Product managers at CRM application vendors love to talk about web integration. After all, when customer make their own selections of products and services online, web servers capture the details and nuances of their requests in place of human agents or sales professionals. What might have once landed in the heads of clever field agents now resides in a master database of likes and dislikes.
Some organizations experience resistance over installing CRM applications because staff members fear they’ll eventually be replaced. In fact, companies that use CRM software and web-based tools effectively tend to expand their business far beyond the capacities of their current staff. And the evidence of this trend is popping up in some unexpected places, like your local hotel.
For years, major brand hotel chains have urged guests to shift their appointments from the phone to their company websites. Not only does self-service web booking offer guests a comprehensive view of the prices and options available, it allows key customer data to be fed directly into a chain’s CRM system. Savvy hotel managers can use CRM data to predict the needs of incoming guests, especially repeat visitors. Anticipating these needs can impact everything from hotel decor to the kind of food and beverage on hand.
Now, imagine the power of a CRM application that can track a hotel guest’s wants and needs throughout the duration of their stay. That’s exactly what Runtriz has created with a custom hotel CRM application that runs on an iPhone or an iPod touch mobile device. By putting the entire range of hotel services -- from room service to special requests -- at the fingertips of guests, hotel managers encourage more sales through increased interaction.
Over time, managers use the CRM software not just to streamline special requests, but to build profiles of travelers and the kinds of services they request the most. This kind of CRM application can influence everything from the kind of food offered on the menu to the types of amenities offered throughout a property.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
How Easily Can You Export Data from Your CRM Software?
The recent implosion of Entellium has CIOs and sales managers talking. Despite all the benefits of hosted CRM applications, there’s always an outside possibility that a CRM software vendor might shut down entirely. Fear of losing customer data may prevent managers from pursuing a customer relationship management strategy at all, according to some industry experts.
When shopping for CRM software, purchasers must ask prospective vendors about their procedures for data access, recovery, and migration. In fact, Entellium’s own marketing material encouraged their prospects to ask tough questions about data migration. Unfortunately, this solid advice couldn’t save the jobs of the sales and marketing professionals who were laid off when the company suddenly ran out of money.
CRM software champions within a company must make sure that they have a data export strategy in mind, regardless of the stability of their vendor. This tip applies equally to clients of hosted CRM systems and to owners of site-specific CRM software. Just as a vendor on shaky financial territory could vanish overnight, a custom installed CRM solution might become worthless if a legacy hardware or software module cannot be serviced or replaced.
Fortunately, in this case, investors and other board members of the company have been able to keep the servers running. Over the coming weeks, the eSalesForce and Rave platforms -- each supporting groups of otherwise satisfied client companies -- might be sold off to new owners at bargain basement prices. Whether the existing CRM applications will remain as-is or will be integrated into competitors’ suites remains to be seen. Either way, this episode illustrates the importance of accessing and backing up data locally, regardless of how stable a vendor looks.
When shopping for CRM software, purchasers must ask prospective vendors about their procedures for data access, recovery, and migration. In fact, Entellium’s own marketing material encouraged their prospects to ask tough questions about data migration. Unfortunately, this solid advice couldn’t save the jobs of the sales and marketing professionals who were laid off when the company suddenly ran out of money.
CRM software champions within a company must make sure that they have a data export strategy in mind, regardless of the stability of their vendor. This tip applies equally to clients of hosted CRM systems and to owners of site-specific CRM software. Just as a vendor on shaky financial territory could vanish overnight, a custom installed CRM solution might become worthless if a legacy hardware or software module cannot be serviced or replaced.
Fortunately, in this case, investors and other board members of the company have been able to keep the servers running. Over the coming weeks, the eSalesForce and Rave platforms -- each supporting groups of otherwise satisfied client companies -- might be sold off to new owners at bargain basement prices. Whether the existing CRM applications will remain as-is or will be integrated into competitors’ suites remains to be seen. Either way, this episode illustrates the importance of accessing and backing up data locally, regardless of how stable a vendor looks.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
CRM Software Tracks New Prospects with Google Alerts
In an earlier post, I wrote about some companies who have found value in using Twitter to discover disgruntled customers. Of course, Twitter represents just a fraction of your company’s customers online. To help reveal other customer issues, many companies now rely on Google Alerts. These daily, automatic searches for key words and phrases can help customer service professionals get in front of a breaking situation before it gets out of control.
Like Twitter, Google Alerts can play a role in a company’s customer relationship management strategy. A team member tasked with tracking down customers with online complaints can use CRM software to triangulate their identities and locations based on data collected in-house.
Google Alerts are simple to use, but it may take some tweaking to get results that properly target real customer issues without catching irrelevant details. John Jantsch from Duct Tape Marketing has posted a list of ten Google Alerts shortcuts that can help your customer relationship management team find and resolve problems.
However, Google Alerts aren’t just for companies trying to solve problems. A handful of businesses have discovered that Google Alerts can actually be a pretty good prospecting tool. For instance, a gutter repair company in Chicago might run a Google Alert for blogs and Twitter messages that use keywords like, “gutter fixed.” Likewise, a Ford dealer in Tampa might register a Google Alert for blogs that include phrases such as, “want to buy a new Mustang.”
While not exactly warm leads, these hits on relevant blog and journal searches can turn up some prospective customers. A polite note via e-mail or Twitter can actually lead to an introduction and even a sale. Most CRM software will allow sales professionals to log the sources of these new leads using custom notes. However, Oracle and other CRM software developers are already testing new prospect search features that can automate the process of turning Google Alerts-style notifications into potential new buyers. With these new customer relationship management tools on the horizon, blogs can help generate sales in addition to serving existing customers.
Like Twitter, Google Alerts can play a role in a company’s customer relationship management strategy. A team member tasked with tracking down customers with online complaints can use CRM software to triangulate their identities and locations based on data collected in-house.
Google Alerts are simple to use, but it may take some tweaking to get results that properly target real customer issues without catching irrelevant details. John Jantsch from Duct Tape Marketing has posted a list of ten Google Alerts shortcuts that can help your customer relationship management team find and resolve problems.
However, Google Alerts aren’t just for companies trying to solve problems. A handful of businesses have discovered that Google Alerts can actually be a pretty good prospecting tool. For instance, a gutter repair company in Chicago might run a Google Alert for blogs and Twitter messages that use keywords like, “gutter fixed.” Likewise, a Ford dealer in Tampa might register a Google Alert for blogs that include phrases such as, “want to buy a new Mustang.”
While not exactly warm leads, these hits on relevant blog and journal searches can turn up some prospective customers. A polite note via e-mail or Twitter can actually lead to an introduction and even a sale. Most CRM software will allow sales professionals to log the sources of these new leads using custom notes. However, Oracle and other CRM software developers are already testing new prospect search features that can automate the process of turning Google Alerts-style notifications into potential new buyers. With these new customer relationship management tools on the horizon, blogs can help generate sales in addition to serving existing customers.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Companies Test Twitter Inside CRM Applications
Twitter blends the casual communication of instant messaging with the permanence of blogging. Although it started off as a fairly simple website, this powerful tool connects to a variety of desktop and mobile clients. More importantly, your customers are starting to use it to document the quality of your products and services. Marketing experts believe that integrating Twitter into your company’s customer relationship management strategy acts as a distant early warning against product defects and underperforming service representatives.
In a society where frustrated customers tend to share their experiences online instead of contacting companies directly, top companies extend customer relationship management beyond inbound communication. Looking to Twitter for problems to solve can improve individual relationships with customers, while offering public evidence of a company’s commitment to quality. Companies already building strong, interactive presences on Twitter include:
* JetBlue
* Dell
* Southwest Airlines
* Kodak
* H&R Block
* Whole Foods
While it makes sense for technology companies like Dell to track customer comments on a niche publishing service, what draws the attention of businesses like General Motors and H&R Block? Twitter users include thought leaders from all walks of life. They represent the most vocal and connected customers for their companies, often helping to uncover entire pockets of discontent from an entire customer base.
Right now, many companies approach Twitter as a challenge for customer relations departments, responding to complaint tweets the same way that they would respond to angry letters or blog postings. However, a growing number of businesses have opened up to the idea of offering traditional customer support on Twitter by blending online tools with their CRM applications.
It’s no surprise that CRM application vendors are at the forefront of this trend, especially since many of their customers are well-connected CIOs and network administrators. SAP recently opened an early test of their new Twitter module to clients and to the press, while developers have launched numerous in-house projects to connect customers’ accounts to their Twitter streams. Heavy Twitter users may be more likely to request help via a “direct message” to a customer service center than by calling or visiting a company web site. Even passive compliments and complaints from customers can be logged into CRM applications by “following” a user’s account or searching for company references using Twitter’s search tools.
Along the same lines, some companies have discovered the benefits of using Twitter in their own enterprise. Other businesses are building their own private versions of Twitter tools, to enjoy the benefits of timely, but trackable, conversations. For company leaders who wonder whether Twitter has the traction to stay around for the long haul, experts point at AOL’s IM platform. Ten years ago, it was something that maybe the office intern had running in a background window. Today, IM and live chat are integral to numerous customer relationship management strategies.
In a society where frustrated customers tend to share their experiences online instead of contacting companies directly, top companies extend customer relationship management beyond inbound communication. Looking to Twitter for problems to solve can improve individual relationships with customers, while offering public evidence of a company’s commitment to quality. Companies already building strong, interactive presences on Twitter include:
* JetBlue
* Dell
* Southwest Airlines
* Kodak
* H&R Block
* Whole Foods
While it makes sense for technology companies like Dell to track customer comments on a niche publishing service, what draws the attention of businesses like General Motors and H&R Block? Twitter users include thought leaders from all walks of life. They represent the most vocal and connected customers for their companies, often helping to uncover entire pockets of discontent from an entire customer base.
Right now, many companies approach Twitter as a challenge for customer relations departments, responding to complaint tweets the same way that they would respond to angry letters or blog postings. However, a growing number of businesses have opened up to the idea of offering traditional customer support on Twitter by blending online tools with their CRM applications.
It’s no surprise that CRM application vendors are at the forefront of this trend, especially since many of their customers are well-connected CIOs and network administrators. SAP recently opened an early test of their new Twitter module to clients and to the press, while developers have launched numerous in-house projects to connect customers’ accounts to their Twitter streams. Heavy Twitter users may be more likely to request help via a “direct message” to a customer service center than by calling or visiting a company web site. Even passive compliments and complaints from customers can be logged into CRM applications by “following” a user’s account or searching for company references using Twitter’s search tools.
Along the same lines, some companies have discovered the benefits of using Twitter in their own enterprise. Other businesses are building their own private versions of Twitter tools, to enjoy the benefits of timely, but trackable, conversations. For company leaders who wonder whether Twitter has the traction to stay around for the long haul, experts point at AOL’s IM platform. Ten years ago, it was something that maybe the office intern had running in a background window. Today, IM and live chat are integral to numerous customer relationship management strategies.
Friday, October 3, 2008
Startup Depression Spawns Spike in Demand for Hosted CRM
Times like these can be especially tough for small and medium-sized businesses. To help SMBs weather the storm, business blogger Jason Calacanis has put together a list of ten things smaller companies can do to get through the credit crunch. At the top of his list is a challenge to “execute better.”
To me, that means making more of every opportunity, taking care of your existing customers, and looking harder for new sources of revenue. At the same time, there’s no easy business credit or venture capital floating around to cover the cost of expensive marketing campaigns or custom databases.
Hosted CRM systems offer tremendous ROI potential when they’re used effectively. Here are three of my favorite tips for business owners who want to save money by firing up a hosted CRM system:
Don’t try to reinvent the wheel. Instead of spending tons of money to customize your CRM application with exactly the data fields you want right now, do what the folks at 37signals recommend: use simple workarounds and catch-all text fields to keep things moving. Capturing and using the data is crucial right now. Getting it to look exactly the way you want is something that can wait until you’ve got positive cash flow and angel investors banging down your door.
Price your CRM application for today’s team and for tomorrow’s expansion. I love hosted CRM apps because many vendors will let you purchase licenses either by the employee or in small blocks. You don’t have to spend a huge amount of money up front to get the powerful tools your team needs right now.
Make it work anywhere. If you’re looking at holding on to some of your team’s hardware for another year (or more), choose a hosted CRM system that runs on nearly any platform. That way, as you gradually replace desktop and laptop computers over the next few years, your entire team will still be on the same page.
Whatever industry you're in, an inexpensive, hosted CRM application can help bring more money in the door without tying up your credit lines or your cash flow.
Home Builders Unearth More Sales Using CRM Software
With all the recent news coverage of the subprime mortgage crisis and the Wall Street bailout package, home builders haven’t received the kind of attention they’re used to from the press. They’re not getting as much attention from speculators or from home buyers, either.
That’s a big problem.
With consumer banks tightening up on mortgages and commercial lenders reluctant to approve any new loans, home builders have to rely on tried-and-true sales tactics to keep construction crews busy. The past few months have seen an uptick in the number of CRM applications specifically designed for the home construction industry. By coaching home builders to convert more of their prospects into purchasers during this slow period, sales coaches and CRM application developers hope to help their customers weather the financial storm.
Until recently, many sales agents at home builders simply relied on “for sale” signs and newspaper announcements to attract new customers. In today’s tougher marketplace, agents have to work harder to capture sales. CRM software helps agents:
- provide personalized responses to queries
- track follow-up calls
- pass customer details to lending partners
- offer customized production schedules for buyers
- prompt consistent feedback and follow-up
Home builders that want to learn how CRM applications can improve conversion rates can download a free white paper from Pivotal:
The free report offers ten steps that home builders can take right now to implement CRM systems that boost sales. Even with the recent passage of the government’s financial rescue plan, it could take months or even years for home builders to return to the kind of steady business they enjoyed in the first half of the decade. When that happens, tight CRM systems will help smart home builders close even more sales.
Hosted CRM Can Protect Your Customers from Identity Theft
As someone who spends a great deal of time on the road, I always get nervous when I hear about a stolen laptop or a missing hard drive containing thousands of customer records. Where I grew up, anything stolen from a car just ended up at a pawn shop. You could safely assume that any data on a hard drive would either get wiped out, or just ignored by some future user.
Not anymore. Clever thieves now realize that they can extract more value from a hard drive's CRM data than from the equipment itself. Up until a few years ago, that could easily have been my laptop, with my customer data on it. I would hate to have to call up my clients and give them that kind of bad news.
That's one of the reasons I switched to hosted CRM for my own business, and why I often recommend it to my consulting clients. If someone breaks into my car while I'm running a roadside errand, the worst thing I have to deal with is borrowing or buying another laptop for the rest of the trip. All of my hard drive data is backed up at the office, and all of my customer data lives on the cloud. In the ultimate worst case scenario, I can stop by a Kinko's and rent a machine to get my work done.
If you're working at a company that doesn't use hosted CRM (and there are plenty of performance-related reasons why you might want to do that), you can still protect your customer data using encryption, hardware locks, or even by connecting remotely to your desktop computer using VNC, GoToMyPC, or LogMeIn. Still, with VPN, Wi-Fi, and 3G laptop connections, it's easier than ever to let your data live on a hosted CRM solution.
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