How To Win Back Lost Customers in 4 Steps

Everyone knows that retaining current customers is much less expansive than signing up a new one. It would make sense to go an extra mile to ensure your current roster of clients is happy. Unfortunately, that is not always the case and many entrepreneurs don’t have a clue as to how to win them back when lost. If you happen to be one of them, here are a few suggestions:

 

1. Find out Why

There is always a reason why a customer is unhappy and walks away. The only way you can find out why they are unhappy is to conduct a SWOT (Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis in order to identify why your product or service is no longer perceived as having the best value.

 

2. Create a Plan

The plan of attack must be written. Lay out the benchmarks and timeliness for when to check in with clients. Don’t take too long to check in and don’t check in too often. Many companies make the mistake of waiting closer to renewal or a year and half after the deal was signed to reconnect. Big mistake! Keep communication lines open. Send happy birthday emails, holiday gifts, thank you cards etc. Anything to show the customer how much they mean to you.

 

3. Take baby steps

Don’t set your sights on completely winning over the client and their business. It almost never works. Rather, do it gradually and take baby steps to edge them back. Maybe offer an entirely different product or try to promote a smaller piece of the puzzle rather the entire one.

 

4. Request an interview

Try to set up a meeting where the client can debrief you on the current status of the relationship. What factors influenced their decision? Use those factors to create a new proposal that is customized and particular to what the client is now looking for. The important thing to remember is to not be defensive and take responsibility when the time comes.

InfoFlo, an affordable and customizable Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software, is designed to help you improve your customer service offerings and increase your retention rates. Download your free trial today. No credit cards needed!

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The 4 Musts of Social Media Customer Service

If you’re using social media for simply promotional or marketing purposes, you’re not fully taking advantage of all the features it has to offer. In recent years, social media networks have become well-known channels for customer service. Unfortunately, there is still a disconnect between what customers expect and what businesses are actually delivering. Here are 4 important aspects of social media customer service you must not forget to implement into your day to day business operations:

 

1. Don’t Ignore Consumers

Social media customer service matters and should not be ignored. All customer feedback on social media channels is public and visible to anyone and everyone. Your brand’s reputation may take a beating if you let things go without resolution. That said, it’s also important to make it easy for them to reach you. That means having a presence on all social media channels you know your consumers are browsing through.

 

2. Understand Customer Expectations

If someone is complaining about your products or services, most likely they expect you to see it and react to it. Quickly! A recent study done by The Edison Research found that 42% of consumers expect a response within an hour. The sooner, the better!

 

3. Monitor feedback

There are many tools that can help you monitor customer feedback and mentions on social media and search engines. Monitoring feedback will help you react whenever someone asks questions, needs help or leaves concerns. Ignoring your pages or not having them at all will only do more harm than good.

 

4. Have a Protocol in Place for Responding

Not always is there an answer to every mention or feedback. Often it’s better just to listen. Once you’ve made the decision to step in, think of the best way to do so. Should the response be done publicly or privately? I believe that in the majority of the cases, the responses should be done publicly. It allows for other followers to see that you care.

 

InfoFlo Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool lets you view a live feed of your Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook accounts. Now you can post to those accounts and view all of the information within InfoFlo. Download your free trial today.

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5 Ways To Automate Business Processes

When routinely speaking with businesses I find that many are still not fully taking advantage of the features of their CRM Software.

CRM Software is not just an address book and those businesses that use it to just store contacts are scratching the surface in terms of meaningful functionality. The biggest opportunity many organizations miss out on is automation. One of the main functions of CRM Software is to make life easier through automation.

It’s important to remember that sales are all about people, communication and interactions and there are some things that automation cannot assist you with. For example, automation may help you remember special dates and birthdays, but it will not be able to automate information that a death in the family has occurred and it’s not the right time to make a call. Remember: mix humans and computers, but don’t remove the human aspect out of CRM.

That being said, here are 5 tips to follow when automating processes using Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tools.

 

Business Automation

 

 

1. Encourage All Staff to Embrace Automation

This tip applies for businesses of all sizes. Front line staff is often reluctant to automate processes because they’re concerned that their jobs will be on the line. That’s not necessarily true because in most businesses the highest performers tend to automate the most and automate themselves from their current job into the next. When introducing automation, talk about the benefits and how it will help your staff grow into higher-level positions.

 

2. Automate the Easy Stuff First

The most important automation tool at your disposal is the task manager and task scheduler. Choose rote tasks that require little or no human input. Automating the easy stuff will also help you walk the talk and build a culture that is not reluctant to embrace automation.

 

3. Document Everything

A good Customer Relationship Management tool will help you document everything you do with each customer: where you began, what you’ve spent, what the results are and what the next goals should be. Organizations that don’t properly document their projects often take how far they’ve come for granted and become tempted to pull the trigger on projects that may yield large ROIs later on.

 

4. Batch Processing

One way to make your business run efficiently is to batch processing. Batch processing can be defined as the grouping of activities and doing them all at once instead of spreading them out throughout the day. Examples of processes that can be batched include paying bills, social media posting, emailing, and ordering supplies.

 

5. Monitor & Adjust

In order to evaluate how the process of automation impacts the company, it is necessary to define the performance indicators that you hope to improve with the initiative, comparing the results of the current scenario with the ones after the change. Choose the most important metrics for your business, which will show the performance of the company towards the strategic objectives. This will allow for more accurate testing and greater control of the processes.

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5 Ways To Motivate Employees

It’s Friday morning. I am looking forward to the weekend, but know I have a busy day ahead of me. I have to produce a blog for our company’s blog page, make some follow up calls and create a marketing plan for the month of March. I always work a month ahead and then monitor and adjust when necessary.

Whilst completing my tasks, I wonder what motivates me to complete those tasks and what role does my company’s resources and managers play in my satisfaction. My curiosity is now the topic of this blog post.

Every organization and its managers knows that the best way to attract and retain the best talents is to ensure employee satisfaction. Unfortunately, offering raises to employees may not be enough to make your best workers stick around. Here are 5 things, other than money, that I believe keeps employees happy.

 

1. Offer Comprehensive Training

Mentorship and training sessions lead to better engagement among staff. Commitment to training and mentorships show employees that you value their skills and contributions. As well, it shows that you put more emphasis on progress rather the end product – both in achievements as well as in the careers of its people.

 

2. Smile

I believe that a smile can go a long way in diffusing tensions in the office. I remember the first time I was told that the company I was working for was hoping to automate their process by investing in a CRM software tool. I immediately jumped to the conclusion that my job was on the line. My manager simply smiled and said that our jobs are safe and the company is simply looking to be more productive and expand their portfolios using the resources they have.

 

3. Give workers balance in life

This may be a challenge for some companies, but it presents an opportunity for you to keep your employees happy. Today, the top employers are the ones who create an environment where staff feel connected to the organization and have a positive work experience that’s part of a rich, fulfilling life. As well, a new study done by American Psychological Association shows that 67% of employees will stay with a company long term if they know that there is a balance between work and life.

 

4. Give Ownership

No one enjoys being micromanaged? People work best — and are happiest — when they have ownership of their tasks, when they can solve problems their way and express their individuality.

 

5. Invest in Technology

According to Dell.com study, 25% of employees around the world say that they are influenced by the technology provided to them at work and would consider taking a new position if provided better technology that helps them be more creative and dynamic. One such tool is a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software.

 

About InfoFlo CRM Tool

Carmel Vision, a Toronto based CRM software development company, is focused on delivering a powerful management infrastructure that is designed to collect, search, and archive all content, contact and communication activities that take place in a typical office. We understand and listen to all of our customers’ needs and strive to give excellent quality at affordable prices.

Our flagship product, InfoFlo – is a central management system specifically designed to combat one of the biggest technical challenges facing any professional organization, how to efficiently organize, archive, filter and search the vital information that bombards our desktops on a daily basis. Our infrastructure allows all office activities to coexist together under one umbrella, making all critical information readily available at your fingertips.

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How To Be An Opportunity Maker

In the video, Kare Anderson helps her listeners think about the ways we collaborate and connect with others both in our personal lives and in the business world. Collaborations, she argues, can come from the most unexpected places! Sometimes it pays to think outside the box…

Anderson’s idea of reimagining the world is one where all human beings become greater opportunity-makers with and for others. She strongly believes that there’s no greater opportunity than to become opportunity-makers, to use the best talents together for the greater good and to accomplish things we couldn’t have done alone. She urges her listeners to not stop after the first opportunity comes knocking. For her, it’s after you’ve had that first experience and you trust each. It’s the unexpected things that you devise together and never could have predicted that matter most in life. And she’s right!

 

 

I can easily relate to Anderson, as I grew up with a stuttering problem. A few years ago, I had the opportunity to attend one of her conferences and my life changed for the better. I hope yours does to. Enjoy!

InfoFlo is a CRM Software tool that empowers organizations to help their employees make use of their talents for the greater good and accomplish things they couldn’t have done alone. For just $99, InfoFlo is a feature-packed Contact Management System with over 20 built-in components and includes free upgrades for life. Download free trial here.

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Retail in Crisis: How To Stay Afloat

It’s important that entrepreneurs and c-suite executives keep a keen eye out for long-term trends. The point in doing this allows them to predict the future and grasp potential markets that will keep the business profitable and above water. This is something that many retailers this past decade were not able to do and were forced to make cutbacks and changes; Target and Mexx are perfect examples.

One such trend to look out for is e-commerce- buying and selling products on the internet. It’s a well-recognized revolution. Ecommerce is destined to change the way goods are being bought and sold all over the world. People no longer want to get out of their beds and stand in lines for hours when they could simply make all their purchases online. It’s convenient and hassle free!

What is not certain is how much change there will be.

 

Where Does the Future Lie?

It looks as though the long-range prospect of brick and mortar retailers is death. These businesses are slowly disappearing into oblivion. From Eaton’s to Zellers to Sears to Sony to Mexx to Target, all retailers have closed some or all their stores here in Canada. There are more to come: Jacob, Future Shop….

The ones that we think are doing well are actually in the process of enacting cutbacks because their in store sales are not as successful as those online. Just a year ago, Best Buy Canada announced that it was cutting 950 jobs in an effort to thin management. The cause of cutbacks was the decline in holiday sales.

How To Stay Afloat

As consumers increasingly engage digitally and make fewer trips in store, there are serious concerns about how brick-and-mortar stores that were once the center of attention and thriving will be able to keep up. Certainly retailers may close underperforming stores and merge locations, but more elemental changes also must occur, such as:
• Turning the store(s) into fulfillment center(s).
• Take the in-store experience to a different level.
• Integrate channels relentlessly to the point that channel disappears.

Retailers who understand their customers, leverage technology, such as Contact Management Software, to evolve the customer experience and focus on their differentiators and assets have the opportunity to thrive.

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12 Ways To Increase Productivity

I was rebranding my Pinterest page this weekend when I received a notification from the social network that I could upgrade my account to Pinterest for Business. I came across this very interesting infographic titled “12 Ways to Increase Productivity”. As a content marketer, I was immediately inclined to share it with my readers:

productivity infographic

 

(c) successfulgroupsystem.com

Browsing through the methods for increasing productivity, number seven was the first one to stand out from the crowd. I am a proponent of the Pomodoro Technique and this technique is at the heart of my strategy for staying productive at work everyday.

 

What is Pomodoro Technique?

The Pomodoro Technique is a time management technique that assists users, like me, with maximum focus and creative freshness, thereby allowing them to complete projects faster with less interruptions and little exhaustion.

The process is simple. For every project throughout the day, you allot your time into short intervals and take breaks in between. Essentially, you work for 25 minutes, then take break for five minutes. Each 25-minute work period is called a “pomodoro”, Italian for tomato. After four “pomodoros” have passed, (100 minutes of work time with 15 minutes of break time) you then take a break (15-20 min). The technique encourages its users to use a timer to ensure maximum productivity.

Every time you finish an interval, you mark your progress with an “X”, and note the number of times you had a tendency or push to switch gears to work on  to another task. Your goal is to eliminate  or reduce those tendencies as time goes by.

Try it for yourself or perhaps you want to know more about InfoFlo’s Task Management feature?

InfoFlo’s Task Manager allows you to create and manage your tasks or ‘pomodoros’ as the Italians like to call them.  Users can easily attach files, set email and pop up reminders, share tasks, set priority levels, tag by type or status, and more. Check out our video for more information on task management.

 

About Carmel Vision

Carmel Vision, a Toronto based CRM software development company, is focused on delivering a powerful management infrastructure that is designed to collect, search, and archive all content, contact and communication activities that take place in a typical office. We understand and listen to all of our customers’ needs and strive to give excellent quality at affordable prices.

Our flagship product, InfoFlo – is a central management system specifically designed to combat one of the biggest technical challenges facing any professional organization, how to efficiently organize, archive, filter and search the vital information that bombards our desktops on a daily basis. Our infrastructure allows all office activities to coexist together under one umbrella, making all critical information readily available at your fingertips.

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5 Tips For Warming Up Those Cold Calls

The obituary that speaks about the death of cold calling is written all wrong. While in the perfect world, your phone would be ringing off the hook all day with customers wanting to buy your products or services, the reality is that if you want business, you need to go find it. Cold calling is one effective sales tactic to lead generation if done properly. Here are 5 tips you can implement in order to “warm up” those cold calls.

Angry phone call.

1. Job Titles:

When you’re on the phone with a prospect, be 100% certain of their job title and responsibilities. Don’t rely on one source to give you accurate information. Many lead generation sites list contacts as managers and administrators, while LinkedIn profiles and websites list them as C-level executives. There’s never any harm in double checking references twice or three times. We have all done this before in our cold calls. “Hi Mark, I had you as the Marketing Manager with ABC Corp?” To their reply of “I’m the CMO” and an almost guaranteed hang up afterwards. The last thing you want to do is undermine their hard work with a junior title.

2. Name Pronunciation:

If you ever have to cold call in the business world, you will quickly realize that not everyone you call has an easy-to-pronounce name like Joe, Bob, Frank or Kelly. On your first day, you will run into names you won’t be able to pronounce. It is vital that when you come across one of these behemoths that you: 1) make note of the pronunciation of the name on the prospect’s voicemail or 2) ask the secretary or operator for the proper pronunciation before you directly reach out to them. I have found in my experience that this can go a long way and help you stand out from the average cold caller who can never do it right.

3. LinkedIn:

Never underestimate the power of social networking. Even if you get contacts or account information handed to you from a site or service that claims to know it all, you should always be verifying your information before picking up the phone. It may sound obvious, but I would say more than half of the time cold callers are calling the wrong person. By verifying that your contact actually works within the department you are selling to, you will be 90% more likely to get a meeting, sale or interest from the prospect.

4. Create a Persuasive Script:

You can’t wing it. Despite how passionate you are about your business, communicating the benefits of your product takes distinct skill. With limited time on the phone, a written script lets you focus on points you want to make. In a few short sentences, you must provide both a description of your services and good reasons why the prospect should buy your product or invest in your services.

5. Attention to Detail:

This is an important aspect to remember if you are sending out emails, meeting requests or any form of communication. You are the luckiest person on earth if you have never received an email with your name misspelled or sentences written in poor English. My name is Alex Noudelman, but I’ve seen Ale, Aleks, Noodleman, Noudleman, Nudelman, you get the point. It’s really not that hard. Again, go back to your friend, LinkedIn, and verify the spelling.

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Document Scanning Cuts Clutter and Improves Productivity

If you have a small office, improving efficiency in the way you manage your files is not as difficult as you may think. You would just have to be more organized and systematic. Do a weekly review of your paper files. Clean up, throw out, prioritize, and plan. Then categorize new tasks needed to be complete. Locate papers that have to be filed and file them, separating them from papers to recycle. Managing your documents this way can reduce clutter and give you a clear picture of what you should do the week ahead.

The right solution to managing your voluminous documentation would be to invest in document scanning and conversion into digital formats that can be conveniently stored on a computer. Let’s examine why.

Increased Productivity with Data Scanning Services

Documents are the starting point for many business processes and any delay in timely access would affect the overall productivity any firm. Overload of files, disorganization, and information mismanagement are some of the common obstacles that firms relying on paper-based documentation face. According to the studies conducted by National Association of Professional Organizers, paper clutter is the foremost issue faced by many businesses. Clutter stands in the way of productivity and profitability.

By opting for professional document scanning services, businesses get all their paper-based documents converted to digital format. InfoFlo is a solution that can assist any business, big or small, with proper document management system. The scanned documents are saved to a database which employees and managers could use. The All folders are also labeled appropriately, arranged in chronological order and the files alphabetized.

Many Business Benefits

Here are the many business benefits that could come your way with thee implementation of a professional document scanning and conversion solutions:

  • Time savings in managing day-to-day workload
  • More time for core legal tasks
  • Easy access to files with everything stored in an organized manner on the office computers
  • Speedier workflow with ease of data access
  • Easy inputting of new data and document
  • Better collaboration among employees with access to shared data
  • Reduced costs of handling, storing and copying paper documents
  • Elimination of data redundancy
  • Need for less physical storage space
  • Improved customer service with more efficient document management
  • Overall cost savings of 30-40%

Businesses that can manage their cloud-based documents are better positioned to meet the challenges of competition. So make a plan to get organized, cut clutter, and see your productivity and efficiency soar.

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5 Tips For Writing An Effective Product Review

What does it mean to be a savvy consumer? A savvy consumer is someone who puts more weight in their friends’ opinions and independent product reviews. Before we buy a new gadget or try a new restaurant, most of us look at the reviews on Yelp, Facebook and Google+ to make sure we’re not wasting our money on something that is useless.

Unfortunately, not all reviews are reliable. Some are useless and anger some, while others are so glowing that they are too good to be true. The best reviews are the ones that walk in between. Regardless of the consumer experience, they offer up the type of information that’s invaluable to those making an informed decision.

This article offers tips on how to write an effective review that will resonate with all readers:

product reviews

1. Leave out names

One of the biggest criticisms of online reviews is that too many of them are malicious and targeted at specific employees of the company, instead of addressing the actual issue. If the sales rep is there only temporarily, or if the manager quits a year later, your review is already useless and outdated. Instead, discuss the experience you had with the company and how the products and/or services met your needs.

2. Create content that has substance

When writing a good review, it’s important to avoid frills and convoluted sentences. Get to the point as soon as possible. After all, this is why the reader is reading the review in the first place. Think about what you would want to know if you were looking for reviews on that product.

3. Weigh the pros and cons fairly

Avoid generic phrases that praise or criticize the product or service. Write about what is provided by the company and what the product does or does not do. Don’t brag about the pros or criticize the product too much. Have a balance of pros and cons in your review and maintain a decent word length for each.

4. Compare with other products

Compare the product with other products on the market, and tell your readers why the current product is much more or less effective and worth or not worth every penny. Use concrete examples, such as differences in features, to explicate your argument.

5. Re-read the review

Re-reading the review before hitting the publish button will help you clear some of the repetition you had when you first wrote it. You can also get a fresh perspective when you return to the writing piece after a small breather or break.

Writing a review is a big responsibility, especially when your opinion matters to someone reading it. Believe in what you promote and stick with only the facts when criticizing it.

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