As a professional CRM consultant, I find that many business owners or salespeople say that they simply do not have the time to commit to a CRM system.  There is the design, the meetings, the training, and the other factors that create the downtime when implementing a CRM.  In short, all of this is for lack of a better term, “time that we’re not making money” and it can be a roadblock when deciding which CRM to implement.

When making the jump to implementing a CRM at your company, you need to decide what type of path you want to take in consideration of time.   I’ll use my “buying a house analogy” to clarify.  Consider the house to be your CRM where the data is the furnishings that you need to put in there – and find room for much of the time.  If you want to hold off on moving in to your new house, until everything is perfect (refinishing floors, walls, redoing kitchens, etc.), there are CRM systems out there for you.  You’ll spend a lot of time planning, covering all bases for data, reports, completing all customizations so that all is perfect and ready for launch.  Let’s just say that awkward “where are we going to put all our stuff?” conversation won’t be needed. 

However, some like to just move in, get dirty and fix it as you go (that’s more my style to be honest) which can work very well, allowing for changes as your staff adjusts their techniques and processes to coincide with the technology.  In the beginning, you will end up accounting for the necessary processes and data imports (and customization), knowing that add-on products, other changes and further training will be needed.  This is like storing that extra stuff in the basement until you know exactly there you’ll put it (if at all).  However, as the comfort level of the team increases, the space and time for advanced training and enhancement also increases. 

Then there are the “install and walk away” type implementations.   A little server work, some brief training and away you go on your way to selling and using your CRM.  Customizations will inevitably come later, but at least the initial time spent is very little.  You and your team will need to learn and pick up things quickly, but companies realize that they need something and are satisfied with the out of the box as it is better than what they had before.  Remember moving into your first house and you thought, “How will I fill up all this space?” You had a couch, a bed, and a TV and the house seemed sway too big.  However, within no time you filled it up albeit leaving that dining room empty for a couple of years.   

A quick side note, keep in mind that beyond the initial implementation, you have to take the future enhancements and training into account for time spent.  You’re very rarely “finished” with a CRM implementation as with any sales process that evolves and changes, your CRM system also has to adapt to those changes.  Consider your home – are we ever done changing it, improving it, or renovating?  There is always maintenance which comes with the territory, but keeping the value of any home (or CRM system) requires some upkeep and changes throughout the years. 

All that being said, this time spent during the implementation (training, design, configuration, and testing) as well as future design and enhancements is a cost.  It’s not as easy to calculate, but it’s a cost and something to consider when discovering the best option for you and your company.  As I said in my last post, you’ll never really be ready, but the smart business person realizes they have to invest the money to make the money – consider all this time to just be part of that initial investment.  Find the software and consulting team that will work with you based on not only your budget restraints, but your time requirements, another cost that is often overlooked.

In my travels and life as a CRM guy, I hear it a lot.  “We’re just not ready to invest in a CRM package.  We don’t have the time, the money, the staff, [fill in the blank here].”   I’m going to use this opportunity to start a series of articles where I address each of these items and others.  The bottom line here is that you’re never ready.  For those of you that don't know what a CRM is, it is some sort of software tool that allows you to keep track of your customers and prospects in one place visible to all in the company that need to see the information.  Most companies report an increase in productivity when the tool is used correctly.

I equate the jump to CRM to becoming a homeowner – you’re never really going to be ready, but one day it will sneak up on you and you’ll have to find the means as you’ve outgrown the apartment (or your parents place).  As with CRM, these needs jump out at different times, some much sooner than others (was never huge on living at home personally).

This article I will touch on cost, only as I’m always sensitive to budget constraints and there’s no better comparison between homes and CRM – how much can I afford?  Good news here is that you’ll actually see the return on your investment much sooner than buying a house.  Like houses though, CRM’s come in all shapes and sizes, different prices, and needs – can you move right in or do will we need some construction?  This of course allows you to find the home/CRM that works best for you and best fulfills your needs.  There are starter CRM packages out there for the new owners as well as the expert packages that have been saving a long time (yup, I’m going to beat this house theme into the ground).  In either case, after careful analysis (and some help) you should be able to find the package that is right for you and meets your needs.  Consider the experts Realtors for your CRM.

To battle the cost idea, an example comes to mind which happened to one of my favorite clients.  He had some hesitation to the cost of implementing a CRM package, but knew he needed to do something.  The costs were daunting – a new server (which is NOT needed if you use an online CRM tool), software licensing, training time, consulting costs for customization, import of data, etc.  However, we created workflows in his CRM to automate some of the tasks that he was really bad at.  Essentially, he was bad at following up with clients and he knew this – he needed something/someone to do it for him.  We created a simple process to automate an email for those that had an overdue balance, sending out an automatic email in the morning, nothing huge, just a friendly reminder.  He told me two weeks later that the single process of sending an email to those clients had single handedly paid for all of his CRM costs including my time with him, his server, and licensing.  People appreciated the friendly follow up, didn’t realize that they owed a balance, but more importantly, they wanted him to come back out and do some more work for him.  Why I love the follow up with any system is that you’re reminding clients that you’re still there which in further reminds them of other needs they may have.

Will this example above be what happens to everyone?  I wish, but unfortunately no.  However, the returns will come.  Better tracking of sales and what’s coming in the pipeline, never losing track of the communications between you and your customers, being able to market directly to the right clients based on interests, industry, or existing products – all these items may not have a solid dollar amount to track against your investment, but it is there.  As with your old apartment, you’re going to outgrow that yellow pad of paper with all your “to-do’s” and you’re going to simply need something more to move you to the next step.

As the many and varied solutions on Comparz.com shows, there is a hotbed of innovation occuring across the online and SaaS universe. While oftentimes innovation comes form a startup with a new vision, established companies also have their share of eureka moments. 

Among them is LogMeIn, a leader in the remote desktop access and support space, which has been around for four or five years. LogMeIn free versions have enabled individuals across the land to access servers and desktops from anywhere (including smartphones) for free. That is worth repeating---for free. The company makes money on its higher-end Pro and Rescue versions. LogMeIn Rescue, while a little pricey for the occasional support guy, is priceless for any tech support organization. 

I had thought that LogMeIn and LogMeIn Rescue were enough, but they pushed the envelope even further a year ago by providing web conferencing support via their free app called Join.me. Taking advantage of the fun domain registries in Montenegro, they put out an amazing product that is amazingly easy to use---and again, for free.

The Join.me app is optimized for the iPhone and iPad, as well as PCs and Macs, and lets users of those devices chat and share what's on their screens. Up to 250 viewers can join a session at a time. 

The hardest part is getting to the website, but they have made that easier by redirecting www.joinme.com to the Join.me URL. A simple screen prompting to Join or Share is all you need. One person shares, one or more will join to watch, and there's even the ability to take control or pass control, which makes remote desktop support even easier. 

I personally use this little web application several times a week for either an online demo or to support my clients. Are there some limitations? Sure there are. You can't copy and paste, certain key strokes aren't captured, and file transfer isn't there. However, since it's free, can't we overlook those little things? If not, there's a pay version where file transfer and other features are enabled at a pretty reasonable cost.

Through innovations like these, LogMeIn should keep the other remote support players on their toes and hopefully keep more innovation coming. Isn't that what better business is all about?

Comparz provides user reviews and rankings of software services and tools for small and mid-sized businesses. Click here to view Comparz' Remote Desktop Management software rankings.

As email marketing services have become more prevalent in today's marketing efforts, so has the ability for the common email newbie to become the next spammer.  Email clients intercept your well-intentioned emails for garbage, folks delete others based solely on the images, and junk folders continue to get filled, leaving you unable to successfully deliver your promotion or newsletter on which you have worked so hard.

So how do we battle this?  How do we make sure that our messages get to their intended recipient?   There are a few things that I will lay out here, but keep in mind this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to getting those messages mailed out and read.  Email marketing has become a science in itself, but it's a heck of a time to get involved if you're not already.

• Watch your language — Avoid words that spam killers look for like "free" and "money." While you mean well, if your email contains these words, it may well end up in a junk folder, or even worse, eliminated at the mail server where no one will ever see it.  Some of the email services like ConstantContact.com actually have an "anti-spam checker" to give you an idea of whether your email will be seen as legit or spam by most filters.

• Avoid too many images —  Let's face it, pictures are usually worth more than the words on the page.  That's who we are, we love pictures.  However, the tendency is to have way too many images, which then become "marketing noise." Remember, you want to tease the reader, making them want more.  That's where you make those images hyperlinks to your web page or links to your product pages, really reeling them in.  Oh, and before I forget—NO TEXT AS IMAGES!  Keep in mind that many email clients (Outlook for example) do not download any images until the reader gives it permission.  If you have very little text and all images (including text banners that are images), your email will just look like a bunch of empty boxes with red X's prompting for download—at that point, the tendency is to just delete it because there's nothing to attract the reader. 

• Always use the KISS method — Remember, the objective of your email is to lead your reader to your website, drop you an email, or even give a call.  Keeping that in mind, don't put too much on your email so they won't read it.  As readers, we tend to be lazy—get to the point or end up in the trash in many cases.  You want to drop hints for promotions or articles, using the phrase "click here for more" as much as possible.  In a newsletter for instance, a few well-placed paragraphs with "click for more" at the end of each allows the reader to pick and choose which articles pertain to them.  The click through is the real success factor in email marketing as getting them to visit and spend time on your website is time that they did NOT spend at your competitor.  Back to keeping it simple, just don't put too much on the page.  Like the point about images, too much text, side bar menus, links, etc. can turn off your reader, which is the worse-case scenario.

This may sound a little overwhelming; jumping into a new area of technology always is.  However, this is not meant to scare you off, just encourage you to move slowly and surely into email marketing.  It's a wide open field and quickly becoming the most popular way of getting your message out.  It's more cost effective than direct mail, and reports that show who's reading it, who's forwarding it, and who's not getting it are more readily available to you.  With all email services you can get these reports, which are available almost immediately, unlike direct mail campaigns.  Just be sure you're careful before you jump into email marketing, or you'll end up in the trash. 

Corey Babka is a Comparz contributor and CRM Consultant at the Marks Group, Customer Relationship, Service and Financial Management Experts.

Comparz provides user reviews and rankings of software services and tools for small and mid-sized businesses. Click here to view Comparz' business software reviews and rankings.

In my last post, I wrote about the difference between the two cloud scenarios:  Fully hosted web applications vs. hosting your servers at a “server farm” to get the most out of support, hardware, etc.  Being that most companies still utilize a client-server type application (they’re very hard to get away from) in some type of form, I’d like to focus on the latter type of cloud. 

Server hosting is a beautiful thing, no doubt, but we have to be smart (as with anything) that we’re making the right choice at the right time.  In my travels, I’ve been to some really interesting places where the company’s server is housed in a very tight, cramped, dark, dusty area, which we all know is not good for a server that’s up and running 24x7.  Dust and heat are the killers for these machines, and honestly, who can afford to create a refrigerator-style data center where it is 60 degrees all day long, dust mats at the entry way, etc. , all for one or maybe two servers? 

So when do we move up to server hosting?  This is a very individual answer of course, but I get people to start perusing hosted environments when they’re just about to buy a new server.  You’ve seen the signs: The server starts to get real loud (sounds like a 747 is taking off from the backroom), shuts down every once in a while and takes forever to come back up, or maybe it’s just not compatible with today’s software as we move towards more 64-bit client-server applications. 

When you see these signs, the next step is to get a quote from your IT support person, whether onsite or outsourced, where the quotes can range (trust me, I’ve seen them) anywhere from $2,000-$8,000 for purchase, set up, and configuration.  If feeling brave, you can even go to Dell’s or HP’s website and start shopping, but I know I glaze over as soon as I start to customize – I just don’t know all the ins and outs of hardware. 

To me, this is the first step in comparing costs in hosting or buying new machines.  While making those comparisons, some advantages of going the hosted route to keep in mind:

1)  If going hosted, let the experts choose the servers for you.  Chances are they already have the hardware and they’ll move you to a virtual environment that’s already in place and is monitored constantly.  You may get your own server or share one that is split into multiple virtual servers (don’t worry, it’s secure).

2)  I’m not out to replace your IT guy, but with most hosting companies they provide their own support staff, which is part of the bundled pricing.  Again, if you’re in good cahoots with your IT guy, arrangements can be made that they still do the support work, but maybe the contract price will be slightly less (there’s some flexibility here) on both sides.

3)  We’re a mobile-oriented society now and this trend is only increasing.  Smartphones, tablets, and netbooks are allowing us to run our desktops from almost any platform.  A hosted environment puts that desktop in the virtual space, allowing for any of the above to be used to manage that desktop.  We’re no longer tied to the desk, but we’re at the mercy of bandwidth.  I say, let someone else handle the bandwidth, managing up-time, speed, and security.

The above are just a few reasons to look into hosting, but a cost comparison is necessary.  Go ahead, add it all up:  IT support costs, hardware costs, upgrading workstations, online backups, etc., and see how the numbers compare.  You may find that a per-user monthly cost, while it sounds daunting at first, over the span of a few years would match what you would spend over time supporting your own internal network and hardware. 

You’ll still need some support for your network and machines to access the cloud, but it will be significantly less.  However, after all that comparing, even if the cloud is higher, the benefits of a hosted environment far outweigh those of keeping it in house, allowing you to sleep better at night knowing your “stuff” is in good hands.

Comparz provides user reviews and rankings of software services and tools for small and mid-sized businesses. Click here to view Comparz' business software reviews and rankings.

It’s a question I hear often in my travels, where almost everyone has heard of “the cloud” and many have since become interested.  However, as with all new technology trends, it’s not an easy jump and people want the reassurance that they’re not jumping the gun in doing so.

However, for this article, I just want to focus on defining “the cloud” which I think is where most the confusion starts.  I could make a pun about things being “cloudy” but I won’t sink that low and insult your intelligence.  So, in short, I split “the cloud” into two different categories.  There can be an overlap of these as well, so it can’t get a little gray (see, another possible cloud pun) as companies utilize a mixture of both which is becoming more and more common.

1)     Web-based applications:  There are the completely web-based applications where most would like to go to but is quite honestly unrealistic for most at this time.  This is only because the applications needed by most companies are not truly web based yet.  There are CRM packages like Zoho, Sugar, SalesFoce, hosted MS CRM, etc., even office applications like Google Apps, and QuickBooks Online or Xero for accounting.  However, to utilize everything as a web based application where all of your data is hosted somewhere “up there” is pretty cutting edge, even for those that live on the cutting edge.  The hardware savings are immense here as no servers are needed, only good workstations with a solid internet connection.  There’s of course a cost for the applications, but it all evens out when you consider hardware costs for server and the support team.

2)     Hosted Server Applications:  So, there is the other “cloud” – the one where we outsource our server hosting, our internal IT support, and your backup strategies, many times renting space in a “server farm” in that you have your server based applications hosted elsewhere and you use Citrix or Remote Desktop Services to connect to your virtual desktop.  It’s a nice system actually and when done right can really be smooth to your users.  This is an ideal situation for those that use client/server applications but want to stop having to worry about their own servers or supporting those servers.  Many times the costs of a hosted system are far lower than monthly IT support, server upkeep, and workstations (a hosted environment does not necessarily need a powerful desktop to remote into the environment).  On top of that, what’s the value of just knowing that your server is in a secure location, being backed up by the experts, watched by a solid IT team, and being able to relax and do your job – not the job of an IT professional.

In the near future I’ll focus a bit more on how you’ll know if you’re ready and what some deciding factors are.  However, for now I just want to add a bit more clarity so we’re all a little bit closer to finding the “silver lining” – couldn’t resist, sorry.

Corey Babka is a Comparz contributor and CRM Consultant at the Marks Group, Customer Relationship, Service and Financial Management Experts.

Comparz provides user reviews and rankings of software services and tools for small and mid-sized businesses. Click here to view Comparz' business software reviews and rankings.

Not to say that Outlook isn’t a great program; it has hands down become the industry standard for e-mail and the measuring stick that we use when looking at other email software.  However, it’s just not a contact management system to help you manage your important business interactions.

My clients always ask me “why do I need a CRM – we have Outlook, which has a calendar and an address book?”  While the argument could be made that Outlook Business Contact Manager became a further attempt at making Outlook a CRM, it was close, but I think of that product as more of a tease to get folks interested in Microsoft Dynamics CRM.

So, back to question at hand, what does a CRM give you that Outlook does not?  My take on it is two major items:

1)     Details on Each of Your Contacts

2)     Whether Tasks Were Completed or Not

What Outlook does not provide is the stream of activities in a historical view where the user can see all interactions with a particular client or prospect.  This, of course, is the main idea behind any function of a CRM system.  Consider trying to find out all that has been accomplished with a prospect, lead, or customer within Outlook.  It just can’t be done without jumping through a number of hoops or giving a call to Jane down the hall  to find out what she’s done recently with ABC client.  Messages are stored in various e-mail folders, and unless you were copied on those e-mails and want to read backwards through the e-mail trail, you cannot piece the story together.

Outlook also does not allow you to see whether you have completed all of the items on your calendar.  So there is no way for you or management to measure productivity.  It’s easy for me to see what I have to do next Tuesday on my Outlook calendar, and I can even share that.  However, on Wednesday, only I know which of those items were completed.  This leaves the rest of my team unable to know what I’ve been doing with Lead XYZ or ABC Company.  But there’s no way to keep track of whether items on last month’s calendar were finished, leaving the whole company unaware of what’s been done.

It’s all about the information sharing and tracking with any contact management/CRM system.  What conversations have occurred with each contact, what happened in each conversation, what are the follow up tasks, and when did or will all activities occur.  Outlook is great to help us communicate internally and externally in an e-mail-driven market, but to get the true picture of all client or prospect activities, a few quick entries in a true CRM is what’s needed to provide the necessary communication within the team.

Corey Babka is a Comparz contributor and CRM Consultant at the Marks Group, Customer Relationship, Service and Financial Management Experts.

Comparz provides user reviews and rankings of software services and tools for small and mid-sized businesses. Click here to view Comparz' business software reviews and rankings.