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For our customers in Japan, we’ve added Japanese as a language setting for Insightly, so you and your colleagues can now use Insightly in Japanese. Please note that this addition is still in beta. You can learn more about enabling it in our support forum.
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Without the right tools, assigning and distributing leads can take almost as much time as following up on them. With Insightly CRM’s new lead assignment rules, your leads can be distributed automatically and immediately after they’re entered, improving the speed and accuracy of your entire sales process.
Right now, you might get a lead, add it to Insightly, and assign it to a salesperson. This process is a breeze if your sales process is handled by one or two salespeople. But as your team grows, questions start to come up:
“Who is the sales rep for this territory?”
“Have the leads been distributed evenly across the team?”
“Which of our salespeople handles this industry?”
Spend less time and effort distributing leads by letting Insightly do the work for you. Create rules based on territory, company size, industry, or other fields in your lead records and Insightly will route your leads to the proper salespeople every time. Set up different rules for leads that are entered manually, through a webform, or via our API.
Also, when you import a batch of leads, you’ll be able to choose from any of the rules you’ve created. With one less step in the process, the sales team can spend more time on working the leads as they come in.
Want to set up a rule for regions? Use postal codes and states or provinces to define your criteria. Are your assignments based on industry or company size? Use the Industry or Number of Employees fields when building your rule. You can even combine multiple fields when setting up your criteria.
With all of the factors that can play into distributing leads, your assignment process is probably different from many of our other customers. We wanted to be sure you have the flexibility to choose from the fields that you use every day.
As you configure a lead assignment rule, you’ll be able to select from Insightly’s default lead fields as well as custom fields that you’ve created. Your rules can be as simple or complex as you need or prefer. And if you’re already using our Advanced Reporting, you’ll be familiar with the filters available for designing your rules.
Point a set of rule criteria to a team or multiple people, and Insightly will distribute the leads round-robin. No more figuring out if Adam, Debra, and Thomas each got the same number of leads. Just set up your rules and let Insightly go through your criteria step-by-step and do the work for you.
Lead assignment rules will make it easier for sales managers to coordinate work and keep sales teams focused on accelerating sales. So, if your sales team would love one less step in their manual lead management process, give these rules a try.
This new feature is available to customers with Professional and Enterprise subscription plans, and you can try it out with a 14-day Free Trial.
Business owners are pulled in every direction on a daily basis. From managing operations, sales and marketing, to customer service and so much more. There’s no way that one – or even two – people could keep it all straight. Those who head up consulting firms are no different. When traditional rolodexes and spreadsheets fail, smart consultants turn to customer relationship management (CRM) to regain control of their operations. Our consulting customers broke down the top three reasons they turned to CRM:
Business Made Simple needed an easy-to-you, inexpensive and intuitive tool that would improve workflow and task management. Co-founders Erin Mathie and Melissa Bamfo use Insightly with the Evernote integration to capture notes from customer and lead calls. The information is automatically populated to the corresponding account records, so data can be tracked and easily accessed. The duo also loves Insightly’s pipeline tools, which manage client fulfillment projects from start to finish. All of this has contributed to greater sales conversions.
Eric Greenspan, CEO of 74 Systems, uses Insightly to improve efficiency and keep tasks from falling off his radar – it’s become mission control. A majority of his leads come in from the website and webinars. Before, it was a challenge to keep prospects in order and moving through the pipeline. Now, using Insightly and Zapier, Greenspan has leads automatically pushed to the platform and turned into opportunities. He then reaches out to determine next steps. Since first implementing Insightly, the company has had more than 30 new customers sign up over the last three months.
Winston Faircloth, CEO of Winsightz, has to keep track of individual clients and projects, so he can provide the right support at the right time. Using Insightly has proved to be invaluable in helping Faircloth heighten customer service. He assigns goals, holds training sessions and provides ongoing support, all of which are tracked and monitored on an ongoing basis. It’s been especially helpful in situations when Faircloth has had to quickly access client activity. When a client asked what was in the pipeline, he was able to immediately pull it up on the spot and show all the activity.
Especially in consulting, with so many moving parts, project and contact management can quickly get out of hand. With CRM and project management, consultants can keep tabs on what needs to get done, so client projects stay on track. Even better, Insightly surveyed its consulting customers and 56 percent of respondents paid back their investment in Insightly in one to three months or less.
At Insightly, we offer a CRM used by small and mid-sized businesses from a huge variety of verticals. Learn about Insightly’s features and plans on our pricing page or sign up for a free trial.
Suffering from summer slump with your CRM? Now’s the time to take a fresh look at all the features your content management system offers, clean up your records, and make sure you’re back on track to getting the most out of your software.
Give Yourself a Refresher
It’s entirely possible that you’ve forgotten some of the cool features your CRM has to offer. When you first learned how to use it, you could only retain so much information. You likely picked a handful of the most important features to help you achieve your goals, then left the rest to rot.
So what are you leaving on the table? Maybe you’re using it to help with sales, but you forgot about all the cool project management features. Or you didn’t realize that you could get cool reports on leads. Just think what adding these components to your CRM management could do for your business!
Take some time to reacquaint yourself with the full capacity of your CRM platform. Take notes on the aspects you’d like to incorporate (or add back to) your processes, and if you need to learn how to use these features, spend some time boning up.
Update Your Records
Sure, it’s no fun to go through all your client records and make sure they’re up to date, but doing so can greatly improve sales and marketing results. If you’re sending emails to people who don’t work at a company anymore, those emails don’t have the conversion potential the way an updated and active email address does.
Updating your records is a great excuse to check in to see how your contacts are doing. You can use the updating as the reason you’re emailing them, but you can also see how things are going and gauge whether there is any potential business that you can earn from your contacts. It also serves as a reminder to your network that you’re there, ready to help when they need you.
See What’s New
Likely, your CRM added new features since you last checked (at Insightly, we’re constantly adding new features, like the Insightly Sidebar for Gmail). You may be amazed to find that features you wistfully yearned for are now available. Implement these new tools into your sales process and see how much easier it can get.
Train Newbies
If you have new employees who haven’t yet been walked through how to use your CRM platform, dedicate time to ensure that everyone is up to speed. And it’s not a bad idea to have employees who were initially trained on using it take a refresher course so that they, like you, don’t miss any opportunities your CRM software offers.
Now is a good time to get feedback from those employees on how they like the CRM. Are there aspects they don’t like, or features they would like to implement? You can take their input into consideration as you continually innovate on how you use customer relationship management software.
Look for Integrations
The CRM world is full of integrations with a lot of the tools you’re already using, like accounting, email, and marketing apps and programs. If you can save time connecting your CRM with the tools you use on a regular basis, why wouldn’t you? Plus, integrations tend to streamline your work. Rather than plugging in contact info into both your CRM and email marketing platform, you can do it once and let that connection update the other system. Less work, more results.
If Q4 is a busy one for you, the summer is the perfect time to make sure your CRM is ship-shape for your big sales season. And even if it’s not, we could all use a reminder of everything our CRM platform can do for our businesses. It doesn’t have to eat a ton of time to give your CRM a summer makeover: spending even 15 minutes a day for a week can turn you into a CRM super star!
At Insightly, we offer a CRM used by small and mid-sized businesses from a huge variety of verticals. Learn about Insightly’s features and plans on our pricing page or sign up for a free trial.
Welcome to Turn It Up Tuesday, where we bring you 3 weekly tips—a tip on using Insightly CRM, a tip on running your business, and a tip on improving your life. Enjoy this week’s tips!
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Customize Your Email Signature |
 Enter the text for your new signature, using the options on the toolbar to format it. You can also include an image by using HTML tags pointing to a hosted image file.
_____________________________________________________________________________ This week’s tip was provided by Tony Roma. Tony is an Insightly product expert who has been helping businesses implement software solutions for over ten years.
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Economize on Battery Juice |
| If you’re an iPhone enthusiast battling the low battery blues, when you’re down to 20 percent, switch your settings to Low Power Mode — it stops all background apps from refreshing. (Just remember to switch it back later, so apps stay up-to-date.)
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Hold the Spam |
| Nobody likes getting telemarketer calls on their phone, especially during the workday. The advent of texting as a favored form of communication has opened up a whole new venue for annoying interruptions– spam texts!  |
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Paper is So Yesterday |
| Your sales team may still be using physical paper for orders, contracts, and other things that require a signature – but why? Storage boxes and filing cabinets fill up a ton of floor space better used for other purposes. Scan those old physical copies, move to a digital signing process, and get rid of paper for good. Not only does it take up space, it’s a waste of time when you need to find (and then refile) paper.
You can spare yourself the spam, by forwarding them to 7726. You can also reply “STOP” to any spam text messages you receive from a shortcode.
At Insightly, we offer a CRM used by small and mid-sized businesses from a huge variety of verticals. Learn about all of Insightly’s features and plans on our pricing page or sign up for a free trial.
About the author: Marta Bright is Insightly’s Content Manager. She’s been writing about the “business of technology” in the Silicon Valley for more than a decade. |
Sales is a touchy subject. Either you love it, or you hate it.
Having worked in a variety of sales and marketing roles, I’ve been on both sides of the love- hate relationship.
If you’re a consultant like me, sales is unavoidable. The good news is that you’re selling the best product in the world: yourself.
In this post, I’ll share seven strategic sales approaches for the marketing consultant.
1. Know Your Strengths
The term “marketing consultant” can mean many different things. Graphic designers, content writers, strategic coaches, social media experts, data analysts, and web developers could all self-identify as such. It’s important to be mindful of this when interacting with new clients. In my experience, customers often assume that a marketing consultant is able to do all of the above.
In reality, few people have the ability (or time) to master every aspect of marketing. It’s therefore much more efficient to focus on your strengths. Remember, you’re in the business of selling yourself. If you were selling a product, you would most certainly take the time to fully understand the item’s features and benefits. The same holds true for yourself.
Start by asking yourself some simple questions, such as:
Once these questions have been answered, you will want to review them in the context of a pricing model. Will you bill for your time on an hourly basis? Or, does it make sense to offer a suite of services that can be bundled? In reality, everything is negotiable, but having a starting point is an important step.
2. Personalize the Entire Experience (Before, During, and After)
Clients come to you for custom solutions to their custom problems. Start acting like it.
Sure, the client could have reached out to a firm with greater resources and a larger staff of experts. All things being equal (aside from cost considerations), a larger firm is probably more equipped to serve the client’s needs. Instead, he decided to talk to you first. By default, the client assumes that working with a consultant will provide greater flexibility and a more personal touch. That is true, of course, only if you choose to make it a reality.
What steps can you take to create a personalized experience? For starters, use the client’s first name whenever possible. Research has consistently shown that people love to hear and see their own names. Acknowledge the client’s personhood by using the name he loves to hear most. In emails and other written forms of communication, be sure to use proper spelling and capitalization. When communicating verbally, don’t be afraid to work his name into the conversation. It may feel weird at first, but doing so emphasizes your commitment and future loyalty.
When drafting a formal proposal, consider incorporating the client’s logo on the cover page. Use the client’s company name in the footer of each page. Also, consider using at least one page of real estate to recap your understanding of the customer’s business model and history. This might be a good place to work in a few compliments, as most business owners appreciate a well-deserved pat on the back. Just don’t come across as as a suck-up.
As your relationship develops, you’re likely to make new contacts at the client’s place of work. Consider using a CRM such as Insightly to stay organized. As I pointed out in this guide, it’s a good practice to add new contact records and link them to the parent organization. If you spend time regularly updating your CRM, you’ll be in a much better position to deliver a personalized experience.
3. Jump-Start (& Guide) the Conversation
You’re a smart person. Your resume is certainly quite impressive. Unfortunately, your stellar track record does not make you a mind reader.
The only way you can identify and understand your client’s needs is to let him talk. Some clients will talk for hours if you let them. Others require some prodding before they’ll open up. Either way, it’s your job to guide the conversation such that it produces results.
As an example, let’s assume that you have one hour scheduled for a consultation with a new client. Without the proper plan, the hour can go by in a flash, and you’re no closer to a sale. Sure, exchanging pleasantries is a standard part of the process. Just don’t let time get away from you. Your job is to help the client solve his problems.
If the prospect seems to be avoiding the real reason for the meeting, it’s your duty to tactfully shift the conversation in a more productive trajectory. You might weave in something like:
“I’d love to hear the story about why you started this business…”
“I was looking at your website, and I noticed…”
“When I was preparing for this meeting, I was surprised to learn…”
“I wanted to mention that your original email actually got me thinking…”
Even after the conversation shifts to business matters, you may still find it difficult to keep the client on point. Many entrepreneurs are sanguine by nature, which means you have your hands full. A problem here, a random idea there, happy thoughts now, extreme frustration moments later. You must rely on your expertise to keep the customer focused, and more importantly, hone in on the ways you can help. Doing so will help evolve your relationship from acquaintance to trusted advisor.
4. Uncover New Pain Points
Most customers already have several problems in mind that require your expertise. These types of issues are certainly important to address. However, you may also be able to help the client uncover new challenges.
For example, clients often consult with me about optimizing their websites for generating more business. Customers usually say something like, “We want to update our website so it is more visible on the search engines.” This type of request is a potential goldmine for a marketing consultant. The client is giving me the opportunity to discuss how online marketing actually works. Many customers are surprised to learn that it’s not as easy as simply putting up a pretty website. When I start discussing facets such as content marketing, website performance, inbound links, and online reviews, my client is introduced to an entire new set of opportunities (or challenges, depending on how you look at it).
Helping customers uncover new pain points is beneficial for both parties. From a self-serving standpoint, you are given a priceless opportunity to demonstrate your knowledge. From the client’s standpoint, you are now the smartest person he knows on this subject. It’s therefore logical he will pick you to identify successful solutions.
5. Carefully Recap the Ways You Can Help
Each time you wrap up a meeting, it’s always beneficial to recap your understanding of the task(s) at hand – and, most importantly, how you intend to help. Based on the conversation, choose to focus on that which will have the greatest impact, is within your skillset, and make the client happy.
Given our previous example about web marketing, I might say something like this: “It seems that a blogging strategy would offer the best bang for the buck. This is right in my wheelhouse, so give me a day or two to get you a proposal.” If you’ve done your job in the meeting, the client will agree and be excited to get started.
It’s possible that the client may also request proposals for other topics that you’ve discussed (including the projects that you’re less than excited to pursue). Use your judgment to determine the correct response. Don’t just say yes to everything, but negativity can end things on a weird note. Be prepared to push back gently in the following situations:
Work that you don’t have the capacity or skills to do – On one hand, it can be embarrassing to admit you can’t do something. On the other hand, overpromising rarely works out well. In this situation, you have three obvious options: politely say no, gain the added capacity or skills, or make a referral to another consultant. A fourth option that I’ve successfully used is to convince the client to rally around your original proposal. Then, once you have achieved a few victories, circle back to the additional requests. This gives you more time to develop the necessary capacity or skills without admitting you’re not ready to handle it today. Be careful with this tactic, though.
Work that you dislike doing, is not profitable, or both – I don’t mess with promotional items. There, I said it. When clients ask for help getting their logo on a bunch of water bottles, I have to hold back the “no thanks” impulse from coming out of my mouth. Instead, I smile and say “I know a company that does a great job with promos. Let me have them get you a quote.” Same outcome, but less stress for me. Let the experts handle what you don’t enjoy doing, and you might even pick up a nice referral commission along the way!
Work that seems too risky – Many clients think creating a website is purely a marketing job. In reality, it’s a fine balance between technology and marketing. As a marketing consultant, I personally believe that server-related work is outside of my area of expertise. Naturally, a website can’t operate without a server. If customers don’t have the in-house IT capabilities to manage their own hosting, it may be beneficial to know (and trust) a few technical consultants.
6. Craft a Proposal that Can’t Be Refused
By taking an educational sales approach, you’ve already laid the groundwork for a smooth negotiation.
If you deal with small businesses (especially those under $5 million in revenue), a formal proposal may be overkill. A simple email that outlines your plan and proposed pricing may be more than enough. My proposal sounds something like this:
Dear John,
It was great to meet with you yesterday. I’m excited at the opportunity to help you grow your business.
I believe that a weekly blog schedule will help you achieve your goal of increasing web visitors and leads. My team is ready to assist with this, and I propose the following workflow:
On the first day of each month, I’ll send you a list of potential topics / keywords.
Each Monday morning, you (or someone from your team) will send me an audio file explaining how your company relates to a particular topic.
By the close of business each Wednesday, I’ll share a draft article for your review. You can send back any changes, or simply approve it as-is.
On Friday, the post will go live and will be submitted to the search engines for maximum visibility.
If this sounds doable to you, let’s get started next week. I charge (insert rate) per published article, invoiced monthly. Attached is my service agreement for your review and approval. Sign that, and I’ll return a copy for your records.
All the best,
Matt
Larger clients, however, will likely expect to see a more traditional service proposal. You could take a minimalist approach, opting for a simple presentation template. However, I would recommend taking it one step further and purchasing a stock template. There are many high quality presentation template sites, similar to stock photography or web template marketplaces. For less than $25, you can download a theme that would cost thousands of dollars to design from scratch. This will not only impress the client, but it will also give you an added layer of confidence to make the sale.
7. Hold Yourself Accountable
Last, but not least, you must hold yourself accountable. While some proposals will be accepted almost instantaneously, others will require multiple follow up emails or phone calls. In fact, some clients play hard-to-get on purpose to see how committed you are.
A web-based CRM system, such as Insightly, can help you keep everything organized. Manage sales pipelines, opportunities, and projected close dates with a few clicks. In addition, you can have Insightly remind you (via email) when it’s time to take action. The days of forgetting to follow up will be a distant memory, allowing you to close more deals and keep clients happy.
Put Strategy into Action
The best plans are the ones that actually work. If you’re looking to take your consulting game to the next level and attract more (or better) clients, it’s time to be intentional with your sales process.
With the right plan and technology, no one can stop you!
At Insightly, we offer a CRM used by small and mid-sized businesses from a huge variety of verticals. Learn about all of Insightly’s features and plans on our pricing page or sign up for a free trial.
Matt Keener is a marketing consultant and President of Keener Marketing Solutions, LLC. Matt specializes in content marketing and strategic planning, having helped numerous Saas (software as a service) companies and other small businesses worldwide. Read more of Matt’s work, check out his book, or connect with him on Linkedin.
