This phrase could also be applied to technology and, in particular, CRM systems.

While CRM systems have proved crucial in automating the sales, marketing and service processes of growing organisations worldwide, it's fair to say that if you speak to 100 organisations who have implemented a CRM system, it is unlikely that all of their experiences will be unanimously positive.

Problems within CRM implementations can happen due to a number of reasons, and we've previously discussed how users can initially be resistant to the changes that installing a new system brings.

Problems could also occur due to a communication breakdown between vendor and organisation, and it's also possible for a poor CRM experience to happen after the initial installation and training period has taken place.

Some users will have a lot invested in their spreadsheets and other systems, and may therefore revert back to these "tried and trusted" ways of working.

To combat (yes, it can be like a warzone!) a lack of usage from employees, you have to have measures in place to monitor individual users' involvement. Any decent CRM system will do this automatically; all that remains for managers and business owners to do is to let everyone know that their input does matter.

Updating CRM – user adoption

For any CRM system to achieve its goals and be declared a 'success', it needs to be used. Kind-of obvious, and establishing goals prior to implementation can help to get users on board and enthused. It goes without saying that there should be buy-in at the top.

CRM often gets the blame, but it is much more likely that the change process is ignored and, subsequently, CRM blamed for a perceived lack of impact. It is estimated that CRM systems don't show any return until you achieve 80% adoption, and less than 40% of systems installed ever reach above 90%.  Source: Simon Jones, PC Pro, March 2013

If you buy the best smartphone on the market and barely utilise its capabilities, is it a bad phone?

We have previously discussed the issues you may face when implementing CRM. Once the CRM system is available within your business, and the users (staff) are on board, it is important that you ensure the effort – and expense – of implementing the system does not go to waste.

There are numerous CRM systems available, all of which will claim to be the one that will help you to grow your business. But regardless of which system you choose, it's only as good as the data you put into it.

Bad Data = Bad CRM.

5 Steps for CRM Success

To ensure that your organisation maximises the benefits of CRM, it's important to take the following steps:

1. Stay involved throughout the implementation and ensure you discuss your business needs fully with your CRM vendor both before and throughout the implementation process
2. Ensure that all staff – not just those in IT – are suitably trained in using the system and regularly check that they are using it
3. Make sure that CRM remains at the forefront of any concerted marketing or sales campaigns
4. Regularly monitor your CRM system and ensure that sufficient 'spot checks' take place to ensure that all members of staff are using the system fully
5. Set your Sales and Marketing teams specific targets that can be monitored through CRM

A fully-functional CRM system – such as Microsoft Dynamics CRM – is undoubtedly of great benefit to businesses and organisations all over the world. But it’s something that business owners and directors need to get behind.

Only by fully utilising your CRM system will you fully reap its benefits. Remember, you only get out what you put in…

Sound interesting? Find out more about Microsoft Dynamics CRM and download a FREE 28-day trial for your organisation.

At Contact Edge CRM, we specialise in Microsoft CRM, which helps businesses find creative ways to engage with customers.  And by accurately tracking how the first engagement was initiated, it's easy to determine which elements of your marketing strategy are working.

How many times have you had to call back an organisation, only for them to seemingly have no record of your initial conversation?

Though the person on the phone isn't necessarily to blame, it's hugely frustrating having to explain your issue again; knowing that the first member of staff you spoke to hasn't fulfilled your request, or at the very least passed on your message.

The truth is, communication has broken down. When you're in an office with two members of staff, passing on a message (in full) is easy. But as your business grows, the lines of communication can blur. And the standards of your customer service can suffer.

Organising your business

Most of the time, mistakes of this ilk won't mean that you are a poor organisation, rather that there is poor organisation within your ranks.

It might seem the easiest solution to leave a post-it note on the desk of your colleague who needs to call back the customer. But what good is a post-it-note? Even an email can struggle to convey the urgency, or the context, of a phone call, which will only lead to frustration from your customer.

When staff shortages and memory lapses are taken into consideration, this ‘system’ falls down. Which leads to damage to your brand.

A note or email also don't give any permanent record of the call, which could potentially cause further issues down the line.

If you're a growing organisation, it's time to get properly organised and centralise all of your data in one easy-to-use system.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM

Microsoft Dynamics CRM enables you to easily store activities against every lead, prospect, contact or customer.

Once all members of staff are as familiar with CRM as they are with Outlook, every call, email or letter you receive will be logged electronically, and messages and tasks assigned to the person who is most likely to delight the customer.

Then, organising your business – and clearing your desk – becomes a real possibility.

If your desk is getting swamped with post-it notes, listen to my recent radio appearance where I discuss CRM systems and what they can offer your business.

Contact Edge CRM specialise in Microsoft CRM, which helps businesses find creative ways to engage with customers.  And by accurately tracking how the first engagement was initiated, it is easy to determine which elements of your marketing strategy are working.

"This is going to be the year which my business takes off!"

If you're a business owner, it's natural that you will want – and maybe even expect – 2013 to prove more profitable than 2012. We all have faith and belief in our business and the freshness that a New Year brings can only enhance the confidence that our businesses will continue to grow.

But if your organisation has seen steady growth in recent years, how do you ensure that this ascent continues in 2013?

Whilst 'by doing more of the same' may seem like the obvious answer, we have previously discussed how growing businesses can end up becoming victims of their own success.

With demand from customers so high, they are simply unable to meet the high Sales and Customer Service standards that helped them to reach the level they're now at. What's more, with attention solely on meeting the weight of demand, they are unable to provide sufficient marketing support, meaning attracting further fresh customers is proving difficult.

Every business is different, but the principles and goals largely remain the same.

Acquiring new customers, keeping the existing ones happy, while reducing the costs of marketing, selling and servicing are the basic requirements for any company.

As we enter 2013, it's worth asking if you have the tools in-place to continue to do this.

Growing your Business

As my recent visit to the PPMA Show illustrated, many businesses – particularly in the manufacturing sector – are naturally focusing their attention on what they are good at, meaning the  focus on Finding, Winning and Keeping new customers is neglected.

This is because, as explained above, the need to cope with growing demand means that they are unable to dedicate any time to marketing.

Ultimately, this makes it difficult for the business to continue to grow due to being heavily reliant on referrals to bring in new customers.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM can help you to bridge the gap between satisfying the growing needs of existing customers and attracting new ones, with automated processes incorporating Sales, Marketing, Service, Email Marketing and Social Media.

It offers great flexibility to businesses, giving staff the ability to create new fields relevant to your organisation in a matter of seconds. Perhaps most importantly, with an easy-to-use interface it ensures that all the information on all of your clients, prospects, contacts and sales leads are stored in one easy-to-use system.

By utilising an automated system such as Microsoft Dynamics CRM, it enables you to then continue to deliver the first-class service you have provided your customers with in 2012, as well as being able to nurture prospective new customers.

Which means that, with the necessary tools in-place, all of that New Year optimism may well be justified.

Sound interesting? To find out more about CRM systems and what they can offer your business, listen to my recent appearance on Star FM's Business Hub show.

Contact Edge CRM specialise in Microsoft CRM, which helps businesses find creative ways to engage with customers.  And by accurately tracking how the first engagement was initiated, it is easy to determine which elements of your marketing strategy are working.

One tradition that, perhaps surprisingly, continues to survive the digital revolution is the annual sending of Christmas cards.

While e-cards and social media greetings may have slightly reduced the weight of the Royal Mail postbag, compiling a lengthy list of existing and lapsed friends and relatives and sending them your festive greetings continues to remain a tradition in households all over the UK.

For those of you organised enough to possess either a fully-updated (paper or electronic) personal address book, you can feel very smug when compiling your Christmas cards this year.

For rest of us, it can be a difficult task. Things change so quickly in a year; people move address, people get married and, sometimes, it's just impossible to keep track of everything. What starts as a nice, festive gesture to reach out to people can soon become a bit of a nightmare.

Keeping in touch with your contacts

We've previously stressed the importance of staying in touch with existing customers, with you being seven times more likely to sell to an existing customer than a brand new one.

It's also important to stay front-of-mind of potential customers who may not yet be at a stage to actually commit to a purchase. For example, a company who is selling cars might know that a prospect doesn't currently have any need for a new car, but wants to let them know that they are the dealership to buy from if and when they do.

What better time to get back in touch than the one time of year when it is universally acceptable?

Retail outlets will, of course, be focussing their efforts on putting their brand at the forefront of people's minds, which will include email and even direct mail marketing.

But what about the rest of us?

Even if we're not selling anything, Christmas is a great time to reach out to our customers, contacts, leads and prospects.

And by having everything to hand in an easy-to-use CRM system, it's a much easier task.

What's more, actually sending your Business Christmas Greetings out is stress free due to Microsoft Dynamics CRM's easy integration with Outlook, which enables bulk email sending, as well as easy analysis of open and click-through rates.

And, while an e-card from a friend or relative may not quite be the same as receiving a handwritten card in the post, an e-card from a business can be a nice reminder and something that propels you back into their consciousness.

Merry Christmas!

At Contact Edge CRM, we specialise in Microsoft CRM, which helps businesses find creative ways to engage with customers. And by accurately tracking how the first engagement was initiated, it's easy to determine which elements of your marketing strategy are working.

We've previously discussed that many of the potential problems surrounding a CRM installation can stem from a natural resistance to change.

Everyone works in their own way. They deem this way successful and, as such, why should they change anything?

This is a concept explored further in the book Switch: How to Change things when Change is Hard, by Chip & Dan Heath.

Switch discusses why we all find it so hard to make lasting changes, whether it's in our own lives, our companies or our communities.

In an interesting, story-driven narrative, the book brings together decades of research in psychology, sociology, and other fields to shed new light on how we can effect transformational change.

The text shows that successful changes follow a pattern; a pattern you can use to make the changes that matter to you, whether your interest is in changing the world or changing your waistline.

As someone who regularly deals with CRM installations, one segment of the book in particular resonated with me. The story discusses how a series of hospitals were trying to embrace replacing Open-Heart Surgery with a new, complex kind of surgery called 'Minimally invasive cardiac surgery' (MICS).

Without going into huge detail, the study found that some, more considered, hospitals successfully learned and embraced the new technique, but several, more gung-ho approaches failed and retreated to back to open-heart surgery.

To go back to the CRM analogy, CRM is a bit like MICS, compared to using a spreadsheet that you can very quickly construct to make sense of data. The trouble with spreadsheets is that, like the open-heart surgery, the patient takes a long time to recover.

Deploying CRM can be a rough road, but with a growth mindset it will rapidly deliver benefits far beyond the scope of a humble spreadsheet.

I would strongly recommend this book. I learnt a number of life lessons – seemingly insurmountable obstacles just need to have the Switch formula applied to it. It also reminded me of some situations where something did not work out, and I now can see where it went wrong.

I'd also consider it compulsory reading for anyone who wants to make a success of a CRM implementation, or even fix a failed installation.

Do you have a book recommendation? If you have any thoughts you'd like to share, please contact me via Twitter or LinkedIn.

I recently made my radio debut, appearing on the local airwaves for a 10-minute interview on Star Radio as part of their excellent Business Hub programme.

I was invited onto the show as a guest after participating in a hugely interesting discussion on the show’s LinkedIn group about CRM systems.

The LinkedIn discussion has seen many pertinent points raised about CRM, and also highlighted many of the misconceptions that surround the use and implementation of new CRM systems.

If you're someone that has pre-conceived ideas of CRM systems, it's important to remember that the technology – in this case the CRM system – is the enabler, not the solution.

Many of those who cite bad experiences when it comes to using a CRM system have failed to fully utilise its capabilities. Regardless of the CRM system in-question, it is only as good as the data you put in.

Bad data = Bad CRM.

Meanwhile, if you're someone who's thought about a CRM system but aren't sure where to start, my advice is simple: Get stuck in!

If you're a smaller business, free CRM systems are available. I've seen too many businesses waiting for the perfect system that simply doesn't exist. Any CRM system is better than none as even the smallest systems have capabilities that spreadsheets don't have and, as explained above, it's then up to you and your business to ensure that you are getting the maximum performance levels out of it.

To hear more on this topic, you can listen to my full 10-minute interview with Ann Hawkins on The Business Hub below.

Listen to the Interview

The Business Hub can be heard on Star Radio, a Cambridge-based radio station, every Sunday morning at 9am on 107.9FM in Cambridge or St Ives, or from anywhere in the world on the Star Radio website.

If you're unsure of which CRM system is for you, click here for more information.

If you've never been, I’d strongly recommend it. It really is a well-run event and a great opportunity to meet and speak to some fantastic, intelligent manufacturers, as well as getting a glimpse of some of the latest products and gadgets in the industry.

You can find out more details at the PPMA Show website.

One of the reasons for my attendance at the show was I wanted to see if my long-held belief that manufacturing was an industry that needed CRM still rang true.

Having spoken to countless different businesses, I can categorically state that it does.

At the PPMA Show, I was privileged to see some of the finest machinery that this country has to offer. After meeting one delegate at a particularly interesting stand and exchanging business cards, I received an email a couple of days later thanking me for my interest in the business and saying it was nice to meet me.

The business in question, clearly, had automated processes and good follow-up systems in place. However, it is fair to say that this business was the exception rather than the rule.

Others are, understandably, so dedicated and focussed on producing their wonderful machinery, that automating sales and marketing processes are put on the back burner.

This is where a system such as Microsoft CRM could help them.

CRM for Manufacturers

It is understandable that manufacturers are focussed on manufacturing processes. Because of the manufacture-focus, time spent on Finding, Winning & Keeping customers is often neglected, and this results in manufacturers punching well below their weight.

Time constraints in business is a familiar tale not exclusive to the manufacturing industry. Growing organisations feel they simply can't dedicate the necessary time to sales and marketing efforts and, as a result, rely almost solely on referrals from existing customers to bring in new clients.

Based on my visit to PPMA, there is no doubt that manufacturers are able to create inspiring products. The flip-side is that high-value, vertical markets have only a few potential customers, and a lengthy sales cycle. Therefore nurturing leads towards securing a sale is a good idea, meaning that every interaction with the lead builds on the previous one, and gently coaxes them towards becoming a customer.

This is where Microsoft Dynamics CRM can help with its automated processes, incorporating Sales, Marketing, Service, Email marketing and Social Media.

If you’re a manufacturer keen to take your business to the next level and improve your sales, marketing and customer service processes, why not sign-up for a FREE 30 day Microsoft CRM trial to see what it can do for your business.

At Contact Edge CRM, we specialise in Microsoft CRM, which helps businesses find creative ways to engage with customers. And by accurately tracking how the first engagement was initiated, it's easy to determine which elements of your marketing strategy are working.

Twitter is awash with 'noise' of this ilk, meaning it can sometimes be difficult to get your voice heard amongst hordes of back links and hashtags.

Some blogs are more blatant than others; I'd like to think that ours is readable and informative whether you buy our products or not.  With this in mind, it's nice to very occasionally go against the grain and write about something other than the stuff that you work with on a daily basis.

This is why I wrote a new blog post for each of the last three books which I read. The three books are hugely influential business books, all of which are a must-read for innovators, entrepreneurs and business owners alike.

Enjoy!

The Innovator's Dilemma

Probably the best place to start, with a book that is widely-considered to be one of the most influential business books of recent times.

Written by Clayton M.Christensen, the text provides a modern slant on the Profits vs. Innovation conundrum, and argues that in many big companies it is difficult for innovation to triumph over 'bad profits'.

Listed by Steve Jobs as one of his favourite books of all-time, the text is believed to have played a big part in Jobs' attitude and (extremely brave) decision-making when he returned to Apple.

Get it on Amazon

The Ultimate Question 2.0

The answer to a single defining question is the most important thing to your company's future, argues Frank Reichheld in his ground-breaking text. I won't spoil it by mentioning the question here, out of context. But once you know what the question is, you'll see it pop up in many surveys from very successful companies.

This is another eye-opening book for any business owner, which actually proves that people who strive to deliver first-class customer service can – and invariably do – finish first.

Get it on Amazon

The Lean Startup

A definite must-read for any existing or would-be entrepreneur, as respected American entrepreneur Eric Ries offers an insight into the reasons that so many startup's fall by the wayside.

Ries' text a is ground-breaking one in that it offers a scientific approach for evaluating the direction the business is heading into, while mitigating risk of failure.

Get it on Amazon

View the new posts

• The Innovator's Dilemma
• The Ultimate Question 2.0
• The Lean Startup

With over 175 million business people worldwide and in excess of 10 million in the UK considering LinkedIn to be the pre-eminent business online networking platform, having an active profile on the social network has never been so important.

LinkedIn is now the place for professionals to connect and network online, as well as giving them the platform to market their skills, expertise and products and services.

This workshop will give delegates all they need to make LinkedIn a key part of their business development and marketing toolbox.

The workshop will cover:

• Why LinkedIn is an increasingly key business tool
• How to get the most out of LinkedIn as a business professional
• Identifying prospects and how to approach them
• Ways to get yourself seen and market your services & products to the right people
• Much, much more!

The workshop is taking place on the morning (registration from 8.30) of Thursday 4th October and is being held at the Rural Business Centre, Essex (CM1 3RR).

The cost of the LinkedIn for Business Workshop is £69 per delegate, but an early bird rate of just £49 is available until 21st September.

Click here to book your place, or for further details contact Malcolm Johnston at malcolm@reformationassociates.com or view the Event Page.

This much-repeated saying is the one that most businesses live by.

The reason so many organisations adhere to this motto is because they are determined to give their customers the best possible experience and deliver the best possible levels of customer service.

No organisation ever wants to deliver anything less then the best when it comes to their customers; the best products and the best levels of customer care.

How then, are so many getting it wrong?

Bad Customer Service

In the past year, 78% of consumers have either bailed on a transaction or not made an intended purchase because of poor customer service.

For a consumer, it takes 12 positive service experiences to make up for one negative experience. Meaning that if you don't get your customer service right, your business will suffer.

As we've recently discussed, it is the big boys that can often get it so wrong when it comes to making the customer feel valued. How many automated company emails from have you been told not to reply to? How many times have you been kept on hold for ridiculous lengths of time, only to have to repeat your claim to call centre workers?

When attracting a new customer costs 5 times as much as keeping an existing one, this makes no sense from a business perspective.

No-one intends to give bad customer service. But as businesses grow, it can seem impossible to maintain the high standards that were set in their initial development. This can be due to time constraints (due to excessive demand for business), a lack of man-power or a lack of time to train new staff.

Whatever the reason, the standards of customer service falls. And business is lost.

Empowering the Customer

Ultimately, the goal is to somehow tailor to the needs of each and every one of your customers.

We discussed previously how valuable email marketing can be when the content is tailored to the individual. And, as the importance of social media continues to ascend and the line between marketing and customer service is blurring, similar principles now apply whatever medium you are using to speak to your customers, leads and prospects.

Microsoft CRM is one tool that enables you to ensure that your customers are treated as individuals. With such an extensive, easily-updated database, it ensures that you are sending them messages as much - or as little – as they wish. And via the medium of their choice.

It enables you to pre-set your emails to ensure that the customer is feeling valued, receiving tailored information that is useful to them.

While you can use Microsoft CRM's Auto-responders as part of a Lead Nurturing campaign, it is once again neccessary to stress the importance of keeping your existing customers happy (remember the one in 5 stat above).

These lists are easily managed and, while they are automated, when done well they should not obviously be so. By sending these messages along certain 'stages' of their customer journey (e.g. a month after purchase, 3 months, 6 months etc), you are maintaining high standards of customer care even after the initial purchase.

Everything to hand

While the major corporates of this world are unable to ensure that every element of their customer service is always spot-on, as growing businesses it is vital to ensure that our own levels of customer care always are the best they can be.

With Microsoft Dynamics CRM, you will instantly have all the information you need to hand. You will see what they want sort of information from you – how they want it, and how much they want it.

By utilising a database that not only allows you to track every interaction a customer has had with your business – right down to how many times they have visited your website, and on which pages - you start to get an idea of who your customers really are. And what it is they want to take from your business.

Then, there simply can be no excuse for not getting things right.

Sound interesting? Check-out this breakdown illustrating how Microsoft CRM can help you to give Good Customer Service.

At Contact Edge CRM, we specialise in Microsoft CRM, which helps businesses find creative ways to engage with customers.  And by accurately tracking how the first engagement was initiated, it's easy to determine which elements of your marketing strategy are working.