Category: CRM Blog Posts

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

Tag Contacts When Sending Them to MailChimp

Many customers with Insightly paid subscriptions are using our MailChimp integration to keep in touch with groups of Insightly contacts. If you’re sending out email campaigns or other communications, use Insightly’s tagging feature to keep track of which contacts have received an email.After you’ve selected contacts and sent them over to MailChimp, they will still be selected on the Contacts tab, so you can quickly use our bulk editing feature to tag them with information about the email. Include a date in the tag, and each time you view a contact, you’ll be able to spot when they received the last MailChimp email!

Stay in Touch With Your Customers

Sustaining business relationships, from your customers to your employees, is vital to small business growth. Keep the door for communication open by sending newsletters, company or industry updates, or holiday messages at regular intervals—a “drip marketing” strategy. You don’t want to overdo it and have your emails relegated to someone’s spam folder, so keep track of your communication history. Not only will you keep your business contacts informed, but you’ll be more likely to receive feedback, referrals, and repeat business!

Nurture Your Personal Relationships

Making a small business a big business takes a lot of work and time, so your work life and personal life can easily get out of balance. Actively nurturing good personal relationships helps you recharge, reminds the people you care about that they’re important to you, and gives you a broader perspective that helps you manage stress when times get tough. Just as you keep in touch with your business contacts, schedule regular time for your personal relationships. From phone calls to family time, make these moments count.

 

Send Us Your Tips

Would you like to share your tips with other Insightly customers? Send them to us!
If we use your tip in our weekly feature we’ll send you a $10 Amazon Gift Card!

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And if you haven’t tried Insightly, everyone’s favorite CRM, try all of our features with a 14-day free trial or register for a free Gratis account to try the basics.

We’ve reached the season to review our year and share our joy and appreciation for all good things.

Insightly is tremendously grateful for our amazing customers and their continued support. As we wrap up 2014, we’d like to review some of our accomplishments and preview some of the exciting developments we have planned for 2015.

 

The Gifts of 2014

Insightly is proud of the very productive year we’ve had. Early in 2014, we introduced a new, more intuitive user interface with a design that works faster and helps you get more done every day. A new pricing structure was then introduced, making Insightly more accessible to even more small businesses around the world and taking us from 400,000 to over 750,000 users!

We also focused on integrations and our mobile apps. We developed integrations with Google+ Hangouts, Box, Dropbox, and Microsoft OneDrive. Our most awaited integration with QuickBooks Online for Business has allowed customers on our paid plans to access their customer payments and records all from within Insightly. We worked diligently to improve our mobile apps, releasing 10 new updates for our iOS and Android apps.

With customers in over 200 countries, we localized the application in French, German, Dutch, Latin American Spanish and Portuguese, and also translated our website into Spanish, Portuguese and German.

Finally, we now offer a resources page with great self-service tutorial assets. And our paid customers can take advantage of 1-on-1 Getting Started sessions, our Ask the Expert webinar series, and priority online support.

Our Resolutions for 2015

Our product team has been very busy, and they’re already hard at work on even more features to make your work easier. We are excited about 2015, when we will launch native mass email capabilities in Insightly. You’ll be able to create your own templates, schedule emails, and review your email metrics to measure their success!

We’ll also be adding a lead record to Insightly so you can track your non-customers and interact with them differently as they move through your sales funnel. Finally, we are making great updates to our Google calendar sync as well as introducing calendar sync with Microsoft Exchange server to provide our Outlook users with another powerful option to manage their calendars.

Growing Partnerships

We know you work hard to grow your business, so we work hard to make things easier for you. We have developed partnerships with companies who are on board with that goal, too—check out our Integrations page to see the newest additions. Some of our partners offer specials for Insightly customers, and we encourage you to explore these services:

• The first 500 Insightly customers to try Brandizi marketing automation will get one month free by entering code INSIGHTLY500.
  
• Insightly customers get to try Proposable for sales proposals free for 14 days.
• You can also use the Happyfox support ticketing system integrated with Insightly for 30 days, free.
• Alignable is a social network for local business owners that enables an easy, online way to connect and discuss relevant issues. Join Alignable to connect with your local business community and increase word-of-mouth about your business.
  

 

Thank you!

We’ve accomplished so much this year and have so much more planned for the future. We couldn’t have done it without the customers who work so hard to make their businesses successful. Insightly is proud to provide you with the best CRM to help you meet your goals, grow your business, and make every day more productive.

Thank you for being part of Insightly’s success! We wish you all the best and a very Happy New Year!

(If you aren’t using Insightly, give yourself the gift that keeps on giving by signing up for our free account or the 14-day trial to try our premium features.)

Thank you to everyone who voted on a name for our Tuesday tips feature!

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

What’s in a name? Better search results.

When you’re searching for an Insightly project or a task related to one of your clients, you’re probably searching for the client, opening their organization or contact record, then scrolling down to the Links section to look through all related items. One trick to make searching a snap is to set up a naming scheme for your opportunities, tasks, and projects, such as using the contact or organization name, the product or service, and the closing month and date. For example, you might name an opportunity “Company Inc. | Spring Fling Tickets | April 2016.” The next time you search for Company Inc. from Insightly’s global search bar—Ta-da! All the company’s projects will appear in the search results!

Choosing a Name for Your Business or Product

“That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” — Juliet I don’t know about Juliet’s online shopping habits, but if Etsy were named Grshkinmiffle, their business might not be doing so well. When coming up with a name for your business or product, find words that are memorable and have a connection to what you do. Make a list of all your ideas and say them out loud. Listen to how they sound—clever? catchy? meaningful? Find the right tone to match your business.

	Remember What’s-His-Name
	Do you have trouble remembering the name of someone you’ve just met? Ways to make a name stick include: Repeating it in the conversation (“Nice to meet you, Louie.”). Use name association, such as alliteration or rhymes (“Larry from Los Angeles” or “Dan the man”—but don’t call him that!). Of course, sometimes you’ll just need to ask again.

Send Us Your Tips

Would you like to share your tips with other 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: Tony Roma is Insightly’s Content Manager. He’s been helping businesses implement software solutions and improve their work processes for over ten years.

Scaling – you’ve probably heard the word tossed around between other entrepreneurs or investors, but what does it really mean? In the business world, scaling refers to a company that has the ability to grow rapidly at an exponential rate. It is the cornerstone of your startup as it reduces time to solution for critical tasks, minimizes the impact of higher volumes of business and makes future expansion easier. In order to scale successfully, however, you need to have a clear vision of your business’ future while also keeping in mind that you might need to evolve.

Plan for Scaling

Forty-six percent (46%) of startups fail due to incompetence and poor planning. If you don’t want be a statistic, it’s imperative that you have a solid plan in place that includes a section on your growth strategy. The most successful businesses have a vision for the future of their business but also realize that they must be willing to evolve. After all, growth signifies change and even the best laid plans can’t necessarily predict exactly what your growth will look like. Still, a solid, vetted business plan can map out the basics on how your business intends to scale. When creating this section, keep in mind opportunities to scale within and outside your business and growth possibilities outside of your initial product or service.

For an accurate growth prediction, think big. This doesn’t mean daydreaming about how you will be the next Steve Jobs, it means thinking how you can strategically grow your business from a $5 million one to a $50 million one. Of course all the thinking in the world won’t get you anywhere if you don’t do something. Taking risks and making bold moves might be scary, but you will likely see more success being a risk taker than playing it safe.

Focus on Growing Your Business

There are only so many hours in a day and if you try to do everything, you’ll end up exhausted and unhappy. Many entrepreneurs get lost in all the details of the daily tasks of their business and spend little time actually focusing on the key activities that move their business forward. This eventually causes their company to stagnate.

If you find yourself working in your business more than you work on your business, you need to take a step back and reevaluate your priorities. Identify the core activities you need to focus on and then protect your boundaries around these actions. Not using a CRM? You should be. Many CRM’s offer workflow management features to keep track of routine tasks and help you stay focused on growing your business. You might need to hire staff to handle the small details of the business, and an online CRM centralizes the management of tasks and projects. With the right CRM and project management software, you’ll be able to focus on building up your business and pointing it in the right direction.

Network

You’ve probably heard plenty of people tell you “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.” This is especially true for businesses. While you certainly need to be an expert in your field and know your customers, ultimately a successful business comes down to connections. Nurture your current network and plan on growing it by reaching out to potential investors, mentors and partners through emails or cold calls. Keep notes on your interactions in your CRM and create tasks to follow up with the most promising contacts. As busy as they might be, many are willing to help out those that have a good business idea.

Have Access to Capital

There are few businesses that are self-funded. Most use a mixture of loans and investors to fund their scaling. After all, people, equipment and office space cost a lot of money and small businesses generally won’t have the capital to increase their capacity without an infusion of money. Besides leveraging your network it’s also important to have a high-level financial advisor who can tell you exactly how much you will need to expand.

Succeeding as a Small Business

No amount of planning and scaling will help your business succeed unless you have something of value to offer your customers. Also, if your business simply doesn’t have the built-in audience, it’s unlikely that you will be able to see long-term growth. Not all small businesses need to be global, multi-billion dollar companies: ninety (90%) percent of small businesses are family businesses that are small by design. Deciding whether to stay small or scale up is a strategic decision that you need to consider before going further with your planning. Smaller businesses can often offer a more personal experience for their consumers over larger, scalable companies. Even if you don’t scale, you can still follow the same advice to ensure you work efficiently and leave room for potential, smaller growth.

A strong CRM like Insightly is a valuable tool for focusing on vital tasks, centralizing communications, and reducing costs to lead your business to greater success. Sign up for a free account or a 14-day trial with added functionality, today.

About the Author:  Ivan Serrano is a web journalist and infographic designer from the Golden State. He specializes in social media, global business and technology. Ivan also loves to practice his photography and watch as many Bay Area sports games as he can.

 

We’re starting a weekly tradition at Insightly. It’s a new blog post to bring you 3 weekly tips—a tip on using Insightly, a tip on running your business, and a tip on improving your life. We hope you enjoy this new feature and find something helpful in the coming weeks and months.

We’ve come up with a couple of snappy titles for our tips and would love your help in choosing one. Please see the bottom of this blog post to help us choose between “Tri-tip Tuesday” and “Turn It Up Tuesday”!

 

Importing into Insightly

Did you know that we recently increased the number of records that you can import at one time? Now, users on a paid plan can import up to 10,000 records at a time, while free users can still upload up to 2,500 items per file. See our import articles for all the details about importing your contacts, organizations, projects, and opportunities to Insightly.

Small Business Finance

Speaking of numbers, is your business meeting your revenue goals? How does your cash flow look for next month? Are you monitoring your costs and expenses? Many small business owners rely on their accountants to manage these details, but it’s important that you take the time to understand your financials at both a macro and micro level. Make sure you have regular meetings with your accountant and find a good small business accounting book to help you add things up.

Safer Travels!

“The quickest way to double your money is to fold it in half and put it in your back pocket.” — Will Rogers Whether you are going across town to see a client or traveling across the globe, keep your money safe. Don’t stash all your money in one place. Keep smaller bills in your pocket for tipping and incidentals, place some money in your carry-on bag, and have some in a wallet. A good travel wallet that can be hidden under your clothes by attaching to a belt or a neck lanyard is recommended!

Send Us Your Tips!

Send us your own tips and if we use them in our weekly column we’ll send you a $10 Amazon Gift Card!
Contact us on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, or send us an email.

 

Update December 15, 2014

Thanks for Your Votes!

We narrowed down the names and graphics for our Tuesday tips feature and asked for your opinion, and we have a winner! By a narrow vote, the winner is:

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

Thank you for all your votes!

 

They say that hindsight is always 20/20, and football is no exception. It’s always easy to call out the ref or talk about how you would have made a better play. Like football, business offers many opportunities for us to say, “I could have done that, but I would have done it this way….”

Remember that old joke about how many project managers it takes to change a light bulb? All of them—one to change it and the rest to stand around and plan out how they could have done it better.

Take your plays beyond Monday morning quarterback syndrome, and make your game solid by using a few tools to really keep your head out of the playbook and on the field.

1. Avoid the Audible

In football the audible works because the QB audibly changes the play or disguises the call to confuse the defense. In business, you need to give your team clear concise direction, and avoid double speak or directions that can be confusing. Each task should have an outlined objective and directions that are easy to follow for all parties. It will save you from having to throw a hail mary in the final moments before a big deadline.

2. Use a Shotgun Formation

In a shotgun formation, the quarterback steps back behind the line of scrimmage in anticipation of the snap. This causes receivers to spray all around the field. In business, you can let your team know what you are planning ahead of time, and allow them to anticipate your move, and get into position. Giving instruction, and using tools to convey that instruction in an easy to follow manner can ensure everyone is ready to take the ball.

Using Insightly CRM with Project Management keeps your team and your customers on the same page of the playbook. Integrating features like Google Apps, Gmail, Evernote and DropBox, offering reminders and file uploads, and taking advantage of various contact options can really help keep track of things. Because in life, people might wear different hats – your lineman might also be your running back.

3. Lay Out your Gridiron

A football field is organized in straight lines, with clear markers indicating the yardage. In business, your field should be laid out in a methodical pattern as well. Setting up milestones, tracking points, and having a routine schedule can help keep you moving on the field and save you from going into overtime. That’s what effective project management is all about.

If things get discombobulated, don’t be afraid to call a timeout, huddle the team, and check where everyone is on the project. A good coach always knows where his team is, and what the standings are. He also knows how much time is left in the game, the best play to get to the end zone, and when to rely on your safety to stop a pass. Keep the other team (your competition) out of the red zone by making sure that your field is clear and you’re in position to score.

4. Know When to Bull Rush

There are times when deadlines call for some fancy footwork and for everyone on your team to saddle up and plow through an obstacle instead of trying an end run. When these moments arise, make sure you rally your troops by keeping up morale, and making sure everyone knows how key and appreciated they are. Keeping a team spirit in your office environment will make sure that even when you are facing the end of a season or a Super Bowl game, you can rely on everyone to be ready.

Make notes and track your team’s strengths and weaknesses. Be aware if one player is a stronger defensive linebacker and another player is a born quarterback. If someone is a stronger salesman, don’t put him in as your numbers guy, and don’t waste your organizational genius by putting her on the phones to tackle client problems.

By strategizing your players and keeping them in key positions, you can make sure that this is your best season and your team will come out on the winning end, whether it’s throwing around the pigskin or fulfilling a contract.

Sign up for Insightly’s 14-day trial or our free account to keep your team moving forward!

Should your company be implementing a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system?

The knee-jerk answer is yes. One of the keys to improving performance is measuring performance. Without a CRM system, how can one measure sales performance? While the logic of having a CRM system is undeniable, purchasing a CRM system does not guarantee improved sales or that the system will even be used by salespeople or other people in the company.

To get advice on how to successfully roll out a CRM, I had a conversation with Gene Marks, New York Times columnist and small business owner. His business The Marks Group has helped over 600 companies roll out and manage their CRM platforms. Here are the three keys he gave that separate successful from unsuccessful CRM rollouts:

Key #1: Have a Clear Deliverable for the First 30 Days.

Gene told me he gets several phone calls a year from sales managers that go something like this:

“I just moved to a new company. I want you to set-up the same CRM system that I had at my old company. In 30 days, I want to be able to look the following reports: a lead pipeline report, a sales report, and a salesperson activity report.”

Following a call like this one, a CRM system rollout usually goes very well. The key is having a clear deliverable (typically generating specific reports) that can be provided to management within 30 days. Having this early milestone has several benefits. It shows immediate return on investment to managers and mobilizes them to get their team using the CRM system immediately.

Key #2: Have a Dedicated System Admin.

One stumbling block that can derail a smooth rollout is not having an administrator for the CRM system. In describing the perfect administrator, Gene offered up a well-known TV character – Pam from “The Office.” She is a no-nonsense personality who will aggressively push people to start using the CRM system. Also, she is not a sales manager or a “techie,” both of whom tend to be mistakes for picking a CRM administrator.

The first job of the administrator when rolling out a CRM system is to make sure that good data goes into the CRM system. The administrator is the person in charge of collecting the existing data from salespeople, managers, and accounting to populate the CRM system. While salespeople may have to add information into the system about their accounts, the less that they have to do, the more likely they will embrace using the system.

Key #3: Get Management Buy-In.

The last big key to success is management buy-in. By management, Gene is specifically talking about the organization’s sales leadership. Users will object to using a CRM system for a variety of reasons. They often feel that using the system takes too much time, or they are uncomfortable sharing information about clients or prospects. Without a manager standing firmly behind the rollout of the CRM system, these complaints can lead to slow adoption, negating the benefits of having a system.

Before I finish up reporting on my conversation with Gene Marks, I would like to suggest a couple of recent articles on CRM from Fit Small Business, the website for which I serve as publisher:

An Introduction To CRM For Small Businesses

How To Choose CRM Software For Your Business

Here are a few other thoughts from Gene which should also increase your chances of success.

• Rollouts: If you can roll out the CRM system to a few people at a time, the process can go easier than a department-wide or firm-wide rollout.
• Training: Training should be given on an individual and not group basis. Many users are going to have different needs. For example, some people will need information on using the CRM with a smartphone, while others will want to pull certain reports.
• Data Import: Start by exporting data from the firms accounting system, which does not require work by the sales staff and generally already has up-to-date information on clients.
• Security: Many clients bring up concerns about security, particularly when they are considering a cloud-based solution. However, Gene likes to ask if the company thinks that their defenses are better or worse than those of the well-known CRM companies that have invested millions in protecting data.
• Hidden Costs: The main hidden cost (provided there is no “integration” project) is the time spent by the CRM administrator. This can range from a few hours to 3 days per week for Gene’s clients.

No matter what size your business, if you get these keys right, you should be well on your way to a successful CRM rollout.

 

About the Author – Marc Prosser is the co-founder and publisher of Fit Small Business, which provides “how to” guidance to small businesses on topics ranging from small business phone systems to getting press coverage.

In a recent poll by Alignable, the social network for small business owners, 64% of over 1,000 owners selected “word-of-mouth referrals” as the most effective way to acquire new customers. This was the most effective customer acquisition method by a mile—word-of-mouth was 3.5x higher than the next result, social media.

But now what? Since you can’t simply go out and buy word-of-mouth, what’s a business owner to do to actually take greater advantage of it to drive their business success?

Know Your Influencers

Who has credibility with local customers that you can rely on to tell others about your business?

Your customers!
There’s no doubt that your customers are your best source since they have directly experienced what you have to offer. If you provide a great customer experience they are likely to talk about it when asked by a friend or colleague. Be sure to stay top of mind via regular email communications highlighting upcoming events, promotions, and featured products or services.

Local businesses nearby!
Other local business owners are a great potential source of word-of-mouth that’s often left untapped. Already a trusted source for local business information, simply forming good relationships with a few other business owners can result in a significant increase in your word-of-mouth traffic.

Get Word-of-Mouth with Your Free Alignable Membership
Insightly and Alignable have partnered together to invite Insightly customers to Alignable’s small business social network. Not a member yet? Join your local business neighbors and take these easy steps to help your word-of-mouth grow!

1. Invite your customers and members to Alignable

   Inviting your existing customers and members to Alignable benefits you in two important ways. You get exposure in Alignable’s Neighborhood feed every time someone you invited joins because your name and a link to your profile appears as the “inviter.” And by getting people who know and would recommend you to join Alignable’s social network, you’re making it easy for them to spread the word about your business!

   

2. Share interesting and helpful content in your Alignable Neighborhood

   The best way to get businesses talking about you and with you is to post interesting and helpful content in the Neighborhood feed. Here’s an example of an SEO expert helping other members’ understand how keeping your business profiles (including Alignable’s) up-to-date helps you get better search results:

   

   We’ve seen a merchant organization get dozens of inquiries from potential new members after sharing relevant tips for growing a business. An insurance agent had many members thank him and ask for meetings after posting about things to consider when purchasing employee insurance. So share your knowledge!

3. Make others in the community feel welcome
   A simple way to get to know new potential members and customers is to reach out to them when they join Alignable. Welcome them in the Neighborhood feed and make them feel like a part of the community!

With Alignable, local businesses finally have an easy, online way to connect and discuss issues relevant to them. Make sure you’re taking advantage of every opportunity to be a helpful resource to your local business community, and it will pay off in spades!

We all know great customer service requires attention all year long. Your calendar provides helpful opportunities to connect and focus your customer service efforts during key times during the year.

Your customer service strategy should vary with the season. Depending on your industry, the holidays, back to school, even summer may be your busy time, during your off-peak times it can be helpful to “remind” your customers that you are thinking of them (and they should be thinking of you).

1:  Your calendar

It may seem like a no brainer, but it’s smart marketing. Whatever calendar you use, be it Google, Outlook, or a paper calendar, it is critical that you keep it updated. Being aware of the dates that are important to your customers can give you a real connection. With the Insightly calendar, you’ll be able to view deadlines and due dates and set up reminders (customer birthdays, special dates).

Another advantage to having a strong calendar and customer database is that you can think of new ways to connect with customers. For example, if a number of your customers have children, theme marketing around back-to-school might be popular, or if a number of your snowbird customer-base winters in Florida, you can strategize accordingly.

2:  Fast Website

If you don’t have a fast site, now is the time to upgrade and make sure you can keep your customers engaged and connected during busy holidays. A customer will not wait for a slow-to-load site or a page.  Make sure your website is friendly and easy to navigate.

3:  Smart Sales

If you are a large business, you can afford to compete with other companies on Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales. Smaller businesses may not have the location or strategy. Decide what works for you, and offer customers more personalized deals (web-based, or offers that coincide with activities your local area). If you live in a football-crazy state, then offer hot deals on game day or in honor of your team. Papa John’s, for example, offers half-off on pizza the day after a Bengal’s win at participating locations. Find a niche that others don’t have to keep your customers loyal and returning.  Or sign up for a business networking site like Alignable – find businesses close to you and create a joint promotion with them.

4:  Help your office get into the festivities

The holidays are a great time to build inter-office connections and improve the relationships between your staff. Loyal staff who stand behind your vision and product can be your biggest marketing allies. Make sure that everyone who works for you loves your company, and knows you are thinking of them during the holiday seasons.

Think outside the usual—December parties and gatherings can fill up the calendar quickly. Host a “We’re Thankful for You” employee get-together in November, or give employees a little Halloween acknowledgement with some candy or a day of silliness. Start your marketing strategy from within and build up a loyal team before you go into the holiday rush.

5: Manage your busiest time efficiently

Fall and winter can be the busiest season for many of us. Retailers are facing a rush in sales. Small business consultants, web-based businesses and others are facing deadlines, pre-holiday setup, and project wrap-up. Everything seems to be due by the end of the year…at the same time no one really wants to be in the office!

Get it all done by using a CRM to manage your workflow, quickly view the stages of every project, assign tasks and make sure that nothing slips through the cracks. Calculate critical due dates, track milestones, stay on top of your customer base, and use your dashboard to get quick insight into how everything is coming along.

6: Use tags to manage critical demographic information

Target your marketing strategies to the various demographics of your customer base using tags. You can sort customers based on age, location, and any other key bits of information. Perhaps you want to send a card to all customers, but a more personalized item or small gift to your key patrons. Loyal customers and clients can be tagged to help you tailor your strategy to each.

7: Feel good by giving back

The holiday season is a charitable time of year, and even if you can afford just a small donation from the proceeds of each sale, it will help customers choose you (and feel good about it). If you can’t afford to donate from your bottom line, try to think of new ways–offer to donate an “in-kind” item to a nonprofit’s silent auction, or get a few employees to volunteer at a local school event. Offering military, teacher or other discounts can also help your organization build its goodwill reputation.

8: Go beyond the card

Let’s face it—many holiday cards go straight in the trash, some without being opened. In these days of mass emails, many e-cards face the same fate. Some customers display cards briefly and a beautiful card can be appreciated, but to get the most out of your message, get creative. A mailed card is a great strategy, but a postcard is less expensive, can be easily printed in bulk, and gets your message read (even if it’s on the way to the bin).

Printing in a “handwriting” font, an alternate color, or if you have time, with a small personalized message can really set your message apart from all the others. All messages should include clear contact information, a link to your website, and something novel—a cute story, an anecdote, a great product, or a customer testimonial. Get yourself noticed!

9: With very little reward…

…You can reap great benefits! You’ll be surprised at what a little something sweet, a hot cup of coffee, or a nibble of holiday cheer will do to get customers to stop. Don’t believe it? Visit the grocery store on sample day and you’ll see how many customers turn out for a quick nosh.

Print your company’s message on candy wrappers, personalized napkins, or coffee cups. When customers have a sweet snack in their hand they will pay extra attention to your message.

10: Tell your story

Keep your website updated with testimonials and quotes. Ask customer to discuss what makes you different or how you touched their lives. Reach out and connect online or to the community around you. During the holidays customers love shareable photos, funny little pictures, and warm personal touches.   Use these on social media and your website to connect with customers. Keep your website updated and keep your information current. With some smart strategies in place, you can enjoy that holiday vacation time and ring in the new year with confidence!

Let us know if you have ideas of how to be creative during the holiday season.

A few weeks ago we received this enthusiastic post from one of our customers in Germany.  We thought that we would translate the post and share it.  The original post is in German is here.

 

At an event during Social Media Week in Hamburg last February, a freelancer told us excitedly about the CRM Insightly, which is specifically aimed at start-ups and SMBs. We were looking for a suitable CRM for plus3trainings, and since Insightly can be linked seamlessly with Google Apps, we decided to test the software.

Now, we are enthusiastic users and continue to discover more and more functions for us (more on that later) and also observe that the San Francisco-based team continually develops the software. For example, the Android app was recently completely revised, and since the end of September the app has been in the public beta phase. This beta phase is an example of what we like so much about Insightly. In the associated Google Plus group, beta users can indicate not only directly related errors but also leave suggested new features. And they get a reaction, typically someone answers from the team and explains if and when the feature will be available.

There are many reasons Insightly has been valuable to us, but the top three reasons are explained below.

1. We have a place to store important email communication. Insightly makes it fast and easy to store mail communications. You simply click on the Insightly widget directly in the mail in Gmail.
2. We can easily tag our shared contacts. This is a convenient feature that we use often. For example, in July this year we celebrated our one year in  business with a breakfast, and in order to create a guest list, each of us went through the shared contacts and tagged our guests. We were able to put together our guest list for invitations in no time.
3. We can document our acquisition-progress for individual “chances”. These are then linked with all relevant emails and contacts. For repetitive processes you can save the individual project steps as a template and reuse.

Insightly impressed us so much that we have already repeatedly recommended the software in counseling and training, when we see a real added value for our customers. For example, in advising a start-up from the production area, we recommended Insightly because it was looking for a cloud-based CRM that can be linked to Google Apps.

About the Author:  Andrea König from Hamburg (Germany) is working as a freelancer specializing in IT-communication. In 2013 she founded plus3trainings together with Holger Ahrens and Marcus Hampel. The team supports companies and their employees with trainings, change management and support surrounding cloud-based software like Google Apps, Podio and Insightly.