Right now, the smartest leaders and many users of easy to use CRM we know of are thinking ahead. Since for them, 2017 is in the history books and their sights are set on 2018.
We are sure, you must be having many objectives for next year, and one of them for sure is- “Growth”.
Here is a plan to increase sales for small businesses, which we believe you will find suitable for your business.
55% of CRM users accept that the most important CRM feature is its ease of use, and that is intuitive and has a user-friendly interface- Gartner Click To TweetIf your CRM database is in a mess, as in the end, even the best small and medium business CRM software is only as good as the data residing in it, plan to fix your customer data in your CRM database .
For this, ask every member on your sales teams to review all their contacts and clean up the basic information in the easy to use CRM database. Request them to email their prospects and customers to verify the information in the customer database in CRM . Double check the recipients of the emails who have opted in for the communication and then reach out to those that have not. Also, check for empty fields and out of data information.
Takeaway: Any easy to use CRM for small business is the central core for all good and successful marketing workflow, but without clean data, it is a useless tool.
Marketing in 2018 is not an easy task, as there several ways to spend your money now. You can Tweet, Email, send letters, advertise in print, make calls, advertise online, advertise on social media platforms…the list goes on. Therefore, even though you can maintain an online and a social media presence, focus on what that will provide you the most bang for the buck while promoting excellence.
For example, if you are in B2B business like us in ConvergeHub, you will find that your prospects and customers respond best to emails, so spend your marketing dollars on sending email campaigns. Test out different campaigns and monitor its results to find which campaign responds the best in your business.
Takeaway: If email is not the best marketing weapon for your business, find out what works the best.
This year discontinue doing things seat-of-the-pants and put into practice a quarterly content plan. For example, plan to choose a theme for your online publication every three months that will be of interest to your business community and your customer and then blog, email or post short videos about it. This way you can not only educate your followers but also establish yourself as a subject-matter-expert in your field.
Distribute your content on several social media websites, so that your customers and prospects view your brand as a trusted company to do business with.
Takeaway: Irrespective of how superior are your content, your audience, and followers need to read the information for a few time before they accept it.
Do not let your sales pipeline be a mishmash of email messages and spreadsheets. In 2018, launch a new and detailed pipeline reporting system that you can directly generate from your easy to use CRM software system. If you are using QuickBooks CRM software like ConvergeHub that provides QuickBooks CRM integration free, any prospect or customer who receives a quote from your company will also land on your pipeline report.
Best QuickBooks CRM for sales teams help in tracking customers, responsible salesperson, sales value, product quotes, expected sales closing dates, and probabilities along with most recent actions on any prospect or customer.
This year create a report that will accurately reflect how your open opportunities will affect your cash flow over the next 90 days so that you can plan your ROI.
Takeaway: Be a great sales manager by creating a great pipeline report to keep your eyes on the ball.
Finally, invest majority of your marketing dollars towards your existing brand following community and your customers- that is where the money is. If you are fortunate enough to build up a large list of active consumers of your products and services, maintain this information properly in your CRM database. Next, plan to hold training sessions, events, seminars, and provide other informational materials to your existing customers and fans so that they can use your products better and you can up-sell your products and services consistently.
The money is there in your existing customer database in the CRM- you just need to follow it.
Takeaway: Indeed, acquiring new customers is important. However, know the fact that you will be leaving a lot of money on the table if you do not nurture your existing customers who are already consumers of your brand.
Conclusion
Regardless of your industry if you follow these plans, we are sure you will increase your revenue in 2018. Since we believe, you will find some of these plans certainly suitable for your products and services.
