Can Netbooks Rejuvenate Your Small Business CRM Implementation

When small business CRM implementations fail, it's often because members of a small sales team prefer to use their existing tools instead of switching to collaborative CRM systems. Frequent push-back from sales professionals can include:

• A preference for paper instead of computers.
• The inability to bring computers outside the office.
• Incompatibilities with company mobile phones.

For some sales professionals, a small notebook or a stack of index cards saves space when compared to a laptop. Unfortunately, copying information back into CRM software feels like processing the same data twice. Although many of today's leading CRM applications offer mobile phone versions, a generation of sales professionals who didn't grow up on text messaging often wrestle with chiclet keys and touch screens.

That's why many sales leaders and CIOs have grown so passionate about netbooks. Small, networked notebooks with screen sizes ranging from 7" to about 10" have taken the business world by storm over the past two years. With many models priced between $250 and $500, these systems are robust enough to access web-based CRM applications. Many models run versions of Windows, enabling some CRM software to operate in offline mode. Their light weight and scaled-down keyboards make netbooks less intimidating for sales professionals who prefer not to lug a laptop onto a plane or into the field.

While some technology journalists wonder whether the netbook phenomenon has been overstated, these smaller computers work exceptionally well for low intensity tasks like data collection and quick hosted CRM lookups. While they won't replace the machines on which you prepare proposals and marketing material, they can provide a competitive edge for field sales professionals.

Small Business CRM Advice Roundup

There's lots of great advice for small business CRM users this month:

• First, envision the end result of your small business CRM implementation. As Stephen Covey would say, begin with the end in mind. Are you buying CRM software just because you feel you need to, or are there specific customer challenges that you hope you can solve with technology.

• Second, choose expandable CRM systems. CRM applications designed for enterprise organizations might be too big or too expensive to justify in a small business. Many of today's most popular CRM applications offer modular options, like seat licenses for web-based apps or feature-based pricing that allows you to enable more functionality as needed.

• Third, select CRM applications that invite customers to engage with you on their terms. Lead generation tools that offer interaction on websites as well as through mobile phone applications can cultivate relationships effectively -- even when you're not directly involved.

• Fourth, focus on CRM comparisons that build on the strengths of your current team. Most failed small business CRM implementations involve techniques or technology that existing sales professionals find painful to integrate into their workflows. A fantastic automated funneling lead generator won't do much for your organization if your team has their own way of doing things. Either invest in successful teams -- or build new teams.

• Finally, don't let your small business CRM project hide you from your customer. Many small business owners get so lost in the bells and whistles of new CRM systems that they forget what attracted customers to the relationship in the first place. Small businesses that leverage personal service and prompt attention won't get far if CRM tools get in the way of human interaction.

With more companies rolling out small business CRM products every quarter, entrepreneurs can leverage their size and flexibility to attract clients -- as long as they don't let the wrong CRM software lock them in to an ineffective process.

How CRM Software Can Adapt to a 140-Character World

Rick Cook from Inside CRM posted a primer for "Tweeting with Customers," in which he analyzes the ways that corporate customer service agents will have to adapt their communication to become more direct and relevant for social networking users. For example, Twitter limits communications to 140 characters each. Longer messages require URL shortening services, which can add a layer of complexity for users. Alternately, users can string longer messages across a series of tweets, risking a loss of context for users. With many CRM applications including support for Twitter and Facebook messaging, agents may require a crash course in succinct communication.

CRM software developers have already started to develop solutions that allow customer service teams to respond through a single Twitter account or through a series of individual agent accounts. Company leaders will soon find themselves answering questions about social networking usage, such as:

• When is it appropriate to push service alerts via CRM software through Twitter or Facebook?
• Should CRM software communicate exclusively via social networking tools, or should it alert customers to messages pending on a company's own internal system?
• What risks might connections between CRM software and social networks pose to customer privacy?

CRM systems in most organizations already coordinate communications where an e-mail is typically answered with an e-mail, and a phone call is typically answered with a phone call. Early corporate adopters of social media-enabled CRM systems have enjoyed success by proactively hunting for customers who use Twitter and Facebook to complain about products and services. Now, the challenge will be to determine how to serve customers who expect rapid communication on their preferred platforms.

Gartner: Adopt CRM Systems Now, Or Lose a 1-Year Head Start

Companies that use the economic downturn as an opportunity to invest in CRM systems and other business intelligence tools will enjoy the same long term benefits as getting a one year head start. That's according to a recent Gartner report on CRM applications, focused on the impact of reducing costs and preparing for the end of a financial slump.

The Gartner report highlights the impact of launching new CRM systems during periodic business declines. Learning how to use CRM systems effectively during slow times is a great way to prevent service bottlenecks when call centers get busy. Training on CRM applications during downtime can help team members feel productive, efficient, and ready to take on bigger challenges once customers start buying again.

Tightening up business processes always feels necessary during a recession, since boom times can often mask the effects of inefficient tools and systems. It's easy to write off a problematic software tool when the opportunity cost to fix or replace it is such a low percentage of a company's gross revenues. As revenues shrink, problems like outdated CRM software become more apparent.

However, the Gartner report reminds business owners not to expect sales to snap back to their former levels right away. In some companies, sales may never reach their previous volume for a number of reasons:

• Customers have changed buying habits.
• "Temporary" discounts or price cuts have become permanent, reducing revenues.
• Competitors have leveraged their own strategies to steal market share.

Therefore, investing in CRM systems is just one of the important tactics that companies can use to ride out the recession. Strengthening training, development, and marketing programs are still necessary steps to make sure that customers return once the economy improves.

CRM Software Identifies Which Customers to Lay Off

Despite recent recovery in the global stock markets, many company leaders still worry that they may have to cut expenses and overhead to stay ahead of earnings expectations. Call centers and customer service operations often seem like low hanging fruit for budget-minded managers eager to automate the customer experience and eliminate extra headcount. Fortunately, many savvy companies have turned their call centers and sales operations into sacred cows, especially when CRM software can help streamline operations and steer more revenue into an organization.

Laying off employees may not be the answer, but there are other people that might find themselves getting the ax this year -- customers. Instead of recommending staff reductions, some customer relationship management experts urge company leaders to consider using CRM software to discover which clients they should fire. CRM systems can analyze whether certain clients demand more than their fair share of company resources. For instance, one customer might demand sever discounts on goods or services while spending a significant amount of time with sales or support teams. Consultant Fred Wiersema recommends using CRM systems to the distinction between "stretch customers" and "lagging customers":

• "Stretch customers" challenge teams to identify and serve upcoming markets. They represent the leading edge of a trend and offer opportunities to test new techniques. By definition, they require more time to cultivate, but pay off in the long run.
• "Lagging customers" take up staff time but provide little meaningful revenue and no strategic advantage. Using CRM systems to separate lagging customers from stretch customers can save companies a significant portion of their marketing and support budgets each year.

While company leaders at Best Buy aggravated consumers by attempting a similar strategy at retail, inside sales professionals can use more subtle tactics to gather the data necessary to determine whether a client's worth keeping. CRM software that can assess a customer's strategic value can pay for itself this way, usually within a few sales cycles.

Gen Y's Impact Felt Through Hosted CRM and Smartphones

If you see fewer sales professionals unboxing their laptops in airport security lines, you're not alone. Thanks to hosted CRM applications and a new wave of sophisticated smartphones, more field agents prefer to leave their laptops at the office. The shift has a little to do with technology and a lot to do with the changing demographic of the mobile workforce.

For the past ten to fifteen years, the most serious sales professionals hit the road with ThinkPads and other business laptops. In addition to PowerPoint slides and sales projections, those portable computers often contained sophisticated desktop CRM applications. Long before Wi-Fi became ubiquitous, sales professionals would keep notes and add new customers on their laptops, synchronizing information with the rest of their office by connecting devices to servers upon their return.

However, tales of lost and damaged laptops pervade the IT service space. Without wireless backup, desktop CRM applications are still at the mercy of dropped hard drives, cracked screens, and misplaced laptop bags. Hosted CRM systems solved the problems of lost data after a laptop failure, but replacing equipment can put a strain on company budgets during tight economic times.

Enter the smartphone. Though hard-core IT junkies note that today's fastest smartphone processors only rival laptop chips from a few years ago, today's phones have just enough power to handle many hosted CRM applications. Furthermore, as Generation Y workers join companies in droves, a new wave of sales professionals already comfortable with sleek phones sees no problems using them for CRM as well as for calls and texting.

This shift is good news for CIOs, who have discovered that they can replace many of their field laptops with less expensive and more durable smartphones. Many carriers subsidize the cost of new smartphones, making them even more appealing. Their learning curve tends to be offset by the convenience of having one less bulky item to carry in the field.

Granted, some CRM systems still don't play nice with all smartphones. Internal company systems often fare far worse than hosted CRM applications, since they require middleware or server licenses that can negate other cost savings. Nonetheless, with more companies adopting hosted CRM applications, the transition to smartphone-based CRM should do great things for company budgets, not to mention sales professionals' shoulders.

Positioning Hosted CRM Software as a Network

Software as a Service (SaaN) offerings have grown in popularity among small business owners, especially since web-based services often cost far less per month to maintain than typical boxed small business CRM packages. For instance, a popular accounting and invoicing solution that costs $199 per year to keep current results in a monthly spend of over $16 for a single user. Competing web services that cost $12 or less per seat per month enjoy an advantage, both from a cash flow standpoint as well as from the perspective of delivering overall value to a growing business.

Mike McDerment, the CEO of Toronto-based FreshBooks, has even bigger ideas for his small business CRM suite. In a recent video and blog post, McDerment challenged customers to ask for more from their small business CRM software by integrating more of their business operations into networked web applications. Using FreshBooks as an example, McDerment illustrated how users can enjoy the convenience of invoicing on a hosted CRM platform while receiving invoices and tracking tasks from contractors or vendors from within the same system.

For small business CRM users, the power to integrate accounts payable into the same systems can unlock many of the same benefits as enterprise-level business intelligence software. Users can make more accurate cost projections, while enjoying more visibility into contractors' task progress. Integrated credit card processing improves cash flow, since users who rebill subcontractor work can connect invoices to specific tasks and jobs. A networked small business CRM solution can also evolve into a job referral platform, since users become more likely to select vendors already using the same hosted CRM tools.

McDerment calls this new way of thinking about hosted CRM a move toward "Software as a Network." Instead of viewing CRM applications and other web tools as silos, he uses Facebook as a model for what can happen when multiple software tools within the same shared destination site. While comments at TechCrunch and other blogs suggest that SaaN may not replace SaaS as a buzzword anytime soon, users of competing hosted CRM applications may find themselves craving the same kind of streamlined functionality as FreshBooks integrated business management suite.