Our passion is Customer Experience Management

We’ve written about this before, but I think it’s worth a repeat…

Today’s typical employee is significantly more computer savvy than even just 2 years ago, thanks in a large part to social sites like YouTube, MySpace, Facebook and Twitter, along with Google, the premier information search engine.

Newspapers are closing as the transition to customized news over the Net becomes more available. People are turning to the Internet as their prime information source. Blogs are becoming the way of providing information and opinions. RSS feeds from companies rapidly disseminate information to the world on the company’s events and products.

Today, the majority of the working population are more than just email-capable; they are now quite computer literate. They use search engines to investigate issues and products, they commonly access retail web sites for pricing and product information, they buy over the Net and peruse and participate in forums in their search for answers and information.

As a result, they come in contact with a lot information, some of which can be very valuable to the company they work for. Equally important, they understand the benefits of connected environments and more readily accept computerization in their workplace.

These are huge changes in our society. [click to continue…]

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Is there any such thing out there?

Information solutions fall into these categories:

- specific group focus (typical CRM)
- analytical business intelligence for specific users (BI solutions)
- periodic event handling (bulk email, campaigns)
- document management, time recording
- internal communication and messaging (IM)
- office production and financial accounting (word processing, accounting)

Here’s an ideal information solution for the SME:

… designed specifically for the SME (Small and Medium size Enterprise)
… has a fair cost that encourages, rather than penalizes, additional users
… provides complete and private control over data: no commingling with other businesses
… includes modules that extend its usability throughout the company
… enables and promotes internal communication and collective collaboration
… provides customer communication tools
… can be accessed from anywhere, any time
… goes beyond traditional, linear CRM to include CEM and Social CRM capability
… incorporates fixed and customizable reporting and querying
… handles multi-phase marketing, email, phone and paper campaigns
… syncs with Outlook and external devices
… is highly customizable and provides granular control to the user

When I envisioned Qasper, my passion was for the small business, since that was where virtually all of my years as a consultant, accountant and application developer were spent.

I wanted a product that filled in the holes for the typical small business; that covered not only all of the sales and marketing needs, but went beyond that to provide a complete, centralized information management system that encouraged teamwork, collaboration and the pursuit of common goals.

As we designed Qasper, my team and I focused on three key issues: [click to continue…]

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During our development phase, as we saw Qasper evolving into a cohesive set of modules that touched many more areas in an SME than just the sales group, we began to see what culture in an SME is all about, and how people working together can truly transform the way a company does business.

I’m not talking about the “rah, rah, let’s do it!” approach of some companies, but rather the quiet and forceful impact a unified approach brings, and the effect is has on the bottom line. As I discuss a bit further on in this post, that unification brings culture, and along with culture comes synergy.

A typical business is segmented into groups or units (departments) and levels (hierarchies) that each seem to have their own culture; their own network; their own meeting places. Often, the only time they all come together is at the annual Christmas party.

Taken together, the effectiveness of each unit and level defines the company as a whole.

Fundamental, right? A lot of the time it produces great results.

But I’m talking about going the next step, beyond that typical structure.

Introducing synergy [click to continue…]

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You may have come across the term, SocialCRM, and wondered how it applies to you as a small business. Well, there’s three possibilities:

• it does apply to you or,
• it DOES apply to you or,
• IT DOES APPLY TO YOU.

The first possibility is that, sure, it has potential for you but it’s not at the top of your priorities. The second has some urgency and you should be paying close attention to its development. The third screams, “YES! you need to do it! Now! Don’t delay!”.

The impression I get from a lot of the reading is that we all fall under the 3rd possibility.

Sorry, but that’s simply not so. SocialCRM is the “CRM du jour” and eventually it will take its rightful position in the scheme of things vis-a-vis CRM and Customer Experience Management.

It’s like any of the Entertainment TV shows where the focus is the latest drug-addicted movie star who stays in the limelight until another one comes along.

As always, you have to carefully pick your areas of focus for sales and marketing.

So don’t let SocialCRM pundits who proclaim death to businesses that don’t jump on board. It just ain’t so for many SMEs. [click to continue…]

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As the Business Development Manager at Qasper, over the course of a year, I’m in touch with hundreds of SMEs. I’m constantly impressed how few respond positively to the question, “Do you have a customer database?”.

With so many, the response is often,  “Yeah, I know I need one”, “I sort of have one” or “I’m working on it”. 

The thing that’s shocking to me is that a lot of these companies have been in business for many years. Had they been capturing their customer contact information right from the start they would now have the most important fundamental to help drive their sales.

For years, companies of all sizes in every industry have searched for ways to discover the truth about their customers.

More often than not, businesses simply can’t answer the simple questions: [click to continue…]

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When you set out to develop a versatile, multi-person solution for business, one of the difficulties is ensuring that specific groups within the environment have everything they need to do their job. Otherwise, your product becomes a jack of all trades – master of none.

In addition to specialized software, most SMEs have a couple of basic software needs: accounting for financials, CRM for sales development and tracking, email for communication and various office products (Word, Excel).

Recently, since Qasper includes CRM as part of its solution, we were asked about some sales fundamentals in Qasper, specifically:

“ … what we are looking for in a CRM: We need to be able to track leads to accounts, create opportunities for each account and build a pipeline from this. Assign accounts and tasks to account manager’s. Be able to track marketing campaigns etc.”

These are the key basics of effective sales management in CRM – get the customer info, define the value, set up tracking, message the prospect. Ultimately, build a relationship, sell and service the customer.

Whether you are dealing in fundamental, linear, transaction-based CRM, process-driven CEM, or SocialCRM variants, these are still the goals.

Since we are Qasper, we’d like to set out how we handle these requirements: [click to continue…]

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Don’t you really hate when web sites demand an email address and other information before they’ll let you access some white papers or view a demo?

That’s like a department store clerk refusing to talk to me until I fork over my credentials. It’s nonsense, and it’s no way to build an association with potential customers. All it does is tell me that I’m going to be in some salesperson’s email blast within a short time, followed by a sea of never-ending, non-personal pitches.

I don’t think it’s justified, and I now bypass any vendors who require it.

I’m the type that’s touchy-feely. I like to try on a pair of shoes before I buy; I want to pick up a CD and read front and back; I like to heft a loaf of bread and feel if it’s fresh before buying. And I like to do it anonymously and without commitment. So what Dark Age marketing technique makes software vendors think that they are endearing themselves to me by granting me access to information only if I pass through their information scanners?

I’m not stupid – I can handle the demos, particularly if they give me some guides I can view. And certainly I can sit back and watch a video without being handheld.

The pursuit of customers and capturing their loyalty is becoming more difficult in this global world. I can buy from anywhere, at any time, over the Web. I’m fairly typical – I do a lot of my product research online, checking out web sites, user forums and social sites for recommendations and Googling a variety of keywords to make myself knowledgeable.

By the time I get to the shortlist, I pretty well know most of what I need to know about the product, and I just need some refinements to make my decision.

It should be my choice to contact the company when I want to.

Don’t you think it would be a lot friendlier to give your customer an anonymous voice? Sure, invite them to voluntarily leave profile information – that’s fair game.

If it’s their choice, you not only will likely get more real profiles, but you will have automatically established a more personal relationship.

If you meet someone face-to-face at an event, likely you grab their first name, but you don’t demand a complete profile before you talk to them, do you?

Let folks access your white papers and online demos or videos without first interrogating them and demanding profiles and other information. When they come in via your live chat, protect their anonymity. If they call in, stop pressuring them for follow-up contact information.

If you trust your potential customer, they will return the favor.

Oh, and by the way, if you want to test Qasper, here’s the link – no registration required:

http://www.qasper.com/qasper_online.htm

If you like Qasper, write us. If you don’t like Qasper, write us. If you have any questions, write us … or phone me: Fred Dalgleish 250.483.7313 PST.

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I’ve been looking back over some of our Qasper customer experiences and I’ve noticed an encouraging pattern:

 - the decision makers in many cases are a small team that usually includes office and admin, an executive and one or more reps from the sales team.

I think it shows that SMEs recognize the value of information at both the deep and broader levels, where information can benefit more than the sales team and a few of the support staff.

And it shows they understand that CRM implementations have a far-reaching effect on the business.

I’ve found this particulary true with one of my favorite SME types: the NPO – charities, church organizations, business associations and people groups.

Often, they are low-paid or volunteer-based and typically hindered by low or reduced grants and increasingly higher costs. They are very price-vs.- value focused.

But their needs are identical to the profit-based SME: they need to communicate with their market and provide top notch customer service and experiences. They need strong methods to handle customer enquiries and to follow up on leads. They need central information sources that can be accessed by everyone in the organization.

But they and most other SMEs sure as hell can’t pay $1,000 per user, and in some cases, $1,000 per user, per year, like one particular unnamed, online CRM product charges.

Other solutions, again unnamed (but write me and I’ll fill you in), can cost a small charity of 10 people upwards of $10,000 just for licenses. And, if the CRM is online, that’s every year.

Occasionally, the CRM provides a basic set of functions for a realistic fee. But in the vast majority of those CRM products, the functions are so limited as to border on useless even for the sales team, let alone the entire company. [click to continue…]

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It’s not often that a CRM solution can be credited with enhancing the image your product or product line has, but it does play an important role.

Whether you compete locally in a town or small geographical area, or in the world at large, brand plays a key role. It’s the “tip-of-the-tongue” identity that so easily comes to mind when someone has a need. We all know “let’s get a Coke”, or “Google it”, or “I’m FedExing it out today”. Strong brands make it top of mind.

Take a look at your brand in the marketplace you compete in. How “in your face” is your brand? Probably nowhere near what you’d like it be, right? So here’re some tips on how to move it up the ladder a bit.

• Tip #1 – Involve everyone.
• Tip #2 – Involve everyone.
• OK, you can guess tip #3 (involve everyone).

The best branding still comes from word of mouth, and that means fans and satisfied customers. Ah, so that’s where CRM plays a role – right? Partially, but not totally. Strongly-branded products always share a similar hockey stick recognition path. A long struggle:

•  introduce the product,
• convince a few early adopters (buyers),
• support the hell of of those customers (loss leaders),
• use early recommendations to gain more ground,
• work the crowd (trade shows, networking events, local business organizations)
• plow income back to promotion

and growth will come – provided you get the fans. Without them, past sales don’t become part of the foundation, and each customer is an isolated event.

OK, so here’s where CRM plays a big role – in one word, it’s a catalyst. A good CRM system goes beyond CRM to embrace the principals of CEM, collaboration and communication, and it involves more than just the isolated, overworked sales team. The key is the centralization, recording and management of the company’s knowledge base – that information center that lets everyone connected to the customer process dip in and use history to plan the future. How did we handle that/those customer(s)? What was the communication stream? How did we set up and respond to calls from customers. How did the customers respond to our (prices, service, support, sales collateral – pick one or many)?

Finger-tip access to knowledge: it’s a key to identifying how your brand is developing and what you need to do to build it.

I think everyone will agree with what I’ve said above, but wait, there’s more. If you buy into this now, I want to offer you another big tip. It goes back to what I said before:

                 Involve everyone!

Your entire personnel, your friends, vendors, bankers, associates – all of them can play a role in building your brand.

If your CRM provides message handling, internal and customer live chat, collaboration and knowledge access to every person in your company, then use those functions to generate a synergistic environment. By having a CRM that everyone can work with, not just the sales team, you are going to end up with a solid, cohesive group – a culture – that carries the message about your product in a unified way.

The result? Stronger brand, faster growth, more sales.

…more sales.

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