CRM Insights Blog

Dear Sales Managers: Don't make CRM All About You! (A Guide to CRM User Adoption)

Staff Writer — Fri, 07 Feb 2014 11:36:00 GMT

Dear Sales Managers,

When it comes to CRM adoption, we hope you’ve been successful in leveraging your CRM system as a tool to become more efficient and successful in generating a profit for your business. If, however, you’re still experiencing a gap in CRM adoption, of if you feel your CRM investment wasn’t worth the money, perhaps it’s time to evaluate your current CRM system approach.

It’s not surprising that some sales teams still continue to experience difficulties regarding CRM adoption, even though they should be benefiting the most from the system. When we hinge the success of the CRM performance predominantly on the sales team usage, our ability to fully understand the behaviors of customers and prospects never reaches full potential.

We encourage sales managers to redirect their focus of the CRM system performance by making the process less about the sales team, and more about the clients and customers you service.

Here are some key areas that can really help you change your approach to using your CRM system to develop better customer relationships in 2014:

a. Embrace Social Media - The amount of publicly available data found in social media mediums is without comparison. Not only are we able to uncover demographic details about potential customers, most CRM systems are designed to track and manage social media activity as it relates to customers. Allowing your sales team to leverage social media and stay in touch with these individuals adds a helpful layer to meeting revenue goals.

As a side note, try not to focus solely on your own personal profiles, such as LinkedIn, for example. While your profile needs to be clean and regularly updated, there is more activity online that deserves your focus. It’s okay to “peep-out” your competition, get some more personal details on a customer, or simply want to stay up-to-date on the latest trends among your colleagues.

Action Plan: Allow and encourage your sales team to embrace a level of social media activity that is comfortable for them, and educate them about the dashboard tools within your CRM system to track this activity for greater sales success.

b. Give Marketing a Hug - Your biggest fans are in your marketing department and deserve to feel the love. While not always on the front line like sales, they really want to make you look good and help you be successful. As a sales manager, if you want to increase adoption but are aware that marketing might be operating with client information from an independent system than your CRM, it’s time to think about integration. Progress made by marketing benefits the probability of sales success, and your sales feedback allows marketing to better refine communications to potential customers. Bring your marketing team closer to you, give them some love, and watch your leads close faster.

Action Plan: Develop a stronger working relationship between sales and marketing teams and increase CRM adoption by using an integrated system between the departments.

c. True Freedom with Mobility - When your road warriors embark on sales journeys, we know they juggle more responsibilities than they do while in the office. Allowing sales reps to access and leverage the CRM system remotely is helpful only when the data entry requirements don’t overburden their ability to stay on schedule. Make sure mobile access to your CRM system doesn’t require with too much data entry, ensuring the mobile interface is efficient and as easy as possible.

Action Plan: Evaluate mobile capabilities for traveling sales reps and update or refine requirements for entering data so that you don’t hinder ongoing CRM adoption.

d. Coaching and Collaborating with Confidence - Everyone needs someone in their corner, and as a sales manager, you know the benefits to supporting your reps through coaching. There is also no secret that peer influence via collaboration is a great way to support, motivate and energize your team to keep on trucking. Your CRM system is built with tools to help you coach and support your reps, and if you haven’t taken advantage of collaboration tools, like Salesforce Chatter for example, now is the time to begin using these “team-oriented tools.”

Action Plan: Breed higher CRM adoption rates and better sales success with CRM tools designed to help sales managers coach, support and build rapport throughout your sales team.

Remember, sales managers are responsible for more than just holding reps accountable for closing deals. In our technology-driven business culture, we must balance our expectations and workflows by using tools that fuel our staff with the energy and motivation to adopt necessary processes rather than burdening them with extra work.

We hope you take some time during the first stages of this new year to evaluate the current usage of your CRM system beyond sales activity, build a stronger foundation for inter-department collaboration and communication, expand your digital and social media potential, and offer superior support for great adoption of your CRM.

Kindest regards,
Harvest Solutions

Salesforce1 Redefines CRM (Part 2)

Staff Writer — Tue, 04 Feb 2014 18:13:00 GMT

Earlier this month, we began discussing the new direction of Salesforce CRM. And, while the direction and components of its latest release of Salesforce1 aren’t surprising, it’s important to understand the reasons behind WHY Salesforce wants all of us to change our perception about their company beyond software. Please read part 1 of our 2 part series, if you haven’t already.

Salesforce continues to boast their expertise within the world of CRM. However, as technology continues to become more mobile friendly, both businesses and customers are seeking more effective means to communicate. So, what exactly does this mean for businesses? Well, the concept of customer relationship management while still important, is becoming more challenging and transparent as businesses who want to remain sustainable must choose to be more nimble. Meaning, as more people and customers are consuming information and communicating more often via mobile, Salesforce needed to adapt to these changing demands.

On the other hand, mobility doesn’t just affect the external side of customer relationship management. For whatever reason, more employees are also developing mobile relationships with their employers. And, we don’t just mean sales teams. Whether working from home or keeping up with marketing campaigns in real-time, traditional 9-5 roles are becoming quickly replaced by a 24/7 mobile approach. Which again explains why Salesforce1 was designed to meet the needs of more modern, technology-savvy businesses. For example, “Chatter” functions are now a standard core feature allowing employees and sales teams to communicate more effectively whether at home, on the road or in the office. And, in an effort to help sales teams, Salesforce1 also allows employees to access fields – both standard and customized - to enter information about customers from mobile devices in a more seamless way. Salesforce1’s focus on mobile brings together several internal departments and allows them to work together more harmoniously.

Conceptually, Salesforce1 folds mobile capabilities into the core of its software to remain competitive and cutting-edge. But the benefits of Salesforce1 go beyond a surface-level inspection of its mobile offerings. From a trending perspective, we’re noticing a shift back towards building more personal relationships with customers. Traditional CRM allowed better tracking of information about customers, but in a somewhat limited capacity. Salesforce1 wants to help businesses better understand their customers based on their unique preferences, such as email and communications frequencies or specific types of messaging content. This type of information collected especially via mobile devices allows businesses to project in advance specific customer behaviors and therefore make better decisions for their business.

There is also great news for marketing professionals with Salesforce1. ExactTarget, the mobile marketing cloud, also upgrades the way marketers are reaching customers. For example, geolocation services on mobile devices can send customers push notifications right to their mobile device or smartphone. Say you’re driving by a car dealership, the dealer can send a message to come test drive one of their latest models, or even offer a discount for a limited time. Again, pinpointing customers at a convenient location allows businesses to communicate with them on their terms.

You may have also noticed that we’ve been referring to customers and not necessarily consumers. Salesforce1, while designed to help your business increase prospective leads and customers, their specific focus on customers is also another strategic move. According to Salesforce’s Vice President of Platform Marketing Scott Holden, ”customers are those that have made a conscious decision to purchase a product, while a consumer is still investigating their options. It’s not that Salesforce is saying companies need to stop acquiring new customers, but rather that once new customers have been signed, it’s important to make sure they feel valued, as well.” Salesforce1’s main objective is to develop technology to turn your customers into advocates, not simply develop a tool to keep sales teams organized.

Which brings us to an important point - is there a point where Salesforce1 will encompass too much “one-ness?” Meaning, even as technology continues to change the way we do business with our customers, will there be a ceiling-cap on how far Salesforce can take their software? Mobility is the obvious strategically smart move at the current time, and we wonder which trends will influence their decisions on future releases.

Have you deployed Salesforce1 at your company? If so, what are your thoughts on the new mobile capabilities? Be sure to leave a comment below or tweet us live @harvestcrm!

Fire up GoToMeeting from within Salesforce!

Cathy Boudreau — Fri, 31 Jan 2014 11:38:00 GMT

In today's business world, most people launch several business applications daily to do their jobs. For example I typically open Salesforce, Outlook, Word, Excel, GoToMeeting, just to name a few. Wouldn't you be more productive if some of those applications could be launched from within another application? We thought so too, which is why we're happy that we found the GoToMeeting Integration for Salesforce on the AppExchange.

With GoToMeeting Integration for Salesforce you can launch GoToMeeting directly from Salesforce, quickly starting or scheduling a meeting from the contact or lead record and automatically emailing the lead or contact.

If you have a GoToMeeting account and Salesforce, you’re ready to set up the integration and get started. Simply click the "Start GoToMeeting" button to hold an impromptu meeting or the "Schedule with GoToMeeting" button to set up a meeting in the future. Next, you will need to verify the subject of your meeting and click “Start". GoToMeeting will launch directly from your Salesforce session, indicating that your meeting has started.

Your meeting is also saved and stored as a GoToMeeting Session within Salesforce, making it easier to track communications with important contacts.

There are a couple of system requirements to keep in mind:
1. You must be a licensed Salesforce user of the Enterprise, Unlimited or Performance editions
2. You must have a paid GoToMeeting account

If you'd like to see this in action, please join us on March 6th where Jay Rivard will be demonstrating this handy app.

Why CRM Training Matters

Cathy Boudreau — Wed, 29 Jan 2014 11:07:00 GMT

Whenever we deliver a proposal, it includes CRM training. We often get asked, "Can we take the training out?" or "If this software is easy-to-use, why do we need training". We understand that people are trying to keep a CRM budget under control, but you’d be making a mistake by removing training from the CRM implementation plan.

CRM training is vitally important to the success of your CRM System. Why? We all know that CRM is important to the growth and success of your company. If your users don’t know how to use the system, how will your business grow? Additionally, your company has invested money and time to implement a CRM system that was designed to meet your specific business needs. The last thing that you want is for your users to ignore it. With proper CRM training, you will be able to maximize the functionality and capability of your system.

To address the common questions on CRM Training, we’ve created an Ebook where we discuss:

Why training is important to the success of your CRM system
Considerations when planning for training
Delivery methods for CRM training
Ramifications of not training your users
Training Follow-up

Have any other questions or comments that we didn’t address? Post them below!

Harvest Bundler Now Available on the AppExchange

Cathy Boudreau — Thu, 23 Jan 2014 18:28:00 GMT

Harvest Solutions has launched a product on the AppExchange: The Harvest Bundler. Quite simply, this product allows the user to create bundles and kits for use on your opportunities, quotes, and sales proposals. It also supports Bill of Materials. Naturally, there’s more to the application than this, so to get the details, I sat down with Bill Goulette, our Salesforce Mid-Market Practice Director, to get all the details.

Q. Why did we build it?
Many of our clients often try to make Opportunities and Product management easier for their sales team. The Harvest Bundler, simplifies selling for sales teams by allowing them to add a kit or a bundle to an opportunity. This way, rather than adding 10 separate items to an opportunity, they can add one kit/bundle and be done. A classic use case would be where Sales needs a support agreement automatically added to an opportunity when selecting a software solution without having knowledge of the exact support package that would be required.

Q. What industries would use this?
Really, any industry who sells multiple products or services could use this.

Q. What job function would use this?
It would be used primarily by sales to handle new sales, up-sales and even contract renewals.

Q. Why is this product necessary/how does it make life easier?
The Bundler allows companion products to be paired up with other products. This ensures that both are consistently included in an opportunity. Also, even if the product bundle is complex (i.e. 10 levels deep) adding it to the Opportunity is a snap...you’re adding one item rather than potentially 20. The Bundler can also allow for special pricing to be included based on the kit selected.

Q. Can’t Salesforce do kitting and bundling out-of-the-box?
No, Salesforce offers nothing in the way of kitting or bundling out of the box. Currently, the Salesforce workflow engine doesn’t support adding a new record based on conditions.

Q. Which edition of Salesforce do you need?
Enterprise Edition or better since this solution incorporates the Product object. While there are other solutions on the market that will work with Professional Edition, we thought it best to incorporate Products. This way, we didn’t have to manage a variety of custom product objects in the case of an edition upgrade.

Q. Does The Harvest Bundler support a Bill of Materials (BOM)?
Yes, the Harvest Bundler does!

Q. How does The Harvest Bundler handle product pricing?
We handle it in a variety of ways:

The top-level item holds the pricing and all the child products are essentially added at no cost. (Think of this as a Happy Meal… When you order a Happy Meal, you get a hamburger, fries, soft drink. You only see the top-level pricing, not the pricing for the individual components/child products.
The top-level would be no cost and the components will each have a static cost. The top-level would show as no-cost or be removed all together.
The top-level has a value and the child components are values based on a percentage. Let’s go back to the Happy Meal example. Let’s say that the total cost of the Happy Meal is $3.00. When you are creating the Happy Meal bundle you may determine that the hamburger is 50% of that cost ($1.50), the fries are 35% ($1.05) of the cost and the drink is 15% of the cost ($.45)

Our solution relies heavily on the product object and has a child object underneath it to help define the bill of materials.

Q. Can you Give us a simple example on how this might work?
Let’s say you work for a company that sells children’s play structures. As you can imagine, there are lots of different offerings for play structures – size, components (i.e. swings, wall climb, slide, tire swing), hardware, etc. Now let’s assume that your customer is interested in the “Deluxe” model which includes 2 swings, a wall climb, a fort, a slide, and monkey bars. Let’s get into the Bill of Materials (BOM) -- Each swing has 4 components – the hardware, the chains and the seat. Wall climb has 12 components – the wall, 10 different grips and a rappelling rope.

When the sales person is adding this product to the opportunity, it’s FAR easier to add one Deluxe kit/bundler rather than all of these separate components. Additionally, it can also add in Delivery and Installation. Not only does this help ease the sales person’s job, but management can feel secure that items won’t be forgotten on the opportunity.

In the example above, you can also break the bundle up into reusable subcomponents. For example, you can define the swing as a bundle of its four products, and the climbing wall as a bundle of that group of products. Then define the Deluxe model as a bundle of two swing bundles, one wall bundle, etc. This really simplifies product

Q. How much does it cost?
Our product is very affordable at $4 per user per month license for the organization. All Salesforce users would be subscribed to the Bundler since all users could potentially take advantage of the features. While there are other “full-blown” enterprise solutions in the market that include work orders, barcode scanning, etc., ours does not include that. If you are looking for simplicity in regard to kits, bundles and bills of material – at an affordable price -- then this application is for you.

Want to see it in action? Check out this brief video demonstration:

You KNOW you want to try it! :)
Please visit our AppExchange listing!

Salesforce1 Redefines CRM (Part 1)

Staff Writer — Tue, 21 Jan 2014 15:27:00 GMT

Mobile technology is changing our world, and as more sophisticated mobile offerings appear on the market, traditional technologies including older versions of CRM software are quickly becoming replaced. And, when it comes to mobility's role in managing customer relationships, there is no surprise Salesforce addressed rapidly expanding mobile trends as the focal point in their recent release of Salesforce1. In part 1 of our 2 part series, we're going to discuss WHY Salesforce focused on mobility in their new software rollout. In part 2, we will focus on the benefits these new core mobile functions bring to your customers.

One could argue that as more businesses are moving their systems to the cloud and that mobile technology is a more cost effective business solution, CRM growth will remain stagnant. Salesforce responded strategically by creating a more mobile friendly system to meet growing mobile usage and demands. And, their strategy was spot-on. According to a Gartner Research report from spring 2012 to 2013, at least 39% of all CRM was being managed via SaaS or cloud. And, Gartner also projected mobile CRM apps would jump 500% from 200 (at that time) to over 1200 apps by 2014. Today, thousands of customizable apps exist in the AppExchange to further enhance mobile functionalities within a Salesforce CRM system.

Another interesting piece to Gartner's report included an 11% decrease in PC purchases, which leads anyone to deduce that the train of the new mobile age is leaving the station. If PC purchases are down and mobile device purchases are up, then Salesforce needed to redirect the focus of their CRM software in order to remain competitive and sustainable.

Specifically to enhance business processes, Salesforce1 went beyond traditional mobile sales access to their software. Admins, managers, and other employees involved in customer acquisition now benefit from the software’s core mobile functionalities. By offering these mobile functionalities across the board for more users, it's expected that more internal collaboration (i.e. "Chatter") and usage of the CRM will follow suit. Really, integration is key here. Any internal employee involved in customer acquisition or relationship management should be part of the team within the CRM system. Salesforce1 helps achieve just that.

The highlights of Salesforce1:

New mobile App for everyone: Business Users, Administrators, Developers, Partners and Your Customers
Unifies previous Salesforce Apps (i.e. Chatter, Touch) into one new mobile app.
Empowers Administrators with increased remote access capabilities
More API functionality for developers to create better apps

Essentially with the release of Salesforce1, regardless of its entire mobile luster, developers now have a platform to create customized solutions independent of CRM systems. In part 2, we will cover the benefits of mobile functionalities within the Salesforce1 platform, including how your business can leverage this new platform to turn leads into loyal customers.

Do this, Not that: New Year, New Marketing Strategy

Cathy Boudreau — Thu, 16 Jan 2014 17:17:00 GMT

Picture this: Your company has decided to implement a brand new CRM system this year and you've been tasked with researching what's out there. You managed to clear off an afternoon to do some preliminary research where, of course, you head to the Internet. You may start with a search on "how to implement CRM" which may lead to researching specific products including features, reviews, videos, etc. At the end of the afternoon, you're feeling accomplished and feel ready to start putting together some information on what you've discovered to share with your team.

In an alternate universe, imagine this scenario: You've got the entire afternoon to research CRM implementation and products. You happily start Googling and <bam> a pop-up ad comes up. You sigh and dismiss that. A half-hour goes by and the phone rings. It’s a telemarketer trying to sell you on a new copier...that's not even your job! How are you feeling after these DISRUPTIONS? Aggravated? Distracted? Probably both.

This is why we need to discuss Outbound vs. Inbound Marketing or DISRUPTION vs. ATTRACTION. Do you want to be a disruption to your prospects? Of course not. You want to start off on the right foot. Prospects are tuning out traditional (outbound) marketing tactics. We fast-forward through commercials, put our names on the “do not call” telemarketing lists, toss direct mail pieces without even reading them. Today, marketers need to adapt their techniques to match the demands of their prospects.

Research from Google and CEB (The Digital Evolution in B2B Marketing) reports that prospects are nearly 60% through the sales process before even engaging a sales rep. How is this possible? With Inbound Marketing. Marketers are now producing valuable information for prospects to get them further down the sales funnel than ever before. This makes a sales person’s job easier, but presents more of a challenge for marketing to get the right information out at the right time. Let's look at some key areas to in a head-to-head shootout – inbound vs. outbound.

Join the Conversation

With Outbound marketing, there really wasn't much of a conversation unless you caught someone on the phone or met them at a conference. At that point, marketing did most of the talking: "Buy this", "We’re the best because..."

Nowadays, we have all sorts of social channels on which we can interact with prospects. You can join a conversation, offer helpful advice or tips. You want to approach the prospect without being too overbearing. Before the advent of social media, there was really no easy way to be able to point a prospect in the right direction. Remember, marketing should be about the customer. Help the person with their issues. Now is not the time to push your product or services.

Getting Found

Back in the day, print ads, TV commercials, cold calls, banner ads, etc. ruled the day. People didn't find you, you found them.

Over time, people have learned to avoid them usually with the help of new technology (TiVo to skip commercials, pop-up-ad blockers, etc). What’s a marketer to do? Adapt. Employ keyword research and SEO so that your website can be found. Be on the social media channels where your prospects and customers are visiting. Be active on the same communities they are going to to find information.

Provide Value

Unless you've been living under a rock for the last year or two, we all know "Content is King". But what exactly does this mean? You want to educate your prospects and be a thought leader in your field. You can do this through blogs (written and/or video), ebooks, whitepapers, podcasts and infographics. Provide answers to the questions that your prospects typically have so that when someone is searching for information, they find you! Remember, keep it informative and helpful, NOT salesy.

Entertain!

Obviously, TV commercials aren't going anywhere. But what's more entertaining? A commercial that simply boasts about their product features? Or one that tells a story and makes you laugh or cry? For example, let's take this P&G Thank You Mom commercial:

I won’t lie – I teared up. As a Mom, it pulled on my heartstrings and that's exactly what P&G was hoping for. What's better? You have no idea what they are advertising until the very end and they tie it together nicely… "P&G, Proud sponsors of Moms".

As a side note, humor can also get the job done. Who doesn't love the AT&T Commericials: It’s not Complicated. In my house, we are always quoting them… here's our favorite!

The point here is - make it interesting: Tell a story, entertain. Boring is not going to get you anywhere.

Cost

Hands down, outbound marketing is more expensive. According to HubSpot's 2013 State of Inbound Marketing Report, twice as many marketers say inbound marketing delivers below average cost per lead versus outbound strategies, and inbound marketing is estimated to deliver 54% more leads into the marketing funnel than traditional outbound methods. If your competitors are getting these results, then you are going to be left in the dust. Some people like to say that Inbound has no costs associated with it but I won’t go that far. After all, you’re likely going to hire someone to employ the inbound strategy and may even need to hire a consultant here and there to provide specialized services (such as keyword research and SEO). Other cost considerations is using an Inbound Marketing application such as HubSpot to help you manage and analyze your inbound campaigns.

Be Adaptive

Isn't it frustrating when you receive an email for a product you already have? Not so long ago, it was common for everyone in your database to get the same marketing message. With Inbound marketing and Marketing Automation you can now tailor your message based on the audience. Amazon.com, for example, is the master of sending out relevant and timely emails. When you buy a book, you will receive an email with other book suggestions based off of your purchase. Fantastic! Now I don't have to skim the email to look for a book that might interest me. If that were the case, I'd never open the emails.

Permission-Based

Remember purchasing or renting contact lists? We have purchased lists before in the past and they have NEVER had a return on investment. What's more, the person receiving our marketing message had no idea who we were...we were merely a disruption.

Inbound marketing has introduced us to a permission-based list that allows people to opt in to our marketing emails. But it doesn't need to stop there. Why not send them an email right after they opt-in welcoming them to let them know when they'll start receiving notifications, the frequency of the emails and heck, why not point them to a few blog articles on your website to get them more interested? Don’t forget to mention your unsubscribe policy. And while we're talking about unsubscribing, it's bound to happen. So make it easy and perhaps offer them a different email frequency. For example, if you were sending them daily emails, ask them if the prefer weekly or monthly emails instead.

The Final Word

Obviously, this article is heavily biased towards Inbound Marketing. There are countless statistics available on the benefits of Inbound. Does this mean that Outbound is dead? Of course not. There is a time and a place for everything. Should you rely solely on trade shows and print advertising? Probably not. But sometimes it makes sense to do it, maybe just less of it. If you still need to do some outbound marketing, that's fine! Just try to think of it from an inbound perspective...get out there on social media promoting the outbound campaign, blog about it, do a video! Remember, there is no right and wrong in marketing. Each company is different. You will quickly find out the right and wrong for your own company by trial and error. Good luck!

Changing Your Public CRM Cloud Security Concerns into Confidence

Staff Writer — Tue, 17 Dec 2013 11:03:00 GMT

Unless you’re an IT pro with a clear understanding of all that is cloud technology, the decision to adopt or deploy a cloud-based CRM for your business can be confusing and maybe even a bit scary. While there are undoubtedly potential risks associated with any cloud technology, business owners who educate themselves about CRM in the cloud find that the reward (eg, ROI) can significantly outweigh the risk when implemented properly.

In case you haven’t seen the latest in consumer shopping technology, a new device called “Coin” has recently emerged in the market boasting a sleek, consolidated solution for shoppers using multiple credit cards. Since Coin is rapidly catching the attention of many consumers, one must assume that its convenience and serious buying agility is the primary reason why any security concerns are being overshadowed.

Same holds true for most business owners when it comes time to implement or upgrade CRM in the cloud. Traditional security concerns appear to have lost priority rank compared to other risks based on recent trends of increased adoption rates. In fact, acting similar to trends like Coin, these businesses are lowering their concerns regarding CRM cloud security as improvements in public CRM cloud technology offer businesses heightened agility and convenient options for more efficient workflow processes. According to Matt Asay of readwrite.com, “the security argument is just one reason pundits have mistakenly assumed...how dependent the modern enterprise is on speed. At least for now, public clouds better deliver business agility and associated speed of development.”

So if your business is considering public CRM cloud technology, let’s get a little more educated on what to expect and some evidence to help you turn your cloud security concerns into confidence.

Understanding Public vs. Private Clouds

First, the primary difference between private and public cloud technology is accessibility. Gmail, Yahoo and Amazon - these are examples of public clouds. On the other hand, private clouds are typically only accessible to a select group of individuals - such as internal employees - and are hosted internally, as well. When a business deploys any cloud technology, however, the decision usually boils down to cost and resource, which leads us to our secondary difference. A private cloud investment costs tremendously more than a public cloud, and those costs include the staff/experts to ensure the proper maintenance and security of your data. Plus, you have to buy your own hardware.

Saving a few dollars on a public cloud solution obviously hasn’t hindered large, enterprise-scale business from investing in the more expensive private cloud technology. Again on the other hand, if cost is a relevant factor in deciding which is best for your business, then understanding risks like shared access or virtual exploitation will help you decide which public cloud vendor is best. Whichever you decide, keep in mind that while private clouds offer some peace-of mind security from unauthorized users, public clouds operate under fairly strict security regulations and standards to avoid and restore any damage done by outsiders.

More importantly, public cloud technology can be very beneficial when and if disaster strikes (hurricanes or bad weather for example). Since private clouds are hosted locally, an unexpected event can wipe out local data storage, leaving virtually (no pun intended) no chance of data recovery without remote storage. However, for the hybrid enthusiasts, there are hybrid cloud solutions for organizations who want public cloud agility and speed benefits but want to retain some private control of your data and where it lives. So unless your business has the money, resource and the IT staff to manage your local, private cloud, the public cloud delivers the most value to a majority of businesses.

Understanding Public Cloud-Based CRM Vendors

CRM vendors have a vested interest in protecting themselves, and they definitely have a vested interest in protecting their customers. It’s no secret that CRM cloud vendors, like Salesforce for example, operate under various data security laws and regulations which also require regular reporting and audit trails to ensure security compliance.

The good news in public cloud-based CRM technology is that encryption is becoming much more advanced. CRM vendors who offer public cloud options tend to do a far better job of data security than most of their customers anyway - they are after all experts in data management. With an expert staff able to resolve issues quickly, they have the access, not to mention the funds available, to deploy and manage the latest technologies to ensure data security and recovery.

Understanding Public Cloud Security Controls

Good CRM vendors will also implement proper “defensive” security controls within their cloud to safeguard against any potential weaknesses which greatly reduce the risk of an outside attack.

Proactive Security Measures
First, to prevent unwanted or otherwise purposeful attacks on the cloud system, proactive security measures typically include initial warning signs to outsiders which serve to deter access and reduce system vulnerability. You may know of these as “firewalls.” If the system sends out a warning signal, the system programming will automatically “upgrade the strength” of the system and monitor the vulnerabilities to reduce any potential damage. From partial to complete “lockouts,” the system is programmed to respond accordingly.

Continuous Security Measures
If an outsider happens to exploit a system vulnerability and gets access to the cloud, the system is programmed to take action and correct any damage done. Since most if not all cloud systems are programmed to ward off “hackers,” sometimes damage can be done even if the right login is used and the system grants access. To ensure your business is doing everything possible to protect your data in the cloud, prohibiting the sharing of account credentials between users and services is highly recommended. Depending on the unique needs of your business, leveraging strong, two-factor authentication techniques may offer added security.

We also recommend customers request reports about the CRM vendor’s data security measures in addition to any discussions or negotiations before an agreement is reached. It is in every business’ best interest to understand proactive, continuous and recovery plans from their vendor regarding cloud-based data security.

So, Is the Public Cloud Really Secure?

Is anything really 100% secure and void of vulnerability? Everything comes with risk. While most businesses are increasingly adopting CRM in the cloud, the technology and security of cloud systems increase, too. Public clouds simply offer superior benefits to “home-grown” private options - benefits which clearly outweigh risks or concerns regarding security.

And, in reality, the security of your data is based on the technology at hand. Properly implemented and deployed cloud-based CRM systems that do not sacrifice critical planning and strategic considerations position themselves for long-term success. Besides, as the technology and the security become more complex, businesses are better served focusing on their business and their customers while leaving cloud systems to the experts.

If you’re still concerned about public cloud security, visit the folks over at The Cloud Security Alliance. CSA’s mission is to promote the use of best practices for providing security assurance within cloud computing, and to provide education on the uses of cloud computing. Or, if your business is considering CRM in the cloud, contact us now!

Are you ready for some…Inbound Marketing?!

Cathy Boudreau — Thu, 12 Dec 2013 13:31:00 GMT

After another wild football game courtesy of my New England Patriots, I thought it best to combine two passions of mine… football and inbound marketing. I wasn’t always a football fan – when I met my husband, I just barely tolerated the sport. That quickly changed since he has season tickets so it was either (1) learn to love it, (2) fake it until you make it or (3) be a football widow for 6 months. I chose option one and find myself yelling at TV as much as my husband. So naturally, it seemed like a perfect fit to compare football to inbound marketing. I wasn’t always a fan of inbound marketing either, but realized quickly if I didn’t get on board, we’d be left behind.

Strategy

There’s more to football than just throwing a few burgers on the grill and walking into the game. My husband strategizes our tailgates and has it down to a science (he’s also an engineer). He comes up with a menu (never boring), who is bringing what, where we will meet, how many parking spaces we need for friends, etc.

Much like planning a perfect football day, you need to strategize with inbound marketing. You can’t just jump right in without having a plan in place and expect to be successful. First you may want to determine what your goals are. For example, let’s say you want to increase website visits. How many are you getting now and what kind of numbers are you shooting for? In what timeframe? Next we can figure out how to go about doing that – create buying personas, set up a presence on relevant social media channels, and create blog content, for starters.

Play Hard

No one likes a team that doesn’t play hard. We know our sports in New England – if you don’t play hard, you’ll hear about it. You can’t fake it either because we spot the BS right away. Why go out there at all if you’re not going to give it your full effort?

Same thing could be said of Inbound Marketing – if you’re not going to give it an effort, don’t expect to see results. I know this first hand. When we first decided to get on the inbound marketing bandwagon, we selected HubSpot as our Inbound Marketing tool. I was, what I will call, a “recreational” user. But in the last 12 months, I’ve been far more involved with using the software, managing our website, looking at additional features we can use to boost our visits and lead conversions. Slowly but surely it’s starting to turn around.

Injury

This one is a tough pill to swallow after Gronkowski’s season-ending knee injury yesterday. It’s hard to see a good player go down and lose them for any length of time. Sometimes you get lucky and a hit that seems bad, really isn’t and the player jogs off the field only to return a few plays later.

In Inbound Marketing, it’s a series of trial and error. If someone tells you that there is one way to skin a cat and that’s the only way, then do not work with them. Often you need to try different things to see what works. In other words, you’re bound to fail at some marketing campaign you run. That’s ok. You learn from it, look at what went wrong and what could be improved on. Then move forward and start a new campaign.

Check out the Competition

For all you Patriot haters out there, this isn’t your opportunity to mention SpyGate. J In all seriousness, every team checks out the competition, watches endless tape of their games and builds their game plans based off of previous games, player’s strong points, etc.

HubSpot has a handy built-in report conveniently called…wait for it…Competitors. This is the marketer’s version of SpyGate! The Competitors report allows you to enter in your competitor’s URL and compare your website to theirs (marketing grade), look at who has more indexed pages and linking domains and what the social media reach looks like in Facebook and Twitter. This report can be useful if you want to see if you’re lagging behind any of your competitors and then strategizing a way to surpass them.

Analyze

Don’t all football fans just love to analyze? There are so many arm-chair quarterbacks out there and to hear them calling in after the game to lend their 2 cents can be a bit tiresome…. “Did you see how Brady was wearing a glove and he threw the ball 2.67 inches shorter and about 3 degrees to the right? It must be the glove he’s wearing! What brand is that glove and why was he wearing it? Is his hand hurt?!” Let’s face it…everyone analyzes something.

Marketers should not be the exception to this rule! As part of their job, marketers should be checking on their campaigns all the time. How did it perform? Did it perform as well or better than previous ones? What changed and how can you make it better? There’s several ways to slice the data so you can make sure you are making the most of your marketing dollars.

Practice Makes Perfect

All NFL teams practice. That’s their job the majority of the time. Just because you’re one of the elite players to make it to the NFL doesn’t mean that you can just rest on your laurels. You need practice so you can perform that magical pass that no one will see coming.

In marketing, most people don’t have it perfect right out of the gate. It’s ok to start with one small item and add to it once you get your feet wet. When I started using HubSpot, most of my work was managing the website, adding webpages, editing webpages and creating landing pages. Now I look at creating offers, pushing leads through the funnel with lead nurturing/workflows, sending email campaigns, monitor and publish to social media, etc. Each new area that I explored in HubSpot took practice. Not because it was hard, but because it was new.

Last but not least…Have Fun

It’s hard not to have fun at a football game or at the very least, while tailgating. Yes, sometimes it’s not easy - like when it’s 24-0 and you’re playing Peyton Manning’s Broncos in the freezing cold, but in the end, I’m sure those fans that stayed were having fun!

If you don’t inject some fun into your marketing campaigns you’ll be bored quickly. Don’t be afraid to try something new. Maybe you usually tend to write educational blog articles. There’s nothing wrong with that but maybe try mixing in the fun somehow – tell a story, crack a joke, or relate your industry/job to football (haha). Maybe try doing a video on your product or service or even a video blog post? One fun marketing campaign that comes to mind is the Heineken Departure Roulette – maybe this just appeals to my sense of travel, but I found it fun. (Full disclosure – I also have no idea why Heineken was running an airline departure campaign, doesn’t seem to match their business, but hey, I remembered it!)

Have you run any fun/different/quirky marketing campaigns lately? If so, what were they and where they successful? Or maybe you’ve come across some that you found to be pure genius. Either way, we’d love to hear about them…sound off below!

Reflections from Salesforce.com's Dreamforce 2013

John Rounseville — Wed, 04 Dec 2013 09:02:00 GMT

The Thanksgiving meal has finally been digested, and enough time has gone by since Dreamforce to provide a more clear-headed analysis of the week on San Francisco. First off, let's get the easy stuff out of the way:

Yes, Dreamforce is now huge. Somewhere between 125,000 and 135,000 attendees travelled to and from the Moscone Center last week to see the latest and greatest that Salesforce had to offer.
Yes, it rained for part of the week, forcing the less prepared to swarm the local Target Store in search of rain gear. I have subsequently heard that said Target Store set a single day sales record on Tuesday.
Did I mention that it was huge? Two different expo floors, over 1800 sessions, and 350 exhibitors, over 2 Million gallons of coffee consumed, all packed into 3 and a half days. The head spins!

OK, so enough of the fun facts, what did we learn about how business will be done in the future? I have two deep thoughts, and a few extra observations on the conference.

1. Mobility is king.

The big, huge announcement and main focus of the conference was the roll out of Salesforce1, which is in truth a powerful mobile platform (finally) that combines the best of Chatter Mobile, Touch, and actionable dimensions of Logger (by Salesforce Labs) and rolls them all into one mobile app.

As I mentioned in last year's recap, Salesforce definitely recognized the importance and rise of mobile early on, worked on a few iterations of it, and finally released a fully functional, full-baked version of it that I, for one, plan on using constantly (I definitely started using it last week while at Dreamforce).

What does it do? It potentially exposes all of your objects and apps on your mobile device. Whereas in the past, the basic LACOC (Lead, Account, Contact, Opportunity, Case) objects were available; Salesforce1 will allow you to interact with and record actions on all of your objects and apps, even custom objects.

Why is it a big deal? Picture how mobile the workforce is now. Not just sales people, but service technicians, lab workers, hospital workers, teachers – even flight attendants – need to be able to record these interactions. Salesforce has always struggled with the mobile aspect and its limitations, now they have a platform that allows its users to execute in a much more customized way.

Early Drawback - It pulls tasks and events from your mobile calendar, not your Salesforce Calendar. I imagine this will be fixed soon.

Coming Soon – Salesforce "A", which is a Mobile Administrator App (the "A" stands for Administrator, get it?) It's actually available now but apparently all you can do is unlock users. I imagine more functionality will roll out quickly there as well.

2. Back to the Future

This was the theme of Marc Benioff's keynote, all the way from Huey Lewis and the News Musical interludes to Parker Harris entering in a Tesla dressed up as Dr. Emmett Brown. I admit it took me a few minutes to grasp the concept as to what they were trying to get across, but I think it goes something like this:

Back in the 50's, you did your business very locally. You knew who your hardware store owner and he knew you. Likewise for your grocery store clerk, butcher, doctor, heck – even the local operator probably knew who you were. And they knew your preferences. As time went by, the client-vendor relationship became more obscured. Both customers and vendors became a bit commoditized to each other, nameless, faceless merchants. Mobile and Social is paradoxically moving that relationship back – The vendor can gather far more information about the customer and understand their preferences. Vice versa, the customer has a lot of power over the vendor not only in terms of purchase choice, but also in the feedback loop that Social Media has made prevalent.

Why is this important? Benioff used a great example of walking through the USC campus last week, which is his alma mater. If USC could have somehow been alerted that he was on campus, they could have sent him a welcome text and given him the red carpet treatment (i.e. Would you like a stadium tour?). The possible result? Maybe a big donation. But for now, he was just a guy walking across campus in funny sneakers.

The bottom line - Companies are going to have to ramp up this "close" relationship with their customers quickly or you will put them at risk to someone who has the capability in place.

Random Thought #1 – Exact Target/ Pardot is their new darling

As it does every year, Dreamforce unveiled a new piece of their platform puzzle (last year was Work.com, the year before was Data.com, etc.) This year, a lot of expo floor space and attention was placed on newly acquired Exact Target/Pardot, which now offers Salesforce users "native" marketing automation, where before 3rd parties filled that space. It is a very slick tool and I enjoyed what I saw of it. But it also makes me wonder where that leaves vendors like Marketo, Silverpop, et al? These companies are huge sponsors of Salesforce (the Dreamforce backpack sitting next to me at my desk has a big Marketo logo on it), how do they compete with and co-exist in a Salesforce universe with Exact Target as its Marketing Cloud.

Random Thought #1a – Speaking of Marketing Cloud…

There was very little mention of Radian6 and Buddy Media. They have definitely taken a back seat to Exact Target in prominence. I don't think I heard either of them mentioned all week.
In fact, and it has to be intentional, not much mention was made at all of the rest of the Platform. It feels like Salesforce doesn't feel the need to throw all of its capabilities in your face because they assume that you should know about them by now. It is just assumed that everyone there knows about Chatter and is using it, which in my experience in the deployment world, is not the case. To a lesser extent the same can be said for a product like Work.com. I know that many attendees are brand new to the platform or want to learn more about what it has to offer. Making them hunt for it seems like a mistake.

Random Thought #2 – Still no Chatterbox

They were psyched for this last year, even as late as the Customer Company Tours in the Spring and it still hasn't arrived. Oh wait, it's called Salesforce Files. Not exactly the exciting announcement they made it out to be.

Random Thought #3 – The Fake Cloud Strikes Back

One of the big announcements was that if you don't trust na13 (or whatever cloud you are in), Salesforce and HP have teamed up to announce "SuperPods". SuperPods amount to what is very private, high security hosted server farm that will allow very large enterprise customers their own private clouds. It will probably be geared towards Banking or Government customers.

I noticed my Twitter feed going crazy (as crazy as a CRM focused Twitter feed can get) when this was announced at a press conference that it totally went against Salesforce’s culture of multi-tenancy. Some even went as far as calling it "Fake Cloud" a jibe at the slogan Benioff used to use in his take downs of other CRM systems.

But really, if a client is willing to pay for that, what is the harm? They want access to the Salesforce platform and releases, but they want it on a set of servers over here vs. in a multi-tenant universe? I'm not quite sure what the outrage is about.

That's it. See you next October, looking forward to seeing all 180,000 of you!

Using Workflow Technology to Improve CRM User Adoption

Cathy Boudreau — Mon, 25 Nov 2013 17:40:00 GMT

On the most basic level, workflow technology typically refers to a program that organizes a series of processes within an organization that allow for time and resources to be used most efficiently. Thanks to business innovators like Ford for setting the foundation for automation, and now to more modern advances in computer technology, it is easier and more convenient to create a unique, efficient workflow model for any business to successfully move “projects” from inception to completion.

Now, you might be thinking about a flow chart at this point, and you should. Most often, workflows come in chart-like formats. Even with a nicely organized chart, remember that any workflow should focus on the people involved, not just the process. Within the chart should also be a “workflow engine”, which will serve as the central program that houses all the procedures, steps in a procedure and the rules for each step. The workflow engine is also responsible for determining whether the state of the “project” or process is ready for the next step or phase. The best part of workflow technology is the ability to analyze tasks and processes in real-time, and then subsequently refine the workflow model to ensure ongoing operational success.

Similar to the approach to CRM, it’s important to note that workflow technology offers more benefit to your business beyond simply documenting information. Why is it important to establish a workflow process for your business operations? And, how does CRM fit into the workflow picture?

Higher Customer Retention
Imagine a customer base that has easy access to customer support, and each new customer ticket opened has a 90%+ customer satisfaction rate. Documenting the support process is only one component to ensuring customers are getting the results they’re seeking from your business. Depending on your particular business offering, if multiple persons have touch points with any project or in this case a customer ticket, then having a predetermined workflow process allows you to proactively manage customer issues, especially including the next steps in the resolution process. Not only does the workflow allow for faster support and timely answers, your employees will feel more confident as the success rate of helping customers increases.

CRM software allows businesses, especially those with high customer support volume, to determine what the customer support process should look (and feel) like. In addition to thorough documentation of the activity during the support process, some CRM software offers great automation tools (like instant response email functionality) that will free up your employees to help more customers.

Higher Employee Satisfaction
Workflows help streamline costs and time needed to coordinate common business processes, such as project approval or document review, and are able to manage and track employee tasks involved in the processes. Creating an automated workflow model also helps upper management better understand the time and resources needed for employees to complete their tasks. And, while we understand that management styles vary, holding employees accountable for their work extends positive benefits across the board.

Automation
CRM software can help businesses establish employee workflow and the automation thereof, and are readily and easily achievable - of course with the right setup. In order to increase the efficiencies and time for your employees, it’s helpful to establish some helpful automation tools within the workflow model. For example, when the workflow participants complete their tasks, the workflow ends, and the owner is automatically notified that the workflow has completed. Additionally, workflow automation is particularly useful for your marketing department. You can notify your sales reps of incoming leads, have an email automatically sent out and set a reminder to follow up on the lead. Remember, automating tasks does not mean that you will be able reduce staff and save money, rather, your business should use these tools within the CRM software to boost employee efficiency, satisfaction and morale.

Adoption
Employee adoption of any software or process is essential to the success of the program, and your business. Developing a workflow model within the internal process, especially when combined with the CRM system is the first step in building trust between your employees and the system. To ensure that the employees follow the model, make sure that the workflow goals and vision are very transparent and that each employee understand their role and responsibilities within the flow.

Stress Management
In addition to higher probability of adoption, workflow technology and some automation features can help reduce workplace stress. Be sure to clearly state that the goal of the workflow automation is not to replace anyone internally - rather, that the workflow is a more organized way of holding everyone accountable, including upper management, so that everyone feels more confident in their work.

Error Reduction
Almost an obvious point here, but definitely not to be overlooked, workflow automation can help reduce the chance of errors. With a clearly defined path and technology tools to support the process along the way, decreasing the probability of errors in the workflow translate in to several benefits, including saving profit or more importantly saving customer relationships.

Compliance
For some industries, compliance is a major consideration when establishing workflow automation. For example, insurance or financial companies must ensure the proper forms are in place before certain work can be performed. Workflow technology can help employees be more accurate by ensuring the proper paperwork is complete before moving onto the next step or phase in the process.

Workflow Consulting
Much like the importance on setting up a CRM system the right way the first time, we encourage any business looking to establish automated workflows to consult experts on this technology first. Developing a workflow model involves many people within an organization, not just IT or upper management. With all the factors to consider here, it’s helpful to discuss all the components that will go into a workflow process, and determine the appropriate needs to ensure ongoing success. Interested in setting up a workflow at your organization? Contact us today for a free 1-hour consultation.

New Salesforce Mobile App Now Available!

Cathy Boudreau — Thu, 21 Nov 2013 16:05:00 GMT

This week, in conjunction with the Dreamforce conference, salesforce.com has launched a new mobile application. It has been available as of November 17th and this new mobile app will unify your Salesforce mobile experience.

Until now, Salesforce Classic, Salesforce Touch and Chatter Mobile have been the three main supported mobile apps. Now, the features from these apps are integrated into a single Mobile App, so you can stay up to date on your most important records, activities, conversations, and dashboards - from wherever you are.

The new mobile App will provide a unified mobile experience across all iOS and Android devices as well as through a mobile browser.

If you already have Chatter Mobile downloaded, this new app will be pushed out as an update and Chatter Mobile will be rebranded to the new app.

Core functionality pushed instantly through the app:

CRM data: Sales, service, and marketing
Notifications center: Real time business updates, all in one place
Feed first: Connect with your team and your data all in one app
Multi-device support: Support for iOS, Android and your mobile browser

What are the impacts to the other Salesforce Mobile Apps you use?

All Chatter Mobile features are integrated into the new app. Ensure you download the latest update, which will rebrand Chatter Mobile to the new app.
All Touch features have an upgraded experience in the new app with the exception of Community support. Salesforce.com is planning for Salesforce Communities to be integrated in Spring '14. To aid with the transition to the new Mobile App, the Touch app will be available for use until the Spring '14 release, but no longer available to download in the App Store.
All features of Salesforce Classic are available in the new app with the exception of offline features and mobile layouts. If you need offline features or mobile layouts, please continue to use Salesforce Classic at this time.

To download this update now:

Compatibilty Notes:

Android: The latest version of Salesforce1 requires devices with Android OS 4.2 (Jelly Bean) or later. Devices with Android OS 4.1 or earlier will receive Chatter Mobile 3.4
iOS: Requires iOS 6.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. This app is optimized for iPhone 5.

Need help with this new mobile app?

Feel free to contact us directly or post a comment below and we will get back to you!

CRM for Nonprofit: Success with your Salesforce Implementation

Staff Writer — Mon, 18 Nov 2013 19:12:00 GMT

When implemented properly, Salesforce CRM for nonprofit organizations can have a tremendously positive impact on the relationships between the organization and their donors. But where should your nonprofit begin when it comes to implementing Salesforce CRM? And, how can you ensure the success of the CRM system to avoid blowing out your budget?

Most nonprofits face a variety of challenges when they desperately need to update their technologies - challenges that most often force the organization into a budget-driven stalemate. On the other hand, if your nonprofit has made the decision to invest in Salesforce CRM, it’s important to have adequate resources, sufficient expertise and the right people involved in the project. Here are some pro tips to help your nonprofit be prepared for common issues and to develop realistic expectations for success.

Understand Change is Coming

When a nonprofit adopts Salesforce, it’s important to understand how this CRM system can call for a significant organizational change. While the phrase “significant change” tends to elicit uncertainty, the good news is that careful planning and a trusted CRM partner can make the investment worthwhile. Often the expectation is that Salesforce’s functionalities will naturally fit into your current system or workflow. It’s a common misconception that can be avoided by establishing the right expectations when implementing Salesforce CRM for nonprofit. Salesforce is more than a system, it’s a philosophy for managing donor relationships. If your nonprofit’s current process is based in documenting donor interactions within Excel, changing to a more integrated system will subsequently change the way internal processes work. How significant is significant change? It will vary depending on your nonprofits current state, but having the expectation for change to come will increase the probability of success towards adopting the new CRM.

Pro Tips for Anticipating Change

Communicate clearly to all staff the vision and value of the system
Ensure management is prepared to “change management style”
Create an organizational adoption plan
Have a well-designed plan for training and supporting staff

Establish a Solid Technical Foundation

Even out of the box, all CRM software requires technical setup. If not setup properly, a malfunctioning system can have extended effects throughout your organization, including a reduction in user adoption. Attempting to save money or resources by leveraging an IT expert is not always the best solution, either. The strategic configurations and customizations that will help staff view the system as a tool rather than a chore are critical to the success long-term. Even with a well-setup system CRM user adoption can be a challenge. Without it however, the system will most likely fail and the investment wasted. Don’t sacrifice proper setup if you’re planning to implement Salesforce CRM for your nonprofit.

Pro Tips for Technical Setup

A majority of the implementation falls on the technical side, so plan for time and resources
Having the right technical setup can increase staff adoption

Scrub Your Data

One of the prominent issues concerning a Salesforce implementation is ensuring that the data put into the new system is clean. The rule of thumb is: dirty data in; dirty data out. You'll want to avoid moving dirty data over from an older system to a brand new one so make sure your data is clean and up-to-date before migrating. Time and money are common deciding factors that inhibit the proper transfer of data into the new system. Make sure you appoint a person or group of staff members to go through your current database to determine which data is needed and to clean out bad information. There are many data cleansing tools in the Salesforce AppExchange that can assist you in data clean-up. Once the data moved into Salesforce, you will be ready to generate accurate reports to help you move forward on managing donor relationships.

Pro Tips for Clean Data

Don’t let budget dictate data cleanup or data migration investments
Bad or unclean data can affect staff adoption rates by losing trust in staff using the system
Clean data is most valuable resource for managing donor relationships and obtaining reports
Avoid trying to “clean the data later”
CRM partners can provide “best practices” on ensuring data is regularly reviewed and cleaned.

Dedication to Nonprofits

Salesforce, has paid close attention to the needs and concerns of the nonprofit sector and continues to develop and refine affordable technology to help these organizations avoid critical losses due to poor relationship management.

In an effort to extend the notoriety of the Salesforce brand from its typical association with for-profit businesses, the Salesforce Foundation was established as a philanthropic model to offer nonprofits a better fundraising software solution to manage donor relationships. From reduced costs to compatible apps, Salesforce brings affordable, reliable options to the nonprofit table. The Salesforce Foundation’s offerings to nonprofits include:

Salesforce Nonprofit Starter Pack
10 free software licenses for staff
Ongoing “getting started” resources are appearing
Open source technology allows other programmers to create unique tools that help nonprofits customize their CRM
Nonprofit translator to help organization better understand the terminology commonly used in reference to CRM in the for-profit arena.
Several webinars are available from the Salesforce Foundation

Hire a Salesforce Partner

Finding the right CRM partner is much easier than most think. The decision to actually hire one is typically the harder part. Each CRM system is uniquely customized to address the needs of each individual business. To ensure the success of your Salesforce CRM implementation, be sure to at least survey the experts to ensure your plan goes smoothly. More so, having a CRM partner can be the difference between long-term success and a failed investment. If your nonprofit is contemplating upgrading to Salesforce CRM, contact us today for a complimentary 1-hour consultation.

Top CRM Features for Marketers

Cathy Boudreau — Tue, 12 Nov 2013 15:52:00 GMT

These days, if you ask marketers if they would prefer a marketing automation tool or a CRM application, most would chose marketing automation. It’s not really a surprise since CRM is most widely regarded as a sales tool that marketers are forced to use.

But what if you can’t afford to have both at your company? Can you get by with just a CRM system?

Marketers are pretty savvy people (I’ll count myself among this group!). We’re used to having budgets reduced in favor of an increasing sales budget and we’re used to having to justify spending money for our campaigns. While it’s not a preferred way of doing our jobs, we can make CRM work. Let’s take a look at some CRM features that are made for marketers.

Campaign Management

With campaign management, you can have all of your campaign information in one place. And, more importantly, you can see how your marketing campaign performs every step of the way. For example, if you are running an event, you can see how many invites were sent, how many registered and how many attendees you had. Lastly, you can analyze how many lead and opportunities were generated by a campaign and then make smart business decisions about where to invest your marketing dollars.

Lead management

Lead management is one of the ways your marketing department can align with your sales department. When a lead comes in it can be scored and nurtured. Additional information can be captured about the lead as it’s discovered and when the time is right, marketing can hand off a qualified lead to the sales organization. Additionally, now marketing can track that lead all the way to a closed opportunity.

Libraries for Collateral Management

Many CRM systems come with a place to manage marketing collateral. Rather than putting all of that information on a server, it can be organized in your CRM application. Marketing can easily publish the most recent version (the version history can be seen by all). Marketers can see a list of commonly used files so they know what their sales department likes. Additionally the Library can send out alerts when some content has been updated so it keeps sales up-to-date with the most recent versions.

Email

Email has become one of the most cost effective ways to market to your prospects and customers. With a CRM system, marketers can send out emails to the right list at the right time. There’s no need to send out one generic email to all of your prospects. With email campaigns, you can send out a personalized message that is tailored to the right audience. Don’t forget to include a call-to-action to get that prospect back to your website!

Analytics

Every marketer needs to look at the data to make sure their campaigns are working. How will you know which is the most successful? With analytics you will have the data at your fingertips so you know which was the most profitable and should be run again in the future. Additionally, it’s always nice to back up a request for more marketing dollars with data!

Business data add-ons

While this isn’t an out-of-the-box feature of CRM applications, it’s a common one that companies add. With a business data tool, you can get clean and current data imported right into your CRM. That means that marketers can pull targeted lists for their campaigns or fill in some incomplete records with pertinent information. Here’s the bonus… sales can use this kind of tool, too!

Web-to-Lead and Workflow

When people visit your website, you want to capture their information. A CRM application can provide a “web-to-lead” form which allows you to put a form on your website and when people submit their information, it is automatically imported into your CRM system. From there, you can customize your CRM to automatically kick off an email to this new lead, change the lead status, etc.

Social CRM

Social media in today’s business world is inescapable and it’s here to stay. With social media you can monitor your brand and promote your marketing campaigns and listen and respond quickly to questions and requests. Today’s CRMs are adapting to the changing needs of social networking by providing social profiles and activities of your customers or monitoring lead and prospect comments on the social channels. The overall goal of Social CRM is to strengthen your relationship with prospects and customers.

See? All is not lost if you can’t use a marketing automation system! While it may not be ideal, for a budget-conscious company a CRM system may be the best place to start. Remember, Marketing Automation is the relatively “new kid on the block” and at one time, everyone had to “make do” with CRM. Marketing campaigns were still effective and yours will be too!

What is CRM?

Cathy Boudreau — Wed, 30 Oct 2013 19:45:00 GMT

What is CRM? Simply put, CRM allows any sized business to achieve a better, more productive process to acquire, service and retain customers.

To most professionals, CRM stand for Customer Relationship Management. And, that in of itself sounds like a great topic to discuss in the office since customers (should) reside at the core of any business’ vitality.

CRM is about customers, but in order for the CRM system to achieve its full potential, a business must be keen on successfully managing those relationships. It’s a philosophy backed by a solid strategy and system for increasing a business’ long-term success. Which means CRM should be a way to do business rather than simply a technology or process. Unfortunately, the definition of CRM seems to have evolved into discussion surrounding technology and software and has (at some junctures) subsequently navigated away from the importance of a customer-centric strategy.

Depending on your specific business focus, CRM can involve a variety of factors including technology, people, attitude, strategy, collaboration, business processes, reporting, customers, marketing, sales, customer service, accounting, websites - the list goes on. The most important piece to this puzzle is your relationship with your customer and therefore CRM should never be treated or viewed as a technology-driven databank to store information.

Let’s look at some common questions around CRM:

Why are most businesses predominantly focused on the variety of options when it comes to choosing a CRM software/vendor? Software and technology tend to be the catalyst for introducing a CRM system to the business. In fact, choosing which technology is best for your business is a critical decision. For the sake of “doing it right the first time,” we encourage all businesses who are shopping for a CRM software to begin evaluating their current internal processes, strategies and customer relationships before looking at software. Your business process should drive your decision on software by looking at the features that best suit YOUR business needs.

Can CRM actually help my business, even if we are small or medium-sized? Absolutely. Larger companies have gone through growing pains to acquire customers as well as retain those relationships. As a smaller-scale business, it’s important to focus on both the current and potential customer bases as you grow, and CRM can help you manage those relationships while you tend to a variety of matters to help your business develop and generate revenue. Another important note here for business owners is that CRM goes well beyond simply tracking interactions with your customers. A well-tuned CRM system can involve several departments throughout the organization, which can increase the effectiveness of internal communications. Both sales and marketing teams can also benefit from some nice automation features found natively in most CRM softwares, freeing up valuable time to continue focusing on your most valuable assets - your customers.

Will developing a CRM strategy actually help my business increase productivity? Yes. Depending on your business’ current model, upper management will most likely need to dedicate a solid amount of time and resource at the beginning stages of developing the CRM strategy, including taking a hard look at how current customer relationships are managed. If multiple employees are having touch points with your customers but the documentation and communications about those interactions do not produce a clean, holistic picture of your relationship, then the chances of retention drop significantly.

How can my business determine if the investment in a CRM system has produced results? We recently published a blog article about using metrics to determine progress related to your CRM efforts. As we've stated a few times, CRM is more than managing relationships. There are several features within CRM technologies that allow you to track and measure which processes are working and which ones aren't. From sales to marketing to customer support, leveraging CRM reporting functions is essential and should be reviewed consistently to ensure the CRM system is performing at an optimal level.

Is CRM a stand alone software or process, or can it be integrated into other aspects of my business? Glad you asked. While most marketers throw around the term CRM often, it’s important to remember that CRM is again more than just tracking interactions with customers. Especially when it comes to the big names in CRM like Salesforce and Microsoft Dynamics, a well executed CRM system is capable of integrating other business functions like marketing and sales automation. Remember our discussion on how CRM improves cross-department communications? Well, imagine what those communications look like when each department “hooks-up” their current technologies and processes into the CRM. While we wouldn't necessarily go as far as to say that CRM is big brother of your business, it’s fair to assert that it does create a harmonious meeting point for all business process to come together. I mean, really, who doesn't love a good treat with a delicious nougat center?

The buzz around CRM and what it can do for your business will only continue to grow. And, as the changes and advancements in technology occur, every business should continuously ask questions and evaluate their processes in order to service their customers with the best experience possible. Don’t be hesitant to ask the obvious. Here at Harvest we are dedicated to educating business owners about all things CRM and never judge even the simplest of questions – we've hear them all! We encourage you to comb through our blog regularly, especially if your business desires to put customers first. Feel free to leave questions below in the comment section, or contact us for a complimentary 1-hour consultation.

New Updates for the Salesforce Side Panel in Outlook

Cathy Boudreau — Wed, 30 Oct 2013 14:37:00 GMT

If you're already using Salesforce for Outlook, then you are familiar with the Salesforce Side Panel. If you're not familiar with it, it's a Salesforce for Outlook feature that helps users view and work with Salesforce records directly from Salesforce.

In the Winter 14 Release, salesforce.com has made some significant improvements to the side panel to boost user efficiency. We love the new updates and think you will too!

The three major improvements include: (1) Sending and adding emails, (2) Adding events to Salesforce records with an Event association and (3) the ability to view and work with more Salesforce records. Let's dive into each.

Send and Add Emails

Before the Winter 14 release users could use the Send an Add feature, but it was not inside of the side panel. There was low user adoption to because it wasn't. But now it's right there in the panel! Here's how it works:

Create an Outlook email, and then enter recipients in the To field (and if necessary, the Cc field). The side panel displays related Salesforce records.
Add the email to Salesforce records when you click next to the records of your choice.
Keep track of the records to which you're adding the new email. After you send the email, we’ll add it to the Salesforce records

(Click to enlarge image)

Add Events to Salesforce Records with Event Association

When a user selects a single/non-recurring event in the Outlook calendar, the side panel displays related contacts/leads. If a user adds Outlook events to Salesforce records, the Side panel triggers a sync to the Salesforce calendar for the one event. Here's how it works:

In the Outlook calendar, select an event. The side panel displays related Salesforce records.
Add the event to Salesforce records when you click next to the records of your choice.
Keep track of the records you've added the event to.

(Click to enlarge image)

View and Work with More Salesforce Records

The side panel now displays more contacts and leads for the emails—and now events—that users select in Outlook. Depending on the size of users' Outlook windows and monitors, the side panel displays up to 10 related contacts and leads that fit in the available vertical space. This makes it quicker and easier to add emails and events to more Salesforce records at the same time.

Select an Outlook email or event. In this example, the email includes seven recipients, five of whom are already in set up as contacts Salesforce.
The side panel displays those five contacts.

(Click to enlarge image)

Want to Hide/Disable the Saelsforce Side Panel?

Users can temporarily hide or disable the side panel directly in Outlook. Simply select the "View" table and click on "Show/Hide". For Outlook 2007, users will click "View > Salesforce Side Panel > Show/Hide"

This new Salesforce Panel sounds great... How do I get it?

If you're already a Salesforce for Outlook user, these new features are updated automatically with no additional Administrator setup.

If you haven't been using Salesforce for Outlook, now's a good time to start! Go into Salesforce, Download the Salesforce for Outlook from Desktop Integration (Click "Setup" by your name in the top right, then go to Desktop Administration and select "Salesforce for Outlook".) Your administrator will have to help set up the Outlook configurations.

Need More Information?

Feel free to contact us directly for help with Salesforce for Outlook. In New England, contact Jay Rivard at (781) 530-3736 x102 or jrivard@harvestsolutions.net. In Florida, contact Mike Melcher at (321)735-9449 or mmelcher@harvestsolutions.net.

The CRM Plateau: Why It Happens and How Metrics will Help Your Business Avoid It

Cathy Boudreau — Fri, 18 Oct 2013 09:20:00 GMT

Ah, the joys of the Fall season. Football. Chili cook outs. Revisiting those cozy sweaters we tucked away over the summer. It’s no wonder why most people tend to slow down once the weather gets cooler. But when we’re talking business and not just personal life, slowing down and losing momentum doesn’t equate to the same warm and fuzzy feelings.

So, we figured it's a good time to discuss why we as professionals tend to find ourselves losing steam, even when we establish successful business processes in the first place. Specifically speaking CRM here, if your company has adopted a CRM system to better serve your customers, but find that the CRM has reached a plateau or that it’s lost it's energetic momentum, it’s time to shake things up a bit.

Before we discuss ways to proactively avoid (or simply deal with) your CRM system losing its initial positive momentum, let’s take a look at WHY most (if not all) people or processes tend to lose energy over time. According to a variety of psychological experts, the theory of “plateauing” is defined as “reaching a state of little or no change after a time of activity or progress.” What this means is that no matter how much positive outlook, progress or energy we may have towards a certain goal or set of plans, we must accept the fact that a perpetual plateau is on the horizon.

Even as we try to maintain motivation, awareness and excitement surrounding a CRM program, the initial momentum will decline at some point. And, while this phenomenon of “plateau-ing” tends to be common - especially in business - there are a variety of solutions to ensure your CRM program surpasses this stalemate of a situation. While this doesn’t seem very excusable in business operations (or to your boss), the good news is that there are proactive measures we can put in place to both anticipate and overcome the plateau.

As the initial wild enthusiasm begins to subside, and your business becomes increasingly skeptical of inflated claims for CRM success, the time is now more than ripe for a hard look at how CRM projects should be measured. What is success in CRM anyway? How will you know it when you see it? When will your dollars in CRM investments pay off? Ideally, the right time to ask your business these questions is at the beginning of your CRM planning. But if for some reason these questions went overlooked based on a blind leap of faith of your CRM’s potential success, you have 2 choices: 1) ignore it and move on, or 2) shake things up and begin to measure CRM performance the right way. In fact, the best approach is to first reassess and identify the benefits your company seeks from its CRM. Out of those benefits will naturally flow the right measures to keep the CRM process on track.

So, which metrics should your business be measuring? It depends on your unique needs. However, there are a variety of suggestions that we can make to get you started and we’ve broken them down into 3 major categories rather than by business department (e.g.: marketing, etc).

Cost Savings

Campaign expense reduction
Internal process improvements
Service center efficiencies
Cost per acquisition (reduction is key)

Revenue Enhancements

Marketing campaign response improvements
Increased order sizes (e.g.: number of products per order)
Competitive wins
Cross selling or up-selling
Customer profitability (VIP, repeat or returning customers)

Customer Value

Lifetime value
Customer satisfaction (observing behavior or survey responses)
Customer attrition
Customer service

Customer support request volumes
Customer support response time
Customer support issues resolved successfully

These are just to name a few. Overall you want to focus on metrics that show cost savings, revenue enhancements and most importantly customer value. And, while most software will allow you to review metrics such as employee usage, you may need to dig deeper (or refine your CRM technology) to allow you to discern if the CRM is helping or simply documenting your interactions and relationships with customers rather than working to improve them.

In regards to cost savings and revenue enhancements, these are metrics that will by far impress upper management. And more so, these metrics will obviously quantify the financial as well as the time factors that play a huge role in determining the ROI of your CRM. It’s absolutely easier to report a cost savings metric (which is still valuable) vs. a revenue generation metric, but none the less, both are important when justifying the total cost of owning your CRM system.

Cost savings are fairly easy to report as it applies to short term progress towards improving your margin. Marketing is able to refine or automate campaigns, sales is able to focus on the more profitable leads, and customer service can toggle more support tickets in the same period of time. Money. In. The. Bank.

On the other hand, revenue generation might be the most difficult metric to report as it takes the most time to show up even as a result of a well-tuned CRM initiative. It’s where the long-term value lies. One way or another, your revenue is either going to come from current or prospective customers, and your business needs to decide which to prioritize in order to prepare the CRM system in the right direction.

Customer value is paramount in this metric mix. While it’s more qualitative than quantitative, your business should be keen to maintain (or in some cases improve) the relationships you have with your customers. It’s the entire reason for the CRM system to begin with. As an underlying metric, customer value scopes both cost savings and revenue enhancement, when you look at it from a strategic perspective. A small increase in customer retention will most likely outweigh the cost associated with acquiring a new customer. But, we also understand that accounting and/or upper management will view the CRM from the quantitative perspective and should receive some benefit of the doubt when it comes to making ongoing investment decisions (e.g.: the CRM system) based solely on the revenue numbers. Even when considering customer value as a factor in the ROI equation, profit is ultimately (and always will be) the number one metric.

Essentially, what you want to measure should be more of an economic fare rather than an operational assessment. Yes, you want to review metrics such as employee usage of the CRM system, but your business cannot justify the cost of operating a sophisticated and integrated CRM system without being able to understand how it is performing towards your business’ financial goals.

A few housekeeping items as you begin to identify the desired metrics, as a number of factors can derail CRM measurements.

Make sure your business is customer-centric
Enhance communications between departments
Define what your ideal customer looks (and behaves) like
Determine if your CRM is a function by itself or if its properly integrated
Set short and long-term expectations appropriately, especially with upper management

Rules for Successful CRM Measurements

Set strategic and tactical goals up front
Get senior management agreement on the goals and benefits
Limit tracking to a few key metrics: "Keep it simple"
Select metrics that matter to the business (prioritize)
View CRM as a change in culture and process, not just automating existing processes (and you don’t even HAVE to call your system a CRM; call it whatever works for your business culture)
Set milestones for 3, 6 and 12 months out
Tie employee and business partner compensation to customer metrics
Do the IT part last

With that said, we’re going to stress yet again how important your CRM is as an overall customer-centric business strategy rather than an add-on process to help your business document relationships and transactions with customers. If your CRM is a strategic philosophy, as opposed to a band-aid, then it will be easier for you to “shake things up,” redefine your metrics and bring back positive momentum surrounding your CRM. Keep in mind that if proper metrics were not established from the beginning, it’s still a good idea to define what you want/need to measure then to ignore it moving forward.

So what’s your current CRM state? Has your business reached the inevitable plateau, or has it lost some momentum leaving you and your colleagues wondering why the investment was made in the first place? The good news is that not all is lost and metrics are here to help. Then again, so is Harvest! It’s amazing how many businesses come to us looking for a better CRM solution when the ideal one is right in front of them. It might just be time to identify what your business wants and needs to measure to determine your ongoing CRM success. Contact us today for a complimentary 1-hour consultation.

'Big' Doesn't Mean 'Valuable' Data

Cathy Boudreau — Fri, 11 Oct 2013 14:57:00 GMT

The guest post was written by Peter Perera of The Perera Group. Peter is the founder of The Perera Group and a consultant with over 25 years of experience working with small, mid-size and large enterprise organizations to increase customer data quality, usability and value.

Unless you’ve been a castaway without wireless service for much of the past year, you couldn’t easily ignore all the big talk on Big Data and its offspring, Predictive and Prescriptive Analytics. Considering Big Data was born out of converging cloud, mobile and social networking technologies, you’d think the conversation perfectly aligns with CRM. Turns out, this is not necessarily so.

Chief Marketing and Sales Officers in CRM land take note: The defining parameters around Big Data differ for CRM. Some of the core thinking on Big Data, it seems, isn’t altogether transferable to CRM.

Big Data is typically framed in terms of “volume,” “velocity” and “variety”. Many have appended other “v” words such as volatility, veracity and value, as if these don’t pertain to all data.

Some say volume isn’t really all that big a deal anyway. The amount of data has always been an issue relative to the available technology at the time. Clearly, velocity – the speed at which data is generated and consumed – has increased markedly, to say the least, and is somewhat like doing drip irrigation with a fire hose. And while, variety may be something that stands out in some operational areas, sales, marketing and service always had to contend with both structured and unstructured data. Just think of all the free-form text in comments and notes fields in CRM applications, not to mention the unstructured content in proposals and contracts!

So what are the parameters to size customer data in CRM systems, if the usual vocabulary for Big Data doesn’t tell the whole story? There are four key dimensions that increasingly make data a big deal, if not just plain big, in customer transactions, interactions and analysis.

First, There Is Context.

Businesses have interactions and transactions with individuals, organizations and groups in all sorts of roles, not just “customer”. In sales, marketing and service realms, the variety of roles really matters more than the variety of data.

Take a health insurer for example. They have interactions and transactions with plan members, providers, employer organizations, and insurance brokers. Persons, organizations and groups in all these roles are equally essential to the insurer’s existence.

But here’s the problem. Business applications such as CRM, ERP and others are not designed to represent persons, organizations and groups in multiple contexts with context-specific data and connections to other parties. That’s because the users of a specific application tend to only interact and transact with persons, organizations and groups in a single role.

This is particularly problematic when a party is in multiple roles at the same time in different transactions and interactions. For example, physicians may not only be in the insurer’s provider network; they may also be plan members themselves seeking health services as patients. Similarly, an insurance broker may also behave as an employer and plan sponsor.

Representing a single party in one consolidated view without regard for the multiple roles a party plays in different transactions or interactions can lead to role or context collapse. Once we accept that a customer is a persona and not an entity, we discover that the coveted single view of a customer just doesn’t cut it. We need a panoramic view of constituent parties across multiple contexts.

Second, There Are Connections.

Businesses have lived by a deep-rooted doctrine that states: “the purpose of a business is to create and keep a customer.” This later evolved into creating and keeping customer relationships, which of course gave rise to CRM. Today, businesses exist to create connections, not just relationships, with and among persons, organizations and groups in many contexts.

Take a university, for example. They can have transactions and interactions with individuals who are students, employees, alumni, and even library card holders. Not only does the data exhaust vary for each role, but when a party behaves in multiple roles (e.g. an individual can be both a student and an employee) the connections to other parties differ for each role.

Students have connections to faculty members. Employees have connections to other employees, and alumni have connections to relatives and friends who are also alumni. Traversing connections among all constituent parties in any and every context is an emerging business requirement.

CRM was built on the notion that a business exists to create and keep a relationship, specifically with customers. But “connection” and “relationship” are not synonymous. Connections don’t always result in relationships, and not all connections are among parties in a customer role.

Consider Twitter. A person may follow another party, but the connection may not be reciprocated. And even if the two parties mutually follow each other, that does not mean a relationship exists. One party may influence the purchase of another party from a distance. As a consequence, successful businesses have come to value connections as well.

Third, There Is Resolution.

There are two takes on volume as a descriptor of big data with respect to CRM. One is resolution. This speaks to the amount of obtainable, valued information on a single person, organization or group.

Over the years, there has been a decidedly large increase in the resolution of information on customers in CRM applications. Simply compare an ACT! contact record circa 1990 and a MS Dynamics CRM, Oracle CRM or SalesForce.com record today.

The amount of relevant information that businesses can capture, store, process, distribute and consume on persons, organizations and groups in all contexts has dramatically increased. But as they say, you’ve seen nothing yet.

Data resolution will further increase as we seek more data for each of the different roles a party plays in transactions and interactions and as the number of connections among parties snowball and the data about those connections swell.

Take a non-profit humanitarian organization for example. They have supporters in a variety of roles, including donors who contribute money, volunteers who contribute time, artists who contribute talent and advocates who contribute their reputation to gain yet more supporters. A person acting in any one or more of these roles can also be a contact at a donor organization or community donor group, all at the same time.

Higher resolution views of all parties to transactions and interactions require CRM applications with highly mutable data modeling capabilities, including support for multiple contextual identities and deep network connections.

And Fourth, There Is Density.

Another take on volume is density. Density is all about how much relevant data we actually capture in CRM databases to get the benefits of higher resolution data. If we think of a database as a piggy bank, resolution concerns the size of the bank. Density is about how many coins are in it. And the higher the value of the coins, i.e. data quality, the better!

Another way to look at density is in terms of printing. The “DPI” or “dots per square inch” printed on a page says nothing about the size of the image. Yet, there is a clear distinction between the same image printed with 600 and 2400 DPI.

The same can be said about the density of data on an individual, organization or group. These days we have access to so many data sources, we possess far more DPC, “Data per Customer”, then ever. This provides the potential for a fuller, more complete image of the persons, organizations and groups we engage as customers and in other contexts.

With the correct analytical, predictive and prescriptive tools, we can leverage higher DPC to generate more revenue from prospects and customers as well as identify a greater number of potential customers to boot.

In Conclusion

Businesses need to broaden their view beyond those persons, organizations and groups we designate as customers. Other constituent parties who participate in various other roles during interactions and transactions equally share the corporate limelight. Further, we need to understand the deep connections among constituent parties in various business contexts.

We now have access to more data on customers and other constituent parties. But the quantity of data and types of data on individuals, organizations and group behaving in multiple roles during transaction and interactions is no substitute for data quality. In the end, businesses have to balance big quality and big quantity data to achieve their business and organizational goals of higher revenue and lower costs.

Bring your CRM back from the Dead

Cathy Boudreau — Wed, 09 Oct 2013 09:50:00 GMT

It’s the Halloween season and what better time to talk about resurrecting your CRM system?

Often times, we get a prospect that comes to us because “no one is using our CRM system because everyone hates it”. I think it’s safe to say that any consultant with more than a few implementations under their belt has heard this. I think it’s also a safe bet that anyone who as ever undertook a CRM implementation at their company hopes they never say that sentence.

However, it does happen and it happens more than we care to admit. We all have heard the CRM implementation horror stories. In this article, we will consider (1) Why a CRM system fails and (2) How to bring a failed CRM system back from the dead.

When a CRM system fails, it’s easy to point fingers at the software itself. I hate to break it to you, it’s not the software’s fault… it’s probably yours. Here are some places where it might have gone wrong:

You didn’t have a CRM Strategy in place. What are your goals for the CRM system? What business processes do you have that need to be reflected in your CRM? Who’s going to be using the system and what are they getting out of it? Yes, yes…I know, you say you planned for this. What does that mean? You researched the software, bought it and rolled it out to your users? That’s not enough. Sure, you gave your users a place to dump their data, but there needs to be a strategy in place so that you can continue to improve your relationships with your customers. That’s the whole point of this, right?

The wrong technology. I know I just said that it wasn’t the CRM software’s fault. But look at why you selected it in the first place. Are you selecting it based off of popularity and name recognition? You need to do your research to make sure that the software you select can actually help you with your business issues. And get demo’s and compare a few head-to-head. This way you can get a better sense of what it can do.

Lack of executive support. If the executives in your office don’t look at the data the system is producing to make effective decisions down the road, then why bother putting in any data at all? One of my former jobs was to train people on the use of their CRM system. The best training I ever did was for a company whose executives were active in the implementation process the entire way and went through all of the training with the users. They made it clear that the users were to use the system, what kind of reports they could get, etc. I find that half of the battle is communication… let the users know why this data is important to the executives.

Lack of training. Simply put: if you don’t train your users on how to use the system, then they aren’t going to use the system. Even if your sales rep has used the same system elsewhere and knows the mechanics, they need to understand how the system works for YOUR company. No two companies are the same in the way they do business.

You self-implemented. I know what you’re thinking here… how convenient that a CRM consultant is going to promote using a consultant. The question is – why wouldn’t you hire a professional who has done this many times before? Most companies that self-implement have to learn the application as they go. There’s just not enough experience and foresight on what the product can and can’t do for a first-timer. If you change something here, is it going to break something else? So, not only do you have a failed CRM system on your hands, but you’ve wasted your time and money. Additionally, by self-implementing, you are missing out on shared best practices that a consulting firm can provide.

OK, now that we’ve uncovered some potential reasons for why your system failed, let’s help you get it back on the right track.

Admitting you have a problem is half the battle. It’s not easy to admit that things didn’t go as planned. Start by getting a CRM committee together and documenting what’s not working. Did you chose the wrong software? Does it have the features you really need? Or maybe it’s the reverse and you selected something too cumbersome for your company. Maybe the software is just fine and you need some additional customization to make it work how your business works.

Hire a Consultant. I know, here we go again. At the very least speak to a knowledgeable consultant who has dealt with these problems before. They can come in, look at your business, how you’re currently using the system and make suggestions on how to make it functional for you. You don’t want to repeat the same mistakes again so it’s best to get an experienced person in there to get you started. Don’t worry… they’ve heard it all before!

Hire an administrator. Now that you have the system, who’s going to maintain it? Who will be the “go-to” person when there are questions and perform training for new hires? The question is: will you need a new full-time employee? That depends on the complexity of the system. If it’s lightly customized with only a handful of users, you may only need to add these responsibilities to someone’s job description (likely a sales administrator). If it’s a complex system, you’re probably going to need a full-time administrator or at the very least, use a contract resource for a few hours per week.

Give them what they want. Sales reps aren’t just trained monkeys that are entering data. Since they are using the system, they want to get the most of it, too. How about designing some slick reports that will make their lives easier? Maybe they have a weekly report they have to put together for their managers. Wouldn’t they love you if it was just one click away rather than an hour or two of gathering data on a Friday afternoon? Think about what would make your users’ lives easier and do it.

Train. Spend time with your users how to use the system and how it aligns to the business. You may even try different types of training – web-based, classroom, lunch-and-learns, etc. Training isn’t usually a one-off thing. Follow up with your users to see if they are struggling or have questions. If there are several people, you may consider a follow up training session.

Get management and executives are on board. This is important. Management needs to be the enforcers and make it known that people WILL use the system and that it’s required. I did some SalesLogix consulting at a company several years ago and the managers basically said, “If your appointments and opportunities are not in the system, you will NOT get paid your commission.” The sales reps were all ears after that. Don’t give your users a choice on using the system… they need to live it, learn it and love it.

Still not sure on how to get started bringing your CRM system back among the living? Whether you stick with your existing application or think you need to invest in a new technology, we can help your company. For starters, we offer a complimentary 1-hour consultation for first time clients. If you need more than one hour we do have CRM Relaunch services which can give you a roadmap to success.

Debunking Common CRM Myths

Cathy Boudreau — Wed, 25 Sep 2013 19:40:00 GMT

Hesitant to invest in CRM for your business? We understand. It’s a big commitment and it can cost your business a lot of money if not setup properly. Our purpose is to ease your mind by addressing the most common misconceptions about CRM and how establishing the right CRM process can improve your business’ relations.

Myth #1: CRM is too complicated for my business.
Every business needs to define the process of which they interact with their customers and how they manage those relationships. Whether small scale or enterprise-wide, customers want to have a certain level of satisfaction when doing business with you. CRM is simply a process to manage those relations, a strategic way of leveraging technology and tactics to maintain relationships with people.

CRM only becomes complicated when the process is established the wrong way. Looking at the technology before the business needs is a recipe for failure. If you’re concerned that CRM will complicate processes within your business, then make sure you approach the CRM program by keeping it simple and perhaps check out our CRM Strategy vs. Planning article.

Myth #2: CRM is about technology.
CRM software is a technology, but customer relationship management is about people. Leveraging a technology to make the people management easier is a way to be more efficient with your business process.

Too many businesses still continue to buy CRM software thinking it will solve their customer service issues. While it would be nice (and maybe a little scary) if the software could run your business, the software alone won’t solve any business issues. It needs human intelligence. You may consider hiring a consultant to understand how your business runs and help you select a CRM application that best fits your business processes.. And, a CRM consultant can assist your users in understanding the “why’s” and “how’s” so they can use the CRM system effectively and efficiently.

Again, don’t prioritize the software purchase above your business needs or strategies. Your employees and your customers will benefit greatly if your approach to a CRM system is about people rather than technology.

Myth #3: IT is the best department to lead the CRM Initiative
While IT should be a part of the CRM implementation process, it is unfair to put your IT staff in charge of the entire CRM project. Yes, the IT department should be involved when it comes to the technical nature of the system and how it may affect other internal systems. But, the project should be driven by the entire business. Each department needs to play a role and the CRM process needs to be managed by an internal project manager.

This is a great opportunity to make the point that CRM is more a philosophy for doing business, rather than simply a project that needs to be managed.

Myth #4: Only executive opinions matter.
Although executive buy-in is critical, the needs of the users must be considered within the CRM program. In order to create a successful CRM system, you will need to start by collecting requirements from all departments that are using the system. Don’t just assume one executive understands exactly what each group wants, as executives are not typically involved in the day-to-day processes. Remember, you are implementing the CRM system to make the business run together a whole. If one person is dictating exactly how the system will be used, it will miss the mark.

Myth #5: Every requirement and wish-list item needs to be crammed into Phase I
So you’ve got all your requirements and are ready to start. But wait -- first there are priorities. What items are mission critical for user acceptance and success of the system? Which items are “nice-to-haves” and which are wish list items? You’ll need to sort through the list and determine which should be addressed first. We’ve seen companies get carried away and before you know it, there is a significant scope creep going on, creating an on-going list of action items that never ends. There is nothing wrong with releasing the CRM system in stages. Get the users into the system with the basics and gradually add more functionality and complexity as needed. You don’t want to overwhelm your employees with a complex system. They won’t adopt it and you won’t get them back.

Myth #6: Training isn’t necessary.
No one LOVES training even though it’s necessary. Companies are often looking for ways to cut costs and CRM training is one of the first things to go. Thankfully, more and more companies are beginning to realize the importance of education and include training costs in their budgets. Remember from Myth #2 above: CRM isn't all about technology. It's also about the people. Yes, you might have bought the latest and greatest in CRM system technology, but that doesn't guarantee instant success. It also doesn't guarantee that your users will know how to use the technology even if the vendor tells you, "It's easy to use with an intuitive interface.” We all know by now that one of CRM's great benefits is the ability to provide better customer service, make a more informed sales pitch or even to market more effectively. But you need to train your users to learn how to do this within the system. With proper training, they will become more efficient with customers and leads – which will result in a greater return on your investment.

Myth #7: I don’t need a consultant; I’m going to self-implement

One of the most common questions we get asked is, “Why do I need a CRM consultant? I have internal resources, can’t they handle it?” It’s a valid question and should be considered carefully. Chances are good that your internal resource has not implemented a system of this nature before. Additionally, a CRM consultant will know which questions to ask in order to build a statement of work to get the project done on time and on budget. And, let’s not forget, an experienced consultant has done this before - several times. These experts are chock full of tips, tricks and best practices. They know what works and what doesn’t, and they know best, most cost effective way to get from Point A to Point B. An internal resource will likely figure out the technology side, but the learning curve to get there will cost your business time and money. In the end, hiring a consultant is more economical, especially if they have to come in and fix what your internal resource did initially.

Before your business decides to invest in a new technology or process, it’s tremendously helpful to speak to the experts and ask questions. Give us a call! We offer a complimentary 1-hour consultation for first time clients - no matter if you need us or not. We want to make sure your business has the information it needs to make the right decisions.

Ready, Set, CRM! Top Pre-Launch Tips for CRM Success

Cathy Boudreau — Thu, 19 Sep 2013 16:18:00 GMT

It’s quite striking how so many companies still view CRM solely as a technology rather than as a tool for the overall business strategy. So, we’re here to help change those perceptions. If you want to cultivate better relationships with your customers, and if you’re thinking about launching a CRM system to do so, consider these 5 critical pre-launch pieces to ensure your investment doesn’t go to waste.

1. Define your CRM strategy. There is no universal strategy that works for all businesses. Considering the fact that each business interacts uniquely with their customer base, then each CRM strategy needs to address these differences in order to achieve the organization’s goals.

Unfortunately, the strategy tends to be the most overlooked phase when developing a CRM system, and quite frankly, it’s by far the most important. More so, if your CRM strategy starts with a phrase like “the CRM system’s goal is to increase revenue,” read our CRM Strategy blog, first. Don’t implement a CRM system that’s doomed to fail. Build a strategy around putting your customers first and let the other pieces (including technology/software) naturally work in your favor.

2. Define the CRM outcomes. Another hurdle for most businesses is defining how the end result of the CRM will look. Some businesses will define their goals as: “increased market share,” “better relationships with clients,” or “better inter-department communications.” While these are legitimate reasons, they are too broad or immeasurable.

More importantly, defining outcomes from the beginning allows your business to benchmark and measure how the CRM strategy is performing and if your investment is worth the squeeze. For example, executives and upper management can assess performance based on desired outcomes and quickly determine if the CRM system is producing better leads, reducing sales cycles, increasing conversions, leading to cross sales, and/or offering better service to customers.

Of all reasons to define your desired CRM outcomes while in the planning phase, being able to justify your long-term financial CRM investment is by far the most critical. No business should jump into a CRM system opportunity without a profitable long-term vision in mind. Establish your expectations and measure the performance to ensure you are getting what you want from your CRM system.

3. Define the process. Each business has a different way of managing both internal and external relationships. Defining the CRM process early on eliminates confusion, wasted time and financial loss.

Speaking internally first, if a marketer unveils a potential lead and documents the conversation, the sales team should be immediately notified to follow up with said lead. During that transition, the CRM process should define which qualifying details marketing needs to document for the sales rep to accurately approach the lead. Yes, this is a simple example, but it’s critical to define the internal communication process to ensure the information about external relationships is consistent and accurate at all moments. In addition, a well-defined CRM process tends to translate typical and rather mundane tasks into a more refined, automated workflow. Your CRM system can increase the productivity (and positive attitude) of your sales reps, if for example, the CRM replicates their normal daily workflow or sales process within the system to decrease otherwise tedious efforts. As a result, by removing wasted energy on routine tasks, their time can (and should) be better spent on creating actionable, profit generating results. Everyone wins.

Externally speaking, the process should also define the role of customer service reps, as well as other departments who may interact with your clients or customers. Defining the CRM process is even more important especially if several employees within your organization have multiple conversations with your customers throughout the relationship process. Everyone, when the CRM process is clearly understood, plays by the same rules and your customers benefit from a pleasant experience with your brand. Did we mention that everyone wins?

4. Select the technology. The marketing departments at the big-name CRM vendors do an amazing job marketing their software product. But don't let the pressures of brand popularity trap your business into selecting CRM software based on name recognition. Or, on the other hand, avoid getting caught up in the “bells and whistles” or features of these products. Make sure you put together a CRM Selection committee and determine the exact and unique needs of your business. What does the CRM system need to do for you and how will it help you achieve your business goals? Asking yourself important questions like this will help your business select the appropriate technology. Otherwise, there is little chance that your software investment will be fruitful in the long-run.

Please, we implore you to do your homework before choosing ANY business related software – and perhaps even contact a consultant to help you look into a solution that’s right for you. It’s a point so critical that we practically stress it in every single blog article we publish here at Harvest Solutions. Technology works greatly in your favor when it serves as a reliable solution, but it doesn’t make sense to buy anything you don’t need.

5. Define short term milestones. A great way to monitor and measure the performance of your CRM system is to establish and define short term milestones throughout your long-term program. Not only will milestones allow you to see how the CRM is facilitating your business goals, the short term milestone achievements will allow your business determine which refinements to the CRM strategy need to be made over the course of implementation. Refining your program to make it hum better is like the icing on the cake. Build, bake and then make it look amazing.

The development of your CRM strategy will depend on the size and complexity of your business. It doesn’t matter if you’re a small or an enterprise business either - each organization’s CRM system should be supported with a solid roadmap in place to ensure the long-term sustainability of the business.

What We’ve Learned from 25 Years in the CRM Industry

Cathy Boudreau — Tue, 17 Sep 2013 19:03:00 GMT

In August, I found myself in the middle of an interesting exchange between Sid Lejfer (our Managing Partner/President) and Jay Rivard (our Salesforce.com Practice Director) – It turns out that this year marks 25 years of working together!

Having worked with both Sid and Jay for 14 years myself, I thought it would be a good idea to sit down for a little Q&A to get their thoughts on the CRM Industry, trends, customer successes, etc.

Before we get started, let me give you a brief history Harvest Solutions and where we came from:

In 1987, Sid opened The Friendly User – a computer hardware store. Jay started working there in 1988. Sid and Jay were looking for a way to automate their own sales process at that time and purchased TeleMagic, the founder father/product of the CRM industry. The management of TeleMagic recruited Jay and Sid to become one of their first resellers.

In 2000, Sid sold Success Automation to Surebridge (which is now NaviSite) -- an Application Service Provider (ASP).

In 2001, Sid, Jay and I started Harvest Solutions as we know it today.

And with that brief history, let’s get started!

Q: What trends and changes have you seen in the CRM industry?

Jay: Networking. When we first started, there were PC’s, stand alone, with limited connectivity. It was pre-Internet and people had software on their computers but weren’t sharing data. Networks popped up in the early 90’s with Novell, Banyon and Lantastic and there was more collaboration and consolidation of information. But because of memory and technology constraints, the amount of data capture was limited. Today, the sky’s basically the limit with what you can capture and how you can mine that data.

Sid: Initially accumulating data from remote users was a hassle. Even with synchronization, it was riddled with issue and challenges.

Also the Cloud has been a major turning point in the CRM industry. It started off with smaller entrepreneurial vendors. SalesLogix was the first significant mid-market revenue generator. Siebel set a new standard in the enterprise space. Salesforce.com is heading towards a $4B company.

Lastly, over time, sales, marketing and customer service has been tightly integrated. Originally, is was Contact Management followed by Sales Force Automation (SFA). The products focused on sales. Today we have a holistic view of the customer with Customer Relationship Management (CRM).

Q: What is your best success story at a client?

S: We have implemented thousands of systems of 25 years. At our peak at Success Automation, we were training 2000 people a year on CRM software. There have been a lot of successful implementations. Loftware, a software company, comes to mind first where we managed a 2,000+ hour engagement. This project managed the sales, marketing and customer services departments with significant customizations and integration into their ERP system.

J: Joseph Barry, a Wealth Management Firm – They had been using a “home grown” system for years and successfully migrated to the Cloud (Salesforce). It has provided them even more functionality than they expected at a reasonable cost. It’s not an easy task and not always a smooth process, but this one went extremely well.

Q. What lessons have you learned from projects that didn’t go as planned?

S: Managing expectations and setting the right expectations. There is nothing worse than when you over-promise and under-deliver. Also, the importance of Project Management. It’s usually the first thing that the client wants to take out of the budget, but we insist that it stays in. A project doesn’t run itself.

J: There is no substitute for experience. Also, we’ve had challenges with complicated data migration projects. It’s important to do your due diligence, scope out the data up front, and make sure the client has approved the data mapping.

Q. Craziest thing you've seen in regards to an implementation

S: There have been too many crazy things over the years! Once we had a very large client with a father-son running the company. In a Business Process Review meeting with key management and our team, the father was berating the (adult) son in front of us and even went so far as to say, “Wait until I get home and tell your mother.” Nothing quite like airing out your family dirty laundry in front of consultants and staff.

Another client, a very conservative and NRA member showed me a trunk full of rifles. Needless to say, we tried to stay on his good side.

Another doozy was a visit from the Secret Service. When we were operating as “The Friendly User”, one of our walk-in customers was being investigated by the Treasury Department for credit card fraud. The Secret Service called to tell us that they were parked outside in a van and had been watching the customer that had just walked out the store. They came in the next day with mug shots.

J: Another client of had a lucrative business selling model cars. He was a one man shop and I went there to do some consulting. When I got there, the client answered his door in his bathrobe!

Q. Lots of new technology has come to light in the past 25 years, was it hard to adopt the new technology in-house?

S: We try to be progressive and switch as soon as possible and try out new technology. As the saying goes, “You’ve gotta eat your own dog food.” We were one of SalesLogix and Salesforce.com’s first business partners.

J: I thought it was tough going from on-premise to a cloud solution. We were asking the same questions that our clients ask us: Is it safe? What if I don’t have access to the Internet? Can I get my data out? It was a big change even though we were in the industry and had an understanding of it.

Sometimes, you’re quick to adopt new technology and it never pans out the way you hope. We were quick to jump on board with telephony integration, but it just never amounted to much for us in the end.

Q. Which industry has CRM had the biggest impact on?

S: While CRM has helped all industries, some industries have been slower to adopt. Salesforce has turned around the nonprofit world with their amazing offers (10 free licenses) and now nonprofits have access to a state-of-the-art system at a fraction of the cost.

J: Cloud computing has brought a level of sophistication to small businesses they wouldn’t be able to afford otherwise. For example, Dell Computers uses the same product (Salesforce) as a small business/single user.

Q. Do you have any thoughts on where the industry might go in the future?

S: More social integration – rather than people using a few different apps to get the social information, there will be one app than can handle everything and do it well.

Big Data has recently started to gain popularity, but I think that this will only gain momentum as time goes on. The turning point will be to use the data that we’ve spent years collecting, analyze it and make effective business decisions from it. It takes a very different skill set to figure out what the data means versus just mining the data.

J: I think we will see more on tablets and mobility in general. There will be much more development on tablet apps. Desktop computers are already on their way out and laptops are slowly dwindling. It will definitely be about mobility.

Q. Who would you consider to be a major influencer in the CRM industry?

S: Jon Ferrara (founder of Nimble and previously co-founded GoldMine), Elan Susser (co-founder of GoldMine) and Pat Sullivan (founder of ACT! and SalesLogix).

J: Michael McKafferty (founder of TeleMagic)

S: Oh, and Mark Benioff (founder of Salesforce). We can’t forget him!

Q. How CRM has impacted your work relationships?

S: It’s easier to run a business. I find that I don’t have to continually ask people for updates on prospects, opportunities and customers. I can go into the CRM system and see for myself where we stand. It’s also allowed us to have fewer meetings since all of the information is shared.

J: In terms of employees coming on board, matching up their skill sets with our client’s technology requirements. One skill that’s hard to find is a consultant who can be an effective trainer. Few people who understand technology and can communicate and teach.

Q. Care to share any of our major business accomplishments over the years?

J & S: Top 5 Partner for TeleMagic, GoldMine and SalesLogix. Those were big accomplishments and we took lots of pride in that. Success Automation was the #1 GoldMine and SalesLogix Volume Reseller at the time of sale.

Also, we were on the Business Partner Advisory Councils boards for SalesLogix, GoldMine, and TeleMagic. We had excellent relationship with the executive management teams of our vendors.

Q. Have you noticed any changes in hiring employees?

S: Social Media. We have taken advantage of LinkedIn to look for skills and recommendations of potential candidates.

Q. What is the coolest feature or favorite advancement you've seen in the CRM industry?

S: Email marketing. You can contact so many people for little cost. And the tools to facilitate email marketing have become remarkably easy to use.

Also, integration has come a long way and now you can integrate CRM with just about anything!

And once again…Cloud computing.

J: Mobililty – smart phones and tablets have been a game-changer.

Q. Best client you've landed together

S & J: Loftware& Savant – We beat a lot of very strong competition and both were sizeable projects. With Loftware, we were referred to them by two different people. They were shopping for a consultant and our name was mentioned 2 times and decided to select Harvest Solutions! It’s nice when our (good) reputation precedes us!

Q. Your best personal experience together?

S: We had a holiday dinner at the Café Budapest. We hired a juggler on a unicycle who used machetes in his performance. This was an elegant restaurant… until we got there. Not only did we “entertain” the staff, but the other diners in the restaurant were coming in to watch, too.

J: We did a promotional video when we were Success Automation. Some of the employees were in the video and we hired some professional actors. It was very involved with lights, makeup, professional camera operators…the whole nine yards.

S: Oh yes, that was fun! In fact, my son just took out that video and showed his friends. They had a good laugh and enjoyed making fun of us.

Q. 25 years is a long time... longer than many marriages! How have you survived 25 or working together?

S: You have to remember that because you have a difference of opinion doesn’t make you right or wrong. Different opinions are ok and can help a business grow. Also, mutual respect and the fact that we have different roles in the company. We were never stepping all over each other.

We also worked with some really great vendors over the years. In the “early days”, we had great relationships with our vendors, which, in turn, created a great work environment. We worked as a team, creating a true partnership with our vendors.

J: It really was a true partnership. We’d go the extra mile to work on something for them and in turn, they’d help us out if needed. Nowadays the vendors are so big with so many partners, it’s just not feasible to have the same sort of relationship.

S: We’ve also been fortunate to have worked with a great staff over the years and many of our former employees have done very well in their careers over time.

And there you have it… the secret to success! We look forward to another successful 25 years!

The Wonderful World of CRM and Spartan Races

Cathy Boudreau — Fri, 13 Sep 2013 14:40:00 GMT

A few months back I wrote an article drawing a parallel between my boot camp classes and marketing. Sticking with the fitness motif, after completing my 3rd Spartan Sprint this past August, I figured I’d write this article to relate my experience with CRM and Spartan Races. Not familiar with Spartan Races? They are 5K + races filled with trail running, obstacles and naturally, mud… and lots of it.

With that, I’ve picked out 5 key steps to implementing a CRM system… let’s get started.

Selection

With Spartan Races, you have a fine selection of races – a Sprint (5K), a Super (10K), Beast (12 mi), and the Death Race (no one knows how long this is, but it’s an ENTIRE weekend). Clearly, you need to make an appropriate selection based off of your limitations and training. You don’t want to register for a Beast and then realize 3 weeks beforehand that you didn’t train properly.When you decide that your organization needs to implement CRM or even switch CRM systems, you, of course, do some research. You have to look at your needs and compare them to what the product offers. You may reach out to colleagues or online groups to post questions to get people’s opinions and reviews. You may also want to engage a CRM consultant that has done this before and can offer you practical advice based on experience. This needs to be done with care because you don’t want to spend money on a system that won’t work for your organization.

CRM Takeaway: Choose wisely. Don’t go with the majority or popular application just because everyone else is. Do your research and make sure that the system is going to solve your problems.

Planning

When you plan a CRM implementation, you need to assess each business unit and understand the business needs. From this you derive a plan of action… what will be prioritized and what can be held off for Phase 2.

In the Spartan world, planning is equally important. When I signed up for my first Spartan race, I watched numerous videos of other races to see what I would be getting myself into. Some of the videos made my heart race in anticipation while others I thought, “That seems reasonable.” Eventually the curiosity, challenge and the right opportunity presented itself and I registered and started planning what kind of workouts I needed to do in order to get over the finish line.

CRM Takeaway: Proper planning from the get-go will make all the difference between a CRM success vs. a CRM fail.

Customizations

It’s rare in a CRM implementation that there will be NO customizations. Most companies need minor customizations while some need massive customizations. The key here is to make sure that the customizations are really going to give you what you need. Many times we will ask to see what kind of reports a customer will need to run. This gives us an idea of the data they need to collect and what customizations are needed to make this happen.

In preparing for a race, you will need to customize your training based of the obstacles you know you are going to face and the unknown obstacles. The first time can be a little tricky because you never really know what you’re in for. Each course is different with different obstacles. Once you’ve done it once you have an idea of what to expect.

CRM Takeaway: Really think about what customizations you may need. Don’t go overboard with them initially unless they are “mission critical”. A CRM implementation can easily get out of hand if you start adding new items to the scope every week. Stick with your initial plan.

Training

Training is important for a successful CRM implementation. You’ve just spent a significant amount of time and energy selecting the system, strategizing and customizing. Not to mention the financial cost. At some point you need to stop focusing on the technology and start focusing on the people…technology will only take you so far. You may have built the most amazing system, but what difference does it make if no one knows how to use it? CRM training is a must. Don’t just assume that because it’s an “easy-to-use interface” that your sales team will just “pick it up”. They won’t. They won’t be motivated to do so on their own. Even if they’ve used the same CRM software at a different company, it’s not the same. Yes, the keystrokes and clicks may be, but how your company is planning to use it will be different.

Training for a Spartan race? Well, it’s a no-brainer that you should train. But where do you start? If you think your same ‘ol workout on the treadmill is going to help you running through muddy trails, up hills and getting through the obstacles, you’re crazy. But never fear… Spartan Races publishes a Workout of the Day (affectionately referred to as a WOD). Yes, sometimes is laughable because unless you’re really extreme, there’s no way most people will motivate themselves for this kind of crazy. Heck, most people probably don’t know what half of these exercises are! But Spartan races are no joke and they know it so they try to give you the best chance of success.

CRM Takeaway: Train your users for your highest chance of user adoption and a strong Return on Investment. Don’t skimp on training!

Support

Let’s not be delusional. Even the best laid out CRM implementation will need some support – especially after “Go Live”. There are always questions once the general population starts using the system. Questions and tweaks are good… at least you know your users are in the system using it. Just make sure you have a plan for support if something major and unforeseen comes up. Will you call your CRM consultant? The software vendor? Make sure you know who to call and what hours they are available. You may also consider joining online communities (i.e. LinkedIn groups) where you can post questions and look at best practices.

Obviously, training for a Spartan race is not like training for the Olympics. However, you’re going to need the support. Let’s face it; it’s not always easy to stay motivated. I have two great supporters at home in my husband and my daughter who will listen to me when I whine about a hard workout or will cheer me on when I’m feeling a little discouraged or stressed about and upcoming race. Additionally, I also have joined a few online communities where there are people willing to give you advice, answer questions that come up or just give you some motivation. And let’s not forget about race-day support. Nothing makes me happier than hearing my daughter cheer me on!

CRM Takeaway: I think this quote basically sums it up: “Expect the best, plan for the worst, and prepare to be surprised.” – Denis Waitley

Conclusion

Remember that you started this project for a reason. Your company was feeling pain which was why you went down this path. It’s ok to think at some point, “Boy, this really sucks.” If you knew how many times I said, “Why am I PAYING to do this?!” and vowing to never do this again, you’d laugh. Clearly I’ve done it again. And you know what? I loved it ONCE it was finished… and you will too!

Salesforce for Outlook -- New security updates available

Cathy Boudreau — Thu, 29 Aug 2013 19:33:00 GMT

Are you using Salesforce for Outlook? If so, Salesforce is encouraging all users to upgrade to V2.2.4 or later in order to receive the latest in security updates.

What's the change?
Salsforce increased the encryption in Salesforce for Outlook v2.2.4 as of August 7, 2013.

What do you need to do?
Salesforce is strongly suggesting upgrading to this latest version of Salesforce for Outlook. For more information on how to upgrade, visit: http://na13.salesforce.com/help/doc/en/outlookcrm_install.htm?elq_mid=3680&elq_cid=

Need more information?
Feel free to contact us directly for help with Salesforce for Outlook. Feel free to post a question below!

The Impact of Social Media on Customer Service

Cathy Boudreau — Wed, 28 Aug 2013 13:47:00 GMT

Customer expectations always are, and always have been, and always will be high. From experience to cost, businesses even well before our time have blazed a trail to satisfy these expectations and to ensure customer loyalty. However, social media has put customer service back in the hot seat, forcing all of us to accept and adapt to a modern wave of unbreakable customer empowerment.

Clearly, the primary purpose of customer service from the business perspective serves as a mechanism to generate revenue. Whether the customer service strategy is to cultivate long term customers or to simply help differentiate the brand from its competitors, the fact remains that each business must be responsible for the experience(s) each customer has with them, if they want to sustain revenue.

Leveraging social media makes customer service standards no different. While we agree that the medium is anything but traditional, the standards for treating customers right haven’t changed. A common misconception regarding social media’s influence on customer service is that it is significantly changing the way we maintain relationships with customers, which is true but only relatively speaking. Customers are changing the ways in which they communicate, social media is simply enhancing those communications. So, unless your business chooses to put customer communications first, there is nothing that social media can do to enhance those relationships nor the experiences they have with your brand.

So, rather than stipulating that “social media is changing the way we do customer service,” we’d rather say “social media is enhancing the way we do customer service.”

From our perspective, these customer service standards will never change, but can be enhanced by leveraging social media:

When a customer is dissatisfied, a company must stand behind their product to ensure confidence and trust.
Make sure every opportunity to do business with you is hassle free.
Make your business a convenient, enjoyable destination.
Deliver on a promise of giving value, making customers feel special and prized.
Communicating regularly with customers, embracing technologies that make it easy for them to get answers and information.
Differentiating on customer service and support is a competition-crushing advantage.
Look for ways to improve the customer experience and employee satisfaction. Happy employees means happy customers.
Serve customers at their convenience; Be where they are.
Innovate and urge customers to see value in the new.

By integrating these standards into social media, both businesses and customers are now connecting in wonderful ways that traditional channels simply don’t offer. In addition, social mediums add a new layer of transparency on how a business handles customer issues, which can have a significant impact on brand image and customer loyalty.

Every employee is a CSR. Businesses have begun building teams around serving customers outside the traditional customer service departments. Every member of the team from marketing to sales to customer service and more need to be involved in listening for and responding to customers online. Also, the beauty of incorporating a variety of departments in customer service allows the business to “divide and conquer,” spreading out the responsibility more evenly.

The benefit to customers: Receive service promptly and to resolve issues quickly.
Avoiding potential problems. Businesses are becoming more proactive towards customer service. For example, listening online for mentions about the brand and respond to customers before they even pick up the phone to call customer service is a flattering approach that can make or break keeping a customer loyal.

The benefit to customers: Being heard and feeling valued.
Public accountability. Unfortunately, there are some professionals out there that conduct business for the wrong reasons. With the added layer of transparency that we mentioned earlier, customers have access to more information about a business before making a purchasing decision. Transparency weeds out the bad and exposes information to keep businesses more honest with their customers.

The benefit to customers: Access to valuable information that will allow customers to make smarter buying decisions, and to feel more confident about their purchase(s).
Being human. Gone are the days where big businesses seem “untouchable.” Building more intimate relationships with customers is a challenging circumstance that some either do very well in, or fall flat. Social media is enhancing our ability to be friendly and more social with our customers, and go as far as developing a personal connection or a brand fanatic.

The benefit to customers: Doing business with someone you “know” is much more enjoyable and leads to a better experience, every time.

The good news is that using social media for customer service can have a tremendous positive impact on your bottom line. But the question is, does your business accept the responsibility to interact with your customers where they feel most comfortable communicating? And, does your business leverage social technologies appropriately to enhance the customer experience with your brand?

If your business uses social media for customer service, we’d love to hear your feedback. What are your success stories or troubles? Comment below or tweet us now @HarvestCRM!