Category: CRM Blog Posts

Try as you might, there’s no way to avoid change. In fact, it seems that change is the only constant in life. Instead of resisting change, it’s better that you embrace it and learn how to roll with the punches. Besides, when we make a change in our lives it makes our lives more enjoyable, exciting and fulfilled.

The hardest part about making a change is taking that first step. We can achieve, accept, lean into and profit by change if we will follow these 12 techniques:

1. Select a goal.
What do you do when you’re driving somewhere unfamiliar? You probably put the address in your phone and get step-by-step driving directions. Goals are kind of like your GPS. They provide directions for how to get from Point A to Point B. For example, if you wanted to lose weight, you would first determine how much weight you want to lose, a time frame of when you want to have the weight gone, and what steps you’ll need to take to make this worthy goal a reality.

2. Create a dreamboard.
What dreams and aspirations did you used to have? For me, it was a becoming a professional baseball player. I even used to go outside and visualize that I was the starting right fielder and would toss baseballs in the air and then chase them. It was so easy to dream back then. I was a pitcher for many years and the pressure was tough. I wanted to be in the outfield.

Along the way, having dreams like that disappeared. And, suddenly the possible seemed impossible. The thing is, you can rediscover that magic by creating a dreamboard. It’s essentially the same thing as setting a goal, but it’s a visual representation that can help activate the Law of Attraction (which states that you can program your mindset to actually attract things and situations into your life).

3. Be appreciative.
Not that long ago I was finishing up some work on Saturday night. Once I was all caught up I went through my social accounts. While I was at home working, my “friends” were out to dinner, at a concert, or on a vacation at some exotic location. I’m not gonna lie. I was a little jealous.

That feeling quickly washed away after I sat down and watched a movie with the love of my life. There was no other place I would rather be.

It’s easy to get consumed by all the things that we don’t have or the places we’ve never been. But, instead of getting envious, take an inventory of all the things that you’re appreciative for. It definitely puts everything in perspective when you focus on what you have, as opposed to what you don’t have. Start making a “being grateful” habit.

4. Make lots of choices.
Kurt Carlson, Ph. D., writes that the “only way to realize positive change in your life is by making choices.”

We choose everything from minor daily actions, like what to eat for lunch, to bigger life-changing decisions, like the house that we’re going to purchase. Being aware of these choices can assist you in making a change. Carlson uses an example of a middle-aged man who always takes the elevator instead of the stairs. Once this man realizes that he is choosing to take the elevator he can then begin to look for tricks to help him ultimately pick the stairs. But even with taking the stairs it takes some planning. You have to get to work a few minutes earlier to take the stairs. Deciding to get to work earlier is a change and a choice.

5. Take action.
Sitting around complaining that you gained 10 pounds isn’t going to help you magically lose that weight. You have to take action. Whether it’s joining a gym or trying out a new diet, you’ll never make those changes in your life until you make a choice – just do it.

6. Overcome easy obstacles.
In the scheme of things, losing 10 pounds is easy, as compared to getting over being an introvert. To help you accomplish these smaller goals, you can take simple measures or steps to overcome them.

For example, get the junk food out of the house and stock your kitchen with healthier options like fruits and veggies may be a step that helps you. This way you can have a healthy snack whenever you’re hungry. It’s a small, but important decision, and an action step that can help you with losing weight. Look at your other goals and see what bite size pieces you can take as a step to get where you want to be.

7. Let go of regrets.
We all have regrets in our lives. The problem is that eventually these regrets hold you back from moving forward.
Find a way for yourself to let go of these regrets so that you can stop looking backwards. Whether that’s writing these regrets down on paper and burning them, forgiving yourself for past transgressions, or turning those “shoulds” into goals, you have to let go of regrets before you can go forward. I found advice in a book one time that said when you make a error to do three R’s. Reflect on what you did, then Reboot yourself to do better. Lastly, Reject anymore of the negative thoughts about that regret.

8. Get comfortable in your skin.
Most of us are self-conscious about one of our physical features. The funny thing is, most of that self-consciousness is in our heads. Learn to accept your flaws. If you can’t get past it, then look for ways to rectify the problem. If you feel you’re out of shape, then start working out. If you can’t stand your hair, go to salon and try a new hairstyle. If you’re tired of not getting compliments on your appearance then purchase new clothes and fix yourself up in some way. Be something worth complimenting.

9. Reframe your problems.
I hate to be the bearer of bad news. But, we all have problems. Furthermore, it’s not these problems that are preventing you from enjoying your life or chasing your dreams. It’s using these problems as an excuse or a crutch to not break free from your comfort zone. As Tony Robbins says, “See things as they are but not worse than they are. Your problems are really just invitations to step through fear.”

10. Act like a kid.
As I was leaving the grocery store one day I had the sudden urge to “skate” across the parking lot with the cart. I used to do it all the time as a kid, but never as an adult. Instead of over-analyzing it, I just did it. It was exhilarating. I felt free and didn’t have single care in the world for a long glorious moment. Sometimes we just need to stop acting like an adult and revisit the things that we used to enjoy as children. It’s a great way to put a smile on your face, as well as push aside anxiety and worrying about what others think.

11. Surround yourself with the right people.
The people that you surround yourself with have a major influence on your life. For me personally, I have one friend who is a homebody and prefers to stay-in and watch movies on his incredible home theater system. That’s fine when I just want relax. But, he’s not going to be the person that can challenge me to get out of my shell.

For me to pull myself out of a slump, I turn to another friend who is spontaneous and adventurous. I never know what to expect when we hang out. But, I will say that just by spending time with him I’ve learned how to let go of many things, and I’ve learned to try some new adventures I never would have done without this friend. You can also be that friend for someone else.

12. Keep learning.
Finally, try to learn something new each and everyday. You can keep track of them like I do by blogging. Whether that’s talking to an elder who can give you a first-person history lesson, learning a new guitar chord, or experimenting with a new Japanese dish, learning something new each day helps us grow as a person and makes us more knowledgeable and innovative. My new goal to learn Chinese is not going to happen by itself. I will have to apply all of the above 12 techniques.

At Insightly, we offer a CRM used by small and mid-sized businesses from a variety of verticals. Learn about Insightly’s features and plans on our pricing page or sign up for a free trial.

John Rampton is an entrepreneur, investor, online marketing guru and startup enthusiast. He is founder of the online invoicing company Due. John is best known as an entrepreneur and connector. He was recently named #3 on Top 50 Online Influencers in the World by Entrepreneur Magazine.

• The four most challenging aspects of invoicing
• Recommendations for getting an invoice paid
• How to get paid faster
• Spend more time doing what you love

Join the conversation and get yourself on the fast track to getting paid on time!

At Insightly, we offer a CRM used by small and mid-sized businesses from a variety of verticals. Learn about Insightly’s features and plans on our pricing page or sign up for a free trial.

Turn It Up Tuesday: Tips from Insightly to Take Your Business to 11

Welcome to Turn It Up Tuesday, where we bring you 3 weekly tips—a tip on running your business, a tip on using Insightly CRM, and a tip on improving your life. Enjoy this week’s tips!

	Using Projects in Insightly
	Project Management is one of the unique features in Insightly and allows you to create projects for managing workflows outside of sales, such as: On Boarding Installations Event Planning Website Management Hiring Projects are mainly used to manage tasks and from now on, you can even include Pipelines or Milestones to organize your work. While you can create them manually, they are also automatically created when you convert an opportunity at the end of a sales process. Unique Record IDs are assigned to these projects, and you are able to customize the status of the project, name your project, categorize, assign to the responsible user and add details. 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.
	Carry Your Business In Your Pocket
	Take your business to the next level by developing a Mobile App for your small or medium-sized business. This might sound time-consuming and costly, but it’s going to set the foundation for the future of your business and contribute to your success. How?   Extended capabilities. Your app is visible to customers at all times as they carry their phone or iPad around majority of the day, unlike their desktop computer or laptop. A mobile app offers more abilities to interact with your smartphone’s existing features, like the camera, GPS, push notifications and Business Card Scanner, features that traditional computers do not offer. Recognition. The smartphone reaches broader and wider audiences as people spend more time on their phones than on any device. If your app ranks in the App Store or Google Play with high ratings and reviews, it will become more visible to a new audience.   Stay ahead of your competitors. Smaller businesses rarely have a mobile app, so you now have to chance to stand out with this extra feature. Being one of the few ones offering a mobile app will put you a step ahead of the rest of your competitors.
	Smelling Soapy
	Always on the go but never have the opportunity to do your laundry while you’re away? No one likes smelly clothes, especially not when they have to carry them around for a while. Here’s a simple tip that will make your travelling less stinky. Bring a bar of soap your favorite scent and keep it in the same compartment as your dirty laundry. It will not clean your clothes, but it will keep them smelling nice and clean. An alternative is to use fragranced bin liners as a bag for your dirty laundry to keep the ‘em from smelling. Happy travelling!
	Selling With Authenticity
	Are you looking for ways to improve your ways of interactions with customers? Of course there are techniques and strategies for salespeople, but the key to success is to be genuine and not to use scripted conversations according to author and sales coach David Neagle. He states that “People listen with their ears, but they hear with their emotions. Our job is to get people to stop listening and start hearing,” Listen to their stories and find out what they are missing and what their pains are before telling your story. Make sure you concentrate on other’s success and not your own. Customers will feel more at ease if you start focusing on making their lives easier with the product rather than just having the need to sell it. So put yourself in this mindset and start selling successfully.

Check out Insightly’s features and plans on our pricing page or sign up for a free trial of the best CRM around.

Send Us Your Tips. Would you like to share your tips with Insightly customers? Send them to us! If we use one in our weekly feature we’ll send you a $10 Amazon Gift Card! Contact us on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, or send us an email.

About the author: Joyce Shao is currently a Marketing Intern at Insightly and is pursuing a Business Management Economics major at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

If you’re a sales manager, there is a good chance you were so busy building your career that you missed the craze of Pokemon when it first came out. But unless you are currently living under a rock, there is no way you have missed all the buzz about Pokemon Go. Are you aware of how insanely popular it is? According to Time Magazine, it’s “[b]igger than Tinder and on its way to smashing Twitter’s “daily active users” ceiling.”

I bet if you surveyed your sales reps, the majority of them are already to Level 3. Take advantage of the madness and encourage your team to creatively sell more by using Pokemon Go.

What Does Pokémon Have To Do With Salespeople?

Your first reaction might be “I’m so busy trying working with my team to make their calls and follow-up with prospects, why should I encourage them to play a GAME?”

But when we asked the users of Spiro, our personal sales assistant, a top 3 challenge for all salespeople is finding enough prospects and leads.

They can use Pokémon Go to bring leads to them! I know it sounds crazy, but it really works. Here are 6 tactics that you can have your sales team try today to increase sales.

1. Use “Lures” in Pokémon Go to Bring People to Them
For a small cost your salespeople can create what is known as a lure near you, or near your shop / place of business. This essentially attracts Pokémon, who then attract customers. Here’s what one store manager wrote on Reddit: “As a manager for a store PoGo is f-ing amazing. SO. MUCH. FOOT TRAFFIC. Time to invest in some lures.” So if your team is selling in a store, automobile dealer, etc., have them go and create lures.

2. Bring Product to Pokémon Gyms
A Pokémon Gym is a place where users can fight other users’ Pokémon to make them stronger. You can only use Pokemon Gyms once you are at Level 5, so even suggesting this tactic will create some side competition amongst your team to try and get themselves to Level 5. Suggest your reps find a Gym in the app and then physically go there with some product swag to network with potential buyers.

3. But Wait, My Team isn’t In Retail…
At your next sales meeting tell your team this story, “A sales buddy of mine — Tim — had been trying to break into an account with minimal success. So he went out and created a Pokémon lure in their company’s parking lot, and then watched as coworkers poured out of the building at lunchtime to use Pokémon Go. Guess who he chatted with? Their CFO. Not bad considering he was never able to get him on the phone before.” Highlight to you team that they can use the app for internal networking as well!

4. Have Reps Use Pokemon for Rapport Building
You may be thinking that your company’s prospects couldn’t care less about Pokemon. But considering that over 10% of the US population is playing Pokémon EVERY DAY, I’m sure some of your team’s contacts do care. Suggest to your salespeople that talking about Pokemon could be a good way to build rapport and expand their relationships.

5. Get Their Creative Juices Flowing!
Tell your team to use Inc Magazine’s suggestion to “Take in-game screenshots and post them on the social-media platforms where you’re active. Use hashtags like #pokemongo and #pokemon to get the message out to your potential new customers.” Let your reps have fun with it and get start thinking outside of the box.

6. Encourage Them to ACT NOW!
There is no doubt that the Pokémon craze will fade away. Make sure your salespeople take full advantage of this trend while it’s hot, and don’t forget to share your success stories in the comments.

Adam is the co-founder and CEO of Spiro Technologies. He is a natural sales leader with a mission to help salespeople make more money using artificial intelligence — or any sort of intelligence for that matter.

You want to grow your business. Unfortunately, every new opportunity seems to present a dozen new challenges.

Many business owners find themselves dealing with the same issues over and over. If you dig a little deeper, however, you might come to learn that these problems are actually a symptom of one or more bottlenecks. Bottlenecks are not only counter-productive from an output perspective, but they also can have damaging side effects on the morale of your team.

In this post, I’ll share five bottlenecks common to small and mid-sized businesses (and how to fix them).

1. Idea Overload
Most entrepreneurs are full of ideas. The problem rarely involves coming up with new ones; rather, gathering, prioritizing, and implementing cause plenty of havoc. With countless ideas to sort through, staff often struggle to keep everything organized.

The confusion is magnified without the right processes and technology. For example, let’s imagine Bob Smith is the owner of a mid-sized manufacturing firm in Indiana (my home state). He has a handful of employees who are already overworked. Bob is known for getting into the office at 6 a.m. and drinking an entire pot of coffee. For two hours, which he affectionately refers to as his “creative time,” Bob drafts emails, memos, and diagrams packed full of new initiatives. When the first team member arrives for the day, Bob has already created plenty of chaos.

To Bob, this is an effective use of his energy. He’s setting the course for his company before the day gets started. This way, his good ideas aren’t lost by the humdrum of daily life. Unfortunately, Bob finds himself feeling frustrated by his staff’s inability to move many of his dreams forward. He doesn’t realize that he’s actually creating a bottleneck for his organization.

Of course, businesses stay alive by continuously implementing intelligent ideas. Ideas are vital to the success of Bob’s company; however, that can only be true if his team is able to keep pace.

To mitigate inefficiency, Bob must develop better workflows for himself and his team. He might consider using a CRM, such as Insightly, to collect his thoughts. In fact, many Insightly users rely on projects for this very purpose. Rather than firing off dozens of emails, Bob can instead enter raw ideas into a centrally accessible backlog. As time permits, his team can review the backlog and build the necessary business case. Projects can even be tagged to indicate priority, offering additional clarity for staff members. Tagging structures can vary greatly based on how the business owner’s brain works, but an effective approach might simply be:

• Urgent
• Important
• Low

As the team grows accustomed to this new workflow, it may become necessary to schedule recurring weekly (or even bi-weekly) meetings to review the backlog. When utilizing a cloud-based CRM or project management system, the meeting agenda is always pre-defined. Simply log in, open the project folder, and filter ideas accordingly. It’s usually wise to first discuss “urgent” matters. If, after discussion, an item is less timely than first thought, the tag should be updated accordingly. On the other hand, if a project should move forward, then project status, roles, milestones, and due dates should be assigned within the system.

As you can see, the utilization of a well-structured, cloud-based platform offers much greater efficiency than Bob’s former approach.

2. Limited In-House Capacity for Growth
Small to mid-sized companies rarely have the budgets to accomplish everything on their strategic backlogs (even when using a centralized project hub). The classic chicken-or-egg scenario, having the right people is necessary for getting stuff done. Without accomplishing more, however, growth rates are unable to justify new overhead expenditures.

Many companies make the mistake of simply piling on more work to existing staff, causing burn out and high turnover. When employees leave, the circumstances only further decay for those who remain.

The good news is that we live in the most technologically advanced era in history. For virtually every problem imaginable, there is usually a Software-as-a-service (Saas) tool designed to alleviate the pain. Before hiring more employees into a bad situation, consider slowing down to examine the root causes of that which plagues your organization. Your goal should be to objectively review your operational weaknesses, and, in turn, match supplementary technology.

To get started, ask yourself these questions:

• Do employees have a clear understanding of the work being assigned to them?
• Can they quickly sort projects by due date, importance, or other criteria?
• How are they reminded to complete their work? Is it automatic?
• Are there manual tasks being done that could be automated?
• What is our process for holding staff accountable for missed deadlines?
• Which type of work is consistently done at a poor level of quality?
• Do we have defined workflows for the important work being done?
• How can we measure output at a high level?
• What things are being done in spreadsheets that might be better suited elsewhere?
• Should we outsource certain tasks?

Once you have chewed on these questions for a while, you may start to feel a little overwhelmed. Take a deep breath, and then make a list of all the issues you’ve identified. This could be done in a spreadsheet, on a whiteboard, or in your project management system (I prefer the last option). Either way, focus your efforts on creating logic-based rankings.

As a simple example, you might consider using two basic pieces of data to get started: “impact if solved” and “difficulty to solve.” Additional market research may be required to complete a matrix such as this; but, nonetheless, look for high impact, simple solutions.

Impact if Solved Difficulty to Solve
Problem #1 High Easy
Problem #2 Low Difficult
Problem #3 Medium Difficult

Your next move should be to identify software that helps you affordably solve your most pressing situations. Ask trusted colleagues for recommendations and invest time in online research. Read plenty of reviews and look for systems that offer free trials – or, better yet, a freemium plan.

3. Lack of Integration
As companies adopt new technologies, it becomes increasingly difficult to maintain technological cohesiveness. Some systems may offer overlapping functionality, however, each tool is used independently by different departments.

If you’re just venturing into the tech world, look for a system that does several things really well. For example, Insightly is unique in its field because it serves as both a sales CRM and a project management system. Unlike most CRMs that only focus on the management of leads, opportunities, and contacts, Insightly makes it easy to manage related tasks and milestones. As a customer opportunity advances from lead to closed-won to delivered, the entire life cycle is easily visualized within a single view.

Of course, it’s not usually possible for one system to do everything that your business needs it to do. Doing too many things at once rarely benefits anyone. That is especially true when it comes to software. To make up for a tool’s shortcomings, many Saas companies offer out-of-the box integrations to other commonly-used platforms. For more advanced applications, the availability of an open API can be useful for building connectors to your own in-house system.

Whether you’re looking to integrate to third-party tools or your own systems, it is important to select software that offers flexibility. When researching vendors, be sure to inquire about their standard integrations and availability of an API. (Most companies openly promote the availability of such features, as Insightly does here and here.) If the vendor does not offer integrations or an API, spend time researching additional options.

4. Inbox Black Holes
As illustrated by Bob Smith in the first bottleneck example, business professionals often rely too much on email. In addition to contributing to idea overload, email is notorious for causing additional inefficiencies. Namely, inboxes are known for becoming “black holes,” where things linger indefinitely, or worse, vanish entirely.

Now, that is not to say that email is entirely useless for your business. The benefits of email are, of course:

Ease of use: Even the most tech-challenged among us understands how to send emails. With a few clicks or taps, sending an email is only slightly more challenging than texting.

Instant gratification: There’s something strangely fulfilling about sending an unsolicited email to a colleague – especially when it contains an amazing idea that you developed. Emails serve as a visual affirmation to what your ego secretly seeks to promote.

Traceable paper trail: “Did you get my email?” Of course you did. When things slip through the cracks, at least you have this question to fall back on.

Accessibility: In today’s world of globally dispersed teams, part-time freelancers, and smartphone technology, email is one thing we all have in common.

Yields quick feedback: If you send an email and ask the right questions, there’s a good chance you’ll get some type of response.

While the benefits are obvious, email actually worsens many situations. Here are just a few reasons why inboxes become black holes:

Lack of accountability for the recipient: An email is nothing more than an electronic letter. When recipients receive such forms of communication, it’s up to them to take action. Like paper documents, emails can easily be overlooked, misplaced, or lost entirely. In addition, email suffers the added risk of being blocked by spam filters.

No visibility for the sender: While some people rely on read receipts, email communication offers very little insight for the sender. When recipients fail to respond, the sender begins to question his next move. Should I send another email? Why didn’t I get a response? Frustration can quickly set in.

Time compounds the issue: Inboxes are typically sorted by date. This means the newest emails appear at the top, and older ones fall to the bottom. As the days and weeks progress, recipients become less likely to take action. When an email falls to page two or three of an inbox, it might as well be in the “deleted” folder.

To bypass the inbox black hole, consider implementing a cloud-based task management system. You’ll want to find a system that allows you to assign users, due dates, and recurrence patterns. Each user should have his own login account, so that you can hold staff accountable and minimize confusion. In addition, identify a tool that offers pre-built reporting templates to show which users are consistently neglecting their duties. Unlike email, you need a dashboard that shows the big picture.

5. Top-Down Approvals
As your company achieves its growth goals, you’ll find yourself being pulled in more directions. Work that was formerly supervised by you is now being done by team leaders and their direct reports. How can you still stay engaged without becoming a bottleneck?

This is the age-old question for successful entrepreneurs. I won’t pretend to know all the secrets to answering this question, but I have seen clients address this concern by:

• Diagramming the approval process
• Defining well-structured accountability charts
• Implementing detailed work instructions & handbooks
• Designing informative web-based training systems
• Deploying Saas technology that facilitates workflow automation
• Delegating “pieces” of the approval process (but reserving final say)
• Promoting (and recruiting) trustworthy individuals

Giving up control is a natural part of growing your organization. And, for most business owners, it’s something that can only happen with a strategic vision from you. Kick off an initiative (consider adding it to your idea backlog) aimed at gradually removing yourself from certain day-to-day functions. Make a list of the tasks you routinely perform and determine if your involvement is slowing things down. If so, is a slow approach important to maintain? If not, what steps can you take to expedite the process and minimize your involvement. Your time is too precious to spend it on non-value added activities.

Get to the Root Cause of Your Bottlenecks
We all face problems that seek to inhibit our growth. However, with the right perspective, your organization can identify and overcome most bottlenecks. Through the combination of innovative software, streamlined processes, and well-trained staff members, you’ll arrive at a leaner, more productive mix of resources.

Now, get to work breaking some bottle(neck)s!

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.

Turn It Up Tuesday: Tips from Insightly to Take Your Business to 11

Welcome to Turn It Up Tuesday, where we bring you 4 weekly tips—a tip on running your business, a tip on how to ramp up your sales efforts, a tip on using Insightly CRM, and a tip on improving your life. Enjoy this week’s tips!

	Creating & Managing Leads
	One of the main features of Insightly CRM is lead management, an integral part of the Insightly’s sales process and the starting point of your entire sales funnel.   In Insightly, you are able to create leads in few different ways: Enter them on the Leads tab. Import them from a CSV or Excel file. Scan business cards with our mobile apps. (Available with a paid Insightly subscription.) Add a Web to Lead form to your website so visitors can submit the own information. If you have technical resources, you can also add leads through the Insightly API.     A qualified lead can be then converted into a sales opportunity, organization or contact by Insightly. 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.
	To Review or Not to Review?
	Maintaining a good online reputation does not only increase popularity but revenue for the business as well. About 90% of online customers were more likely to purchase after reading positive reviews, and 86% said a negative review would influence their decision.     However, sometimes it takes a little push to get those reviews from your customers and as Content Manager for QuickTapSurvey Shereen Dindar says, “Even your biggest fans may be unlikely to review your business if it means taking time out of their busy schedules.” If you find that your business is struggling with customer reviews, here’s what you can do: Send out surveys. While they are using your product, get an insight of their experiences before they can leave a review somewhere else. You will be the first one to know if there are any concerns and address them as soon as possible. Offer an incentive for reviews. Let your customers know how much you value their feedback and offer them a small gift in exchange for an honest review. Address negative reviews appropriately. Bad reviews reviews are unavoidable, but this will give you a chance to engage and show that you want to improve their experiences. The negative review might even turn into a positive one!
	Who Put the Paper in My Pringles?
	If you’re a fan of Pringles, you understand the struggles of eating these perfectly shaped potato chips. Your hand is either too big to fit in the container or crumbs. EVERYWHERE. No one wants pieces of chips stuck in between their keyboards or having to wipe the crumbs off their desks. Sorry, janitor.   But do not worry. There is a crumbs-saving solution; find a piece of paper and roll it so it fits in the container. Place the paper in the container and now you can safely and easily enjoy your Pringles without having to worry about the mess.
	Think Like a Buyer
	One of the most critical aspects of a successful sales strategy is to document your Buyer’s Journey. Recognizing your different types of prospects and knowing what information to deliver at which stage of their process will help you converting to leads and turning them into satisfied customers more successfully. Marisa Smith, CEO of the Whole Brain Group, advises you to ask yourself these questions: “Start at the end—what will they do immediately before signing a contract with you? What’s the step before that? The one before that?”Knowing the answers to those questions will help you identify the needs of your prospect faster and provide them with more accurate information. Be sure to take notes of every step and interaction along their way of becoming customers!

Check out Insightly’s features and plans on our pricing page or sign up for a free trial of the best CRM around.

Send Us Your Tips. Would you like to share your tips with Insightly customers? Send them to us! If we use one in our weekly feature we’ll send you a $10 Amazon Gift Card! Contact us on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, or send us an email.

About the author: Joyce Shao is currently a Marketing Intern at Insightly and is pursuing a Business Management Economics major at the University of California, Santa Cruz