Archive for November, 2010

Microsoft Dynamics CRM continues to demonstrate its stronger presence as a go-to solution for prospects looking for a solid customer service application.

The following is an excerpt from the Microsoft News Center press release:

REDMOND, Wash. – April 15, 2010 - Microsoft Corp. today announced that Microsoft Dynamics CRM has been positioned in the Leaders quadrant of the 2010 Magic Quadrant for CRM Customer Service Contact Centers. In this research report, Gartner Inc. looks primarily at the first layer: CRM business applications for customer service interactions.

Microsoft today is also introducing the Customer Care Accelerator for Microsoft Dynamics CRM. The new accelerator helps customer care and contact center organizations provide a consistent customer service experience by combining data elements from disparate applications such as mainframes, databases or Web sites for display in a single user interface. The quick ease of access to information helps agents provide efficient service, which in turn helps improve overall customer satisfaction; and, as a corollary benefit can help to preserve or increase profit margins. The core business scenarios supported by the Customer Care Accelerator include the following:

- Integrated desktop enables the aggregation of information from diverse business applications into an integrated agent desktop, providing users with a 360-degree view of customer interactions. Customer service representatives have fast access to business-critical information to serve customers quickly and efficiently, which helps increase satisfaction and loyalty.
 

- Desktop automation workflows minimize human error and streamline business processes, eliminating the need for contact center agents to re-enter the same data in multiple applications and helping to ensure a consistent customer service experience.

- Computer telephony integration (CTI) is simplified for supplying caller screen pop-up information to agents. CTI makes it possible for the telephony system to connect to the CRM business application and give agents detailed customer information to help them better serve their customer.
 

- Activity reporting gives contact center managers the ability to quickly access agent desktop transaction reporting, identify process bottlenecks, streamline processes and automate routine tasks to improve overall call center efficiencies.

Having a quality sales force in place is essential to the success of most businesses.  Why do some salespeople succeed and others fail?  Here is a list of the top five reasons some salespeople fail.
 
1.     Most salespeople spend too much of their time selling with prospects who will not buy.  It is important to prospect efficiently and effectively. 

 
2.    They don't have a consistent sales process.  Do you treat each sale differently? It is important to have a sales process that you use with all your prospects and customers.  Use a sales process that has the highest probability of producing high closing rates on all your prospects.  This way your results won't be hit or miss.

3.    Many salespeople don't spend enough time building trust.  Prospects want to purchase something from someone they can trust and respect.  Build a trusting relationship with your prospect from the beginning.

4.    Most salespeople close at the end of their sales process.  Top salespeople start closing at the beginning of their sales cycle and continue to close throughout the process.

5.    Most sales people do presentations about their product and company rather than determining the real need of their prospect.  This will make your prospect feel neglected.

How many times a day do you get distracted with the trivial problems of your company? Your clients want to feel special and when we live in a virtual business world, it’s too easy to forget that personal connection with your clients.

An article on Women Entrepreneur, shares 3 great ways to keep your clients “top of mind” every day:

1.       Create service options. Packages are a great way to control pricing, time and the value given to your clients. It also helps you to serve your clients without feeling overwhelmed.

2.       Set aside a day of service. This is not as formal as it sounds. Every business owner could use focused days. This could be the day you save up your energy for: client meetings, off-site surprise visits to a client’s business, extra research that would wow a client, etc.   

3.       Remember that it is not just about you. Sometimes we’re handed the task of championing a cause through the organization. We have to remember that it is about the people whom we serve in business.

In conclusion, your business is about service first–everything else comes after and if you put your clients first, that extra stuff will ultimately fall into place.

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