Sage CRM and Twitter...

Jim and Bob catch up on Monday morning...

         This is Bob 
He is Customer Service Manager for a mid-sized business based in Cork - he uses Sage CRM and Twitter to do his job                                                         

               This is Jim

He is also Customer Service Manager in another company in Cork - he doesn't use Sage CRM or Twitter 

Jim – hey what you doing?

Bob – just working on some stuff…hang on, let me just send this tweet…

Jim – working? so what you doin’ Tweeting then?

Bob – that’s my job – Customer Relationship Management

Jim – Yeah I know, we have the same job, but that’s not really how we do things over here. I don’t think we even have a Twitter account and I doubt we use any other forms of Social Media.  Come to think of it, we don’t really use any proper systems - I am not saying we don't provide a great service, I think we do, but it is all a bit "traditional" if you know what I mean – but that's another story! So, anyway back to you, so you actually get paid to send Tweets all day? I like the sound of that!

Bob – ha, ha- no I don’t send Tweets all day. I interact with our customers and keep an eye on interesting conversations that are happening within our client accounts. A few months ago, we were still using pen and paper – it’s amazing the difference it makes. I am so into my job now – much better than before.

Jim – really, that sounds cool.

Bob – yeah it is cool, but the best part is that I use this software called Sage CRM. It holds all of my customer’s information. I can post or reply directly to a Tweet from within Sage CRM and view Twitter feeds for specific companies and then I can save the contents of these Tweets to Notes within Sage CRM - it's called Social CRM– it’s magic.

Jim – I think our company could do with something like that – tell me more about this Social CRM thing…?

Bob – okay let’s meet up for lunch and I will fill you in. It’s a piece of cake, but somehow it has changed my world – I love it! See you at 1….


To find more about how Sage CRM could change your world, Press the orange button 

When does pruning stop and growth begin?

Some wise person once said that a business is a bit like a tree. If you are not growing, then you are dying.

When you think about it, it’s true. It is difficult to stand still in the one spot and keep holding on to what you’ve got. Before long, we will begin to notice competitors passing us by and we may then wonder what we could have done better.
 

For many businesses their life-blood is their customer base. It makes sense to look after your existing customers as there is no substitute for bad customer service. Providing great customer service results in happy customers who in turn are more likely to refer your business to other potential customers. Happy customers also buy more products and services.


In a recent survey by IDC commissioned by Vodafone, “80% of SME’s stated that improving customer relationships was one of the key challenges, with 81% of workers stating that customer service is a top priority”. Now more than ever, SME’s are looking to differentiate their businesses on customer service.


I would highly recommend reading Raving Fans if this topic is of interest to you.

Providing excellent customer service is one great way of growing your business. But the key to providing excellent customer service is having the right systems in-house to manage it.

Let me explain using a simple example:

Let’s just say that you sell food products to supermarkets……

You receive a call from your biggest customer to complain about a problem with a delivery, which never arrived but which was nevertheless invoiced to them. What’s more, the prices on the invoice were all incorrect and not as agreed. This customer has only been with us a few months and this is the second time that there has been a problem with the delivery.



Where do we start? We have a problem with despatch, accounts and sales (pricing). Here are a few quick suggestions…


1. Record the details of the issue so that you can acknowledge receipt of the query back to the customer.


2. Ensure that the call is allocated to the appropriate person/team/people within the company to deal with the customer query.


3. Record and track all communications around this call, so that at any stage, you can see what’s been happening with the query and you can re-assure the customer that their query is being addressed.


4. Have easy access the Sales Order, Despatch, Invoice and Pricing details to see where the problems lie.




In this scenario, there was a lack of “joined up thinking”.
Accounts, Sales & Despatch were not aware of what each other was doing. They may also not have been aware of the issue with a previous delivery.


Using software such as Sage 200 with a fully integrated Customer Care module will help you to log, track and monitor customer service queries, response times, type of queries etc. You will know which accounts are on-hold, what the despatch status is, what prices were quoted, what the balance on the account is and what the query/issue history is for a particular customer. You can also see a full communications history against the customer’s record.


If we find out that our quest to achieve excellence in customer service is being hindered by internal processes, specific departments or people, or communications not being shared throughout the company, then we can address the problem and monitor the results as we continue to strive for excellent customer service and ultimately business growth…..

New Year, New Sales Pipeline

by Sinead Hayes - Sales & Marketing Manager


The start of a new year always brings new challenges, especially in this difficult economic climate. With it, however, also come opportunities.

In conjunction with a concise marketing plan, a sales pipeline projection for the year is always useful to map out the best, and worst, case scenarios for the year. Without knowing what potential sales are in the on the horizon, you can enter a new year in the dark.

I find a marketing plan to be absolutely critical for any salesperson, no matter how big or small their company is. Not having a marketing plan in place for the coming year is like setting out on a long journey without a map (or nowadays a SatNav!) - you will have no definite way to reach your destination of annual sales targets!

A good marketing plan should answer the following questions:

• What products/services will my company sell?
• What marketing activities will we need to carry out to meet the sales targets for the year?
• When is the best time to carry out those activities?
• To whom will we market our products/services to?

From this marketing plan should come an idea of how your sales target can be reached. Your sales pipeline can be then devised by week, by month, by quarter and/or by year to give you a clear picture of your sales prospects at any given time.

If you would like to hear more about sales pipelines and sales management, please do not hesitate to drop me a line by email or phone (01-8223 200)!