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!

DiggThis

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.

DiggThis

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.

DiggThis

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.

DiggThis

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.

DiggThis