Sales Management Software Shortens the Sales Cycle

Posted by Commence on April 26, 2011 under Customer Success | Read the First Comment

A well oiled sales organization is traditionally the result of a process driven sales manager, an individual that understands the value of implementing a process for properly qualifying leads and a structure for managing the sales process from introduction to closure.  For decades highly focused sales managers performed these task with very little technology or sales tools to assist them, yet many succeeded in delivering revue growth and profitability to their organization despite the lack of technology.

Today, sales management software programs are available to assist first line management and executive management in automating and streamlining the sales process.  Programs like Commence CRM software enable sales managers to quickly and efficiently utilize proven sales tools and best practices to improve the sales process.  Often referred to as sales automation software, CRM systems like Commence CRM provide sales management and individual sales representatives with a structured approach to selling that shortens the sales cycle and results in higher close ratios.

How Does Commence CRM Work?

Commence CRM begins by creating a sales methodology and automating the sales process.  Every company that sells a product or service goes through a series of steps before they win new business.  The initial step is commonly called the introduction phase, which may be followed by a needs analysis, sending out product samples or if you are in the software industry, a product demonstration.  Once this is completed, sales representatives often create a quote, a proposal for services or an estimate or bid. This may be followed by a verbal commitment, a contract review or simply closing the business deal.  What is important here is not the exact steps or process (which can be customized in Commence CRM), but instead the automation of the sales process so that every sales representative has a structured path to follow and management can assist during different stages of the sales cycle.

The CRM sales management software standardizes the sales process so that every sales representative approaches a new sales opportunity the same way.  The sales management software also provides the sales management executives with a snapshot of where each new opportunity is in the sales pipeline or sales funnel so that they may take a proactive approach to helping close the business or sales opportunity.  Sales management tools like Commence CRM offer sales representatives and sales management the opportunity to significantly improve sales execution and get a leg up on the competition.

Commence CRM software for sales management is a web based CRM solution that operates online and is managed under a cloud computing environment.  Commence CRM is highly regarded for its robust CRM features and ease of use and is listed as a top ten CRM software solution.

CRM Software Automates Sales Follow Up and Customer Follow Up

Posted by Commence on April 13, 2011 under Customer Success | Read the First Comment

CRM software is traditionally used for managing customer contacts, notes, history and the sales cycle, but CRM provides tremendous benefit by automating customer follow up and sales follow up.   Mid-market CRM solutions like Commence CRM incorporate functionality designed specifically for this purpose.  With Commence CRM, you can classify customers according to specific criteria such as size, location, industry or the products and services they are using.  Using the CRM systems marketing automation tools and sales leads lists you can then create automated marketing followup programs that ensure that valuable information is continually sent out to the sales leads and existing customer base on a pre-determined schedule.  This drip marketing program is perfect for sales follow-up as well as for marketing automation.

How Automated Follow-up Software Works

Let’s say for example that you have a new business lead or sales lead. After calling the sales lead you have learned that they are not ready to buy for at least 3 to 4 months.  Using the automated marketing follow-up software you can schedule email documents to go out to the prospect every few weeks thereby ensuring that your company, product or service is consistently in front of them.  Once set up, you can now use this sales and marketing follow up program for any new business leads that fit these same criteria.

Using CRM software for customer follow-up works exactly the same way.  Staying in touch with your existing customers is critical to retaining your customers, building rapport and relationships, and providing quality service.  The automated customer followup software can be used to send educational materials, tips and techniques about your product, press releases, customer testimonials or regular updates about new products or services.

Companies like Commence Corporation have taken CRM software to the next level adding more value to your business.  To learn more about Commence’s web based CRM software, visit the company’s web site at www.commence.com.

Sales Management Software a Breeze with Commence CRM

Posted by Commence on April 7, 2011 under Customer Success | Read the First Comment

Is your Sales CRM Software Hard to Use?

You’ve heard it all before, sales people fighting tooth and nail with overly complex sales management software that provides little if any value to sales representatives and results in poor utilization, inaccurate reporting and eventually shelf ware.  But don’t lose hope. One CRM sales management software provider seems to have gotten it right with an easy to use solution that sales people really like and really use.

Commence CRM Makes Leads & Sales Tracking Easy

“I would give up my left hand before giving up Commence CRM” says Nigel Park of TPS Consulting.  “The product is very easy to use.  My new leads pop up on a home page sales dashboard where I can immediately schedule a follow-up call, appointment or to do with a single click.  Once I open the lead record I can manage the lead, qualify and rate it based on what I have learned, and manage the lead process adding notes, history items, track e-mail correspondence, even documents I may have sent. ”

“Once qualified, I can convert the lead into a sales deal or sales opportunity and simply repeat the process and manage the new qualified opportunity to closure all from one screen.  The other nice thing about Commence CRM is that it allows us to enter and automate our own sales process versus being forced to follow a standard out-of-the-box program that comes with other CRM solutions.”

Commence Corporation has been providing CRM sales management software to medium size businesses and small enterprises for more than twenty years and has a customer base of several thousand users.  One of the key CRM differentiators of Commence, when comparing other sales management software providers, is the company’s expertise in sales management.  Commence has created a set of best practices for sales execution and sales management that ensure Commence customers realize the maximum value from their sales management software. Commence lists Salesforce.com and Microsoft Dynamics CRM as its main CRM competitors.

Learn more about the features and benefits of CRM software from Commence and how it can help your growing business!

Customers Share Thoughts on Future Product Releases

Posted by Commence on October 11, 2010 under Commence News, Customer Success | Read the First Comment

For the past two decades Commence Corporation has worked diligently to ensure that our customers have the opportunity to periodically evaluate our company, our product and our service and submit their opinions, recommendations and suggestions directly to Commence Corporation’s management.  These recommendations have served to fuel the growth of our business and the high customer satisfaction rate enjoyed by our customers.  Outlined below are the results of the company’s most recent survey.

The Survey Says:

Question 1   How long have you been using Commence?

• 31% 1-3 years
• 53% more than 5 to 10 years
• 16% more than 10 years

Question 2  What is the principal industry of your company?

More than 27 industries were represented.

Question 3  Which Commence product do you use?

• 78% Designer Edition CRM Toolkit
• 16% Desktop CRM Application Suite
• 6% Commence OnDemand (New Cloud based CRM offering)

Question 4  What is your primary use of the product?

Evenly split among the choices:
Contact & account management, sales, marketing, customer service

Question 5  How important is Commence to your business?

• 79% Mission Critical
• 19% Important
• 2% Not that important

Question 6  How satisfied are you with the product you are using?

• 74% Very satisfied
• 19% Satisfied
• 7% Not satisfied

Question 7  What do you find is the greatest strength of the product?

• 61% Flexibility
• 39% Reliability

Question 8  How likely are you to recommend Commence to a colleague?

• 84.5% Likely

Question 9  How would you rate Commence Corporation’s ability to keep pace with current technology?

• 69% Very satisfied
• 13% Not satisfied
• 18% Don’t think about it

Question 10  How would you rate the level of functionality incorporated in the product you are using?

• 96% Very good meets our requirements
• 4% Does not meet our requirements

Question 11  What improvements would you like to see in a future release of the product? (Respondents could check several options)

• 51% Better integration with third party applications
• 43% Better documentation
• 37% Enhanced mobile capabilities
• 33% Remote access to data
• 30% More programming features
• 23% Make product easier to use

Question 12  Do you have a service agreement with Commence?

• 41% Yes
• 59% No, we do everything ourselves

Question 13  How would you rate the quality of service received?

• 64% Excellent
• 27% Very good
• 9% Fair

Question 14  How would you rate the value of the annual software maintenance program that provides updates and enhancements to the product(s)?

• 68% Very good value
• 22% Good value
• 2% Fair – program is too expensive

Question 15  How would you rate the level of communication the company provides?

• 62% Very good, we get all the information we need
• 32% Fair, would like to see more communication from Commence
• 6% Poor, the company does not communicate enough

Question 16  How would you rate your overall experience with Commence Corporation?

• 73% Very good, the company has an excellent product and service organization
• 19% Good – the experience has been good
• 8% Fair   – our experience is not what we had expected.

Question 17  Commence is evaluating some enhanced services for our customers. How would you rank each of the items below based on the importance to your business? (Respondents could select several options)

• # 1 — Searchable knowledgebase 53%
• # 2 — Internet forum 34%
• # 3 — Technical support blog 30%
• # 4 — Self help videos 26%
• # 5 — Quarterly webinars 17%
• # 6 — Social networking 6%

Question 18  Commence now offers a hosting service for managing the Commence database in our datacenter and a cloud based CRM solution, Commence On-Demand. How likely are you to consider moving to one of these offerings in the future?

• 21% Very likely – I would like to learn more
• 61% Not likely we are happy with the on-premise system
• 18% All ready using your hosted service

NOTE:   Responses containing personal information about your company, your name, your role  and if we may contact you have been removed from the results page.

Customers Find Good Value In Commence CRM

Posted by Commence on August 23, 2010 under Customer Success | 6 Comments to Read

Getting an early start in the CRM software industry may have helped Salesforce.com to become a leader in the Hosted CRM space, but another CRM solution provider is making a statement of their own, paving the way for some intense competition in the small to mid-size business sector. 

Better known for its on premise desktop CRM software, Commence Corporation has been providing contact management, sales force automation and marketing campaign management solutions to small and mid-size companies for more than two decades.  The company introduced a web-based hosted version of their popular CRM software and is gaining notoriety.   With an outstanding track record for performance, reliability and world-class customer service Commence is a strong competitor and becoming a favorite among smaller businesses looking for a flexible hosted CRM solution with productivity tools that are easy to use.

“Commence web CRM has an impressive and unique user interface that makes the product very easy to use and navigate” says Gary Sanders of OK! Magazine.  “The product’s Home Page or Dashboard is completely customizable by individual or job function.  This allows each user to create a dashboard to the way they work.  The value here is that you can place the functions you use most right on the home page, such as today’s calendar and activities, e-mail, sales opportunities, leads, reminders and even an interactive sales funnel.  We hadn’t seen this in any other CRM solution.  This flexibility enables people to conduct 90% of their daily activities without ever leaving the Home Page and has really improved productivity.” 

Commence Home Page

Karen Deneau, Director of Marketing with Center for Film Studies, needed CRM software that her staff would feel comfortable with.   “When selecting a CRM solution, you worry about utilization, but we were confident that our staff would adapt well to Commence CRM and they have.   We also liked that Commence is modular in design, which allowed us to select only the functionality we required. We weren’t forced to purchase a package with a dozen features we would never use.  Commence’s strength clearly lies in its ease of use.  Within two weeks we had marketing campaigns out the door and leads captured from our web site were integrated directly into the Commence CRM system.  The staff at Commence was also extremely helpful in ensuring that we quickly realized value from their solution.”

Key Differentiators

Commence’s modular design provides the flexibility to start with basic CRM functionality such as Account and Contact Management, E-Mail integration and Sales Pipeline Management, then add additional features such as Quoting, Marketing Campaign Management and Project Management when you’re ready.  Integration to disparate systems can be achieved via an Application Programming Interface or API, and Commence CRM supports the majority of popular Mobile devices.

Another key differentiator of Commence CRM is the product’s lead qualification and sales reporting capability. The leads module includes an automated business process that scores leads based on pre-defined criteria, then color codes them based on how well defined they are.  This capability is unique to Commence CRM, and ensures that your sales team is working on the most qualified opportunities and not chasing tire kickers. 

Lead Scoring Screen

Reporting

The reporting engine offers three levels of data analysis.  A set of pre-defined reports for sales management, marketing and customer support can be viewed with a single click and modified just as easily.  A built in report writer allows you to create customer reports against any field in the database, including custom fields.  Lastly, Commence CRM includes a pre-built set of graphical and analytical reports for all sales activity, marketing, lead generation and customer support.

Reports

Commence offers the freedom of choice to deploy CRM software on premise or as a hosted web based solution and offers a level of functionality traditionally only provided by enterprise level solutions. Commence products are distributed around the world in more than 22 countries and 35 different industries.  The company’s track record for providing high quality reliable products and outstanding customer service make it a solid choice for growing businesses.

About the Author:  Jim Smith is the founder and managing partner of YCHANGE INTERNATIONAL,  a management consultancy specializing in helping small to mid-size businesses expand or execute a turnaround strategy.  Jim is a commissioner for the Housing Authority of Portland, Oregon and serves as a member of the newly formed economic cabinet of Portland. Jim is a motivational speaker and trainer and lectures on Customer Relationship Management in the areas of sales, marketing, business and leadership.  He is an avid blogger on www.ychange.com/ychangeblog.

CRM Solution Enables Title and Escrow Company to Achieve Greater Productivity and Effectively Communicate with Customers, Loan Officers and Real Estate Agents

Posted by Commence on October 2, 2009 under Customer Success | 3 Comments to Read

-Solution Supports “Customer for Life” Business Model-

For many people, buying a home is one of the more stressful life events. From packing up belongings and getting financing, to working with real estate agents, property inspectors and title officers; the process can be daunting. For real estate professionals, keeping everything running smoothly means managing every aspect of contract to closing.

To improve the customer experience and provide the highest quality escrow and title services, Bellevue, Washington-based The Talon Group supports their business processes with Commence Desktop Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software. By choosing Commence’s CRM system, the company has gained a centralized solution for managing data. As a result, The Talon Group is better able to standardize processes, efficiently communicate with customers, improve productivity and support their mission to “build customers for life.” Read more of this article »

Information Management Fuels Sales and Supports

Posted by Commence on under Customer Success | 3 Comments to Read

-CRM Solution Drives 114% Growth in Sales within First 90 Days of Implementation-

A key challenge for companies with multiple divisions spread across many locations is collaboration, especially when it comes to business-critical information. At Southern Petroleum Laboratories (SPL Inc.), a leader in the petroleum and environmental testing industry, customer information was stored in many disparate databases. As a result, sales and operations professionals were duplicating efforts and lacked insight into customer successes and service issues. To address this, SPL implemented Commence CRM from Tinton Falls, N.J.-based Commence Corporation in the fall of 2005 to improve information management. The company experienced a 114% growth in sales within the first 90 days and has been able to sustain that growth despite a chaotic economy. Read more of this article »