“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” does not apply to your customer relationship management application programs

Posted by Commence on January 25, 2010 under CEO Corner | 2 Comments to Read

Much of today’s small business for profit and not-for-profit application software was written over a decade ago. The million dollar question is: Are these applications still worth running ? Considering all of the technology innovation that has occurred since then, can we expect an application designed and built with yesterday’s technology for yesterday’s business world to fit today’s?

The answer is no.

“If it aint broke, don’t fix it” does not apply to your small business application programs. Your application is like a good race horse, you run it until it can’t race anymore and then you retire it. You don’t try to patch it up.

The contact management sector is a prime example of this.  Thousands of small to mid-size businesses are still operating old versions of desktop programs such as ACT, Goldmine and Maximizer that are no longer meeting changing business requirements, but because they aint broke, they don’t get replaced.  As a result of this, these mid-size businesses are not taking advantage of newer web based CRM programs that are helping businesses become more effective marketing, sales and service organizations.

The great applications replace is upon us and we can’t fight it any longer but how do you go about deciding which applications to replace? See my list below.

• If it was built over a decade ago, no matter by whom, it is a prime candidate for replacement.
• If the underlying business requirements have changed significantly since the application was developed, you can be certain that it is not performing optimally.
• If the application was written to run natively on a mainframe, a midrange or even a personal computer, it’s on the list.
• If the application has a pure character interface and all of the reports are in text, it’s a candidate.
• If the application does not grant web-based access to staff or members, it needs immediate attention.  Some things to beware of:

If the application does not fit the business requirements then you have to go back to the drawing board. To do this properly, presupposes that you thoroughly understand how your business functions.

The good news about replacing older applications is that there is a large number of providers to choose from.  In the CRM sector for example products such as Microsoft Dynamics, Salesforce.com and Commence CRM from Commence Corporation are excellent choices for managing customer interaction and improving sales execution and customer service.

About the author:  Jim Smith is the CEO of YChange International, a consulting firm that provides marketing and consulting services to small businesses. Smith has more than 30 years of experience in the field and has held executive level positions with several Fortune 100 software firms.  He is an accomplished author of numerous white papers on the subject of marketing and business development. Additional information may be found at http://www.ychange.com

Manage Those Leads!

Posted by Commence on November 4, 2009 under CEO Corner | 5 Comments to Read

Small to mid-size businesses are looking toward CRM solutions to help them implement a structured process within their sales organization.  Many CRM solutions do this rather well and provide the flexibility for businesses to implement a standard sales process from companies such as Sandler Systems or Dale Carnegie or create a completely customized one. This ensures that each new opportunity follows a structured path from the initial introduction to closure, resulting in more timely and accurate revenue forecasting.

But sales opportunities don’t just fall from the sky.  They are often nurtured as a lead, qualified, then converted into a sales opportunity.  Who determines if an opportunity is qualified and what process is used to make this determination is an area that is often overlooked by small to mid-size businesses and can cost them dearly.

A typical sales organization consist of a few experienced sales representatives that do a pretty good job with lead qualification, a few with 2-3 years of experience that often have difficulty in accurately determining a qualified lead from an unqualified one, and some entry level staff that are honing their skills and place every one that asks for a brochure on the monthly forecast.  Your sales team represents one of the largest expense items within your organization and if they are spending valuable time chasing tire-kickers vs. qualified opportunities the cost to your business can be alarming.  What’s the answer?  Make sure that your CRM system can automate the lead qualification process.

Commence On-Demand, a web based CRM solution from Commence Corporation is helping small to mid-size businesses learn how to automate the lead qualification process via the use of an automated business process. Similar to implementing a structured sales methodology, Commence On-Demand also implements an automated lead qualification process.  The process makes each sales representative answer a series of qualification questions that are built right into the lead qualification module.  The structure ensures that each sales representative is using the same process to determine a qualified lead from an unqualified one.  The leads are then color-coded based on the responses.  This enables each representative and their management to immediately identify the top opportunities each representative is working on.

Here is an example screenshot showing a list of qualified leads:

Lead Qualification

Lead management and qualification is as important as managing the sales cycle. For more information about how Commence On- Demand can assist you with these processes see http://www.commence.com or ask for a free trial of our best in class CRM software.