Why SMBs Can Ditch Salesforce to Adopt ConvergeHub

Salesforce is expensive and complex. But , at the same time complex as well. However, ConvergeHub has emerged as a true Salesforce alternative for all the right reasons.

The first name that often crosses our mind while talking about CRM is Salesforce. It’s a CRM giant and for all the right reasons. It comes with all the feature that makes it a clear winner in any cases. However, Salesforce comes with a hefty price tag along with a complex interface. And, that’s where ConvergeHub emerges as a compelling Salesforce alternative.

What’s ConvergeHub? What Makes it a Great Salesforce Alternative?

ConvergeHub is an all-in-one CRM Software designed fr the SMBs. This robust platform is crafted to track , organize and manage data from all four departments – marketing, sales, support and billing/accounts. Let’s go in-depth into the data and explore why ConvergeHub might be the perfect fit for your growing business. 

Pricing point: A Clear Winner

Investing in a CRM software is a substantial investment. Quite obviously, SMBs will compare the prices before investing in it. Many SMBs cannot afford such extensive investment during the initial phase of their establishment. But their requirements are no less than of a big enterprise. In fact, things are more scattered in every department and as they plan to scale up, they desperately need a systematic approach. They need a CRM that comes with all the functionalities, but not that pricey. Salesforce does not match with this criteria. On the contrary, ConvergeHub offers quite an affordable option. Their plans start at $9 per user per month, significantly lower than Salesforce’s base price of $75 per user per month. This translates to substantial savings, especially for larger teams.

Here’s a table on the feature-specific comparison.

FeaturesSalesforceConvergeHub
Starting Price$75/user/month$9/user/month
Automation CapabilitiesRequires additional licensesIncluded in all plans
Service FeaturesRequires additional licensesIncluded in all plans
Contract lengthYearlyQuarterly or Yearly

Ease of use: Streamlined Interface

There’s a lot of powerful features in Salesforce, to be honest. But then, it comes at the cost of complex interface. Extensive training ad comprehensive hand holding is required to use the product at its full potential. Often the SMBs do not have this high-level of technical expertise

for such extensive hand holding process. Without it, SMBs often find it difficult to navigate its various modules effectively. On the other hand, ConvergeHub is widely preferred by the users for its ease of use. ConvergeHub boasts a user-friendly interface that requires minimal training. Its intuitive design allows users to get started quickly, maximizing their productivity and minimizing on boarding costs.

Focus on SMB Needs: Tailored Features for Growth 

As mentioned earlier, Salesforce is the CRM giant and obviously made for the companies with complex business structure. This enterprise CRM platform talks about core functionalities like sales pipeline management, lead generation, and customer support. ConvergeHub also supports the same with features essentially designed to streamline the SMB workflows.

Here’s a look at the key features of the ConvergeHub hat SMBs might found useful.

  • Sales Pipeline Management: ConvergeHub provides visual pipelines to track deals, forecast sales, and identify potential roadblocks.
  • Lead Generation: Built-in lead capture forms and email marketing tools help convert website visitors into qualified leads.
  • Customer Support: Manage customer tickets, track resolution times, and provide exceptional customer service experiences.

Simplified Marketing Automation

Salesforce requires integration with third-party marketing automation tools like Mailchimp, which further adds to the complexity and cost of the product. It means to run the marketing automation feature of Salesforce, additional support and licenses from other product is needed. On the contrary, ConvergeHub comes with in-built marketing automation features within its core platform. So, when a user is implementing ConvergeHub, he can already access the built-in features in the platform that helps them target email campaigns, track campaign performance, and nurture leads with automated workflows.

Data to Support the Claims: ConvergeHub’s Strengths 

And, if you are still not convinced with the advantages mentioned above, here’s a look at the data fro credible sources where users have chsen ConvergeHub at the better alternative. Several review platforms like G2 Crowd rates ConvergeHub higher than Salesforce for ease of use and ease of doing business. So is Software Reviews and Capterra.  Capterra has also further highlighted the  ConvergeHub’s affordability and positive customer reviews.

Here’s a glimpse into the data:

 G2 Crowd

  Ease of Use: ConvergeHub (8.8) vs. Salesforce (8.3)

Ease of Doing Business: ConvergeHub (9.2) vs. Salesforce (8.8)

Capterra 

 Average User Rating: ConvergeHub (4.7 out of 5 stars) vs. Salesforce (4.3 out of 5 stars)

 Beyond the Data: Additional Benefits of ConvergeHub 

While cost, ease of use, and built-in marketing automation are clear advantages, ConvergeHub offers other benefits:

Scalability:  ConvergeHub scales efficiently as your business grows, eliminating the need to migrate CRMs later.

Security: ConvergeHub prioritizes data security with robust security measures in place.

Customer Support: ConvergeHub offers responsive customer support, ensuring you get the help you need when you need it.

Ready to make a Switch? Here’s a look at the smooth transition

If you are already convinced that ConvergeHub is a better Salesforce alternative and planning to switch, there are experts to help you with it. In fact the transitioning itself is absolutely smooth and quite straightforward process. ConvergeHub offers data migration services to ensure a seamless transition of your customer data and sales pipeline.

Final Thoughts: Does ConvergeHub supports your needs?

We understand how SMBs often struggle with finances. If you are one of them and stuck with the thought that Salesforce is the best, you won’t be able to make the transition. Instead, you can choose to get rid of he enormous costs and complexity associated with Salesforce, ConvergeHub is a compelling alternative. Its user-friendly interface, built-in marketing automation, and focus on core CRM functionalities make it ideal for growing businesses. With its affordable pricing and commitment to customer support, ConvergeHub empowers SMBs to streamline their operations, nurture leads, and close more deals.

And finally there’s nothing called best CRM in the market. Each product has a set of beneficial features. So, the best CRM for your business is the one that addresses your specific needs and budget. Consider your requirements, evaluate both platforms, and make an informed choice.

ConvergeHub Capabilities: Artificial Intelligence vs. Intelligent Automation

Ever get confused by the terms “AI” and “IA”? They are connected but there’s a fine line of difference. Identifying these differences is important because that will help you leverage these technologies to their full potential. This article cuts through the confusion by highlighting the differences between Artificial Intelligence and  Intelligent Automation and even a bonus term: intelligence augmentation. 

Let’s find out how AI and IA stack up against each other, plus explore how ConvergeHub leverages these technologies to streamline business operations.

What is Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence is a technology that makes computers technically mimic human intelligence. AI uses special algorithms to tackle tasks that usually require human smarts –  such as learning new things, solving problems, and making decisions.

Imagine a computer that gets better at a skill just by feeding it information. That’s the power of AI, achieved through a technique called “deep learning.”  For instance, AI can analyze massive amounts of customer data, uncovering patterns and trends much faster and more precisely than a human ever could.

Here’s a glimpse into the exciting world of AI:

  • Chatbots and Virtual Assistants: That’s one of the biggest functional advantages of AI. Conversational AI uses natural language, making it possible to interact with computers through chatbots and virtual assistants like Alexa or Siri.
  • Generative AI: Need a creative spark? Generative AI can create content, whether it is text, music, or images, by learning from existing information. It helps you compose a personalized email message, posts, and all kinds of marketing and sales communication based on the data provided to it 
  • Machine Learning: One of the important subsets of AI is Machine Learning. Computer vision uses algorithms to analyze visual information, enabling features like facial recognition and object detection. Machine learning allows computers to learn from data, like a student studying. This lets them make decisions or predictions without any requirements of human programming. 
  • Natural Language Processing or NLP:  Imagine a computer that speaks your language! Natural language processing (NLP) lets computers understand, interpret, and even generate human language. This is used in speech recognition, translation tools, and text summarization.

AI is a vast field with many applications that are constantly evolving. It’s changing the way we live and work!

What is Intelligent Automation or IA?

Sales is all about building relationships and closing deals. But repetitive tasks can bog you down.  This is where intelligent automation (IA) steps in as your secret weapon.  Imagine AI working alongside you, automating the mundane and freeing you to focus on what truly matters: your customers.

Intelligent automation or IA combines the power of AI with automation tools to streamline your sales process.  By taking over things like data entry and scheduling, IA lets you spend more time connecting with leads and nurturing relationships.  This translates to two major wins:

  1. Boost Your Sales Time: Imagine ditching tedious tasks and having more time to build rapport with potential customers. This can directly lead to increased sales and a happier you!
  2. Efficiency Guaranteed: Streamlined processes mean less wasted time and resources. IA helps you work smarter, not harder, ultimately leading to higher profits.

Sales on Autopilot: How AI Supercharges Your Team

AI can be your ultimate sales sidekick by automating a variety of tasks:

  • Data Entry: Say goodbye to endless data entry! IA handles it for you, freeing you up for more strategic work.
  • Uncovering Sales Gems: Find new sales opportunities with automated lead generation tools. IA can identify potential customers who are a perfect fit for your business.
  • Data Made Easy: Get clear insights without spending hours on reports. IA can analyze vast amounts of data (big data) and generate reports automatically, giving you valuable information at a glance.
  • Stay on Top of Your Game: IA automates task management, keeping your team organized and focused on closing deals.
  • Effortless Scheduling: Schedule meetings and appointments with ease, letting IA handle the back-and-forth.

With smart and intellectual automation, you can ditch the busy work and focus on what matters most: building relationships and growing your sales.  It’s time to unleash the power of automation and watch your sales team soar!

What’s the Difference?

There are two subtle differences between AI and IA.

  • Focus: AI focuses on mimicking human intelligence, while IA focuses on enhancing human capabilities.
  • Capabilities: AI can perform tasks autonomously, while IA combines AI and automation to improve efficiency and decision-making.

Here’s an example of how AI can analyze data for insights, while IA automates tasks like lead qualification, freeing up salespeople’s time for more strategic activities.

  • Level of Intelligence: AI can exhibit a higher level of intelligence, like learning and adapting, while IA may focus on rule-based automation with some AI assistance.
  • Human Interaction: AI might be designed to work independently, while IA often collaboratively works alongside humans.
FeatureAIIA
FocusMimic human intelligenceEnhance human performance
CapabilitiesPerform tasks autonomouslyImprove efficiency and decision-making
Level of IntelligenceHigh (learning, adapting)Moderate (rule-based with AI assistance)
Human InteractionIndependentCollaborative

Don’t Just Work Smarter, Work Augmented

Sometimes tech terms can sound interchangeable, but there’s a key difference between intelligence augmentation (IA) and its close cousin, intelligent automation (IA). IA takes a broader view. It’s about leveraging any technology to boost human potential, not just the power of AI. This could include everything from advanced calculators to specialized software.

The goal, however, remains similar: supercharge decision-making and streamline tasks.

Take ConvergeHub’s reports and dashboards, for example. They don’t make sales calls for you, but they use technology’s muscle to transform raw sales data into actionable insights. This empowers salespeople to make smarter choices and close more deals. Precisely, IA might not replace your brain entirely, but it surely enhances its performance. 



Use Cases of  AI and IA in Sales and Marketing 

  1. Personalized Prospecting:  AI analyzes customer data and online behavior to identify ideal leads. IA automates outreach with personalized emails and social media messages, saving time for targeted prospecting.
  1. Smart Lead Scoring: AI analyzes lead behavior and engagement levels, assigning a score that indicates their sales-readiness. IA prioritizes leads based on their score, allowing sales reps to focus on the hottest prospects.
  1. Real-Time Sales Coaching: AI monitors sales calls, identifying areas for improvement and suggesting effective communication strategies. IA can even provide in-call prompts and feedback to help reps close deals more effectively.
  1. Dynamic Content Generation: AI tailors sales presentations and proposals to each prospect’s specific needs and interests. IA automates the creation of personalized content, boosting engagement and conversion rates. From sales emails, demos, cost calling scripts, sales pitches, product brochures, and contract paper everything can be created through generative AI.
  1. Predictive Analytics: AI analyzes historical sales data and identifies trends to predict future sales opportunities and potential roadblocks. IA uses these insights to recommend personalized pricing strategies and optimize sales pipelines.
  1. Automated Objections Handling: AI identifies common sales objections during calls and provides real-time counterarguments and scripts. IA automates responses to basic objections, freeing up reps to focus on complex customer concerns.

Final Thoughts

According to a McKinsey report, companies that invest in AI are seeing a 3–15% revenue growth and a 10–20% boost in sales ROI. As artificial intelligence (AI) and intelligent automation (IA) become more sophisticated, their benefits for business will only multiply. ConvergeHub leverages these cutting-edge technologies to streamline operations and boost sales for your business.

Sign up for a free 14-day trial to explore more.

AI Features in ConvergeHub Lets You Think Beyond CRM

Generative AI is one of those megatrends that are shaping up CRM in 2023. AI superpowers are propelling businesses for next-level outcomes by extending the capabilities of the marketers, sellers and the support agents alike. 

Generative AI is one of those megatrends that are shaping up CRM in 2023. AI superpowers are propelling businesses for next-level outcomes by extending the capabilities of the marketers, sellers and the support agents alike. 

In the CRM space, Generative AI has brought in countless possibilities within the easiest reach. It seamlessly assimilates and comprehends customer interactions, be it phone conversations, emails, or meeting transcripts. As a result, it’s way easier for the businesses now to derive  insights about customers’ mindset and leverage the same for enhanced engagement.

What’s Generative AI in CRM?

Generative AI is the gen-next artificial intelligence technique. Basically, generative models are leveraged to use in the CRM software, in order to streamline workflow, enhance and automate customer interactions with the sole objective of  increasing process efficiency. It helps create emails, responses and even product recommendations  by identifying customer data patterns from previous conversations. The process fosters personalized customer relationships at every touchpoint (be it sales, marketing, billing or support), which further translates into improved customer satisfaction rate.

In this fast-evolving field, CRM with generative AI seeks to improve working methods and to reduce labor-intensive tasks, reports Gartner’s 2022 overview of AI for business.

AI in ConvergeHub Takes Customer Communication to the Next Level

The latest AI features in ConvergeHub are all set to reshape Customer Relationship Management. It not only transforms the way you do business but also enhances your CSAT rate to a great extent. The inclusion of Generative AI puts in place a whole new range of functionalities which operates across sales, customer service, marketing, billing and  more -streamlining workflows across multiple levels. 

AI-first Customer Interactions

The rising cost of human-led support is a frustrating reality in customer service. And, Generative AI is the answer.  

Let’s talk about a real-life scenario.

What happens in most cases, the customer service team at the initial level often establishes a service level agreement (SLA) that looks manageable. But then there are times when support volumes skyrocket. It further translates into an endless stack of support tickets. For obvious reasons, agents become overwhelmed and the CSAT rates start falling. 

On the other end, customers suffer long wait times and poor experiences. Conversations and feedback are lost in the mix. CSAT and net promoter score (NPS) take a serious dive. SLAs are missed, and senior leadership is wondering why. 

Enter Generative AI.
GenAI is poised to alleviate administrative burdens by assisting in email composition, RFP responses, note and content creation, and more. This facilitates productivity surge and allows teams to dive more into creative and strategic endeavors.

AI functionalities in ConvergeHub helps analyze vast datasets to generate concise summaries, distilling key information for quick reference. With it , AI-driven CRM platforms take contextual notes during interactions, capturing relevant details to inform future communication. This not only ensures a comprehensive understanding of the customer’s history but also facilitates seamless collaboration among team members.

Personalization Done Right

AI algorithms have exceptional capabilities to personalize email content by dynamically adapting language, tone, and messaging based on individual customer profiles and preferences. This level of personalization extends to anticipating customer needs, suggesting relevant content, and optimizing communication strategies. As a result, businesses leveraging ConvergeHub experience a significant leap in productivity, creating tailored and engaging emails that foster stronger, more meaningful connections with clients.

How AI Assistant in ConvergeHub Streamline Workflows

Reduce Repetitive Tasks to Ensure Growth in Productivity level

Generative AI automates routine and time-consuming tasks, freeing up human resources to focus on more complex and strategic activities. This translates to increased efficiency in managing customer data, handling routine inquiries, and ensuring timely follow-ups. And,  all  these  hardly  require  manual  intervention at  any  level.

Generative AI In ConvergeHub  helps in process automation within its CRM platform. This includes automating data entry, sending personalized follow-up emails, and updating customer records based on predefined rules. This not only reduces manual workload but also minimizes the risk of errors associated with repetitive tasks.

Being Virtual Assistants to Ensure 24/7 Customer Support

ConvergeHub’s  AI-driven virtual assistants provide users with intelligent, voice-activated interfaces that can perform tasks, retrieve information, and even offer insights through natural language interactions. On many  occasions, the  AI  assistant assists users to navigate the CRM platform efficiently. From scheduling appointments to providing analytics insights, ConvergeHub streamlines user interactions, taking it to the next  level.

Leverage  AI Functionalities to Take your Business to the Next level

Get Precise Customer Insights

Generative AI algorithms can sift through vast amounts of historical customer data to identify patterns and trends. By applying predictive analytics, businesses can gain valuable insights into customer behavior, enabling them to anticipate needs, identify potential issues, and make data-driven decisions that contribute to long-term customer satisfaction. Such  kinds of data-driven approach helps in informed decision-making at every level of  business- ve it sales, marketing or support- contributing to the company’s continued success.

Improved Lead Scoring and Customer Segmentation

As already mentioned, AI functionalities in ConvergeHub can seamlessly analyze diverse data points to determine the likelihood of lead conversion. Basically, it performs sentiment analysis from customers’ behavioral  patterns. As a result, more granular customer segmentation  is possible based on nuanced factors. It helps ConvergeHub users create a more tailored approach and target  specific audience segments.

Powerful Business Intelligence

Through real-time alerts, AI functionalities in ConvergeHub can keep you well-informed about abrupt shifts in sales or support workloads, customer concerns, and sales performance. This proactive notification system enables customer-facing teams to promptly address challenges, allowing for swift issue resolution. Precisely, an  AI assistant offers strategic refinement to capitalize on your strengths. You can actually stay ahead of the curve with ConvergeHub’s timely insights, enabling you to navigate dynamic business scenarios with agility and precision, ensuring optimal performance and sustained competitive advantages.

Overcoming Challenges and Ensuring Ethical Use of Generative AI

As businesses embrace the transformative potential of Generative AI in CRM, it is essential to address potential challenges and ensure ethical use. Issues such as data privacy, algorithmic bias, and transparency must be carefully considered and addressed to build trust with customers and stakeholders.

Data Privacy and Security

The implementation of Generative AI in CRM necessitates the responsible handling of customer data. Businesses must prioritize robust data privacy measures, including encryption, access controls, and compliance with regulatory frameworks such as GDPR, to safeguard sensitive customer information.

Addressing Algorithmic Bias

Generative AI systems are only as unbiased as the data they are trained on. To avoid perpetuating existing biases, businesses must invest in diverse and representative datasets and implement ongoing monitoring and adjustment protocols to identify and rectify potential biases in algorithms.

Transparency and Explainability

Ensuring transparency in how Generative AI algorithms operate is crucial for building trust with customers and stakeholders. Businesses should prioritize explainability in their AI systems, providing users with insights into how decisions are made and fostering a sense of accountability.

Leverage  AI Functionalities to Take your Business to the Next level

Get Precise Customer Insights

Generative AI algorithms can sift through vast amounts of historical customer data to identify patterns and trends. By applying predictive analytics, businesses can gain valuable insights into customer behavior, enabling them to anticipate needs, identify potential issues, and make data-driven decisions that contribute to long-term customer satisfaction. Such  kinds of data-driven approach helps in informed decision-making at every level of  business- ve it sales, marketing or support- contributing to the company’s continued success.

Improved Lead Scoring and Customer Segmentation

As already mentioned, AI functionalities in ConvergeHub can seamlessly analyze diverse data points to determine the likelihood of lead conversion. Basically, it performs sentiment analysis from customers’ behavioral  patterns. As a result, more granular customer segmentation  is possible based on nuanced factors. It helps ConvergeHub users create a more tailored approach and target  specific audience segments.

Powerful Business Intelligence

Through real-time alerts, AI functionalities in ConvergeHub can keep you well-informed about abrupt shifts in sales or support workloads, customer concerns, and sales performance. This proactive notification system enables customer-facing teams to promptly address challenges, allowing for swift issue resolution. Precisely, an  AI assistant offers strategic refinement to capitalize on your strengths. You can actually stay ahead of the curve with ConvergeHub’s timely insights, enabling you to navigate dynamic business scenarios with agility and precision, ensuring optimal performance and sustained competitive advantages.

Overcoming Challenges and Ensuring Ethical Use of Generative AI

As businesses embrace the transformative potential of Generative AI in CRM, it is essential to address potential challenges and ensure ethical use. Issues such as data privacy, algorithmic bias, and transparency must be carefully considered and addressed to build trust with customers and stakeholders.

Data Privacy and Security

The implementation of Generative AI in CRM necessitates the responsible handling of customer data. Businesses must prioritize robust data privacy measures, including encryption, access controls, and compliance with regulatory frameworks such as GDPR, to safeguard sensitive customer information.

Addressing Algorithmic Bias

Generative AI systems are only as unbiased as the data they are trained on. To avoid perpetuating existing biases, businesses must invest in diverse and representative datasets and implement ongoing monitoring and adjustment protocols to identify and rectify potential biases in algorithms.

Transparency and Explainability

Ensuring transparency in how Generative AI algorithms operate is crucial for building trust with customers and stakeholders. Businesses should prioritize explainability in their AI systems, providing users with insights into how decisions are made and fostering a sense of accountability.

The Future Landscape- Closing the Never-Ending Customer Feedback Loop

As technology continues to advance, the role of Generative AI in CRM is poised to expand further. Future developments may include even more sophisticated natural language processing capabilities, improved sentiment analysis, and enhanced predictive modeling, all contributing to a more precise and personalized customer experience.

This is an AI-centric era when the paradigm of customer service undergoes a profound transformation. At the forefront of this evolution is the strategic utilization of generative AI, fundamentally reshaping the key metrics that define operational excellence.

Firstly, the infusion of AI optimizes the cost-effectiveness of customer service operations by elevating First-Contact Resolution (FCR) and streamlining Average Handle Time (AHT). These improvements not only enhance operational efficiency but also serve as tangible indicators of the viability of an AI-first strategy. Through a meticulous investment perspective, organizations bolster their customer service teams, ensuring alignment with strategic objectives and financial goals.

Meeting and exceeding Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and Automated Resolution benchmarks become benchmarks of success, illustrating the prowess of an AI-powered customer service infrastructure. Automation, intelligently integrated, serves as a shield for human capital, freeing valuable resources to focus on nuanced, high-value interactions. This strategic deployment of technology aligns seamlessly with organizational objectives, safeguarding efficiency and quality in the customer service domain.

Wrapping Up

Generative AI, as the linchpin of this transformative approach, possesses the unparalleled ability to rapidly and accurately decipher diverse data sets. This includes intricate information extracted from customer service transcripts and feedback surveys, a capability critical for navigating the complexities of expansive data during periods of rapid growth. The swiftness and scalability of AI enable it to instantaneously generate comprehensive reports on customer insights, leaving no inquiry, conversation, complaint, or suggestion unattended.

Furthermore, the implementation of generative AI establishes a robust feedback loop. It ensures that every customer interaction contributes to a reservoir of actionable insights. This visibility into customer data empowers C-suite leaders to make informed decisions, fostering a more profound understanding of customer needs and expectations. Consequently, the organization becomes adept at closing the feedback loop, cultivating a continuous cycle of improvement and customer satisfaction.

Generative AI in the CRM premise has certainly reshaped operational dynamics but also positions organizations at the forefront of technological innovation. The strategic fusion of AI capabilities with the intricate facets of customer service operations serves as a catalyst for efficiency, excellence, and sustained growth in this AI-first business landscape.

Stay tuned to get more updates on ConvergeHub. Share your thoughts in the comments.

RingCentral’s Mass Call Feature Marks a Paradigm Shift in Customer Outreach

Mass call” feature by RingCentral allows ConvergeHub users to make a large number of calls quickly and efficiently. This can be beneficial for scenarios such as sales prospecting, customer outreach, or any situation where reaching out to a large number of contacts is required

Recent stats say, “more than 70% of customers expect conversational service every time they engage with a brand.” Customer engagement strategies are no longer the same. It demands innovative approaches that bridge efficiency and personalization at every step. In this transformative landscape, ConvergeHub and RingCentral integration facilitates mass call feature allowing a streamlined outreach at every level.

Mass Call by RingCentral-Explained

Gone are the days of complicated platforms and disjointed workflows. Mass calling features by RingCentral brings in an unparalleled communication infrastructure for the ConvergeHub users. All it takes is a single, deliberate click for initiating hundreds of targeted calls – each meticulously arranged within your ConvergeHub interface.

Mass Calling elevates speed, precision and personalization when it comes to customer outreach. Simply by using filters and automation from ConvergeHub you can now craft and deliver personalized messages to defined customer segments. Built-in call logging and insightful analytics provide real-time feedback, allowing you to fine-tune your approach and witness your campaign’s performance unfold like a captivating concerto. Whether you are conducting a sales pitch targeting qualified leads or a support ensemble to answer inquiries, mass calling feature certainly delivers the next level customer experience.

Mass Calling enables a unified, orchestrated customer outreach approach that facilitates a transformative change to your communication strategy.

 Key Benefits of Enabling Mass Call Feature 

1.  Seamless Communication: Users can make calls, send SMS, and initiate video conferences directly from ConvergeHub’s interface using RingCentral, ensuring seamless communication within the CRM platform.

2.  Efficient Collaboration:  Real-time collaboration is made easy with integrated messaging and video conferencing, allowing teams to work together, share information, and make decisions faster.

3.  Enhanced Customer Interactions:  Access customer data and communication history in one place, enabling personalized interactions and improving customer satisfaction.

4.  Increased Productivity:  Automation of tasks, coupled with streamlined communication, leads to improved efficiency and productivity, allowing businesses to focus on what matters most – growth and customer relationships.

5.  Wider Customer Outreach: ConvergeHub users can leverage mass calling features of RingCentral and reach out to a large number of contacts directly from ConvergeHub. This is particularly useful for marketing campaigns, announcements, or any scenario where you need to communicate with a broad audience.

6. Automated Dialing: Integration with RingCentral may enable features like automated dialing, helping you optimize the calling process and reduce manual effort. This is beneficial for tasks such as lead generation or follow-up calls. The ability to automatically dial a list of phone numbers without manual intervention.

7. Click-to-Call and Click-to-Message: With the RingCentral widget integrated into ConvergeHub, you can initiate calls or send messages directly from the CRM platform. This streamlined process eliminates the need to switch between different applications, saving time and improving efficiency.

8. Call Queues: A feature that organizes and manages incoming and outgoing calls, distributing them among available agents or users.

9. Call Logging and Analytics: Detailed logs and analytics related to calls, including call duration, outcomes, and other relevant metrics.

10. Voicemail Drops: The ability to leave pre-recorded voicemails when a call goes to voicemail, saving time for the caller.

From the CEO’s Desk

“The integration of ConvergeHub with RingCentral is aligned perfectly with our commitment to providing businesses with powerful tools for customer relationship management. By combining ConvergeHub’s CRM capabilities with RingCentral’s advanced communication solutions, we are empowering businesses to build stronger relationships with their customers, enhance collaboration among teams, and drive growth. This integration represents a significant step forward in our mission to simplify business processes and improve overall efficiency,” said Shampa Bagchi, CEO of ConvergeHub.

Final Thoughts

“Mass call” feature by RingCentral allows ConvergeHub users to make a large number of calls quickly and efficiently. This can be beneficial for scenarios such as sales prospecting, customer outreach, or any situation where reaching out to a large number of contacts is required. Key features associated with mass calling might include:

Keep in mind that the specific features available may vary depending on the subscription plan or edition of RingCentral that a user has. It’s always a good idea to reach out to the RingCentral support team or consult the documentation for the most accurate and up-to-date information on the platform’s capabilities.

Customer Experience vs. User Experience: What’s the Difference?

Customer experience and User experience both sound similar at a certain level, but they are not. Neither of them are mutually exclusive, but there’s a fine line of difference ( at the experience level) that distinct one from the other.  

Customer experience and User experience both sound similar at a certain level, but they are not. Neither of them are mutually exclusive, but there’s a fine line of difference ( at the experience level) that distinct one from the other.  

User Experience (UX) is all about how your users vibe with your product – the feel-good factor when they interact with it. We measure this groove with metrics like success rate, error rate, and the cool digital stuff, like clicks to get things done.

Now, Customer Experience (CX), on the flip side, is like the big picture of how peeps connect with your whole brand. We are talking about the whole matter– the overall experience, how likely they are to stick around, and if they’d shout about it to their buddies. Think of UX as the smooth dance moves in the broader groove of CX. It’s like UX is the snazzy beat drop, but CX is the entire party playlist, including stuff beyond just the product. Cool, right? 

CX is the more advanced version of UX

User experience happens at the individual level and not holistic. While a user experience  revolves exclusively around the product or services, the CX seeks to fill out the empathy gaps that user experience often leaves out at a level

CX talks about the overall satisfaction level and the emotional connect a user develops with the brand. When the  experience of a user develops at various stages of the customer lifecycle, it finally translates into a 360-degree understanding of the brand as a whole. It involves emotional, psychological, and practical elements that shape the user’s relationship with the company. 

High quality digital UX gives a user/customer the ability to:

  • Seamlessly extract information from the website 
  • Effortless completion of tasks
  • Easy navigation

Good CX gives a user/customer the ability to:

  • Experience pleasant interaction with organization/company representatives
  • Develop an emotional connect with the brand and  everything associated with it


The Role of UX and CX in Charting Business Success

Today, when customer-centricity is paramount, both User Experience (UX) and Customer Experience (CX) become instrumental  in shaping the success of businesses. Read on to explore.

Key Elements of  UX 

Usability: The ease with which users can accomplish their tasks within a given system.

Accessibility: Ensuring that the product is usable by people with disabilities.

Design: The visual and interactive elements that contribute to a positive user experience.

Performance: The speed, responsiveness, and efficiency of the product or service.

According to a study by Forrester, a well-designed user interface could raise a website’s conversion rate by up to 200%. 75% of users judge a company’s credibility based on its website design, says Qualtrics.

Website Navigation

Smooth and effortless website navigation is the key element that goes a long way to shaping a positive user experience. For example, Amazon’s website comes with an easy-to-navigate interface, thus allowing users to find their products in the most hassle-free way possible.

Mobile App Usability

Usability of the mobile apps is also considered a crucial element of creating a positive UX experience. Apps like Instagram and Uber are exemplary in terms of app usability. Their interfaces are user-friendly, providing a seamless experience from onboarding to daily interactions.

Key Elements of CX 

1. Holistic Nature: CX considers every interaction, from marketing and sales to customer support and beyond.

2. Consistency: Providing a consistent experience across various touchpoints.

3. Emotional Connection: Establishing an emotional connection with the customer throughout their journey.

73% of customers point to customer experience as an important factor in their purchasing decisions, quotes PwC. A study by Temkin Group found that companies that earn $1 billion annually can expect to gain, on average, an additional $700 million within three years of investing in customer experience.

Examples of CX in Action

End-to-End Customer Journey

Companies like Apple excel in managing the entire customer journey, from product discovery and purchase to after-sales support. The seamless transition between online and in-store experiences contributes to a positive overall customer experience.

Multi-Channel Engagement

Brands like Starbucks successfully engage customers across multiple channels, integrating their mobile app, physical stores, and online presence. This omnichannel approach ensures a consistent and positive customer experience.

Intersection of UX and CX

While UX is a subset of CX, both play integral roles in shaping the overall brand perception. For instance, an improvement in the usability of an online shopping platform (UX) contributes directly to the positive perception of the brand’s overall shopping experience (CX).

Measuring the Elusive Customer Experience: Beyond Simple Metrics

While the allure of a single, definitive metric for measuring customer experience (CX) is tempting, it’s a mirage. A truly holistic understanding of CX demands a multifaceted approach that goes beyond the popular Net Promoter Score (NPS).

NPS: A Starting Point, Not the Finish Line

Though widely used, NPS alone provides a limited view of customer loyalty and advocacy. It captures a snapshot of customer sentiment, but fails to pinpoint specific areas for improvement.

Beyond Satisfaction, Towards Actionable Insights

Customer satisfaction (CSAT) offers another valuable perspective, illuminating customer sentiment towards specific interactions. But CSAT, like NPS, needs to be complemented by metrics that inform action.

Here are key metrics that paint a richer picture of CX

1. Customer Lifetime Value (CLV): This metric reveals the total revenue a customer generates throughout their relationship with your brand. Understanding CLV allows you to tailor your efforts towards high-value customers and optimize customer retention strategies.

2. Churn Rate: This metric indicates the percentage of customers who stop doing business with you. A high churn rate signifies dissatisfaction and lost revenue potential, prompting you to address its root causes.

3. Meeting Expectations: This metric measures the gap between customer expectations and their actual experiences. It reveals areas where your brand falls short, empowering you to bridge the gap and exceed expectations.

4. Customer Effort Score (CES): This metric measures the ease and effort involved in engaging with your brand across various touchpoints. A low CES indicates a seamless experience, while a high CES highlights areas for improvement.

5. Customer Advocacy: This metric assesses the likelihood of customers recommending your brand to others. It reflects their loyalty and trust, providing valuable insights into your brand’s reputation.

CX: A Superset of UX – The Foundation of Delight

Great CX rests upon a foundation of exceptional user experience (UX). UX metrics, traditionally focusing on tactical aspects like conversion, engagement, and perceived credibility, provide crucial insights into the ease, efficiency, and emotional impact of interacting with your brand.

By integrating UX metrics into your CX framework, you can:

Identify and address usability issues that impede customer journey.

Optimize user flows for better engagement and conversion.

Foster positive emotional connections with your brand.

The Evolving Landscape of Customer Experience

It’s important to remember that CX metrics are not static. Customer needs and expectations constantly evolve, demanding a dynamic approach to measurement. Regularly reviewing your metrics and adapting your strategy ensures you stay ahead of the curve and deliver a CX that truly delights your customers.

Ultimately, measuring CX is not about finding a single magic number, but about gaining actionable insights. By embracing a multi-faceted approach, integrating UX metrics, and staying attuned to evolving customer expectations, you can build a CX framework that drives loyalty, advocacy, and long-term success.

Impact on the Business

Financial Implications

Companies that prioritize positive UX and CX often witness significant financial growth. For example, after revamping its user experience, Airbnb experienced a 30% increase in conversions, resulting in a substantial boost in revenue.

Competitive Advantage

Investing in superior UX and CX provides a distinct competitive advantage. A survey by Deloitte found that 62% of companies view customer experience provided by competitors as a significant threat.

Challenges and Strategies

1.  Lack of Alignment:  Misalignment between different departments on the importance of UX and CX.

2.  Limited Resources:  Insufficient resources dedicated to the development and enhancement of UX and CX.

Strategies for Success

1.  Cross-Functional Collaboration:  Encouraging collaboration between departments to ensure alignment.

2.  Continuous Improvement:  Adopting a mindset of continuous improvement, addressing challenges as they arise.

The Final Takeaway

While spoken in the same breath, User Experience (UX) and Customer Experience (CX) are distinct yet intertwined concepts. UX focuses on the user’s interaction with a specific product or service, striving for intuitiveness, efficiency, and emotional connection. In contrast, CX encompasses the user’s entire journey with a brand, encompassing every touchpoint from marketing and sales to customer service and support.

The Common Goal

Despite their differences, UX and CX share a common goal: to create a positive and memorable experience for the user. This intricate connection requires a delicate balance, with UX providing the foundation for a delightful customer journey and CX orchestrating the entire experience, ensuring seamlessness and emotional resonance across all touchpoints.

Thriving in a Customer-Centric Era

In a hyper-competitive landscape, where customer experience is the sole differentiator, neglecting either UX or CX spells disaster. By strategically investing in both, businesses can unlock tremendous benefits:

  • Enhanced Brand Perception: A positive user experience fosters trust and loyalty, leading to stronger brand perception and positive word-of-mouth recommendations.
  • Increased Customer Engagement: A seamless and engaging customer journey encourages users to interact with your brand more frequently, boosting conversion rates and driving revenue growth.
  • Reduced Customer Churn: A delightful experience increases customer satisfaction and reduces churn, ensuring long-term customer relationships and recurring revenue streams.
  • Improved Operational Efficiency: By identifying and addressing pain points in the user journey, businesses can streamline operations and optimize resources, leading to increased profitability.

The Winning Formula: Recognition and Investment

The key to harnessing the power of UX and CX lies in recognizing their variations and uniqueness and strategically allocating resources to each. Here’s what is needed

  • Establish dedicated teams: Create separate teams for UX and CX, each with specialized skills and expertise.
  • Cross-functional collaboration: Foster open communication and collaboration between UX and CX teams to ensure a cohesive and holistic customer experience.
  • Data-driven decision-making: Utilize analytics to track key metrics for both UX and CX, identifying areas for improvement and measuring the impact of your efforts.
  • Continuous improvement: Embrace a culture of continuous learning and improvement, constantly refining your UX and CX strategies to adapt to evolving customer needs and preferences.

Precisely, investing in UX and CX both helps create a winning formula for sustained growth and customer loyalty. They help orchestrate a symphony of delight, where each touchpoint resonates with the user, building lasting relationships and securing a competitive edge in the ever-evolving customer landscape.

From Startup to Scale-up: Leverage Growth with Marketing Automation!

Starting your entrepreneurial journey isn’t a walk in the park. Especially for startups, managing everything on a shoestring budget is quite difficult. But even more difficult is managing the marketing. Running campaigns and reaching out to your targeted audience are not as easy as they sound. Often the limited budget creates a roadblock. Picture this: You’re tightroping between having just enough resources and the desperate need for marketing that actually works, all in the digital age where marketing can either make or break you. Thankfully, marketing automation swoops in like your trusty sidekick. It’s like having a buddy in your entrepreneurial journey, helping you make a big impact without emptying your pockets.

This piece explores marketing automation for startups. Get to know about the tools and techniques that will automate your marketing efforts and help you scale up to the next level. 

Marketing Automation for Startups: What are the Benefits

Marketing automation revolutionizes the way startups operate by automating repetitive tasks and enabling personalized communication with the right audience across multiple channels. Here are the key advantages of incorporating marketing automation into your startup.

Efficient Use of Time and Resources: Startups are inherently lean organizations. Marketing automation tools handle tasks like lead nurturing, email campaigns, and social media posting, freeing up valuable time and human resources. This automation allows your team to concentrate on the strategic and creative aspects of your marketing strategy.

Targeted and Personalized Communication: Top-notch marketing automation tools let startups segment their audience based on demographics, behavior, or engagement level. This segmentation facilitates highly personalized communication, ensuring your marketing efforts are engaging and impactful. It guarantees that your message reaches the right people with the right content at precisely the right time.

Data-Driven Decision Making:  In the startup realm, every decision is critical. Marketing automation tools offer valuable insights through customer data analytics.

Scalability: Marketing automation promotes scalability. As your startup expands, these tools can effortlessly grow with you. There’s no need for constant overhauls of your marketing processes or hiring large teams to sustain momentum. Marketing automation adapts to the scale of your business, ensuring efficiency even as you grow.

Navigating Marketing Automation for Startups    A Step-by-Step Approach

 Step #1    Define Clear Objectives 

Begin by outlining your marketing objectives. Clearly defined goals ensure that automation is in harmony with your startup’s mission. Whether you aim to boost lead generation, enhance conversion rates, or drive traffic to your blog, having specific, measurable goals aligns automation with your business strategy.

 Step #2    Choose the Right Tools 

Selecting a suitable marketing automation platform is paramount. Options like EngageBay, HubSpot, Mailchimp, and ActiveCampaign offer diverse features catering to different budgets and needs. Evaluate factors such as ease of use, integration capabilities with existing tools, and the quality of customer support. Seamless synchronization between your systems maximizes the potential of automation.

 Step #3    Segment Your Audience 

Effective marketing automation hinges on audience segmentation. Categorize your audience based on demographics, behavior, or engagement level. This division enables personalized messaging, enhancing the impact of your campaigns.

 Step #4    Craft Quality Content 

Compelling content forms the cornerstone of successful automation. Develop material addressing your audience’s concerns and interests, and distribute it across various channels like blogs, emails, e-books, and social media. Align your content with different stages of the buyer’s journey for maximum resonance.

 Step #5    Set Up Automated Workflows 

Create tailored automated workflows to guide leads and customers through interactions with your startup. These could include welcome email series, lead nurturing sequences, onboarding processes, and post-purchase follow-ups. Design each workflow for a seamless, personalized user experience.

Common startup workflows include   

  • Lead Generation and Capture    Automatically gather leads from your website and forms, initiating follow-up sequences.
  • Lead Scoring    Prioritize leads based on engagement, identifying high-potential prospects.
  • Email Marketing Automation   Tailor automated email campaigns for different segments and stages, covering welcome emails, product recommendations, and post-purchase communication. 
  • Social Media Automation    Schedule and publish social media posts, monitor mentions, and engage with your audience on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

 Step #6    Continual Optimization 

Vigilantly monitor your automation’s performance. Identify glitches and make necessary adjustments to optimize results continually.

Marketing Components You Can Automate with ConvergeHub

Marketing automation relies on a cohesive interplay of essential components to operate efficiently. These elements synergize to streamline marketing processes, enhance efficiency, and elevate the overall customer experience.

  1. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) System

The CRM system acts as the central nerve center of marketing automation. It serves as a comprehensive database housing all customer-related data, including contact details, interactions, and preferences. This organized repository provides a holistic view of customer profiles, aiding in audience segmentation and laying the groundwork for exceptional customer experiences.

  2. Email Marketing Automation

Email marketing remains a robust channel for customer engagement. Email marketing automation within the marketing automation platform empowers businesses to craft, schedule, and dispatch personalized email campaigns to distinct audience segments. This component incorporates features for drip campaigns, lead nurturing, and precise email tracking.

  3. Segmentation and Personalization     

Marketing automation tools facilitate audience segmentation based on diverse filters like demographics, behavior, preferences, and purchase history. This segmentation refines marketing campaigns, enabling the delivery of highly personalized content and messages to specific segments, thereby enhancing conversion rates.

  4. Tracking and Reporting     

Analytics tools are indispensable for monitoring campaign performance. They offer insights into email open rates, click-through rates, website traffic, and conversion rates. Armed with this data, businesses can make informed, data-driven decisions and fine-tune their marketing strategies.

  5. Workflow Automation     

Workflow automation is pivotal in streamlining internal processes. It involves automating repetitive tasks, ranging from lead assignment to triggering follow-up emails based on user actions. Automating these processes boosts business efficiency significantly.

  6. Content Marketing Automation     

Content marketing automation enables the seamless distribution of content across platforms like blogs, social media, and email newsletters. This ensures that the audience receives valuable content timely, nurturing them through the conversion funnel.

  7. Social Media Marketing     

Social media is a cornerstone for audience engagement. Marketing automation platforms integrate with social media platforms, facilitating scheduled posts, conversation monitoring, and engagement metric tracking. This automation ensures a consistent social media presence and aids in community building.

  8. Landing Pages and Web Forms     

Dedicated landing pages and web forms capture visitor information crucial for building the contact database. These forms collect data such as names and email addresses, initiating marketing automation workflows for personalized follow-ups.

  9. Multi-Channel Marketing     

Effective marketing automation extends across multiple channels including email, social media, SMS, and website retargeting. Consistency across these channels reinforces brand messaging, enhancing brand recall.

  10. Lead Generation and Management     

Marketing automation captures leads from various sources like website forms and social media. These leads are automatically integrated into the CRM, enabling prompt follow-ups. Each lead is assigned a score based on their engagement, facilitating prioritized attention from the sales team.

Common Mistakes Startups Make with Marketing Automation

Startups often stumble in their marketing automation endeavors due to several common pitfalls. Here’s what to avoid:

Over-automation         

Strive for a balance between automation and personalization. Excessive automated messages can alienate your audience. Maintain a human touch and focus on delivering meaningful value.

 Ignoring Strategy and Planning         

 Rushing into automation without a clear strategy leads to disjointed efforts. Define goals, target audience, and KPIs. Develop a comprehensive plan outlining the customer journey. Without this roadmap, automation efforts can become ineffective.

Zero Idea of ROI         

 Tracking ROI is vital for understanding automation effectiveness. Monitor metrics like conversion rates and revenue attributed to automation. Use this data to assess campaign efficacy and justify resource allocation.

Sales and Marketing on Different Tracks           

Siloed sales and marketing hinder automation results. Foster collaboration between teams. Shared insights enhance understanding of customer behavior, improving lead nurturing and conversions.

Startups are increasingly relying on Marketing  Automation 

According to recent studies, 90% of marketers agree that automation is crucial to their success. In the startup realm, this translates to an increased reliance on marketing automation platforms to optimize their campaigns, enhance customer experiences, and drive revenue. At ConvergeHub, you can get a plethora of automation tools such as email marketing, social media scheduling, lead nurturing, and customer segmentation, all tailored to meet the unique demands of startups.

For startups, time is of the essence. Recent statistics reveal that 77% of CMOs at top-performing companies indicate that their most compelling reason for implementing marketing automation is to increase efficiency. By automating repetitive tasks, such as email responses and social media posts, startups can allocate their resources more effectively, enabling their teams to focus on strategic initiatives and innovation. This streamlined approach not only saves time but also reduces human error, ensuring consistent and error-free marketing campaigns.

Why In Modern Times Using Legacy CRM Solutions Can Erode Your Business Growth

In modern times businesses have shifted drastically and have become digital nowadays in the ways organizations market their brands. Hence in recent years, there has been an explosion of several digital marketing technologies for increasing brand awareness and revenue. Therefore, if you are aware of what is CRM within the context of this business growth technology marketing and sales efforts have been increasingly acquiring a singleness of purpose accompanied by new trends in marketing their offerings. While in the past marketing and sales once had limited interactions between these two departments, these two functional identities have nowadays become much more technologically synergistic and unified, while working towards a common goal. Therefore, today marketers working with organizations using legacy CRM software instead of cloud-based easy to use CRM software<are often frustrated about how manual their processes are, which can be at times even downright exasperating when simple tasks and request have unattainable solutions.

In modern times businesses have shifted drastically and have become digital nowadays in the ways organizations market their brands. Hence in recent years, there has been an explosion of several digital marketing technologies for increasing brand awareness and revenue.
Therefore, if you are aware of what is CRM, within the context of this business growth technology marketing and sales efforts have been increasingly acquiring a singleness of purpose accompanied by new trends in marketing their offerings.

64.2% of businesses view CRM tools as impactful on their bottom line - Finance Online Click To Tweet

While in the past marketing and sales once had limited interactions between these two departments, these two functional identities have nowadays become much more technologically synergistic and unified, while working towards a common goal.

Therefore, today marketers working with organizations using legacy CRM software instead of cloud-based easy to use CRM software are often frustrated about how manual their processes are, which can be at times even downright exasperating when simple tasks and request have unattainable solutions.

Here are some of the key factors that cause marketers within these companies to often suffer in silence since there is nothing that can be done to alleviate the pain points faced by these employees within their current business environment, whereby the management fails to understand that there are many Salesforce Alternative CRM software platforms in the marketplace, which are economic and efficient for automating tasks and help marketers generate more leads and revenue.

1. Leads, Prospects, and Customers Are All Mixed Together

In most legacy CRM and old contact management systems there was no opportunity to import unqualified leads inside a bucket that can separate these leads from customers and prospects in the funnel, which eventually cluttered the CRM database and marketing teams were often blamed for dumping worthless contacts into the CRM software’s database over several years, which not only compromised the performance of the software but even resulted in a loss of substantial work hours spend and revenue.

2. There Is No Way for Generating Web-Form HTML

In most legacy CRM software platforms unlike cloud-based easy to use CRM software solutions, after website form submissions they are distributed as simple emails in legacy CRM software environments, whereby these lead information needs to be manually fed into the CRM system. Which often than not never gets entered or procrastinated until these leads get misplaced or fall through the crack.
However, with modern best small business CRM software platforms like many Salesforce Alternative CRM software solutions Web-Form HTML helps to directly submit leads into the easy to use CRM software, seamlessly.

3. Requires Lead Assignment Rules to be Coded

In many legacy CRM software, you will mostly find that there are no admin-friendly means to set up lead assignment rules. Whereby, you need developers to code the rules that will help to determine how leads are to be assigned to specific sales reps in an organization, based on criteria like company size, location, vertical markets, and others.

4. Non-Existent or Basic Campaign Management functionalities

Monitoring and managing marketing campaigns are one of the most offered features in most contemporary easy to use CRM software platforms.
Nevertheless, traditional contact management systems and CRM tools are either devoid or have none of these campaign management features which have the important functionalities that are highly sought after by modern marketers nowadays.

5. Limited or No Integration

Most traditional CRM tools are devoid of integrations with email service providers, third-party databases, marketing automation systems, or online accounting applications which are found with most modern CRM software tools.

Per say, nowadays many best CRM for small business offers integrations with a plethora of third-party applications, which also include financial accounting software, as there are several CRM solutions today which are popularly known as QuickBooks CRM software that offers seamless integration of these business growth tools.

Additionally, marketers need the ability to segment leads, prospect, and customers based on their past behaviors for lead scoring, send targeted email marketing messages, trigger lead nurturing campaigns, develop landing pages, enrich lead records from third-party databases, or collect information about new visitors on their web page.

Although all these functionalities can be easily done by integrating third-party apps with easy to use CRM software and several other Salesforce Alternative CRM software built for SMBs, integrating these third-party applications with outdated legacy CRM systems can be exorbitantly costly and also difficult in most traditional on-premise CRM apps.

6. ROI Metrics Cannot Be Extracted Easily

Marketing, Sales, Support, and Accounts are the four key departments that are most associated with the influence of easy to use CRM systems.
Therefore metrics and KPIs pertaining to user adoption, business performance and customer perception of your brand not only helps to manage your existing customers, but it even aids in streamlining support operations and sell more to your customers efficiently.

Now even though there are some legacy CRM tools that can collect many of this information, nevertheless they lack appropriate reporting tools to make it easy for the user of the software to get the right type of reports that are needed for analyzing their business growth.

Conclusion

Hence, as sales, marketing, and support efforts are becoming increasingly intertwined, it is becoming more important to provide these teams with easy to use CRM software technology, that supports a close coupling of activities, as we find with all-in-one CRM software solutions, which alleviates most of the pains that users do experience using an outdated and on-premise legacy CRM system and tools.

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Practical Ideas for Automating your CRM Workflow to Improve Sales

If your question is: Why automate the workflow? The shortest answer to this is: To maximize your results with minimum efforts. Now, you may be wondering if there is any scope for such effectual automation within your sales team? Yes, there is! Hence, in this article let us outline a few tested and tried ideas for automation that are certain to deliver better results while reducing the workload of your sales teams.

If your question is: Why automate the workflow?
The shortest answer to this is: To maximize your results with minimum efforts.
Now, you may be wondering if there is any scope for such effectual automation (using easy to use CRM) within your sales team?

Yes, there is!

Data accessibility can shorten the sales cycle by 8–14 percent on average - Nucleus Research Click To Tweet

Hence, in this article let us outline a few tested and tried ideas for automation that are certain to deliver better results while reducing the workload of your sales teams.

Idea #1

Make sure that your web-based leads are contacted in minutes

Web-generated leads are precious for all businesses. Nevertheless, your sales reps must ensure that web leads are contacted within minutes after they are generated online.

This is because, according to a study published by MIT, it states that if sales reps make contact within 5 minutes after generation of the lead, the lead is 22 times more like to get converted into a hot prospect ready for buying your offering.

However, how can you be assured that your sales team will be capable of following up with every web lead so promptly?

This is where automation in a robust CRM like Salesforce or any other reputed Salesforce Alternative CRM for small business comes into play.

  • As soon as the web-to-form is filled up, the information gets collected in the CRM database.
  • Next, your easy to use CRM taps into your integrated telephony software solutions and prompts your sales reps active on the system and mobile devices.
  • If the sales rep is busy, the CRM system automatically forwards the call to the next able rep and continues to do so, until a free sales rep is capable of making the call to the given number.
  • The sales rep finds all the relevant information about the lead on their CRM system, and therefore armed with that data just need to click to make the call. This makes sure that all calls are contacted when they are hot and that too before the stipulated 5 minutes time.

Idea #2

Automate follow-up calls on email campaigns

Irrespective of whether your email campaign is about a demo, your new product launch, or a meet up, in all cases, it is really tough for leads to open your emails.

Easy to use CRM software with integrated email campaigning functionalities, help the users of the software to view who opened their emails.

Therefore, to ensure that your sales teams make follow up calls to every lead that opens their emails here is how you can automate your CRM to do it.

  • See the email campaigns report in the easy to use CRM
  • Select all the contacts that opened the email.
  • Push all the contacts into the dialing software integrated with the CRM.
  • For hereon let the dialer do its job of persistently and automatically dial every lead in the contact list and connect them to a representative.

Idea #3

Ensure that missed and abandoned calls do not become missed leads

All easy to use CRM software solutions capture incoming lead 24/7.

Now it is natural that you can miss calls during holidays, after your work hours, or when your lines are busy.

However, when you are using a CRM missed calls should not mean missing a valuable lead.

Hence, here is a workflow that you can set up easily to make sure that you never miss doing a follow up on any of your missed calls.

  • Your integrated telephony system can find any phone number that goes unanswered with the numbers in your CRM database.
  • Now if the call is from a fresh lead, you can set up your easy to use CRM system that a new follow up the ticket is automatically generated by the system.
  • An alert on the missed call can be sent by the system to your inbox, and in case there is a voice message that can also get attached to your email.

Idea #4

Send greetings, voice messages, and notifications to all in the contact lists in one go

Do your sales team members need to remind qualified leads, prospects and customers about their subscription renewal dates, approaching last payment due dates and other?

You can easily set a configurable IVR (Interactive Voice Response) message, and create a workflow using automation in your easy to use CRM that lets you broadcast the message to any or all in the contact list within your CRM database with a single click.

Conclusion

Essentially all of these stated ideas depend on a smooth integration between your easy to use CRM and telephone software like RingCentral, NexInteractive Dialer or Twilio Call that are most essential software solutions which can be integrated with Salesforce and all other major Salesforce Alternative CRM solutions like ConvergeHub that are meant for small businesses.

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4 Golden Customer Retention Questions That You Must Ask Today

As owners of businesses, we create services and products that we think our customer needs and we also think that we know exactly what is needed by our customers. For example, as an owner of a fitness studio, one can easily think that its services are all about providing professionals who are busy otherwise, with an easy to way to get their cardio exercises done before and in the spare times after their work. However, in reality, it can be that loyal customers of the fitness studio go to the studio since it offers low impact fitness regimes that best fit older bodies. Now without asking this question all business owners, just like the owner of the fitness studio, will not know if the reason they developed their services are really the cause their customers are accepting their offerings.

In a recent survey done by PlanBeyond on owners of small businesses using easy to use CRM, more than 80 percent of those who participated in the survey felt optimistic about the businesses’ performance in 2019.

46 percent of sales teams report widespread use of CRM systems - Entrepreneur, (2018) Click To Tweet

In this same report, it has also been noted that 51 percent of the small business owners pointed to one critical factor behind this optimism: the presence of a strong existing customer base.
In fact, this motivation was larger than those that cited about the quality of their employees, or their marketing and sales plans, as reasons as to why their business will prosper this year more than it did before.

Now we all know retaining old and existing customers is of much larger importance than acquiring new ones.

Nevertheless, there are very few business owners that proactively seek inputs from their high-paying customers to know if their brand’s services are truly meeting all expectations that the customers demand from their brand.
Not to mention the fact that even fewer ask their customers as to what more their business can do for the customers and cater to their needs.

This is why taking time to ask these four most important questions is critical not to just retain your key customers but to also keep them totally satisfied with your offerings.

The 4 Golden Customer Questions

Question #1

What did motivate you to look for what you purchased from our brand?

As owners of businesses, we create services and products that we think our customer needs and we also think that we know exactly what is needed by our customers.
For example, as an owner of a fitness studio, one can easily think that its services are all about providing professionals who are busy otherwise, with an easy to way to get their cardio exercises done before and in the spare times after their work. However, in reality, it can be that loyal customers of the fitness studio go to the studio since it offers low impact fitness regimes that best fit older bodies.

Now without asking this question all business owners, just like the owner of the fitness studio, will not know if the reason they developed their services are really the cause their customers are accepting their offerings.

This misunderstanding, on the part of the owner, may make them spend more time, money and resources developing and launching additional services and products that are of no interest to the existing customers of the brand or even alienate their best customers which can result in unprecedented customer churn.

Therefore creating a customer survey using an easy to use CRM software , is one of the best ways businesses can understand the requirements of their customers which can help in retaining existing customers by providing them exactly what they need from your business.

Question #2

Why did you choose to purchase from our business?

Let us take the same fitness studio as an example.  It can be natural that there were many other fitness options in that locality, right from large gyms to smaller fitness outlets that cater to 1:1 personal training.
Still then, there must be something unique that led the said fitness studio’s customers to choose them.

Therefore, asking customers to identify the main and important features that make your brand and business stand apart is an ideal way to find what matters to them the most.

This is because, if you are armed with this information, you can easily make sure that your marketing teams can continuously hit on these key value propositions while finding new customers using easy to use CRM for lead generation and nurturing, and not focus your attention on features your business may offer that your customers are not interested in.

Question #3

What experience did you find positive with our business?

When something is working well for your company, make sure you ask your customers what they liked so that you can keep doing it well.

Going back to our fitness studio example, consider that the fitness studio is offering a power-lifting class. Now as an owner of the fitness studio by asking this above-stated question to your loyal customers, you might learn that most customers of your fitness studio appreciate that all the studio classes can be joined by people of different fitness levels and they like that your exercises can be modified to manage pre-existing injuries.

Now by asking this question, as an owner of your studio, you can quickly learn that power-lifting (which you thought about previously) would never be of interest to any of your existing customers but rather it can create misalignment with the services that your customers enjoy today.

Question #4

What can we do to provide you with better customer experience?

No matter how exceptional is your offerings, there are always several ways to do better or provide your consumers with more robust customer experience.

This is the exact reason why asking this question proactively matters since it is an excellent way to make sure that your customers are receiving complete customer satisfaction, as well as find out new opportunities where you can provide and up-sell additional products or services that your customers may want over time.

For example, going back to the fitness studio, let us assume that the studio’s classes begin from 8.30AM; however, its loyal customers frequently asked for early-morning classes. Now, by asking this question, the owner of the studio can learn that investing in early start times will help them to retain their best customers, as well as bring in new customers who want their services but at an earlier hour of the day.

When should you ask these golden questions?

If you are a user of an easy to use CRM, you must know that regularly keeping your pulse on the customer sentiment by evaluating and performing sentiment analysis using information stored in the CRM database is the key to business growth.

Therefore, once you are considering expanding your business, be it in terms of products or services or a physical expansion, and you want to be confident that any new decisions that you take on incremental investment you can ask these questions to your customers that will further delight your customers and attract new batch of loyalists and help your business to increase its bottom line.

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How To Use Intent Data Effectively To Become A Sales Rock Star

Most lead generation rock stars in every organization have their own secret recipes when it comes to developing and executing their lead generation campaigns using easy to use CRM software. Whether it is the use of Big Data, Predictive Analysis, Creative Persona Development, Use Case Study or Voodoo, every rocking sales lead generating person has an under-covered thing that makes their perfect campaign recipe. In fact, the Internet is filled with ticks, trips, methodologies and numerous how-to guides on what it takes to make leads and prospects ‘sing’ your pipeline tunes.

Most lead generation rock stars in every organization have their own secret recipes when it comes to developing and executing their lead generation campaigns using easy to use CRM software .
Whether it is the use of Big Data, Predictive Analysis, Creative Persona Development, Use Case Study or Voodoo, every rocking sales lead generating person has an under-covered thing that makes their perfect campaign recipe.

Each year, 70% of businesses state they plan to increase spending on technology. The figure remains the same in 2019. Click To Tweet

In fact, the Internet is filled with ticks, trips, methodologies and numerous how-to guides on what it takes to make leads and prospects ‘sing’ your pipeline tunes.

Big Data, Intent Data, and Predictive Analysis

If you are into business and especially into marketing you must have observed that every other year there seems to be a novel marketing “flavor of the year” that will try to throw light on the lead generating business.

Even as of now, Big Data seems to turn out well as databanks are stuffed to the gills with volumes of external and internal contacts that are available in every imaginable shapes and size.
Predictive Analysis also found a big recognition in the modern time, as it promised that it will help innovative marketers to “guess” which leads are going to most valuable even for the most ambitious sales pipelines in their easy to use CRM software.

Now, marketers who are more cynical among others may be tempted to ask: “Is intent data marketing just another fad?”
Well, this is definitely an intelligent question, as we must know what makes intent data different from other lead generation tools.

Now, modern-day marketers always look for ways to make data available in their CRM database more actionable and scalable so that it can better target prospects at their various stages in the sales pipeline in their buyer’s journey.

Well, in a gist, that is exactly what intent data promises and delivers to the marketers, guaranteeing success in their deals.

Therefore, intent data quite simply hones in the stealthy signals which indicate that a person is particularly looking for your brand’s offerings in the marketplace, which helps in targeting users that have demonstrated their intents through website visits, product searches, white paper downloads, and others.
In other words, intent data is the ‘work-horse’ for modern-day marketers in the lead generation world.

This is because intent data can help boost engagements across several use cases which mostly works for ABM (Account Based Marketing) ad targeting, lead scoring, sales data and account managing, lead generation activities and more.

Is there any guarantee for marketers working with intent data?

Well apparently stating it is not.

Nevertheless, as no strategy in marketing remains constant let us now explore how intent data when used with easy to use CRM can help increase your businesses’ bottom line.

TEN COMMANDMENTS FOR INTENT DATA-INFUSED LEAD GENERATION CAMPAIGNS

  1. Know your prospect

For intent-based marketing, primarily begin by developing buyer persons for your offerings.

Get inputs from all major stakeholders on both marketing and sales sides in your company, and thereafter when you conduct research, make sure that you answer these following questions that include:

  • What issues do your targeted prospects must care about?
  • What are the present hot topics in their industry?
  • Which keywords your targeted prospects use when they search for solutions pertaining to your business?
  • Which events do your targeted prospects visits and attend?
  • Which publications do your targeted prospects read and trust?
  • Which are the influencers that your targeted prospects turn to for enhancing their skills?
  • Who are your top competitors in your line of business?
  • What technology stack your targeted prospects use and whether they are complementary to your offerings?
  1. Understand the marketing metrics

Marketing metrics and indicators may vary to reflect business priorities; however, measurements in your easy to use CRM will surely identify specifications, such as:

  • Lead conversion rates
  • ROI on lead generation spent
  • Sales cycle timings
  • Boost in increasing your brand offering’s footprint within key accounts
  • Progress in your ABM programs
  1. Know the customer

Maximize your businesses’ revenue goals by understanding specific criteria if the customers, which include:

  • Least and most profitable customers by geography, industry, product line or any other variables that are critical for your ABM email campaigns
  • Best cross-selling/up-selling opportunities
  • Best time to grab additional revenue from existing customers in your CRM database
  • Outcomes of specific engagements of the customers as an indicator for your future ABM initiatives
  1. Know the platforms

Based on your lead generation requirements, you may need many systems, which can include plain vanilla CRM systems, marketing automation platforms, demand generation automation tools, business intelligence dashboard, or rather to say an all-in-one CRM platform (which includes all these tools) and is compatible to your mar-tech stack.

  1. Honor your content marketing strategy

A good content marketing strategy (after a degree of diversity and experimentation) can be the biggest growth opportunity for your business.

Therefore use infographics, videos, micro-site blogging, corresponding email assets, testimonials and reviews, research reports by which you can refine your ABM lead generation over time.

  1. B2B Marketers own the top of the funnel

It has always remained a topic of heated dispute whether sales or marketing owns the funnel. Nevertheless, in the modern marketplace, both sales and marketing are held responsible for generating specific sales goals, as no longer the sales teams are the only proprietor for nurturing leads from awareness to purchase.

  1. Sales Reps must follow-up speedily with prospects

Providing a fast response at times can boost the odds of converting the eager prospect into a customer of your brand exponentially.
Therefore your sales reps should follow up immediately by emailing contents designed to advance the conversation forward after making sure that the content is “mapped” appropriately in context to the buyer’s persona, industry, and the stage they are in of the buying cycle, before making a follow up with a phone call.

  1. Focus on solving problems instead of hard selling

Marketers must work in tandem with the sales reps to make them avoid any hard pitching of their offerings.

Therefore the most effective way to open up a conversation after the initial intro of your brand is to make your prospects understand why you have called or how your offering(s) can help to solve their issue.

  1. Do not hand off leads to the sales reps right away

Primarily before you pass-on a lead to the sales team make sure that they are properly scored.

For this define the lead stages and make sure both your marketers and sales reps are crystal clear on terms like “MQL”, “SQL”, Raw Leads, “SAL” and others. Since these terms do not mean anything unless everyone in your company understands what is required to meet these criteria.

  1. Be persistent in developing reporting to measure success and improve programs

Finally, look into metrics like ‘sales accepted leads’ or ‘conversion to opportunity’ or if your lead scoring system is functioning optimally and where you need to make changes for finding business growth .

Remember to adjust your lead-scoring process once every quarter, until you feel it is right.

Takeaway

Therefore irrespective of whether it is internal, external or behavioral, intent data is designed to identify your prospective leads who are interested in your offering right now.

Hence pairing intent data with other signals that are found in Salesforce or even Salesforce Alternative CRM software platforms especially created for small businesses truly helps in leveraging and understanding your prospective customer’s insights for more lead generation opportunities, sales and thereby aid in finding rapid business growth.

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Lessons That Your CRM Software May Not Teach You

The propensity to accumulate a colossal amount of data indeed represented a big leap in customer support and communications when easy to use CRM (Customer Relationship Management) solutions first hit the business world as marketing, sales, and contact data management tool. Nevertheless, CRM software solutions were not a holy grail. This is because, managing information in the CRM database is one thing, and using that data to understand the customer’s need (not what you think but what they do) and how to get them engaged with your brand is another.

The propensity to accumulate a colossal amount of data indeed represented a big leap in customer support and communications when easy to use CRM (Customer Relationship Management) solutions first hit the business world as marketing, sales, and contact data management tool.

Nevertheless, CRM software solutions were not a holy grail.

This is because, managing information in the CRM database is one thing, and using that data to understand the customer’s need (not what you think but what they do) and how to get them engaged with your brand is another.

You don’t close a sale, you open a relationship if you want to build a long-term, successful enterprise.- Patricia Fripp Click To Tweet

Easy to use CRM platforms were not built to be nimble. Rather these business tools were created to work with changing expectations of the customers and technology over time.

Currently, AI (Artificial Intelligence) and predictive analysis promise the prospective potential to revolutionize easy to use CRM software of the modern times in a truly meaningful way, however rather than being hyperbolic, it is important to be practical- and that is never the same as being pessimistic or negative.

Certainly, applying AI to enterprise level CRM like Salesforce or any other Salesforce Alternative CRM software essentially meant for startups and small businesses can make personalization more effective and efficient; however, it will really work only if the CRM solution’s most innate characteristics are apprehending the customer’s needs that have been driving the Artificial Intelligence revolution so far.

More to say, in their present state easy to use CRM software solutions have not excelled at the uncanny propensity to shine a light on information that must be prioritized (which are based on the organization’s top line goals), vis-à-vis that which might not be relevant in specific applications- which they should.

Apart from this, we would also like to go far to say that CRM solutions are essentially still broken, owing to multiple misunderstandings or misapplication of fundamental principles that apply to sales, marketing, customer service- and data management itself.

Siloed data is YET an issue

The truth behind this matter is that although easy to use CRM technologies are always demanding when it comes to aggregating data, but nevertheless not when it comes to sharing it.
Now, this is not a new issue, but still, it persists almost everywhere across all industries, and not just in organizational functions like marketing and sales.

Siloed data and information in disparate business software applications build walls that prevent anyone from truly finding a complete image of the opportunities and processes needed for boosting efficiency or finding an idea of the customer experience from the beginning to the end of a customer’s journey with the brand.

Therefore even nowadays at times; it becomes almost incomprehensible to understand the real value of a complete dataset since the information that is generally encountered is mostly found in fractured form.

For example, it is impossible to optimize a sales funnel, when you do not really know why or where your prospects fall off their path to conversion unless you are using an all-in-one CRM platform like ConvergeHub.

 Extra content is NEVER better

CRM solutions have put forth a notion in the mind of the users of the tool that creating more contents is not only imperative but also beneficial for any organization.

However, this is not true.

This is because, generating contents for the sake of creating contents has been the status quo since long which most people believes that is needed to be done, without probing any deeper questions.

Nevertheless, in reality, creating contents and generating ‘useful’ contents are two different fundamental ideas.
Prospects, leads, and the customer wants high-quality contents because they want to educate themselves by learning how to solve persistent issues that impede their progress and generic contents are never good enough for doing that.

This has happened because, after years of being conned by fluffs and click-bait verbiages that provides no value, consumers have become more selective about where and how they choose to consume contents.
In fact, in the modern time, individuals have become more tolerant of long-form content pieces (so long as they provide useful info and have substance), as consumers nowadays yearn for practical and insightful data.

Not everyone uses technology the same way

It is convenient to make assumptions about how the information in the CRM database might be used. However, in reality, there can be an infinite number of needs and usage for the data that easy to use CRM software platform provides, which can never be predicted.

Therefore, although the possibilities to utilize technology are limitless, nevertheless, on a case-to-case basis, the real need for data is always very specific.

Moreover, the supposition that everyone has the same level of technological literacy to be able to use even an easy to use CRM, for any specific requirement overlooks the big segment of the market that does not meet this threshold.

Hence, for truly understanding what information in the CRM database is actually useful for creating personalized and most essentially useful content easy to use CRM software solutions have to find a better solution for incorporating customer feedbacks and thereafter infer the customer’s own processes.

Hence, appreciating how processes unfold, and viewing the connections between all the operational elements and their corresponding data, is the only means to assure the users that they have implemented the right technology in a manner that they require to fulfill their business goals.

Not talking, listening is the most crucial step in understanding data needs

Neil Rackham (founder and former president of Huthwaite, Inc.) rebuts the clichéd rhetoric “Successful people in sales ask more questions during calls than do their less triumphant colleagues” by stating that “these less successful salespeople are those that tend to do the most talking.”

In fact, successful salespersons have been using and implementing personalization techniques in sales for a longer time, even before it became a buzzword.

This is because, it is no longer hard to understand, that personalization is one of the most productive methods for lead nurturing and persuasion.

Since it is only by asking the right questions effective sales reps can position their products and themselves in the best possible way.

Hence listening to your prospects and customers is one of the most beneficial advices for communicating with your audience, which allows you to have a dialogue after knowing what they need.

Moreover, the ability to listen to the pain-pints and challenges faced by your prospective customers also helps in creating substantive contents that provide value to your target consumers and therefore increases your content’s efficacy in the long haul.

Conclusion

Hence, easy to use CRM solutions in the present time, must begin with look at providing a holistic customer experience with complete data sets, and should be willing to find and utilize better feedback mechanisms to meet the customer’s needs, which you can find in award-winning CRM software applications like ConvergeHub that provides an all-in-one 360-degree view of its leads, prospects, and customers.

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Tips for Using Knowledge Base to Enrich Customer Success for Small Businesses

A knowledge base is a centralized database of most critical customer-facing and support-oriented information that can be stored, organized, and searched for future accessibility collected in the CRM database. Therefore, a knowledge base in your best small business CRM software can be accessed both by your customers and your support teams, to aid them to find the right answers for their questions they might have for your offerings. A knowledge base stored in an easy to use CRM, therefore, can include product updates, user manuals, how-to-do articles, answers of all frequently asked questions, and much more.

Customer support is most important for customer success of all businesses big or small.
In fact, every year companies are increasingly using it as a differentiating factor when they are trying to establish their brand identity in a crowded marketplace.
Customers nowadays want answers to their questions and issues immediately, preferably along with self-service options so that they can help themselves.
Therefore if you are using easy to use CRM software, the most cost-effective and the best method for boosting self-serving options for your customers is a knowledge base.

65% of buyers find a positive experience with a brand to be more influential than great advertising.- Temkin Group (2019) Click To Tweet

What is the importance of using Knowledge Base?

A knowledge base is a centralized database of most critical customer-facing and support-oriented information that can be stored, organized, and searched for future accessibility collected in the CRM database.

Therefore, a knowledge base in your best small business CRM software can be accessed both by your customers and your support teams, to aid them to find the right answers for their questions they might have for your offerings.

A knowledge base stored in an easy to use CRM, therefore, can include product updates, user manuals, how-to-do articles, answers of all frequently asked questions, and much more.

Hence irrespective of whether you are using a robust and complicated enterprise-level CRM like Salesforce or an easy to use Salesforce Alternative CRM for startups or small business, knowledge base can act as a 24×7 helpdesk solution and thereby free up time for the members of your support teams, whereby your support reps can focus on solving more complex customer-facing issues.

Now, are you finding yourself worried and intrigued about how you can create your businesses’ knowledge base?

Then (since it is no rocket science) here are our top tips for creating an effective and efficient knowledge base using your best small business CRM software solution’s CRM database to boost customer satisfaction and increase customer success for your brand.

Build a template and stay constant

From our research as one of the award-winning best small business CRM software, we have observed that very few companies use a standard and dedicated format for creating their contents.
This is because if you a have a plethora of people contributing to your brand’s knowledge base you certainly need a consistent template so that all the members in your organization is on the same page. Since the last thing that you need is a confusing knowledge base.

Here is an example of how you can segment the contents of your knowledge base in your CRM database:

  • By Topic
  • By Complexity
  • By Audience
  • By Product

Your primary step should always be for segmenting the contents according to their respective topics, but in case if there are chances that your customers might feel confused and overwhelmed, then as per the list stated above segment further, so that it makes your contents easy to reach, understand and find the answers, which is the ultimate goal of creating a knowledge base.

Cover all the bases

No content in a knowledge base is better than having half-baked contents.
Therefore, ensure that the knowledge base in your easy to use CRM software includes a range of various topics in its database.
This is because; the more topics you create in your knowledge base repository, your help desk will have to resolve a lesser number of customer calls, since your customers will be able to find their answers themselves faster, which will free up your support staffs and help them focus on helping customers with more complex issues.

Now, since your employees might not find enough time at first to upload contents to your businesses’ knowledge base, hire an employee that can do the job and remember to focus on uploading the most commonly faced issues of your customers first, and then concentrate in expanding your contents to tackle complex topics later on.

Collaborate with all departments

Even though the primarily it is the customer support department that will provide you with the main topics that are needed to be included in the knowledge base, since they interact with the customers on a daily basis and knows the requirements of the customers, but to create a comprehensive self-service knowledge base you need the help of all the teams in your company.

This is because no one knows the details about your products as your product management team, or how to solve an IT problem like your IT department, and a billing or product return solution like people in your accounts.

Hence find a champion from each of your departments who can write articles that can help to solve respective problems that customers face with their departments and thereafter hire a content editor to work on those contents for the final uploads.

Keep the content simple

It is natural when you have been working with a company for a length of time; it is most likely that you will be describing your offerings at a higher level of comprehension than it can be understood by your customers.

Although this might work for internal communications, however, your customers may render the contents useless which will add to the customer support team’s workload.

Now since the purpose of creating a knowledge base is to let the customers find an answer to their questions by themselves without calling your support teams, hence make your contents easy to comprehend. For this once again you can entrust your content editor to edit the contents in a way that it makes them easy to digest for its audience.

Add visuals to your contents

As video contents are more popular nowadays and they tend to remain longer in the customer’s mind than the written ones, provide your customers with a choice to give them a break from blocks of texts.

However, video contents must be used wisely, since although many may not like to read but written contents are often more informative and easy to scan.

Here is an idea of how you can use your video contents to enrich your knowledge base which may include:

  • Tips
  • Feature overviews
  • How-to articles
  • Thought leadership and educational topics
  • Tutorials

Video contents prove to be immensely effective when customers are not searching for a quick answer, hence always remember that visual contents that you have decided to use can never be a substitute for written contents and are rather enhancements of the written contents that are already in your knowledge base.

Analyze customer feedback and behavior

Everything should be tested in business, and so this rule also applies to your knowledge base.

Let your customers provide feedback to you on your contents so that you can gain insights into:

  • What is helpful?
  • What needs improvement?
  • What requires expansion of the contents?

Not all customers will find time to write and explain their experience with your contents. Therefore set a “Thumbs Up” and “Thumbs Down “button at the end of the contents which can help you to understand your customer’s feedbacks.

Additionally, to gain valuable insights into your contents check the help desk tickets received for the topics that are already there in your knowledge base.

Now, if you find that your customers are still trying to reach out to your customer support teams with any topics that are already in your knowledge base, consider it is time to expand or modify those contents as they are not relevant with the questions asked by your customers.

Keep it updated

One of the worst things that you can do for your knowledge base is to neglect it once you have uploaded them on the CRM database.

What do you think your customers might do if they follow your contents in your knowledge base and nothing happens after that?

Well, the answer is clear- your customers might switch to one of your competitors who have an updated and accurate knowledge base.

Therefore, here are some of the things you must check out regularly, or employ someone to audit your contents on a weekly/bi-monthly basis:

  • All the links are working
  • All contents follow the same format
  • Contents are not complex to read and understand
  • Contents are not outdated

Apart from this, whenever you are releasing any new offering(s) the same should also be updated immediately in your brand’s knowledge base.

Conclusion

Although it not really hard to create a knowledge base, however, it requires a lot of strategizing and planning to get it off the ground.

Therefore, by using these tips and suggestions above we are sure you will be able to create your brand’s knowledge base that will help your business not only to save time, but also find an empowering business development tool at your disposal that can boost your customer success dramatically which will undoubtedly lead to rapid business growth.

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