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Archive for Web Based CRM Software – Page 2

Five More Essential Ingredients of Web-Based CRM Software

By Steve
Friday, October 30th, 2009

Cynergy software improves communications between Help Desk customer service reps and customers or employees with the Cynergy Web Based CRM ticketing system.

Cynergy Web Based CRM ticketing software can also be easily customized with multiple user defined fields, colors, labels and multiple addresses or phone numbers. If you need to be able to view only “your” help desk tickets, or if you want to be able to view everyone’s outstanding issues, Cynergy gives you Special Permissions that allow this.

Cynergy’s help desk and CRM suite of solutions can be modified to allow strategic permissions and security among your internal employees and external customers. We also allow three methods for submitting tickets and our new Project Management module allows conversing and benchmarking throughout the launching and completion of a project.

6. TIME KEEPING is as important to your bottom line as productivity levels are. Being able to justify time spent on a project or client’s site is paramount during these economic times. Cynergy keeps track of time on tickets, projects, and events.

7. DATA is what runs today’s world. That’s why we use MS SQL. We ship with SQL Express (good for 250,000 tickets) and upgrading is straight forward. Backups are easy and stable.

8. INTEGRATION into other systems and software platforms is accomplished with relative ease. We have build a Web Service that allows platforms such as PeopleSoft to update Cynergy on the fly based on changes that take place in the primary system.

9. KNOWLEDGE LIBRARY systems are becoming commonplace among most large or growing organizations. Our Cynergy CRM Knowledge Center Software can contain unlimited information easily searched on. Or you can link tickets to knowledge for content management and training.

10. ASSET MANAGEMENT is essential to any business or organization that has over 5 employees or customers. Cynergy allows unlimited User Defined Fields for keeping track of Assets.

This concludes ten pieces that any great Web Based CRM system should have. Cynergy Help Desk Software has much more than we listed above. Try out a FREE DEMO Today or Call 405 516 2420 and talk to one of our experienced Help Desk Professionals.

Categories : CRM, Uncategorized, Web Based CRM Software
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Is Your CRM Software Failing?

By Steve
Monday, August 24th, 2009

Three Legged StoolCustomer relationship management (CRM) software should give you higher profitability, improved productivity, lower costs, stronger customer retention, and greater insight into customer and prospect behavior. Is CRM doing all that for you? Let’s take a look at three reasons CRM may not be achieving this for you.

1. People.

That is right. The number 1 reason CRM does not deliver on its promises is not technological glitches, but the people who use the CRM software. These are the people in your company! If the people in your company are unable or unwilling to use the CRM software or are using it incorrectly, it will not be able to deliver on its promises. In most cases, this is not a person here or there, but teams of people influenced by their peers to think the new software is “too hard to use or learn” or “does not service their customers like I can personally.” Or it can be due to lack of training.

2. Lack of clear business plan.

Does your company’s business plan spell out what success is? Do you know when you’ve had a successful month or year? Do your employees understand what success is? Next evaluate your company’s processes. How do you do things? What methods are comfortable or “the way we’ve always done it” and what methods are efficient and effective? What is the motivation for people to change how they do the processes? Does your CRM software assist with your processes or throw a hammer in the gears, bringing the processes to a halt?

3. Lack of ownership of technology.

If most of the company feels the CRM software “belongs” to the IT department and the IT department feels it is “company-wide” software, nobody feels responsible to understand it or make it work. Therefore, it is of no help to any department. If it is viewed as “another technological contraption” it is doomed to be only marginally useful. The full company buy-in has to be enthusiastic and the software must be embraced as the best way to assist each department and each person in performing optimally.

For CRM software to be as successful as it can be for your company, each person must be involved in various steps of the process. The three-legged stool of CRM software implementation – people, process, technology – must not be allowed to break or the whole thing will collapse.

People need to embrace and use the system to enable the company to achieve its goals. The company needs to have well-defined goals and processes and must identify those that need to be improved or automated. The technology must be the right features in the right places. The timing must fit the company. The implementation and training must generate excitement and buy-in.

Categories : Customer Support Software, Web Based CRM Software
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Best Practices for CRM Software

By Steve
Saturday, August 22nd, 2009

Top companies have certain practices in common when it comes to implementation of CRM software. These best practices are the same things that every company should be doing to propel their business and improve their operations and their customer relations. Four of these best practices are critical when thinking about CRM software.

1. Customize the CRM software to fit your own business processes.

The CRM software you implement should be fully customizable to fit your business processes. Some CRM software can be installed in modules as well as fully customized. This is best. It is important for you to access data that represents change and assess its meaning and significance concerning your need to alter actions.
Your CRM software should allow full integration of data from or into spreadsheets and scheduling and tracking systems. It should be able to transfer data from transactional systems into your reports or spreadsheets. Not only will this allow you better use of your data throughout the company, but it will facilitate your providing your stakeholders the information they need in a timely manner.

2. Maximize the benefits rather than minimizing the cost to increase ROI.

Many companies purchase CRM software based on cost. That means they purchase what is cheap rather than what fits their company and their specific needs. It also means they don’t get software that actually facilitates company processes or prepares them for growth or makes them more responsive to their clients.
Automation of operational data collection and analysis allows companies to make adjustments in a timeframe that allows for performance to be affected rather than waiting until it is completed and losing the opportunity to improve performance and efficiency.

3. Automate repeat processes.

Processes your company does repeatedly can easily be automated, saving time and effort and eliminating mistakes. By automating lead generation and distribution to sales people, you can accelerate the customer acquisition process, increase sales and marketing productivity, and build stronger relationships with customers.
Automated e-mails to customers and alerts to sales people help relationships continue. Another process that could be automated is project bidding.

4. Integrate CRM software with software used for other purposes.

It is of utmost importance to assure that your CRM software is integrated with other software used throughout the company. This gives each employee access to the same pieces of information or the pieces of information he or she needs about a customer. It allows the people in each department to see trends and changes so that they can quickly respond.
Integration of CRM software creates a customer-focused company. It helps the customer feel that he is known, his history is known, and therefore, the people of your company care about him and his needs. This applies as well to the service staff who often access customer information on hand-held devices or a computer in the vehicle. With web based CRM software, they too have the same information and can update that information from the customer’s location.

The Best Help Desk Software Reports will give management the information they need to be able to make intelligent decisions quickly and with the detailed content they need.  They also will be able to be customized easily, and be able to email or fax the report automatically on the date desired.

If you want your company to be responsive to customers and able to change and adjust quickly, you must incorporate these four best practices into your implementation of CRM software.

Categories : Web Based CRM Software
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Making Sense of Customer Relations

By Steve
Thursday, August 20th, 2009

While many companies have Customer Relationship Management software, few companies know how to make sense of their customers’ information or understand what further information about their customers would be helpful. In this time of changing markets and needs, it is very important to obtain and use key pieces of customer information to become sensitive to their changing needs and to keep customers working with your company.

Customer relations are changing. Customers are not likely to want any more inventory than they know they will use. As a result they are buying in smaller increments and paying as they go. How does this affect your relationship with your customers? What information should be collected so that you provide customers with more value?

  • Make sure all contact information is complete. Not only is it important to get the contact person’s name and title, but you need to make sure his or her e-mail address and phone number are current. One good way to do this is to send an e-mail that is personal “thank you for your business,” gives a special offer on something they purchase routinely, and needs a reply which will verify information.
  • Identify your best customers. These are your most profitable customers. Certain key data impacts profitability, such as pricing terms, costs to serve, and products purchased. Included in this information should be data about their payment habits.
  • Use the information you know to plan and predict future marketing efforts. Based on trends and past purchases, it is often easy to plot trends in customer needs. Some CRM software will even provide such information analysis. Follow or verify information with simple, quick three-question surveys with your most profitable customers.

By using Customer Relationship Management Software (CRM software) to collect and manage key pieces of information about your customers, you can quickly identify your most profitable customers and learn to meet their changing needs.

Categories : Blog, CRM, Customer Support Software, help desk software, Web Based CRM Software
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Using Help Desk Software to Help Your Help Desk

By Steve
Thursday, August 20th, 2009

Five Improvements to Help Your Help Desk

Help desk software implementation will not necessarily improve help desk performance for those who need it. To improve your help desk, make sure you have the right help desk software, train your reps on the software and on good interpersonal skills, track all the calls to understand what the big picture is, set up clearly defined procedures for solving issues, and build the morale and confidence of your reps with team building activities.

1. Get the right help desk software

Evaluate the nature of your help desk. Assess the various help desk software options. Narrow your choices to 3-4. Request free help desk trials. Assign a different software to each of your best help desk reps to test and evaluate. Compare after a 2-4 week trial. Your help desk software should be easy for reps to use and include features they’ve always wished they had. It should also contain the features the supervisor and company stakeholders need for following issues and making reports, so they should also take advantage of the free trials.

2. Train help desk reps

Spend the time and effort to fully train each help desk rep and supervisor on the help desk

software. Do it in steps so that the features they will use the most are learned first. Then add to that training as well as asking them for feedback and questions several times in the first year. This will enable them to feel comfortable with a wide array of features and to feel supported. Your help desk software company should be able to provide you with training which may include live support, videos, walk-throughs, instruction manuals, and ongoing e-mails to reps.

3. Track every issue clearly

Track every issue from first report to full resolution. Put into place a method for assessing the “real issue” such as user problems, design of the product problems, unclear information in the

instructions, etc. If, for example, trouble understanding the instructions seems to keep popping up, consider having the instructions to your product rewritten. This is more cost effective than the time and effort being spent to re-explain the instructions several times a day. The best place to track issues is usually in the database that comes with your help desk software.

4. Define procedures

Allowing your customers to log their own calls (through web-based customer support software) and to see the progress of their issue(s) can reduce the number of phone calls placed to your support team by as much as 75%. Decide what your procedures will be for various scenarios. Keep them simple. Write them out. Train the reps in those procedures. Stick to the procedures. One way to ensure that your customers are not left waiting for days to get an answer is to have an issue escalator included in your help desk software. If an issue isn’t resolved in a timely manner, a designated supervisor or manager will receive a notice in his or her email. You can then make sure that actions are taken to fix the problem.

5. Support the team

The help desk industry has one of the highest turnovers of staff. That is partially because the reps hear so much complaining and negativity throughout their shifts that they perceive their jobs as being unpleasant. Change that perception by giving them pleasant surroundings, soothing music, a fun group activity to anticipate every couple of weeks, and a place or person where they can safely vent without fear of repercussions. Take their complaints and suggestions seriously. The other issue with help desk rep turnover has to do with their feeling of being unsupported and ill-trained. When they feel the company values them, supports them, trains them, and listens to them, their job satisfaction increases, making them loyal employees.

To fully leverage the value of your help desk, it is important to utilize the right tools and the right training and support. Help Desk Software often includes training and support. Web based help desk software is most likely one of your best options and nearly always includes ongoing customer support software services. By taking advantage of the best web based help desk software, your company will allow your customers to help themselves, have a process for quickly solving issues, and have some of the best-trained, most-satisfied, and most competent reps in the industry.

Categories : Blog, Customer Support Software, help desk software, Web Based CRM Software
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Keep Your Customers and Keep Them Happy

By Steve
Wednesday, August 12th, 2009

What do your Customer Service Reps spend their day doing? Have you ever walked around and watched them? Or asked them what they’ve been doing all day? Are they truly serving your customers and keeping them happy or are they really putting out customer fires and keeping the management of the company happy?

It could be that they are busy filling out forms, creating reports, and doing other mundane but necessary tasks. If that is the case, you — and they — need a change!

What do you want them to be doing? It is more advantageous for your company and more fulfilling for your reps if they spend the majority of their time establishing contact with client prospects and building on existing relationships. Finding new customers and building positive long-term relationships with current customers provide keys to growing your business. If your customer service reps are not doing these things, business is not going to grow.

How can you enable that to happen? The most important thing you have to do to enable your reps to spend their time productively is to provide them with a web based CRM software. This allows them to access all the contact information they need from home or office . . . or even the client’s site or while traveling.

This also allows them to update all information or run reports using the information at any time. They can also track any issues a customer might have had and how they were resolved.

Web-Based CRM software will create all the necessary reports (whether they are about problems or people) at the click of a mouse. It will sort information from a multitude of people or tasks to allow you to see everything from work flow to each employee’s efficiency and time to complete various tasks.

With Cynergy Web-Based CRM Software you can easily boost your sales and shorten support cycles. You can turn leads into customers and customers into repeat customers. You will keep your customers. You will keep them happy. And you will find many new happy customers as well.

Categories : Web Based CRM Software
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Age of Urgency

By Steve
Wednesday, August 5th, 2009
Age of Urgency Merry-Go-Round needs Web Based CRM Software

Age of Urgency Merry-Go-Round needs Web Based CRM Software

Think about your life. You get up in the morning and dash around getting ready for work. You may be multitasking to make sure the kids get to school on time and everyone gets where they have to be with all the items they should have. With school starting again within days, you are dreading the rat race.

You get to work and your boss needs Report XYZ in an hour. And the thing he asked for yesterday, he reminds you, he needed yesterday, but you are still waiting on people to get back to you with data. Your own to-do list is growing . . . for everything you check off, you add two or three! And everyone seems to add things like “now” or “ASAP” to when they want items. Life feels like a merry-go-round that just keeps spinning faster and faster, threatening to whirl us all into space at a dizzying speed.

Then you get home and find two children who have to go shopping for supplies for projects and one who needs help with math. While you are picking up supplies, your spouse calls to say, “sorry, but I will be late tonight.” So you also drive through and pick up supper.

While you try to remember algebra, you have your laptop setting next to you in hopes of finishing one of the reports that was due today. That’s when your phone rings with a friendly reminder that you had promised to work as a volunteer for a weekend event and there is a volunteer training “tomorrow evening.”

Have you ever felt like there is so much urgency, so many things that have to be done right now, that you simply can’t enjoy life or your family and friends? This has been called the Age of Urgency. And our fast-paced lifestyle has been blamed for all kinds of stress-related accidents and chronic diseases as well as anxiety, depression, ADHD, and a variety of mental afflictions.

Yet, we all know that relationships are more important than accomplishments or material things. How can we apply that knowledge in our lives? More importantly, how can our business dealings reflect that?

The advent of computers and cell phones and constant connectedness seems to have made our lives rush by even faster. However, the purpose of all of this was supposed to be to give us a better quality of life. Can we learn to use these things to improve our lives, or better yet, to improve the lives of our customers, families, or friends?

The unequivocal answer is YES. With web based CRM software you can improve your life and the lives of others. The need to stay connected can be satisfied through targeted messages sent at opportune times and with needed information sent (or received) in a timely manner.

Whether you are involved in a small business, a large business, or a nonprofit organization, the use of web based CRM software will improve your relationships with your colleagues and your customers. It will keep you connected without driving one of you crazy. And it will give you information and feedback when you want it.

Don’t let the Age of Urgency send you flying off the merry-go-round. Harness the energy. Use the “need to know” to your advantage. Use web based CRM software to stay connected wherever you are and in the way that best helps both of you.

Categories : Web Based CRM Software
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The Tangled Web

By Steve
Monday, July 27th, 2009
Is your CRM software tangled?

I always thought that the tangle of cords and wires under and behind my desk was a mess. If I had to unplug one part of my computer (say my printer) to be repaired, I had to crawl under the desk and then reach up to the printer and find the cord and start following it to where it plugged in. In the process, it usually went under a cord and over a cord and through a loop in another cord and about that time, I lost it and had to start over.

I have tried to keep these cords organized. At one point my desk was in front of a large window at street level and I was always afraid that potential customers would see the mess of cords as they drove up and just leave. I’ve bought those things called “cord tamers” and I’ve saved paper towel rolls to put my cords through. I’ve put little things along the floor to guide the cords. But has that helped? The next time I had to unplug something, guess what!

Yep, there I go through the maze again. Worse yet, I have even unplugged the wrong thing. And I have unplugged something and then not been able to untangle its cord to get the gadget loose — even though technically it is loose!

Hopefully, your CRM is not this tangled. However, if you are using a premise based CRM software, it could be this tangled and you would not even know it! Maybe it has been a little slow recently. Maybe you could not access part of it. Do you suppose . . . now I’m not accusing you of tangling it. I’m just saying that wires can get crossed or too much can be going through one wire and suddenly, poof! your customer management is up in smoke.

Don’t let this happen to you! Web based CRM software will not leave you stranded. Web based CRM software will not leave you with a tangle of wires to be unwound. With web based CRM software, you will be able to communicate with your customers and potential customers any time you need or want to . . . and from wherever you happen to be. You will no longer be tied to your desk by all those cords. Cords are not the lifeline to your customers. The internet — wirelessly — is the lifeline to your customers!

Categories : Web Based CRM Software
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Improved Business During a Tough Economy Part 3: Wise Investments Give Better ROI

By Steve
Friday, July 17th, 2009
Mired in data with outdated processes and no CRM software

Mired in data with outdated processes and no CRM software

Managers know that their workers deal with multiple layers of data every time they look for information. It is estimated that so much time is spent by sales people looking for qualified leads that only a fifth of their time is spent actually selling. Businesses have such a wealth of information that most workers are mired down in the effort to find and make sense of it all. Meanwhile, the world is becoming more automated and the workers are falling farther behind.

Business strategies and processes may need an overhaul to identify the important information and streamline its access. Agility in using the information takes “real-time” solutions that work intuitively for the worker and seamlessly with other applications the company uses in the course of the workday.

If you were to have your company’s workers track how they spend their days, you might be surprised to realize that many spend up to 30% of each day simply looking for information they need – information that should be at their fingertips. This is almost one third of their time spent on non-productive activities. Just imagine what you could do to make your company more productive and quit wasting one third of your workers’ time and pay.

The best thing you could do for your company to give a good return on the time and money spent would be to start using the best Customer Relationship Management software for your company. In some cases, this would be premise-based software, but in many cases it is much more cost-efficient to use web based crm software which can easily be configured to fit your company’s needs.

By switching to a web base crm software, you can greatly increase the efficiency of your workers. And make their lives easier in the process. Your workers need to access information in a myriad of software packages and on an array of servers. Each package has its own formatting. Yet a person such as a help desk representative may need to access information about an order or create an order (as for cross-selling or up-selling) while talking with a customer about a problem. Another person may need to access financial data for a customer to understand their bill. Their manager must access information about the length of time each worker took to solve the customer’s problem. All of these can be accessed through a web based crm software.

Each of these workers would also like the interface he sees to be customized for him – with his e-mail, his to-do list for the day, and other pieces of information he needs ready to be accessed with a single click. To be useful, the information needs to be centralized, integrated and easily accessible. Workers need to spend less time looking and use their time effectively in responding with the right information within seconds.

Your company’s CRM solution needs to connect all your company’s date, people and processes. Web based  crm fully supports workers in sales, marketing, services, and support roles. By using CRM software effectively, your company reduces its monthly costs which, in turn, increases its revenues.

When the economic times get tough, companies are often forced to realize that the very thing they have resisted may be their savior—their means of getting through the tough times and coming out ahead of the competition. For some companies, web based crm may seem like an unnecessary expense or too much technology for their business. However, workers throughout the company will be empowered to work faster, more efficiently, and more effectively. Customers will be impressed with the improved and more personal service. Prospects will be followed more easily from the point of first contact through the purchase decision and beyond. And the performance of all of your company and its actions can be tracked and analyzed to make sure that peak performance is being achieved each day.

Don’t get stuck in the processes and software you have always used when there are better ways to do things. Right now, during the economic downturn, is the best time in your company’s life to take a hard look at and question every process and every move to become more efficient and more effective in the next few months. Help your workers find their way through the layers of information. Pull them out of the mud by using the appropriate web based crm application. By doing so, your company will survive the tough times and come out a leader when the economy picks up again.

Part 1: Take Care of Your Customers

Part 2: Track Your Future Customers

Categories : CRM, Customer Support Software, Web Based CRM Software
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Improved Business During a Tough Economy Part 2: Track Your Future Customers

By Steve
Thursday, July 16th, 2009
Track your prospects with web based CRM software

Track your prospects with web based CRM software

If you desire to find an animal, you must look for it. Let’s say you want to find a deer. First you have to dress for a time period outdoors (usually in cold weather).  Then you have to use your eyes to look for the deer. Not only do you look for the deer itself, but you look for signs of the deer such as its tracks. Once you find its tracks, you begin to follow them.

To find prospective customers, you have to do some preparation. Just like dressing appropriately for a period of time in the cold, you will have to plan ahead. Use referrals, testimonials, and case studies to get your message out to more potential customers. During an economic downturn is not the time to cut the advertising budget! In fact, it is the time to increase that particular budget and work especially hard to understand where potential customers will be. For example, if you are selling a product to farmers, you should realize that nearly all of them listen to the radio in their tractors and trucks. Use a testimonial in a radio advertisement. Or, if you are selling to women, you need to figure out what television shows the women will watch or what magazine they will still pick up when money is tight. If you sell to other businesses, take advantage of trade shows and trade magazines. Use the information your satisfied customers have given you as ammunition and show their faces or their companies as proof of what they’ve said about your company.

Marketing is not the deep, dark secret that many companies think it is. You do have to spend time and effort tracking down a deer by following its footprints. In prospecting for new customers, sophisticated analytics are useful in tracking responses to marketing campaigns. Some tracking tools even capture every “touch” with the prospective customer.

Track what you have done and track your inquiries (leads) using customer relationship management software. You will have a built-in method for know what works and what doesn’t. You will also be able to carry on conversations by e-mail and phone that leave a trail so that you know what is talked about and what interests they have.

Use the internet to attract new customers. Build a better web site. During an economic downturn you can use your extra time to evaluate what is working and what is not working with your web site. Have it professionally evaluated. Spend the time and money to improve it and get it search engine optimized so prospective customers can find you. Tie your web site to the analytics of your customer relationship software so that you know how effective it is.

Consider social media. Start a blog. Your blog can be about your products or services or it can be things of interest to you. Have two or three people in the company participate in writing blog entries two to four times a month to keep it fresh and interesting. Start a business page for Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Get and keep people interested in your company by using short sentences about your products or services.  Set up your customer service software to connect with people through these channels.

Follow up each touch with a phone call or e-mail contact to assure that each prospect has all the answers necessary or can get an online or personal demonstration when necessary. Use your CRM software to route leads to the representative who is most qualified to help that prospect according to the availability or qualifications of the rep or the particular marketing effort that brought in the lead.

Lead-qualification scripts can be embedded into CRM systems and pop up when keywords are said or typed to help understand and sell to each prospect. Your sales process should be able to build a 360-degree view of the customer to whom you are selling. Using your web based crm, you should be able to match campaigns and messages to individual prospects or prospect-types. Become very focused. Customize your messages and offers to address specific issues within an industry or for a specific customer-type based on a specific customer.

Integration of sales software and service software through web based customer relationship software keeps the contacts with a prospect seamless as he moves through the process from prospect to customer to high-priority customer or customer-with-a-problem. Each person who deals with that person can see his entire history with the company or product line and understand exactly what his experience has been thus far.

Marketers, sales managers, and help desk managers should have current statistics and analytical tools at their fingertips. These should not bring up overwhelming amounts of data with no meaning, but should analyze the data and give meaning to it. They should be able to use web based crm software to know if an ad campaign is generating a good percentage of qualified leads and how many of those are being turned into customers through purchases they are making.

Categories : Customer Support Software, Web Based CRM Software
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