard to believe but… recent research indicates that when customers post a negative review or lodge a complaint, they only get a response about 35% of the time! This, according to research by the firms Chadwick Martin Bailey and iModerate Research Technologies, as recently report in the April, 2012 issue of CRM Magazine. “Companies are [...]
Posts Tagged ‘CRM’
Putting the Feedback in Customer Feedback
Posted in Bidness, and Other Current Economic Realities, tagged CRM, customer feedback, customer satisfaction on April 10, 2012 | 1 Comment »
Good CRM Advice: KNOW Your Customer (Here’s How)
Posted in Bidness, and Other Current Economic Realities, tagged appealing to Gen X, Boomers, CRM, Gen Y, Know your customer on January 31, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
A series of three articles recently published in the trade magazine “CRM” (Feb. ’12 issue) points up a lot of interesting research about the three “generations” of buyers that today comprise most of the customer base that any of us is trying to sell to. The articles covered a lot of ground, so below, we’ll [...]
10 Steps to Buying a CRM Solution
Posted in Software, Technology, and Wow I Didn't Know That, tagged choosing a CRM solution, CRM on October 20, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
SugarCRM is a popular open-source Customer Relationship Management solution that has gained popularity in the marketplace for its functionality and low cost of entry. (Disclosure: our firm does not sell or represent SugarCRM, but we do represent other similar CRM products.) Recently, in an article in CRM Magazine, the company published a basic guide to [...]
It’s the Data Stupid
Posted in Software, Technology, and Wow I Didn't Know That, tagged CRM, quality data, sales intelligence on September 8, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Customers have various responses when asked how much impact technology has had in terms of increasing their sales and marketing effectiveness. According to one recent survey conducted by CSO Insights, the answer may be a resounding “It’s OK.” A classic case of being damned by faint praise. This, despite the billions of dollars spent on [...]
How CRM Helps Firms (Like Ours… Like Yours?) Struggle With Long Sale Cycles (Part 2 of 2)
Posted in Software, Technology, and Wow I Didn't Know That, tagged CRM, CRM in long sales cycles, customer relationship management software on September 1, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
As noted in our prior post, too many companies end up with disparate silos of information. Spreadsheets and Word documents and CRM data and accounting records all spread out across separate applications, often unable to talk to one another, or to be accessed by all. As we noted earlier, it doesn’t have to be that [...]
CRM Part 6: More Thoughts on Implementing CRM
Posted in SERIES: On CRM (6 posts), Software, Technology, and Wow I Didn't Know That, tagged CRM, customer relationship management on May 20, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Two factors often appear as critical elements of a successful CRM implementation. We learn these lessons the hard way, whether we’re a customer or a service provider of CRM solutions. Either way, they are important. First, a well thought out, step-by-step implementation plan or methodology. A typical outline of one of these would look something [...]
CRM Part 5: The Basics of Implementation Methodology
Posted in SERIES: On CRM (6 posts), Software, Technology, and Wow I Didn't Know That, tagged CRM, crm planning steps, customer relationship management on May 18, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
No two CRM implementation methodologies are the same, nor need they be. But most will encompass the basics framed by some of the following principles: First, with a hat-tip to Stephen Covey’s success principles: Start with the end in mind. In other words, establish the business objectives you hope to achieve by implementing CRM (or [...]
CRM Part 4: A Common, Basic Conundrum
Posted in SERIES: On CRM (6 posts), Software, Technology, and Wow I Didn't Know That, tagged CRM, customer relationship management on May 13, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Most companies we see look something like this: The company grew, many times successfully, from a small startup into a much larger and more successful one. Along the way, they developed systems that, well… simply worked for them. And so they built spreadsheets and accounting systems and work-in-process tracking systems or inventory spreadsheets or custom [...]
CRM Part 3: Key Benefits
Posted in SERIES: On CRM (6 posts), Software, Technology, and Wow I Didn't Know That, tagged CRM, customer relationship management, SageCRM on May 11, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
In my prior post, I noted four areas of most businesses that could benefit quickly and significantly from a CRM investment. Well, one of our vendors (give credit to Sage Software for this one), came up with a simple but good list of how companies benefit from implementing CRM in those sales and marketing areas [...]
CRM Part 2: So What Can CRM Do For Me?
Posted in SERIES: On CRM (6 posts), Software, Technology, and Wow I Didn't Know That, tagged CRM, customer relationship management on May 6, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
As noted in our prior post, CRM means different things to different people. Even within a company, it can take on several distinct functions. A broad-brushstroke view of four key areas we see clients benefiting from CRM include the following… Sales: Equal to or more than anything, companies use CRM to establish and monitor sales-based [...]
