Posted by Admin on April 18, 2013 under Customer Software | 
DestinationCRM recently published an article with steps for driving customer engagement and interaction: Implementing a World-Class Customer Management Program\
The success of any company depends on its ability to engage and interact with customers in new and innovative ways. According to McKinsey & Co., the average company loses between 10 and 30 percent of its customers annually, proving that interaction is a critical component to securing meaningful customer relationships and driving deeper levels of engagement and service.
In today’s competitive climate, companies cannot wait for their customers to initiate contact; they must create proactive value-add CRM programs that aggressively initiate, develop, and grow customer relationships.
A recent study by Defaqto Research found that 55 percent of consumers would pay extra to guarantee better service. By implementing a successful customer management program, companies can ensure that their customers are not only satisfied, but also that they realize the full benefits of the product or service they have purchased.
You can read the full article here, courtesy of DestinationCRM.
Posted by Admin on March 4, 2013 under CRM Software Resources, Customer Software |
In today’s intensely competitive market the only thing that may differentiate your business from your competitors is the buying experience your customer has with your company. Customers expect their buying experience to be rewarding and trouble free. When it’s not, the first place they go is the internet to post negative comments about their experience. Negative comments about your business can substantially impact the mind set of future buyers who may be searching the internet to learn about the experience others have had with your business.
While Customer Relationship Management software is traditionally used for sales and lead management, smart businesses are now expanding its use. Here are some of the ways businesses are using CRM software to improve their customers’ experience and their buying behavior.
1. AUTOMATED SALES FOLLOWUP
Automated responses generated after an order is processed, to send a thank you note for their business
2. CUSTOMER SERVICE AUTO-RESPONDER
Enabling customers to enter a service ticket 24/7 and get an automated response that their ticket has been received
3. CUSTOMER REFERRAL REWARDS PROGRAM
Identifying customers who have referred other businesses, and presenting a rewards program just for them
4. AUTOMATED E-MAIL CAMPAIGN
Periodically providing valuable information without a sales pitch, with links to an online knowledgebase that addresses questions about your product or service
5. CUSTOMER PORTAL
Enabling customers to directly update their profile such as their billing or shipping address
CRM software can play a role in helping to make your company a more efficient sales and service organization. In addition to maintaining a complete historical profile of each new customer, CRM software that offers automated business processes can help you to streamline the buying process and the quality of service you provide to your customers. Amazon.com has mastered this by instilling a total sense of trust in the consumers mind, but you don’t need to be Amazon.com to offer your customers a great buying experience or impact their future buying behavior. You just need the tools to do it.
Image “Your Amazon Wish List May Need an Address Update” by Chris Messina on Flickr under Creative Commons license.
Posted by CRM Resources on February 14, 2013 under Customer Software, Salesforce.com competitors |
Many smaller business owners hear great things about Salesforce and assume this must be the best web CRM for them. Unfortunately, once they actually get their hands on this online customer software, they discover that it is incredibly overwhelming. Have you ever seen the owner’s manual that comes with their software? It is like a college textbook! Who has time to read a huge book just to get started? If you are like most others, your work day already lasts from early morning to well into the evening as it is.
Our Cloud Contact Management Software is User-friendly
If you owned a major corporation, then you probably would not care how difficult your web based contact management software was to use because you would be paying someone else to train your team on it. Individuals who run their own small business often wear many hats. This is why we designed our CRM software so it is easy to use and navigate. This is also why Commence CRM is considered one of the top Salesforce.com competitors.
Posted by CRM Resources on January 14, 2013 under Customer Software |
You will probably look at the affordable pricing of Commence, compared to other CRM competitors, and assume that it probably does not have much to offer. After all, how can we get away with charging so much less, if we offer the same features, right? Well, maybe it is not that we charge less, at all. Maybe we charge a very fair price, but others are charging too much! Either way, we have just as much, if not more, to offer than some other customer software products.
Why Our Customer Software is so Recommended
When you think of customer software, you likely imagine a product dedicated solely to managing customers, follow-up and making the most of leads. Commence is a little different. We understand that there are a multitude of other factors that also affect your business, so we have made it easy to manage all of these components from one user-friendly CRM platform. In addition to accounts and contacts, you can expect to also manage sales and opportunity, marketing, project management, and reporting and analytics. We even allow you to integrate your email and QuickBooks, for additional convenience and improved productivity.
Posted by CRM Resources on December 27, 2012 under Customer Software |
If you own a small business, you may have given up hope of ever finding customer software to accommodate your needs. You may have even tried software designed for large businesses, in hopes that you could tweak it enough to be beneficial. Unfortunately, you likely found yourself doing a ton of extra work. Before you give up hope, you will want to give Commence CRM a try.
Why You Should Try Our Customer Software
Here at Commence, our customer software is designed specifically for the small business owner. It integrates crucial components of your business to one easy-to-navigate platform, so you can be productive with your time. Just a few of the many features you will enjoy include email integration, lead management, project management, reporting and analytics, QuickBooks integration, help desk and support, a real time dashboard, strong database security, and marketing automation. Before you give up hope of ever finding CRM software that will help you get ahead without consuming all of your time, give Commence CRM a try. You will quickly discover why we are a top-recommended choice for small business owners.
Posted by CRM Resources on December 19, 2012 under Customer Software |
Shopping for a customer management system can be an incredibly daunting task. If you are like most others, you know that you need a system to get ahead, but you probably do not even know what features you should be looking for, and which features you will actually use.
Features that Make Our Customer Management System So Recommended
Here at Commence, we have become a recommended pick for those needing a customer management system. A few features that we have that you really should be looking for include:
- Email Integration – Regardless what operating system you use, email integration will save you time and become one of the reasons you will also recommend Commence to others.
- Project Management – Establish priorities, organize tasks, create a budget, track time and expenses, manage deliveries and more with this valuable feature that allows you to learn from your own history.
- Lead Management – As a small business owner, it is vital that you are able to make the most of every lead. This feature allows you to do just that.
- QuickBooks Integration – If you have shopped for a CRM already, you may be surprised to discover one that offers QuickBooks integration, but Commence does. This helps to reduce data entry errors and also makes your job much easier by automatically sharing customer information between both systems.
Posted by CRM Resources on November 28, 2012 under Customer Software |
Have you ever asked yourself “What is the history of customer management software?” This is something many people do not think much about, until they have a bad experience. Some are even under the impression that focusing on customer service is a new concept. Well, it definitely is not anything new, but it has become increasingly popular in recent years, as every market has become increasingly competitive and businesses have to fight for sales.
Understand the History of Customer Service
The history of customer service dates back farther than many are aware. In fact, it goes back long before the telephone was even invented, although the phone did dictate the future of how customers would be handled. Before its invention in 1876, customers would need to go talk to someone in person. This meant that something as small as a repair to a tractor could often take weeks.
In 1894, the switchboard was invented. People who were wealthy enough to own a phone could communicate directly with a store that had one. Much later in the 1960s, call centers emerged, and became quite prolific in the 1970s. Toll free numbers came in 1967, and by 1989, outsourcing became popular. To reduce costs, many companies had their support centers moved abroad, where they could hire cheaper employees. Help desks emerged in 1990, while 1991 brought the emergence of the World Wide Web.
Email and live chat came in 1996, and by 2000, customer support software offered a helpful solution. In 2008, social media support became a way of life, and now today, most can’t imagine their lives without these online customer service platforms.
Posted by Admin on November 16, 2012 under Cloud CRM, Customer Software |
Contact management software programs have been widely used by small to mid-size businesses to manage customer relationships, but with the difficult economy and push for new business many of these companies are migrating from desktop software programs to online customer management solutions that extend contact management functionality to the sales and marketing departments.
One of the most popular online customer management software programs is Commence CRM. Commence has been providing contact management and sales force automation solutions to small and mid-size businesses for more than two decades and was one of the first CRM software companies to migrate their award winning software to the cloud.
What small businesses find attractive about this online CRM solution is its ease of use and low cost of ownership. With Commence CRM there is no hardware or software investment required and customers can be operational the same day. Because Commence’s roots come from delivering and supporting contact management software, customers find the transition to the cloud based solution quick and easy.
Because Commence CRM is cloud based, data can be accessed from any device including a PC, Apple Mac, tablet or smartphone. This functionality is highly sought after by companies using traditional desktop CRM or contact management software that cannot offer this.
Posted by CRM Resources on October 12, 2012 under CRM System, Customer Software |
If you’re still using a paper-based customer management system, you’ve probably wondered about the pros and cons of switching over to online CRM software. While most experts would tell you that an e-based system is more efficient and profitable, there is another perhaps even more important reason to switch over from paper – the health of the planet. The state of the environment is an important issue for everyone, individuals and businesses included, and switching away from a wasteful paper oriented system means that you will be wasting fewer natural resources. Less paper produced, less energy expended in printing, less ink, fewer materials for storage, and less waste going into landfills means a smaller carbon footprint and less damage done to the planet.
As much as we can agree that these unselfish tactics are good for all of us, they do have other positive effects on your business, not the least of which is projecting an image to your clientele that you are a responsible, caring company that’s not just focused on making yourselves richer, but also on making the world a better place. Upgrade your outdated paper-based system to modern CRM software system and the planet, your customers, and your bottom line will thank you.
Posted by CRM Resources on October 8, 2012 under Customer Software |
Are you putting off purchasing customer management software because you are just dreading the thought of switching your email? Changing a personal email address is a big enough pain, but when you are forced to change a business address, there are always contacts lost. Not everyone will take the time to update your address, no matter how many reminders you send. Fortunately, there is a solution.
Our Customer Management Software Integrates Your Email
If changing your email is the only thing holding you back from reaping the benefits of customer management software, then you will be thrilled to llearn that our software features email integration. Not only does it integrate effortlessly with Yahoo, Gmail, Microsoft Outlook and Lotus Notes, it also does so with Entourage for Apple Mac, which is a big surprise to most.
Therefore, not only are we able to keep your current address, you are also able to access it right from the Commence CRM application, making it extremely convenient for you. You never have to enter and exit the CRM program just to check your email.
1-877 COMMENCE 
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