Archive for the ‘Dynamics CRM’ Category |
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Customer Relationship Management (CRM) can greatly benefit an organization if it is used properly. In this article we will list a number of benefits that CRM workflow can help bring to your organization. CRM is now becoming the main focus of many organizations who are beginning to realize that it is much cheaper to keep a current customer and make sure that they are satisfied rather than continuously burning through customers and not focusing on efficient customer service. One of the most under utilized (and most powerful) capabilities or any CRM system is workflow that is correctly implemented. When workflow is properly implemented it changes your CRM from being a passive glorified rolodex into a proactive revenue generator that automates your business's best practices.. A good example of workflow is a lead nurturing campaign. Usually when a salesperson works with a prospect that is not going to be making a purchase for at least 3 to 6 months the salesperson makes that prospect a very low priority even if that is not really their intention. When this happens the prospective buyer often goes elsewhere when they are ready to make a purchase. What if your CRM were able to send a pre-written set of communications to the prospect automatically over say the next year with the goal of the communications being to educate and move that person along in the sales cycle without requiring any direct involvement by the salesperson? What would happen is that you would have more prospects think of your organization when they are ready to buy and studies have shown that at least 55% of prospects will make a purchase in the next 12 to 18 months. What if you automated exactly how you wanted to treat your new clients during the first 90 days and automated the steps you were confident that they would all be done with EVERY new client? Workflow can also be used in the customer service department to automate any open customer service incidents that have not been resolved in say 2 or 3 days. All of this and much more is possible through the use of workflow. The results of workflow can be increased revenue through a better follow up of leads that are not ready to buy today, a better experience for new clients and a better experience for those clients who have customer service issues therby reducing customer attrition rate with the system doing a lot of the work automatically. CRM workflow on this level gives you a transparent view into all these processes so you can easily see any recurring patterns in your business that are causing your organization not to run as efficiently as it should.. CRM workflow can also give you extensive data reporting on your customer inquiries. For example, if there is a specific question that your customer service team repeatedly has to answer, you can cut down on your CSR cost by implementing a FAQ sheet with your product. Customer service data reporting will also help you improve on your product by being able to provide data on any complaints. Understanding customer inquiries and being able to predict what issues you might have post-sale will also help you tailor and customize your customer service training in a more effective way. Uncovering small problems in your business can help you make decisions that can have immediate impact on the profitability in your company. Customer relationship management software can also automate administrative tasks such as sending e-mails and status notifications. It is very important that you automate as many processes in your business as you possibly can in order to improve the productivity and profitability of your organization. Taking the time to implement CRM work in this area will prove to be a very strategic decision. Need help automating your best business practices into CRM workflow? We can help, for more information give us a call at 858-541-1820 or by email at info@rbdata.com |
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Relationship Management | The Difference between Relationship Management Marketing and CRM Explained
Relationship managment marketing (RMM) is a rather complex promotional approach that differs greatly from other forms of promotion that companies utilize. Some people believe that relationship management marketing is the same as customer relationship management (CRM) but although the two are closely connected, they refer to different strategies and techniques. Relationship management marketing aims to improve customer satisfaction and to build long-lasting relationships between a corporation and its clients. This approach is subtle, unlike the promotions that are carried out to maximize sales. Corporate website development, PR and the usage of online channels are all important parts of RMM efforts. This form of marketing is more complex, going beyond the simple interactions that involve selling and buying goods and services. Multiple channels can be utilized to establish relationships. Internet and social networks in particular play an important role. Customer relationship management solutions such as Microsoft CRM, Salesforce.com and GoldMine CRM can be utilized to maximize the results of relationship building campaigns. The two aspects of the process are, however, quite different. CRM was defined in the late 1990s. This business process is heavily reliant on technological developments. It is a much more encompassing marketing strategy, managing and affecting all relations between a company and its customers. Technological innovations are used to better organize, promote and coordinate the advertising efforts of a business, regardless of the aim or the specifics of the campaign. CRM is broader and much more complex than the single marketing effort that strives building better ties with potential and current clients. CRM has several main goals. It establishes relations with new clients. It also maintains good ties to the people who have already tried the services and products of a company. One of CRM's important goals is to win back old clients that have decided to purchase somebody else's products. Overall, CRM strives to minimize marketing costs and to manage all processes connected to a company's relationship with its clients. CRM can be seen as a large scale business strategy. Marketing that focuses on relationships is a part of this strategy but its magnitude is smaller and the campaign is concentrated inside a single promotional niche. A definition that distinguishes the two terms can easily be given. While CRM is concerned with the creation of strategies, RMM is the manner in which these business plans concerning company-customer relationship get implemented. In today's world, CRM is of exceptional importance for every company. The fact that it is so crucial for success has led to the development of numerous customer relationship management hi-tech solutions. All of these minimize the chance of human error and make planning, sorting and analyzing information much easier. CRM and RM are very much connected and the two cannot exist without each other. CRM is the set of tools and technological innovations that facilitate the strategic process. RMM on the other hand is the specific campaign, the manner in which a company strives to establish long-term relationships with its clients. Some people use the terms CRM and RMM to refer to the same things but a major difference does exist. Each one of these is important for the successful marketing of a company but the strategic approach happens to be quite different. For more help implementing CRM and Relationship Management Marketing strategies in your organization contact us at 858-541-1820 or by email at info@rbdata.com |
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Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 is very popular customer relationship management software that can help bring a lot of flexibility and agility to your Corporation. If you have a company that either collects a lot of leads or is dependent upon lead generation in order to increase revenues then, a CRM will help you streamline this process effectively so you can pinpoint major problems and address them as well as improve upon your successes and enlarge them to make them into even greater successes. Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 implementation in a business can make the difference between a moderately successful business and an extremely profitable business. Why are you making money? Many sales companies, although successful, may not be able to pinpoint exactly where in the sales process they are being successful. Well, what if you were able to pinpoint the exact point in the process where you are successful and then improve upon that particular system? Would it have a positive effect on your business? You bet it would, and as a matter-of-fact with Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 implementation you can properly diagnose the sales process which will allow you to easily see any problems or hiccups in your sales presentation. Microsoft dynamics CRM 2011 can also enhance the value that you have with your customers by providing a knowledge-based system that will allow them to log into your server for customer support. If you sell a piece of software that may require additional support, you can cut down on technical support costs by implementing a CRM system which will give your customers the answer that they are looking for. And if they cannot find the answer to their inquiry, then your customer is able to submit a ticket on the spot. This not only improves your customer relationship by providing quick answers, but it can also help streamline your business and even create referrals for you because of your customer service. If you have different sales forces within your organization utilizing the CRM system can help you adequately track each sales force so you can identify exactly where in the sales process someone is having an issue. This will also help you during your training, allowing you to focus on the real issues rather than general motivating speech. This can also have positive effects on employee retention.Within the Microsoft dynamics CRM system is the ability of work reporting for your entire organization. If you have purchased a certain type of lead, you can find out very quickly if that lead is profitable in your business and either expand on it or cut it out so you can increase revenues in your business model. Every Corporation whether large or small will have many successes and internal failures that they may or may not be aware of. The question is how long can you afford to let your company go on without understanding the specific processes in your businesses that are making a positive difference and the ones that are making negative difference. Getting the ability to improve your Corporation bit by bit is extremely powerful over a long period of time. For more information how we can help your organization give us a call at 858-541-1820 or by email at info@rbdata.com. |
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If you're here, you realize very well that selection of the best customer relationship management software is critical to your business' image as well as continuity. I'd like to give you an experience based Microsoft CRM vs Goldmine CRM review, so that you can match up the right platform with your requirements. We'll first go over a brief overview of the CRM software provided by both Microsoft as well as Goldmine and then proceed to compare them on the basis of their utilities and what you need. Onward… # 1 : The Microsoft CRM Platform With it's service intensive "Dynamnics" CRM, Microsoft has tried to segment your marketing efforts into targeted groups of your consumer base. The idea being that it's easier to stear your sales funnels to a targeted group with a common set of needs, when the same effort is accounted for the same consumers in your customer service. Ultimately, your lists of leads and continuity customers, along with their service history and analytics, can be ported into multiple formats that will be used in different formats of sales accounts, workflows and moving sales plans (hence the name "dynamics"). These will be used by your customer service team to form important cases and feed them into your consumer knowledgebase. It also allows you to manage several contracts and updates on them, all integrated into one complex byt powerful platform! That's a pretty strong usage strategy for a CRM, I'd say. Microsoft CRM uses .NETAJAX technology, which makes using it comparable to using a seperate client program. Easy to use SQL data. With experience of having worked on it in different firms, what I've seen is that people use the Microsoft CRM due to it's tight integration with Outlook, Word & Excel and the user interface. Also,firms that had their data on Exchange and SQL preferred it. The only places where the team didn't choose Microsoft was because they avoided everything from Microsoft and it was just a general negative feeling that would often lead to many problems. Long run Cost: Per user – Moderate Positives: > Excellent Remote Access Negatives: > Still a lot of clicking to get tasks done # 2 : The Goldmine CRM Software Package This platform too focuses on list division, but the primary and stronger focus is on sales-automation and project scheduling. It's intensive. Even the calls monitored will have their own clocking module running separately with respect to project progress and consumer queries! Though an advantage, many have found that for smaller servicing requirements, going over the entire reporting and synchronization process a number of times can, and does, get cumbersome. For bigger projects and a large number of customers for every product/service, it can work wonders. Since this is again Windows based, some firms like to have it sitting right next to their Informix and Oracle databases. It gets easy to work with their tables when modifying them in windows with Goldmine. Long run Cost: Per User – Moderate to Slightly High Positives: > Many 3rd party tools and add-ons Negatives: > User interface is complicated and overloaded A FAIR COMPARISON: With the servicing part known to you, let's compare these on a technical basis, something many people writing a Microsoft CRM vs Goldmine CRM review goof-up with bias when giving their opinion. So hang tight… # 1 : Ease of Use Goldmine = BAD # 2 : Ability to customize Goldmine = Moderate, can add custom fields and views # 3 : Interface Goldmine = Client platform on windows and has been improved with Premium Edition # 4 : Software Complexity Goldmine = MODERATE with a somewhat convoluted data structure # 5 : Training Goldmine = Needs tough training That said, I would finally give you my ideal choice. I have used both extensively and am truly better off with the Microsoft CRM. But again, that's my experience saying. Your performance needs and target market will ultimately dictate what you'll love. Both solutions offer free 30 day trial version so I would suggest that you try both and see which product you prefer. |
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CRM software has become very popular lately. CRS stands for "Customer Relationship Management". CRM software can help companies manage prospects, current customers, and other business contacts. However, many people do not have a full understanding of how sales and CRM software can be directly correlated. In this article we will go over some fundamental facts about CRM software and the headaches and issues it can solve in your business. Regardless if you have a small company that is getting started or a well-established company, your sales and CRM will be correlated. |
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Microsoft Dynamics CRM Reporting One of the most important aspects that keeps a company alive is how well it deals with its customer or client relationships and that is the focus of CRM or Customer Relationship Management. The goal of CRM is to enable the company to get a good view on who their best customers are, and what they tend to purchase or avail of in the company, what products or services they do not like and what comments or reactions they have to the other services, products and marketing moves that the company makes. On paper that may all sound really complicated by the trick is to use a dedicated database software that keeps track of all these and will allow company employees to easily access the data for future references and internal analysis. Understanding the customers is what keeps a company alive. The issue with CRM is that it is not just a database. CRM software will allow the employers and the employees of the company to create unique dynamic reports and lists to help them perform different analytical studies on the data. There are numerous databases and software used for CRM and CRM reporting but the one true software utilized today is Microsoft Dynamics CRM. There are a lot of reasons why Microsoft Dynamics CRM is the go-to software; it integrates tightly with the Microsoft Office applications that pretty much everybody is familiar with (Outlook, Word and Excel) the cloud infrastructure is the most modern means of network connectivity, and it is the only CRM tool that completely integrates an email system and active communications system. For example: via Microsoft Dynamics CRM reporting where a group of employees create a study table of all the products that customers buy, how customers value these products purchases and how long it takes before the same customer purchases the same product will be the key to determine which are the most profitable consumers that the company has. This is one of the most essential reports that CRM delivers; it is important for a company to know who values the company the most. Another good example of productive Dynamics CRM reporting is when the company pools out the data from the database to study which products coming from the company receive the least amount of error reports or complaints and then those that receive the most. From these reports the company can properly assess what production designs they need to change and can make a forecast on how these changes can affect their sales. It is vital for a company to identify what makes them sell, what the customers like and don’t like and what the public is saying and CRM tools are the gist of getting that information sorted out, analyzed and then manipulated for the company’s assets. Why resort to old-school systems like paper case studies (or manually putting the information into Excel) when you can analyze all the data coming directly from your company and the clients with the Microsoft’s Dynamics CRM reporting tool? |
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Microsoft Dynamics CRM Server: The Ultimate CRM Solution for Enterprises
Dynamics CRM has come a long way in providing high-quality customized services to users. The latest version of the Microsoft Dynamics CRM server is Microsoft CRM 2011 which includes the power of cloud computing. Microsoft has different versions of their CRM software. If you want to deploy CRM in-house for a workforce greater than 5 in number, you need the server version; CRM Server 2011. Flexibility and control will be in your hands. You can take advantage of the seamless integration with your Office suite and also use Dynamics CRM right from within Outlook to leverage the advantages better. CRM Server 2011 integrates with your Microsoft server infrastructure perfectly. A CRM server license is required for each instance of your software running on the systems and Client Access Licenses are required for every person who will use the CRM server. What you can achieve with the MS CRM Server 2011 far exceeds what you could with older versions of the software. What you gain from using this server is even greater. When you give your people the right tools (MS CRM), you can expect the right results, experience success in achieving goals and receive maximum ROI. You will find below a set of benefits that the CRM 2011 (on-premises or cloud) can offer to your enterprise. 1. CRM 2011 is highly cost effective when you consider licensing, training, maintenance, administration and deployment. 2. Boost your productivity. Your sales processes can be automated such that you close deals fast and reduce the sales cycle times. Data access is much faster; you don’t have to wait to retrieve customers data. The result of all this is an improved relationship with your customers. 3. Easy to navigate. CRM Server 2011 integrates completely with your existing Office products. You can start using the CRM directly from Internet Explorer or Outlook, both of which are very familiar to use. Users are, therefore, able to adapt to the environment quickly while delivering fast results. There is no delay in setting up the system to work for you. 4. Cloud options for the server enable the entire system to run much faster and better. Your business can take advantage of cloud computing to reduce maintenance and systems management costs. Microsoft guarantees that the cloud you sign up for will always be available. Now, your business can be run cost-effectively with great flexibility. 5. Create multiple teams around the world. With the power of the cloud you can have multiple teams in different locations working with Server 2011’s integrated tools to help them communicate and collaborate with each other while driving global results. With Microsoft Dynamics CRM Server you can grow your business no matter how big or small it is. Its flexibility allows it to grow with you as your business grows. The state-of-the-art technology used in CRM 2011 ensures total and reliable security. This is a simple, reliable and affordable CRM solution. |
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Microsoft xRM is a platform for developing applications which help reduce the costs and time associated with custom-development of the relational Line of Business (LOB) applications. This is not a product, but simple extensions and customizations added to the CRM to make it more than a sales tool. This is an evolved version of CRM, as it makes it possible for businesses to manage more than their customer relationships. Now you can think of Microsoft CRM as a rapid development application with various CRM functionalities making it capable of leveraging the platform of .NET plus many Microsoft applications. This xRM platform makes it possible for companies to build business processes way faster and at a lower cost and with less risk than any other purchased solution. Compared to its predecessor which was used by the customer service, marketing and sales personnel, the xRM can be used by all teams in your business. In terms of functions CRM could only manage the clients relation while this platform help automate whichever business process while managing customer relation. This software equips your team applications to unleash service, marketing and sales prospective among others. Why use xRM? The main reason why you should use Microsoft dynamic CRM platform over SQL server is because it has the sales-force automation, e-commerce, help desk, activity tracking among other features. Other xRM features include: 1. Work-flow- this includes an end user interface which makes it possible for managers to manage workflows on the various entities in Microsoft dynamic CRM. This model includes custom actions, branching, and conditions like creating additional CRM records and sending emails. This feature can run across your whole business to implement the various business behaviors. 2. Security-there is a very strong security model in this platform including the concept of records sharing and concept of ownership, permission model and business unit. The permission model includes the scope concept like editing-records-owned-by-me and within the company. 3. When it comes to reporting, Microsoft dynamic CRM uses both reporting services and Microsoft excel. This includes a reporting wizard which shows the user how to create very useful reports on the information stored in CRM. These reports are static and can be used by other users. 4. Office integration- the CRM can be integrated with Microsoft office easily by including an offline and online client which can be installed on your workstation. This makes it possible for various Microsoft outlook users to interact with CRM system directly in outlook. The offline client makes it possible for the user to interact with CRM system while disconnected to the office network. 5. Microsoft xRM handles various customer management tasks like managing and sending email, managing the appointment calendar and storing the clients contacts. The xRM meets your company needs by modifying CRM to match your objectives. The various web-based design-tools make it simple for you to modify the data fields, application forms plus relationships. The process automation makes it possible for your company to transform various repetitive errands into powerful automated workflows. 6. This software integrates information and application via the web services creating various seamless links across various platforms and systems. |
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CRM is an acronym from the phrase "customer relationship management." It will be the common expression used to clarify the management of potential customers through the sales process. The actual CRM software cannot only arrange customer information, but additionally supplies a method to monitor sales leads and possibilities from the time they may be up to once the sale is sealed. It's an approach widely utilized for the control over a business connection with clients and sales leads. It's really down to using technology to arrange and synchronize company processes, primarily sales activities, but additionally marketing procedures, customer support and tech support. The general goals will be to determine, attract and seize new business, and keep the existing ones and also motivate former clients to get back together with the company. It details a business technique throughout the enterprise, such as the divisions of interaction together with the customer in addition to customer relationships sections. Measuring is vital to the implementation of the strategy. CRM is frequently an information program that may be manipulated manually, as a token program or perhaps an automated computer system. It truly is software created for taking care of customer relationships (CRM), which may be installed straight to a computer or perhaps a web-based program, accessible only on the internet. Microsoft CRM systems are of help and beneficial in the handling of all the client information such as names, telephone numbers, residences and buying history where people in the common are already familiar and use Outlook every day because of the tight integration between Outlook and Microsoft CRM. Technological innovation and the Internet already have transformed just how businesses and enterprises deal with CRM strategies since the technological developments also delivered a modification of the buying habits of the customer. and offer brand new ways for the business to convey together with the clients and acquire data on them. With every fresh step drawn in the realm of the technology, especially the conception connected with self-service channels such as the Internet and smartphones, associations with customers are digitally controlled. Many facets of CRM are dependent mainly on technology. However the strategies of an improved CRM system can acquire manage along with link data in addition to information concerning the client, so as to help you promote then sell services more efficiently. Sales increase, improved client satisfaction, and substantial financial savings are benefits to the company. Proponents point out the technology ought to be carried out only together with a cautious tactical and operational preparation. Successful CRM implementations are always more about refining and automating business strategies than technology The largest challenges that the CRM might have is inadequate usability which is why Microsoft made the decision to tightly integrate Microsoft CRM which 80% of business already know and use. By having an easy to use interface dramatically improves user adoption. No CRM system can be considered a success unless everyone in an organization will use it. |
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As over used as the tag line of "let's you do more with less" is, that is exactly what happens when you properly use Microsoft CRM segmentation. Why? Let's say that one of the products that you company sells is the Alpha 5. Perhaps your company is getting ready to replace the Alpha 5 with the Alpha 6 which has many new features as well as compliance benefits in the states of California, Arizona and Texas. With CRM segmentation you could run a marketing campaign targeting only companies who purchased the Maybe your current sales data base has 100,000 prospects and clients in it but only 7,500 customers world California, Arizona or Texas. This means that instead of doing a mass mailing to 100,000 that you can do a targeted mailing to 500. If the cost of each mail piece, including postage, that you Not only would your mailing cost for the campaign be dramatically lower but now you can make your messaging much more relevant to your target group. Now instead of sending out a generic message to the 100,000 people in your data base your messaging might be something along the lines of: ************************************************* Hi Bob, As an owner of the Alpha 5 since March 4, 2009, I am excited to let you know that we are getting ready to come out with the Alpha 6. The primary advantages of the Alpha 6 over the Alpha 5 are: Advantage 1 Advantage 2 Advantage 3 Plus the Alpha 6 is in full compliance with your new Texas OSHA regulation A5208 which the Alpha 5 is not. For the next 90 days, until Dec 21, 2011, you can purchase the Alpha 6 at our prefered customer promotional pricing of $72,500. After Dec 21, 2011 the price of the Alpha 6 will return to its normal price of $105,000. I will give you a call in the next few days to discuss this further. Sincerely yours, Joe Salesperson
If this sounds like something that you would like to learn more about, then give us a call at 858-541-1820 or send us an email at info@rbdata.com and we will tell you more about how you can put this power of CRM segmentation to work for you. |
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Copyright 2002-2011 RB Data Services Links Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Certified Consultants - Microsoft Dynamics CRM. Salesforce.com and GoldMine Software
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