According to US customer relationship management (CRM) software provider LogicBright, small business CRM users primarily stick to the basics when using CRM products, leaving many of the features being built into modern solutions superfluous.

The company says that with CRM software packages springing up all over the place, the marketplace is getting increasingly complex, and doing so unnecessarily according to its research data.

While it doesn’t give numbers of demographics, LogicBright says that it has surveyed users on what they want in a CRM package, and found that 81 percent want to use their CRM as a straightforward contact manager that is accessible by all employees.

Extra features such as mobile phone support, or an offline versions of the software are not needed according to the survey, with users preferring a basic system everyone in the business can access simultaneously to share company and contact information.

“It is no secret that in a troubled economy companies are looking to reduce their expenditures,” says Steve Schmidt, president of LogicBright. “It all comes back to keeping it simple and giving [..] customers what they ask for.”

This is the kind of rhetoric that starts to proliferate when times get rough and budgets are tight.  I do believe that as the CRM market has matured, more and more functionality has found its way into some of the leading CRM packages.

However, the question that each individual SMB needs to answer is, is this functionality needed or is it just adding unnecessary complexity?

That answer to that question my friends is maybe, or maybe not. The notion that ALL SMBs are, or should be, looking for simplicity is foolish.

CRM is NOT just about technology, it’s about improving an organization’s ability to get, keep and grow customers.  So, before any organization spends its precious time and money looking at CRM software alternatives, it must critique its current situation and identify the specific areas where improvements need to be made.  Technology should be viewed as a facilitator for making these improvements. So, when looking at technology alternatives it’s imperative that one evaluate the ability of each product to help.  That’s where a given product’s functions and features become relevant.  If a simple, easy to use CRM product doesn’t have the features that are needed to make desired process improvements, then it won’t be of much use.  If it does have what’s needed, then great!

bookmark to:

As the recession deepens, businesses are scrambling to adapt. Some are in serious trouble and looking for a lifeline. Others in better shape are searching for smart ways to take advantage of soft markets or weakened competitors. From either perspective, these are times that test a company’s resilience and savvy. Those who make smart decisions now can survive — and may even come out ahead. To sharpen your strategic thinking, we’ve gathered a set of tactical plays on both sides of the ball.

Play Defense -

Refinance Your Debt
Prioritize Your Debt
Raise Cash Through “Factoring”
Sell of Non-CRitical Assets to Raise Cash
Price Optimize for Your Best Customers
Rebalance Compensation from Top to Bottom

Play Offense -

Land a Private Placement to Fund Capital Investments
Exploit Revolving Credit
Take Advantage of Training Programs
Cherry Pick Top talent Away From Rivals
Double Down on Strategic Advertising
Capitalize on Affordable Luxuries

bookmark to:

There has been lots of talk of social networking penetrating the enterprise, but what about the little guys?

According to research from AMI-Partners and analyst Nikki Lambda, the uptake of social networking by small businesses is set to double over the next year. In fact, research shows that 600,000 small businesses, (companies up to 99 employees) plan to deeply integrate social networking services in the next 12 months. That number is up from 300,000, which is approximately five percent of the total number of small businesses (SBs) in the United States. Lambda’s research on social networking is part of a larger AMI-Partners report entitled “U.S. Small Business Overview and Comprehensive Market Opportunity Assessment.”

Lambda writes, “SBs form an emerging audience for social networking services. While the proliferation of these services among the general public has been extraordinary, SBs remain a largely untapped opportunity - what could amount to a small boon for those willing to seek them out during these troubled times.”

Social networking opportunities for small businesses come in several forms. For one, social networking services such as LinkedIn are beginning to cater to small businesses and entrepreneurs by creating network branches for small organizations. The designated social networks allow small business owners and employees to communicate, share knowledge, and collaborate on projects. A second opportunity for small business involvement in social networking rests in advertising. In fact, Lambda’s research states that over the next 12 months, about 500,000 SBs will use social networking as a marketing resource and brand differentiator.

Interestingly, IDC Research recently issued a survey indicating that social networking users are not as apt to respond to marketing on social networks as they are on other Web sites. Lambda says, however, social network advertising still could be an area of opportunity for small businesses. “Although social networking as a resource for advertising and promotional activity is growing slower than people expect, it’s still experiencing growth and will be an area to keep track of as social networking platforms evolve, and more specialized services emerge for SB owners,” she says.

Given the state of the economy, Lambda writes that social networking is a relatively low cost solution that could help in fostering, “steady communication with existing partners, and clients as well as incubating new relationships” — a function both desired by consumers networking with friends and with employees in the workplace. The aforementioned IDC social networking survey, in fact, indicates that the majority of social networking users list communication as their number one reason for usage of such sites.

bookmark to:

The notion that customer service is imperative in a recession got a major boost from a recent study by Accenture.

The New York-based consulting and services firm surveyed more than 4,100 consumers over the summer and found that service — more than price — is a clear differentiator.

According to the online survey, 67% of respondents reported switching companies because of poor customer service, compared with 59% last year. U.S. respondents were even more service sensitive, with 73% reporting that they switched companies owing to poor customer service, compared with 47% switching over lower prices. All indications are that the importance of customer service is only growing. Four years ago, when Accenture first began conducting the annual study, only 48% of respondents said they were switching businesses because of customer service.

“That’s a material jump in just one year and from 48% to 67% over four years,” said Robert Wollan, global managing director of Accenture’s CRM transformation service. “Those are monstrous leaps and trends.”

“There may never be a better or more important time to get closer to customer behaviors,” Wollan said. “The clues are there.”

While a number of factors can have an impact on the customer lifecycle and can get lost in high-level metrics, it’s important to understand how individuals or groups are responding to customer service, particularly in a down market.

“The one-size-fits-all experience will do little to differentiate you to your customer base,” Wollan said. “Customer expectations tend to be by segment or category or sometimes by individual.”

That makes segmenting customers and understanding their touch-points with the business particularly important. Organizations that understand which customer segments make the biggest difference to the bottom line and where to reach them can focus limited dollars on the most effective places, Wollan said.

Meanwhile, consumers are becoming more and more demanding.

Based on the results of the survey, Wollan offers three pieces of advice for organizations seeking to improve customer service initiatives.

• First, organizations should look for insight into the data they already have around customer behavior, which can be quite robust.
• From there, they need to apply that to the customer lifecycle. “It’s not just a spot in time, it’s looking for a trend to anticipate change and looking deeply at the channel preference among that mix of customers,” Wollan said.
• Finally, organizations need to establish their customer service baseline and the diversity of their customer base.

bookmark to:

Industry analysis firm Forrester Research has been placing heavy emphasis of late on the emergence of CRM 2.0, the confluence of social computing and business. In its latest report on the topic, William Band, a principal analyst at the firm and one of CRM magazine’s 2007 influential leaders, examines how early adopters are implementing strategies for the social customer.

“Leading-edge organizations are actively using social technologies to forge new and tighter relationships with their buyer communities, and social technologies are driving business results,” Band writes in CRM 2.0: Fantasy or Reality? How Trail-Blazing Companies Are Implementing Social Customer Strategies. “Now is the time to take action to start gaining the practical experience you need to break out of old mindsets and grasp new opportunities. Those who wait to join in will find it increasingly hard to catch up.”

According to the research, which is part of Forrester’s “CRM 2.0 Imperative,” the social Web is making CRM professionals think beyond the two-way relationship between business and customer — and far beyond the one-way communication that characterizes a non-customer-centric mindset — and include the simultaneous interactions that customers have among themselves. “CRM is evolving from its traditional focus on optimizing customer-facing transactional processes to include the strategies and technologies to develop collaborative and social connections with customers, suppliers, and even competitors,” Band writes.

Band adds that, while traditional CRM solutions will continue to aggregate customer data, analyze that data, and automate workflows to optimize business processes, “CRM professionals must find innovative new solutions to engage with emerging social consumers, enrich the customer experience through community-based interactions, and architect solutions that are flexible and foster strong intra-organization and customer collaboration.”

Readers of CRM magazine may find it jarring to see social CRM discussed as something still most commonly found with early adopters, but it is still a new field, as Band explained in a follow-on interview. “I get a lot of clients who are calling about traditional CRM initiatives and solutions,” Band says. “When I mention social or 2.0, the vast majority says it’s not really in their thinking.” While industry insiders have been watching this area for some time, the real capabilities that are available can still surprise people. “To the broader world it’s still very new,” he says.

Often, Band adds, Forrester’s clients don’t even come to CRM 2.0 on purpose. “In a lot of cases, the clients are saying, ‘We needed to improve how we handled marketing communications or [how we] solicit feedback.’ Then it became a question of how to get that information into transactional CRM,” he says. “Their next question is, ‘How do I participate in the new consumer behavior?’ “

bookmark to:

One secret to maintaining a thriving business is recognizing when it needs fundamental change. Given the potentially permanent disruptions and seismic shifts currently affecting many markets — from autos to media — creating a new business model has become a matter of survival.

Mark Johnson, co-founder and chairman of Innosight LLC, an innovation strategy consulting firm, and co-authors, Clay Christensen, the Robert and Jane Cizik Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School, and Henning Kagermann, co-CEO of SAP AG, describe how companies can identify when and how to reinvent their business models in the lead article of the December issue of Harvard Business Review entitled “Reinventing Your Business Model.”

“Most companies don’t fully understand the constraints of their current business model,” says Johnson. “Chances are the model has been in place for years and has calcified into a set of unchallenged assumptions that often define a company’s strategic options instead of the strategy dictating the model.”

Great business models can reshape industries and drive spectacular growth. Think Apple and the iPod/iTunes combination. Apple was not the first to bring digital music to the masses. However, it was the first to innovate its business model, making digital music easy and convenient to download — all to the tune of becoming a $10 billion product in just three years.

In fact, a 2005 survey by The Economist Intelligence Unit reported that two-thirds of corporate CEOs believe their organizations require extensive changes to their business models. But how does a company know if it is time for reinvention?

To determine whether a firm should seek to innovate its business model, Johnson, Christensen and Kagermann advise these steps:

• Articulate what makes your existing model successful. For example, what customer problem does it solve? How does it make money for your firm?
• Watch for signals that your model needs changing, such as tough new competitors on the horizon.
• Decide whether reinventing your model is worth the effort. The answer is yes only if the new model changes the industry or market.

“Reinventing Your Business Model” is well worth the read and is available online here.

bookmark to:

I think Management is already sold on the necessity for online customer interaction, even if they aren’t sure what they’re going to do with it.

But “doing community” doesn’t mean “doing community well,” and I’m sad to say that plenty of businesses have screwed it up (and often pointed to the wrong source of failure).

In the 25 years I’ve shared myself with the world online (I live more in TCP/IP packets than in a physical community), I’ve seen entirely too many dumb mistakes made, over and over, usually by businesses that should know better. Here’s some of the stupidest errors. We’ll pretend that your company hasn’t made any of them…

1. Trying to control the conversation. Actually, the problem here is that the company generally doesn’t recognize that they’re in a conversation. They think of the online community as part of a “marketing message,” which has a defined target audience, on-point theme, and so on. All of which can and should be controlled by a marketing department. And which completely misses the point of community.

Still, far too many businesses set up an online community and then insist that they have to control the conversation. Criticisms are removed; questionable language rejected; conflict discouraged. All very Happy-Happy-Joy-Joy. And always a complete flop.

People don’t come to a company’s community because they want to see only good news. They participate because they want to share successes and failures. Because they want to solve a problem, or to help someone else avoid one. (And for several other reasons that I won’t go into.)

If avoiding the problem of “I wasted 50 bucks” means they’ll write, “I hate this product and I’m sorry I bought it,” they’re going to share that passionate response. They might write it on your site, or they’ll write it on Amazon, but they will write it. Your only option, on a company-sponsored site, is to conduct the conversation in a venue where you can respond. And by “respond,” I mean, “You have an open and public conversation.” Simply by permitting (and encouraging) the transparency, you admit to the world that your company pays attention to what its users and customers think. That is never a bad thing.

Bottom line: If you want a community to be a success, approach its design and purpose from what the participants will get out of it—not what your company aims to achieve.

2. Forgetting that volunteer participants are part of your company’s community. The people who take the time to post messages in your community on a regular basis are, in some way, committed to your business model. If they write product reviews for your site, it’s because they like your site and what it offers, and they choose it over the competition. With luck, that also means they prefer to give their money to you rather than to a competitor. Cherish that.

If you are going to make a big change in the way the system works, you should involve those committed members in the decision as soon as possible. Listen to them—or feel their wrath. Don’t “announce” a big change in the community system; invite these people to participate in the decision-making. They probably spend more time interacting with the community system than you do.

3. Putting Technology in the Way of the Community. I’ve seen a bunch of companies get their shorts in knot about technology choices. I don’t mean only “Should we have a corporate blog?” but agonizing about their software choice or creating a custom app with bells and whistles. The truth is, the best tools are those that are simple and fast (or which can be automated into simple-and-fast) because they reduce barriers to participation. (That’s probably true for just about anything.) The easier you make it for people to participate, the more they will do so.

The other 3 stupid mistakes that Esther discusses in her article are:

4. Imagining that employees will contribute to an internal community without special attention.
5. “Managing” a community by parachuting in, then parachuting out.
6. Failing.

Check out the complete source article for Esther’s discussion of these 3 mistakes.

bookmark to:

We’re all faced with moments in our lives where the decision to do something or take action is made crystal-clear. Small business owners face the same decision points when buying technology. Some guys I know can purchase a six-figure piece of equipment for their factory without blinking an eye, but agonize over a $5,000 software purchase for years. When exactly is the right time to spend the money? Is there a tipping point?

There is, and there’s a way to anticipate when you’ll hit it. Here are a few key technologies that business owners will be faced with buying or replacing during the next few years. We’ll be hearing a lot of hype and sales pitches from technology people telling us what to do. Don’t be distracted by the yammering. Just pay attention to your tipping point.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Software. What’s the tipping point for buying CRM software? This is not a gray issue; it’s black and white. It’s strictly mathematical. You buy CRM software because you can mathematically prove that it will help you get more sales. How? By making sure that all quotes are being pursued to their very end. By making sure customers who haven’t heard from you in the past six months are hearing from you. By making sure prospects who may in the future think about buying something you sell are hearing from you frequently enough to make them come to you first. By making sure you don’t look like a dope when customers call because you don’t know who communicated with them last and what problems they may be having. Think of all of all these situations you’ve encountered in the past three years, calculate how much revenue you’ve lost, and then compare that against the cost of a CRM system—and voilà! You have your answer. Here’s another tipping point: You suddenly discover that the airline industry provides better customer service than your company. That’s enough to make anyone take action.

Accounting Software. What’s the tipping point for new accounting software? First, don’t listen to the accounting software vendors. Don’t buy into the jazzy screens and pretty colors. There are just two rationales to cut a check. One is when your current system is slow, unsupported, not giving you the information you need, or becoming unreliable. The other is when you can absolutely, positively prove that a new system will reduce your costs by making your people more productive and (most important) you can prove these savings with a high level of confidence.

Software as a Service (SaaS). SAAS solutions are great for some companies, but may not be great for all companies. The entire world will not be using SaaS technology anytime soon. However, a big part of the business community will be relying on SaaS technology to help get things done. The guys I know who go for SaaS do so because it makes their people more productive. They can get data to and from their people faster, no matter where they are. They don’t have an internal IT infrastructure and find it less expensive to rent the software rather than set it up themselves. They find that maintaining a system in-house is more expensive than the monthly fees they must pay for a rented system. These are tipping points for any potential buyer. Do the math to see if this makes sense.

Buying technology is no tougher than buying that piece of equipment for your shop floor. The tipping point for any major acquisition is to make sure, plainly and clearly, that there’s a measurable return on investment. Otherwise, invest somewhere else. I hear there are plenty of cheap stocks on the market right now.

The article also discusses the following technology buying tipping points for small business:

• A New Server
• Virtualization
• Green Technology
• Web 2.0 Technology

bookmark to:

In 2009, these technologies can provide companies with a competitive advantage in what is expected to be a very tough year on the bottom lines of IT budgets, IT management and IT vendors. However, even in an economic downturn those companies that invest, develop and capitalize on technologies that save money while improving the efficiency and effectiveness of business have an opportunity to grab significant market and mind share with new and existing customers.

Here are Samuel Greengard’s Top 10 Trends in IT for 2009…

1. Software as a Service (SaaS) - A few years ago, the idea of running software remotely seemed preposterous. Bandwidth limitations, performance obstacles and IT administration issues made hosted software impractical. But times change. Today, software as a service (SaaS) is growing at an annual rate exceeding 40 percent. In fact, it is expected to command a 23 percent share of the $120 billion U.S. software market by 2010, according to RBC Capital Markets.

2. Virtualization - This technology has already made its mark on the data center. According to various industry estimates, between 50 percent and 60 percent of all servers are now virtualized. The goal, of course, is to reduce server sprawl—and the inefficiencies and higher costs associated with it.

3. Enterprise Mobility - Over the last few years, wireless technology—including 3G cellular data networks and widespread Wi-Fi—has opened the door to an anytime, anywhere business model.

4. Energy-Efficient Data Centers - Chip and PC manufacturers are moving toward more energy-efficient components—including improved memory and resource management—but the big action in 2009 will be in the areas of virtualization and storage, Daniel Starz, author of “Greening Your Business,” predicts. “Virtualization eliminates energy costs, maintenance outlays, cooling expenses and data center costs by as much as 90 percent,” he notes. “The payback is enormous, and it’s something organizations can no longer afford to ignore.”

5. Security, Risk and Compliance - Anthony Noble, vice president of IT Audit, at Viacom in New York City, and others in the IT industry believe that automation is essential—particularly on the risk and security compliance side of things. This includes everything from intrusion detection to authentication; from patch management to analytics used for security. A growing number of organizations are turning to self-encrypting hard drives, two-factor authentication (to replace simple passwords) and security suites that provide central control panels. This trend will continue into 2009, as continuous-monitoring tools become standard in the enterprise.

6. Social Networking - LinkedIn, Facebook, MySpace and a spate of similar sites have transformed social networking from a buzzword into a business buzz saw. Companies as diverse as American Express, Del Monte and Cisco Systems have unleashed powerful social networking tools, including wikis, blogs, discussion groups, collaborative filtering, and even applets and games. The concept is allowing these companies to tap into the power of human connections and knowledge in ways that were unimaginable only a few years ago.

7. Web 2.0 - The evolution of the Web has been nothing short of amazing. Though each generation of tools creates new opportunities, the current and emerging array of Web 2.0 applications is completely revolutionizing the enterprise. The growing use of interactive maps, blogs, wikis, mashups, social bookmarking, enhanced search engines, RSS feeds and social networking is only the start. Web 2.0 tools are also making it easier to manage data, tasks and business processes.

8. Document Management and E-Discovery - Although vendors are adding more sophisticated capabilities to their applications—including the ability to track text messages, IMs and other types of unstructured data—the main challenge is figuring out how to develop systems that retain, manage, and retrieve documents and data quickly and seamlessly. here’s some good news for enterprises looking to put solutions in place: “It is likely to be a buyer’s market in 2009,” Kyle McNabb, principal analyst and research director for Forrester Research concludes. “Vendors entering the market are introducing products and solutions at a much lower price point than they were in the past.”

9. Project Management and Project Portfolio Management - In today’s time-sensitive and budget-conscious world, getting projects finished on time is paramount. Not surprisingly, more and more organizations are turning to structured systems and software to track all the details. Consequently, project management (PM) and project portfolio management (PPM) have moved into the spotlight.

10. Web and Video Collaboration - Today, collaboration tools are poised to go mainstream and further change the way business is conducted. According to the Boston-based research firm Aberdeen Group, 63 percent of companies say they will be using videoconferencing and so-called telepresence systems (essentially, a form of videoconferencing with high-quality images and audio) by the end of 2010. Only 18 percent say they have no plans to adopt these systems.

Also be sure to check out Paul Greenberg’s CRM 2009 Forecast.

bookmark to:

Looking for an easier way to set up a Web conference or share presentations while you’re on the run? You’re not alone. The worldwide market for collaboration services — including audio conferences, Web presentation sessions, and various video meetings — logged its first $1 billion quarter in 2007, according to Wainhouse Research. Wainhouse researchers project that in North America alone, revenue from audio, video, and Web collaboration services will reach $4.4 billion by 2011, a compound annual growth rate of 8%.

One thing that the big players in this market (LiveMeeting, WebEx and GoToMeeting) didn’t expect were the numerous free collaboration services popping up all over the Web, many of which are designed by entrepreneurs fed up with the complexity of existing options.

One example is Yuuguu which lets you easily set up combination conference calls and Web collaboration sessions on the fly by sending someone an invitation through e-mail or IM.

The service is free to participants except for the phone call. Of course, if you use Yuuguu with Skype, you can sidestep those charges, too.

Another application that supports free Web meetings and conferences is Vyew. You can set up an online session to share and annotate pretty much any type of document — all the different Microsoft Office file types, plus video, graphics, Adobe Flash files, and screen captures.

If you’re in a highly visual profession, you’ll appreciate Twiddla, a free whiteboarding service, with an audio function that lets a team mark up graphics, photos, and even Web site designs over the Internet.

Last, but not least, is newcomer Yugma. Like Vyew and Yuuguu, Yugma lets you hold spontaneous conference calls and share documents through a Web browser. But it doesn’t stop there: The software also includes full-blown desktop application sharing, extensive whiteboarding features, and tight Skype integration, so you can use Yugma with anyone on your existing Skype contact list.

bookmark to: