One of the most important tools you’ll need to implement is a customer relationship management (CRM) system. A CRM gives you a centralized platform to store customer information and manage every interaction regardless of the touch point. While you may not have many customers right now, you are growing. A CRM is essential to satisfying customers, and it is easiest to implement earlier rather than later.

In this post, you’ll learn what you should look for in a CRM for a startup and why Insightly is the best solution for getting your business off the ground.

Why your startup needs a CRM

Your new startup doesn’t come with customers. As such, it may seem like a waste of capital to invest in a platform for managing customers when you don’t have many. It is natural to believe that you can wait until your business is established with a solid number of customers before you can see tangible rewards from a CRM. 

However, every startup can benefit from a CRM. The reason is that the success of every business, regardless of industry, is based on providing the best possible customer experience. By taking on a customer-first approach early in your business, you establish a strong precedent and ensure that every customer you add has the experience that will allow you to move forward in the market.

Here are some of the things you can achieve by adopting a CRM for your startup:

Prioritize and organize your work

In a startup, there is no shortage of responsibilities to juggle. How do you know what is important enough to merit your utmost attention? And, how do you keep track of everything so that your business can operate efficiently?

A CRM tool gives you a centralized place to store all your important tasks and the information about leads and customers. When you have all your customer data in a single place, you get a clear picture of where to spend your time and energy. Founders, managers, marketers, and sales teams will all be on the same page, regardless of location or time zone, and your team can act quickly to foster your business’s growth.

Generate new leads and customers 

A strong sales pipeline is key to gaining your first customers. A CRM system helps you capture leads and move them through your sales process while automatically routing leads to the best sales rep. You get a detailed understanding of how effective your sales pipeline is. You can see where you are losing potential customers in your sales process and which activities are yielding the best results.

Manage contacts and partnerships

In the digital world, organizations rely on a variety of communication methods to engage their customers and business partners. A CRM connects all interactions across touch points for you so that you can manage your contacts from a single platform. Sales, marketing, customer support, and any other team working to build strong relationships will have this information at their fingertips.

You don’t have to worry about losing track of a conversation. CRM software can store details from every conversation in one place instead of spreading them out in spreadsheets and notebooks. You can also use a CRM to set up automatic reminders to ensure you regularly check in with your valuable contacts.

What to look for in the best CRM for startups

Now that you know why your startup needs a CRM, let’s look at some of the key features to look for in CRM software for startups:

Affordability

First, you should evaluate CRM platforms on affordability. Every dollar counts in the early stage of your business, and you don’t want to overspend on any of the tools. A CRM price should reflect the level of functionality the platform offers. 

Many CRM providers scale their pricing based on the number of users you enroll. As a new business, your initial costs should be on the lower end as you won’t need spots for many users.

Be sure to keep an eye out for hidden charges. Some platforms don’t make their key features available unless you purchase additional add-ons. Others will charge for integrations if you want to connect the CRM to your other tools.

It‘s also beneficial to look for a tool with a free trial (or even a free plan for 1-2 users). This will allow you to try out the platform before committing to paying for the software.

Flexibility

No other business is quite like yours. The intricacies of your operation are what makes it special. The right CRM will be flexible and customizable to add fields, pipelines, processes and the like to fit to your organization – not the other way around. 

Task and email automation

In the fast-paced startup environment, making the most of your time is critical. Everyone on your team can benefit from reducing the amount of tasks needed throughout their daily activities.

A good CRM for startups lets you set up automated workflows to handle routine tasks. Generating reports, sending email follow-ups, and scheduling tasks are some of the common functions you can automate with a CRM.

This automation helps everyone on your team increase their productivity so that the startup can move with greater agility.

Reporting

Visual reporting gives you a real-time overview of the current state and success of your business. This helps you understand the number of deals you have open, the value of opportunities in your sales pipeline, how well you convert deals to sales, where your best leads come from, and more.

Integrations

A CRM gives you a powerful tool for managing many parts of your business, but it is not the only tool you will need to use. To extend the efficiencies afforded by a CRM to every area of your business, you want a platform with ready-made integrations for other popular tools. For example, integrating your CRM with accounting software like Quickbooks can streamline record keeping and invoicing. Or integrating your CRM with Slack can improve communication throughout your organization, allow you to act on new leads fast or share wins in real time.

Scalability

Your business may be small now, but it won’t be forever. As your startup grows, you will have bigger teams, more leads, and more contacts. You need a CRM solution that can grow with you as your business expands. You’ll want to map out the features you’ll need down the road and see if you can get them now while staying within your budget. Even if you need to pay a little more upfront, it could end up being less of a hassle than needing to migrate platforms in the middle of more extensive operations.

Ease of use is a key part of scalability. When you need to onboard a lot of sales reps, you want to get them up and running quickly so that they can spend time engaging customers. Plus, you don’t want to add more work for your experienced team to take the time to train new team members.

CRM first 

There is a distinct difference between a platform designed for managing customer relationships versus one that is designed for marketing as a whole. There are many marketing platforms that were built as a marketing tool that retroactively added CRM functionality.

Two good examples are Hubspot and ActiveCampaign. One was designed as a more generic marketing platform, while the other originated as an email autoresponder that eventually added more traditional CRM features.

A ‘CRM first’ platform that was built around the needs of sales leaders and is much more effective in building quality relationships with your customers. It prioritizes pipeline management and visualization, so you always know exactly where you stand when it comes to winning new deals. Plus, it will provide you with unified profiles for each contact so that you can engage them in a more meaningful manner, all from a single platform.

Insightly is the best startup CRM

Insightly is a powerful CRM for startups of all sizes. The platform is easy to get started with, customizable, and it provides you with a single, comprehensive tool for managing every aspect of your customer experience. Here are some of the key reasons Insightly is the best CRM for startups.

Highly customizable

Your business is unique. You should have the flexibility to create and name fields that work just for your business without writing lines of code or hiring an integrator. Insightly lets you tailor the CRM to your business (read: geeks love us). You can add unlimited custom fields to your records, and you can customize each stage of your pipeline to match your sales process.

The interface is highly customizable, allowing you to apply various views and filters to make the platform easy to navigate. You can create stunning data visualizations with simple drag and drop builders so that the information you need is always at your fingertips.

Start for free

You cannot overstate the importance of affordability for a startup CRM. Insightly removes any worry from a potential purchase by letting you use the platform for free for up to two users. Your free account includes all the CRM’s key features for you to get a real understanding of the platform’s capabilities before you buy. No commitment or payment method is required.

As you add teams, don’t add more vendors

You shouldn’t have to complicate your startup with too many vendors as it will inevitably slow down your growth. When you add a marketing team and a customer service team, Insightly has you covered with Insightly Marketing, a full-featured marketing automation solution, and Insightly Service, a help desk ticketing solution to service your accounts.

Insightly unites these functions so all of your teams can work from the same tool. Data is centralized to provide a complete 360-degree view of each lead, contact, and customer to keep everyone on the same page.

The AppConnect integration suite lets you seamlessly connect the CRM to the tools that you already use (e.g. HR, accounting, and communication apps). With the no-code integration engine, you can create automated workflows between apps without the need for technical expertise.

Grow faster with Insightly

The right CRM can help your startup find early success and set the stage for future growth. Insightly understands the unique needs of startups and has created a fully customizable platform that can be tailored to your business.

Don’t wait until you’re no longer a small business to make the most of a CRM. Get started with a free trial today to start your business on the right foot.

The post Best Startup CRM: Launch Your Business with Insightly appeared first on Insightly.

At my own company, a tech startup in the San Francisco Bay Area, we had to weigh the benefits and challenges of working remotely before deciding to become a remote-first company. Below are a few takeaways from our decision-making journey and tips to ensure remote work success.

Remote work benefits

1. Freedom to move

One of the positive aspects of remote work is that it provides freedom for employees to move and work from anywhere. For many employees, especially in tech and other industries that have traditionally been concentrated in specific geographic areas, remote work allows people to stay connected, collaborate and contribute without enduring a high cost of living or other limitations. At my company, this fact alone contributed to a higher employee satisfaction rate.

2. Custom workspaces

For quite some time now, open office spaces have been the norm for businesses across industries. Yet, for work that requires a high level of focus for long periods of time, an open office environment—with all its distractions and noise—is far from ideal. Remote work allows employees to design their own workspaces for maximum focus and productivity.

3. Bigger hiring pool

You can now compete for top talent anywhere in the country and the world. More than that, hiring remotely allows you to build a more diverse team in every sense, attracting people from different backgrounds and skill sets.

Remote work challenges

1. Loss of community

There are a few things that are hard to replicate in the virtual work environment, and among them are impromptu brainstorms, team outings and friendly conversations at the proverbial water cooler. For many companies, in-person interactions fueled a sense of community and were a big part of company culture.

2. Communication gaps

It can be hard to get a read on people during a video call. It’s also easy to miss social cues we often use during in-person interactions without even thinking about it. But just being aware of this fact can help you build understanding and figure out ways to close the communication gap.

3. Burnout

The past year presented new challenges for all of us in every aspect of life, including health, family and work. Working remotely while caring for loved ones and/or coping with social isolation came at a huge physical and emotional cost, causing burnout.

Tips for successful remote work

Every challenge is also an opportunity to learn and grow. Here are a few battle-tested tips to help you overcome the challenges of working remotely.

1. Think digital first

If you haven’t done so already, adopt digital tools and systems that are easy to use and meet your team’s unique needs. If all you need is Zoom and Google Workspace and you’re off to the races, that’s great. But if you’re planning to transition into fully remote work or a hybrid model where part of the workforce remains remote, then you’ll need more than just basic planning and communication tools. For example, you may need to adopt learning management systems to deliver everything from onboarding to HR training to ongoing internal product and service seminars.

We live in the digital age where new data is generated every second. All that information, including customer data, is useless if you don’t properly manage it and integrate different parts of business to implement continuous data-driven improvement. Consider a data management platform to keep your business and customer data secure, align remote teams around key performance indicators and track progress across the entire organization.

2. Prioritize communication

More doesn’t mean better when it comes to communication. Zoom fatigue is real, and meetings are no more popular now than they were when we worked in physical offices. Keep your meetings to the minimum and prioritize clear, consistent and written communication. Make face-to-face meetings more intentional and purpose-driven.

3. Encourage work-life balance

While working from home has its appeal, it can cause burnout. On the flip side of flexibility, the lack of commute and comfortable clothing are the absence of structure in terms of a clear start and end to the workday. The burden is on both leaders and employees to set clear expectations for work hours, response time and meetings, taking into consideration different time zones. It may seem overwhelming at first, but honest and open conversations can help find and maintain balance.

4. Check the pulse of employees on a regular basis

As time goes by, our sentiments about remote work and its impact on our lives may change. Don’t wait until you start noticing productivity dips or a lower employee satisfaction rate. It might be unrealistic for you to check in with everyone individually on a regular basis, but you can use brief surveys to give your employees an opportunity to provide feedback and ask questions.

5. Introduce remote work policies

Remote work may look different at different companies. To make sure your employees understand how remote work is going to affect their daily work and lives in the long term, consider introducing remote-work-specific policies. The policies can include anything from allowing employees to work anywhere within the same time zone or country to offering an ergonomics stipend to planning regular in-person outings once it’s safe to do so. At my company, we did a series of employee surveys to determine our team’s priorities and policies as we adjusted to a new normal.

At this point, it’s clear we aren’t going back to the way we worked before the pandemic. Now the task is to make remote work the best it can be and to keep work productive and meaningful.

The post What to consider when switching to long-term remote work appeared first on Insightly.

Many Americans who have switched to remote work recognize the benefits. There’s zero commute and a comfortable work environment. That being said, remote work comes with its fair share of challenges, especially when it comes to maintaining high levels of communication and productivity.

Both large and small companies are announcing permanent or partial shifts to remote workforces, making the need for best-in-class technology ever so important. Here’s why adopting a unified CRM can be a smart choice for your remote teams.

Remote work challenges

Let’s start by discussing the challenges that many remote teams are struggling to overcome.

Information silos

The transition to cloud-based systems was already underway well before the pandemic. Managing business information in department-specific web applications comes with numerous benefits, but doing so can lead to data silos. One system for deals, another system for marketing campaigns, and still another for delivery makes it difficult to gain a full view of the customer journey and connect data points to accurately measure business performance and ROI.

Poor communication

Virtual meeting fatigue isn’t the only communication-related challenge facing remote teams. When business information is spread across numerous systems, it makes collaboration more difficult for staff. Instead of talking about how to best serve the customer, team members are faced with conversations about how to get data from point A to point B.

Remote selling

Selling while sheltering adds an entirely new level of complexity for your sales reps. Customers want to do business with people that they genuinely like and trust. But how can your company build trust when remote teams are operating in misalignment with sales? If your sales rep is saying one thing but your marketing emails and collateral say another, or the delivery doesn’t match promises made at the time of the sale—your customers will get confused, stop engaging, and lose trust in your company.

Distributed ad budgets

Trade shows, a traditional mainstay of corporate marketing, are still on hold in many industries and geographic locations. For digital marketers, it means more money to allocate toward email campaigns, content marketing, SEO, paid search engine ads, and other online promotions and initiatives. However, managing a dozen different marketing programs requires continuous tracking and performance measurement. Compare this to a live trade show that has one timeline, one lead list, and a relatively known budget.

How a unified CRM solves many remote work challenges

Companies often try to alleviate remote work challenges by building CRM integrations with the tools that they use. While this approach can work, not all integrations are created equal. Each team member must juggle multiple user names, passwords, login URLs, and user interfaces. Data syncs take time to configure and routinely break, which means someone has to fix them. And, there’s the security and privacy risks associated with maintaining customer data in too many places.

By contrast, a unified CRM for sales, marketing, and delivery solves many of the challenges facing your remote teams. Staff spend less time jumping between systems and more time on what counts: delivering business value. Here are four specific reasons why a unified CRM can be a smart choice for your remote teams:

1. One system for sales, marketing, delivery, and support

A unified CRM creates alignment between your lead management activities and other parts of the customer journey, such as your email marketing campaigns, customer onboarding, delivery, and ongoing support. Staff from across multiple remote teams are able to use your CRM to perform their day-to-day tasks, which means they’ll spend less time jumping between systems, juggling passwords and trying to sync key data. They can view reports and build real time dashboards in one place and spend more time using the data, instead of trying to build reports from scratch and manually share with others.

2. One view of the customer journey

Aligning sales, marketing, and operations under one roof provides a more complete view of each customer. Customer email interactions, website engagement, conversations with your sales teams, and purchase history can be consolidated into one record in your CRM. This means your remote teams don’t have to hunt for data in siloed databases. Providing a single view makes it easier for demand-generation teams to understand the customer and design new promotional campaigns and outreach initiatives that maximize customer lifetime value.

3. Improved accountability

A CRM with built-in productivity capabilities—such as projects, milestones, and tasks—adds a new level of transparency and accountability that is not possible when each team is working in a vacuum. Automated follow-up tasks keep sales reps on track with important deals. Kanban-style project boards help marketers prioritize digital advertising campaigns and stay on budget. Converting booked deals to projects in your CRM helps operations teams streamline customer onboarding and reduces unnecessary confusion and delays.

4. Flexibility to preserve mission-critical integrations

Not every challenge can be solved natively by a unified CRM. To compete and grow business, you may need other mission-critical apps. Your bookkeeper will still need a third-party accounting system to track income and generate financial statements. If you’re an eCommerce shop, your shopping cart software is not going away. Be sure to check how your unified CRM handles app integrations. For example, Insightly recently introduced AppConnect, a no-code CRM integration tool that delivers 500+ prebuilt connectors to frequently used apps. You don’t have to be a coder to use it and it takes just moments to build each integration.

Remote teams thrive when unified

Remote team management is no small task. It takes a proactive strategy, commitment from leadership, and the right tools and technology. As you work toward greater alignment between your remote staff, be sure to at least consider how a unified CRM could alleviate your specific challenges.

Learn more about Insightly’s unified CRM here.

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Considering drastic changes in mobility and the way people work, the use of business technology is becoming a key differentiator between companies that succeed and those that fail in the digital economy. How does your company stack up?

One way to find out how well business technology supports your team and goals is to perform regular tech audits. Keep reading to learn how to perform a tech audit.

The tech stack

A tech stack is simply a group of technology-based tools that help a business operate more efficiently, market more accurately, and enable sales and services teams to provide a stellar customer experience.

As a business adapts and grows, the tech stack will change. This is also the case for post-pandemic operational needs, as people seek to lower costs and maximize efficiency. Some organizations used this time to clean shops and go lean. Others introduced new technology to improve digital operations and meet new customer trends.

You may find that certain systems have poor integration, run too slowly, or lack the security for an at-home setup. It may be time to evaluate your tech stack.

Why is it important to audit your business technology?

When it comes to modern business needs, there is no “one-size-fits-all” solution. Each brand has unique needs, goals, and challenges. Considering also that new apps and platforms are developed each day, it’s helpful to audit your tech stack to stay on the right track.

A consistent review will help you to:

• Gain better ROI on all software and tools
• Reduce labor costs and employee time
• Consolidate systems and improve integrations
• Maintain a universal source of truth for all data
• Provide better customer experience

The more systems you have, the more critical it is to perform an IT audit. Every app used should be tied back to business strategy—everything from accounting to website management, to customer relationship management (CRM) systems, to social media accounts.

What types of tools are part of a tech stack?

Consider all the tools you need on a daily basis. The best tech stack can include, but is certainly not limited to:

Marketing

• Marketing automation
• Content management system (CMS)
• Lead management, including lead scoring and tracking
• Email automation
• Search engine optimization (SEO)
• Data analytics
• Ad management tools
• Social media management
• Creative asset
• Chatbot automation

Sales

• Customer relationship management tools (CRM)
• Meeting scheduler
• VoIP/call tracking
• Data management
• Video recording/editing
• Sales enablement

Service

• Ticket management
• Live chat
• Knowledge base
• Help desk automation
• Time tracker
• Survey automation

Signs it’s time to audit your business technology

The major reason to audit your tech stack right now is the shift in the global economy and rise of the remote workplace. From productivity to collaboration to customer management, needs are changing and you may need new and different tools to meet them.

Other factors that will indicate it’s time for a technology audit include:

Data silos

A good sign it’s time to audit is when you start seeing data silos that hinder productivity. When the tech tools you are using don’t communicate with each other, it takes longer to get the job done, causing inefficiencies in both individual and team schedules.

Data silos also hinder collaboration between teams. If departments aren’t pulling the data from the same spot, it’s going to impact the success of operations. It will be hard to distinguish what is working from what is not.

If a system doesn’t easily integrate or is taking up too much time, consider getting rid of it or replacing it with a flexible alternative.

Bad data

If you are brewing mistrust for your data, it’s time for a tech audit. Inconsistencies, errors, duplicates, and problems with shared information can all lead to disaster.

If not right away, the loss of labor over time (to fix these issues) can certainly add up. Don’t let problems go unresolved. If a system isn’t working, fix it, upgrade it, or get rid of it.

Wasted time

As more people start working from home, businesses are brutally aware of wasted labor. If people are used to operating with mediocre software, all their time is spent working out the kinks, rather than shopping for a better solution.

Spending too much time on tools because you don’t know how they function is also a sign it’s time for a system audit.

Consider adopting easy-to-use, intuitive systems and training new staff around the tech stack as part of the onboarding process. This ensures high adoption rates and consistent usage of key systems.

Duplicate functions

Sometimes your tech software features overlap. If two separate systems do the same thing, you probably don’t need them both. You may decide to choose to keep only one or purchase a new system that can completely replace both systems.

Budget changes

If you need to get a new budget approved, it’s time for a tech audit.

Here are a few questions to consider:

• Are you seeing a return on investment (ROI) from the technology you use now?
• Are the number of paid users the same as the number of people using it? Or, what is the system adoption and usage rate?
• Do the tools fit in with your long-term goals?

How to conduct a business technology audit

When it comes to performing the actual audit, every business has its own method to the madness. Start with the following considerations:

• How, where, and when a tool is used in business processes
• The cost to move to a different system
• The number of needs a single tool or system meets for the business
• Systems with overlapping functions
• Can you scale your business with the existing tech stack?

Instead of directing all your attention to the apps themselves, a better approach is to think about the business processes they support.

You should also consider how each tech tool affects employee performance and productivity. This will have a direct influence on the customer experience.

The audit process: step-by-step

The best way to determine if you have the right business technology in place is to make a list of what you already have. Ask the following questions:

• What tools am I paying for?
• How many licenses/users does each program have?
• What does each tool do?
• How are all of the systems connected to each other?
• What critical business needs does each system serve?
• How much does each solution cost?

Once you have a broader view of exactly what’s running operations, follow through with these IT audit steps:

1. Conduct a security sweep of the network and every device attached to it
2. Audit the software in use
3. Consolidate the hardware
4. Inspect all security and backup systems
5. Audit the document management system
6. Ensure the company has a strategic technology plan

Deciding on what you need

When it comes to accommodating the gig economy, there are a few solutions that are critical for success. Here are a few things you’ll need for remote workers:

Secure and easy access tools

If you provide remote workers with tools that are too complicated or have a sharp learning curve, chances are they’ll go back to using their own. If your VPN is too slow for company apps, workers may end up using unsanctioned online tools.

Remote collaboration apps make it easier for people to work from home—and that’s the whole point.

Leveraging the cloud

Most modern brands have a heavy hand in the cloud and SaaS space. This means fewer issues with bandwidth and remote access. The more data that can be stored off-site, the easier it is to reach.

In the new normal, it’s a great idea to increase your cloud footprint. Ways to save money using the cloud include:

• Auto-terminating development during off-hours
• Reducing the need for “on-demand” resources
• Using storage-efficient apps

User feedback

A business technology audit requires input from everyone on the team. Ask for feedback on the daily tools your teams use. Make sure these discussions focus on gathering the facts and the underlying business processes. Ask people their thoughts on the effectiveness of the tool and any suggestions on what else might work.

Customer relationships

Customer churn and retention is a major concern for businesses across every industry and vertical. People have shorter attention spans and competition is fierce. This issue only becomes magnified during a post-pandemic situation.

Any business technology audit you perform must have serious considerations for customer relationships. In fact, your main focus when shopping for new solutions should be “how can this make the customer happier?” It’s the means to every end.

Robust CRM tools can help insulate companies from economic downturns and push revenue growth even in the toughest of times.

Instead of using separate point solutions for marketing, sales, and services, you could consider a unified platform with built-in integrations with other systems, including finance and accounting, HR, and/or e-commerce.

Setting up for success

Ignoring tech tools in your arsenal can cost you money and hold your business back from growth. Consider performing a business technology audit on a regular basis, just like you do with finances. Once a year is a good practice, but it can be more or less depending on your industry and changes in the economy or consumer behavior.

To stay on track, create an audit schedule. A set schedule will help you and your team to prepare and construct a methodology for changes, including additions. It also helps to keep teams communicating and integrations running smoothly.

When was the last time you reviewed your tech stack?

Sources

Before the coronavirus, telework was an optional benefit, mostly for the affluent few. Drew Desilver. Pew Research Center. March 2020.

National Compensation Survey: Employee Benefits in the United States. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. March 2020

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In order to thrive in a post COVID-19 world, you need to reassess the ways you connect with your customers.

Here are a few things to keep in mind before you do so.

Get rid of silos

Make sure all your teams use data to create a complete picture of the clientele.

Sales, marketing and customer service teams are working in silos—which causes a number of problems. Namely, it creates a fragmented image of your consumers and their journey across too many places for your team to be serving them at peak efficiency.

Getting everyone on the same page is a first step and one that is essential to re-connecting with your people and understanding them in a more complete way.

Don’t ditch digital

Zoom fatigue is real and all of us are craving in-person connection. Though we’re on our way back to normalcy, don’t start planning for in-person conferences with customers for this year just yet.

Over the past year, you’ve (hopefully) spent time honing your digital communications and marketing strategy while recognizing the power of a well-crafted email campaign.

Your tone and candor in email is extremely important. You have to know your audience in order to be able to strike the right, personalized tone. Knowing your customers, and the needs and challenges they face, is essential to delivering appropriate communications.

Redefine “normal”

One of the good things to come out of 2020 is a more compassionate approach to workplace leadership.

If you weren’t taking a people-centered approach with your customers beforehand, you absolutely should be now. We’ve seen a big shift toward the “humanization” of marketing.

Sometimes it really is as simple as asking your clientele how you can help and voicing your support for whatever their current challenges are. Shift your thinking away from only achieving your own goals to supporting your followers in achieving their goals as well.

A customer-centric approach to marketing is essential to humanizing your marketing efforts and your brand. Make sure they feel heard and have an opportunity to discuss feedback with you. Use  satisfaction surveys, a closed online forum for customers, or direct outreach. Provide guides on using your products to navigate through a crisis, whether on continuing to manage remote work, or how to prepare for the post-pandemic world. Even if your services aren’t directly the most relevant, you can provide your people with curated content.

People are craving a return to normalcy, but it’s important to recognize that things may not be truly “normal” for some time and that may not always be a bad thing.

The post Reconnecting with customers in a post-pandemic world appeared first on Insightly.

This shift in consumer behavior has spurred disruptive changes in the way we do business. Brands are now looking to invite voice-based conversations with users via web and mobile apps. Studies and reports point to an exponential rate of adoption, with stats like:

• A total of 31% of global smartphone owners reported using voice tech at least once a week.
• It is predicted voice-shopping spend will grow to over $40 billion in 2022 alone.
• 40% of all internet users in the US, and a third of its total population, are users of voice search.

Voice user interfaces, search, and technology are changing the user experience and transforming the world around us.

Voice interaction & technology

Voice interaction is a major focal point for process development and it’s all about convenience. A user can bypass the need to type, read, or think—all requirements of the screen-and-keyboard style interfaces. Instead, an individual has their objectives met through conversation.

Voice technology combines powerful platforms into a simplified programmatic interface. Some common voice-based programs include:

• Natural Language Processing (NLP)
• Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR)
• Natural Language Understanding (NLU)
• Text to Speech (TTS)

UX designers are working to develop solutions that transform the way people interact with machines, systems, and services.

Although the concept of “conversation” seems rather straightforward, the building blocks of technology underneath it are quite complex. Moving beyond the screen-and-keyboard style UI opens a business up to greater levels of accessibility and inclusivity.

How does a voice user interface work?

The general definition of a user interface is the point of human-computer interaction and communication on a webpage, device, or app. A typical user interface can include a display screen, keyboard, mouse, and desktop. It enables a person to effectively control the device they are interacting with.

A successful user interface is clear, concise, and familiar. The system must be responsive and consistent with attractive features that are easy to navigate. Ultimately, a user interface must be efficient and forgiving. This entire process is refined when you add voice technology.

A voice user interface (VUI) makes spoken human interaction with computers possible. It uses speech recognition to understand spoken commands and text to speech to play a reply. These are the primary ways of interacting with virtual assistants on smartphones and speakers.

Voice command device

VUIs are designed to control a voice command device (VCD) which includes everything from a washing machine to automated attendants and automobiles.

Older voice response systems respond to the pressing of keypad buttons via DTMF tones. Newer VCDs, with a full voice user interface, enable callers to speak requests and responses without the need to press buttons.

Newer voice command devices do not require speakers, so they can respond to a variety of voices, regardless of tone, accent, or dialect. These systems are also capable of addressing several voice commands at once, separating vocal messages, and providing the appropriate feedback. By doing this, VCDs more accurately mimic a natural conversation.

How can voice search be used?

As most people are well aware, voice technology has a multitude of applications. Voice search users find different uses for the science depending on their age and information-related needs.

A recent study showed that 62% of people use voice search to look up fact-based information like term definitions, 46% the weather, and 32% the news. It also found that nearly 30% of voice search users aged 18-34 use it to issue commands to their device (i.e. set timer, add to list). This is compared to 19% for those ages 35-54 and 16% for over 55.

Some common uses for voice search technology include:

Form & data input

This is a task that is particularly challenging on mobile devices. Adding a conversation focused on data capture for a simple form can simplify the user experience. It also minimizes input time and errors.

Context-aware voice assistance

All types of businesses can add conversation to their mobile apps from retailers to grocers, malls, and campuses. Users can ask questions like “What aisle has soup?” or “do you sell paint?”

Combining a conversation with geo-location and the purveyor’s own data allows for easier access to context-aware information.

Voice-enabled workflows

Brands can improve efficiency and productivity through voice commands. These interactions help to streamline processes and speed up outcomes.

Developments in voice technology

As voice technology continues to evolve, there are a lot of interesting developments. Now that software teams can add a unified, cross-platform speech-based exchange for customers and users, expect new tools like:

AI-empowered voice-bots

Moving a step beyond a simple chatbot, voice-bots that are powered by artificial intelligence will be able to carry on conversations like never before. A mature AI foundation ensures the interaction is quick and as relaxed as natural conversation. This, in turn, leads to a faster outcome and since it’s intuitive, there’s no significant learning curve for users.

Voice analytics

New voice technology will leverage analytics to monitor emotions. This means the program is working to determine if a user is happy, sad, confused, disappointed, etc. Voice analytics can also track keywords to better inform and direct the interaction.

Voice analytics will also assess the quality and style of user responses and tweak a voice bot’s delivery to an exact situation. In a sense, chatbots will seem more empathetic. These are tasks that are simply impossible for screen-and-keyboard interfaces.

Voice biometric technology

Voice biometric technology enables a safer online experience. Internet privacy, security, and identity protection are major concerns for a user. Your voice is unique. Acoustic characteristics and behavioral features can be monitored and leveraged for authentication and access services.

Summing it up

Voice technology is exciting. It’s made leaps and bounds in the past few decades that have turned science fiction into modern life. Artificial intelligence, machine learning, and smart devices are all part of the foundational IoT. They work in conjunction with voice-based software to create a higher level of convenience, save on corporate costs, drive sales, and solidify business and customer relationships.

The post How voice search is transforming the user interface appeared first on Insightly.

Here, we share our tried-and-true advice for another year —or more— of working from home.

Tips for staying motivated with remote work

Work when you feel the most focused.

Don’t lock yourself to your desk from 9-5. Remote work should be flexible. If you’re more creative and have a better focus in the early morning or late at night, work those hours into your schedule.

Take breaks.

Often, we are most jazzed when we’re in a state of flow. However, if you’re constantly in a state of flow, you’ll begin to burn out your energy supply. Notice when you’re overworked, and take a half-hour to think about anything else but work. Go for a walk, take a nap, or do something non-work related.

Pump the jams.

One of the benefits of remote work: no headphones. If your space and “co-workers” allow it, make a playlist for each of your work tasks. Blasting “Songs for Cold Emailing” while mail-merging makes the task much more fun.

Explore professional development.

When remote work from home began, most of us were trying to keep our heads above water. We back-burnered new skill development to keep the ship afloat. Now that we’re in this for the long haul, don’t sacrifice your professional growth. Take a course, join a networking group, and focus on learning something new.

Build a new relationship.

Simulating the water-cooler conversation over Zoom is tough. Yet, we are all missing the work friendships that bloom outside of our direct responsibilities. It takes a little effort, but reach out to someone at your organization who you don’t regularly talk to. It is a boon to personal motivation to hear about the successes of another team or share tips on overcoming challenges.

How to focus while working remotely

Created a dedicated workspace.

We don’t all have the luxury of a built-in home office. Yet, we all need a space to focus and think only about our tasks at hand. Do all you can to build your remote workspace as your custom productivity den. You shouldn’t be looking at your unfolded laundry while you try to run a business operation.

Use alerts, reminders, & alarms.

Dedicated focus time should have a start time and an end time. And, you shouldn’t be glancing at the clock every five minutes to see if your focus time is up. For example, you can use Google Calendar notifications to fire whenever your next block is two or five minutes away. This way, you’ll know when to wrap up and get ready for the next thing.

Stop multitasking.

Another hard one for marketers. Why is it so hard to close a tab that I *might* need later? I tend to remind myself that only one thing can be done at a time. Closing out of all non-current tabs, tasks and apps makes this a little easier.

You can also try the Pomodoro Technique to stay focused and complete specific tasks. Pick a task and work on it for 25 minutes, take a five-minute break, and then return to the next 25-minute working session. If you finish your task in the middle of a session, use the remaining time to review or learn something new. After four working sessions, take a longer 15-30 minute break before moving on to the next task.

Bake social media time into your day.

Spending 20 minute scrolling Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter used to be the ultimate way to slack off. Now, it may be the only social ‘interaction’ you even have in a day. Don’t beat yourself up for taking a social media break. Just make sure you’re using it as an actual break, and not a distraction. Set a time limit on your phone, so you don’t lose track of time.

Prioritize items on your to-do list.

We are so reliant on our to-do lists. These never-ending litanies are the anti-project management system. As you start your day, pick the top three or five tasks you absolutely have to complete that day. Move the rest to the “future” list. By making your to-do list shorter, you’ll see how easy it is to finish.

Remote working recommendations for ultimate productivity

Scope your time.

For marketing professionals, conventional wisdom suggests you to under-promise and over-deliver. Meaning, if a request will take an hour, scope out four hours and provide an even better deliverable. With remote work from home, this doesn’t fly. For those of us balancing work and home priorities, accurate scoping goes a long way. Estimate the amount of time something will take, and then stick to that timetable.

Exit Slack.

Slack is an amazing productivity tool for remote work. It’s kept us connected and GIF-ing throughout the entire pandemic. But, as soon as you sit down to get something done, it’s inevitable that you’ll hear the recognizable ‘ping.’ If you’re trying to work uninterrupted, do a hard “Quit” of the Slack app and get back to your messages later.

Limit your email time.

Like Slack, email can be a black hole of distraction. There’s always something new that needs your attention. Consider blocking out 30 minutes for email when you start your day, and 30 minutes when you end, or whenever you are the least focused. You’ll get to everything urgent, and can leave the non-urgent messages for the next day.

Ask for help.

Before remote work, asking for help was as easy as popping your head into someone’s office. It was easy to tell if someone could find ten or 20 minutes to teach you an Excel formula or chat about an upcoming event. Now, asking for help is tougher. We don’t have a great concept of our co-workers’ free time. For ultimate productivity, it’s crucial to ask for help when you need it. Instead of waiting for a one-on-one or team meeting, normalize reaching out at the time you need help.

Adjust your expectations & your deadlines.

Even though we may be ‘used’ to our situation, that hasn’t made remote working any easier. I’ve found most co-workers and stakeholders to be more flexible with adjusted deadlines. Marketing remotely does not have to feel like a pressure cooker, but you need reasonable deadlines to keep things moving.

Effective communication tips for remote work

Start with kindness.

‘Be kind, for everyone is fighting a hard battle’ is a cliche, but it could not be more true. With unprecedented death, illness, and economic turmoil, this tough year has affected everyone. There is no excuse for curtness while we continue to navigate our global situation.

Confirm understanding.

As noted above, asking for help has become tough during these times. When speaking to your stakeholders, it’s worth taking a moment to ask for their questions. By clarifying that they understand you (and vice versa) you avoid miscommunications and create a more collaborative virtual team.

Use Zoom if you have to, avoid it when you don’t.

Zoom has kept our entire world afloat this year. Yet, we’ve become reliant on it for every communication instance. Consider whether each of your meetings would pack the same punch if it were an email or a phone call. If so, consider these options instead. This makes each Zoom rarer and more valuable.

Avoid small talk, but embrace chit chat.

Over the past year, I’ve missed catching up with my work friends about their lives, families and pets. What I haven’t missed is the awkward conversations about the weather or the commute. Ask your co-workers interesting and thought-provoking questions about their lives. Skip the mundane and give that time back.

Texting is your last resort.

Email. Slack. Zoom. You basically live in your co-workers’ computers. You don’t need to live in their personal cell phone as well. Unless it’s emergency-level urgent, use the work-approved communication channels.

Tips for managing remote employees

Check in daily.

You would say ‘good morning’ to your employees every day in the office, why wouldn’t you now? Even the smallest daily touch is a good reminder that you are a team.

Resource readily.

Are there software solutions that can make your remote team’s work smoother and easier? Now is the time to invest. Your employees should see that you value your time, even when they’re out of the office. By investing in the proper tools, like CRMs, they need to get their job done, you show how much you value them.

Be flexible.

This cannot be said enough. Employees have stepped up this year to still succeed at their jobs under unprecedented circumstances. They may ask for extended deadlines or rescheduled meetings. Just by asking, you can know they are still prioritizing work even during these trying times.

Understand emotional needs & respect confidentiality.

We’ve all experienced loss this year and some of us more than others. Employees may need extended bereavement or mental health days. Consider allowing them without additional explanation or excuse.

Celebrate when you can.

We haven’t just lost in-person work. We’ve lost birthday lunches, baby showers, and holiday soirees. Many companies have had historic successes and some have had huge comebacks. Consider a Zoom party, gift basket, or even a celebratory email thread to celebrate life’s good parts.

Tips for being managed remotely

Check in daily.

If you don’t hear from your manager, send a brief update or follow up on specific tasks. These conversations often increase rapport and build trust between colleagues.

Report on your successes.

It’s up to you to prove your value to your manager, which is harder to do during remote work. If you have a win, make sure you share it with your manager and team right away.

Take things off of your manager’s plate.

Free up your manager’s time to focus on what’s important to your remote workforce. You can handle the weekly team agenda or send out the Zoom links. This builds trust and can relieve some of the stress of working remotely.

Prioritize your professional development.

If you’re early in your career, time hasn’t stopped. Make sure you are still learning and growing your skills for career development. Work with your manager to incorporate professional development into your 2021 plan.

Embrace the phone call.

Sometimes talking on the phone allows people to be clearer and more candid than they may be over Zoom. Without the self-conscious nature of a video call, you can get a better picture of what your manager needs.

Techniques for work-life balance

Take days off.

During a global pandemic, we all worked more. Instead of investing in our own self-care, we spent more time on our computers. This year, take your vacation time when you feel like you need a break—you don’t need a better excuse than that.

Invest in the things that make your life easier.

I wish we could all hire a laundry/grocery/childcare/dog walking/dinner-cooking service. That’s not realistic, but there are a few affordable COVID-safe services as options. The space that outsourcing household tasks creates in both your brain and on your schedule has great value.

Don’t forget about your friends.

There were long stretches during the pandemic where I only talked to my immediate family or my co-workers. When the only channels for chatting with friends are the same as those you use for work, it can be exhausting. Yet, keeping up these relationships is crucial for your mental health. They are the one thing that isn’t work or home—cherish it!

Take your lunches.

When your kitchen table is also your office, it’s easy to work with a sandwich in-hand. Try to avoid this: our lunchtime is ours, and it’s a built-in time in the day to step away from your work.

Shut down your computer at the end of the day.

Don’t log off or put it to ‘sleep.’ When I hit that shut down button, it’s a wave of relief from the day. Your computer doesn’t need to be glowing in the background of your personal time.

How to make the most of remote work

Spend your commute time doing something you love.

It might be getting an extra hour of sleep. Or, it might be reading, doing a puzzle, or chatting with friends. You’ve gained this time back into your life—use it for something good.

Dress comfortably and for yourself.

Even if your workplace had a relaxed dress code, it probably was not as relaxed as working from home. Pursue your original style in your remote-work wardrobe and find a ‘uniform’ that makes you comfortable.

Connect with your new “coworkers.”

They might be your spouse, your kids, or your neighbors or pets. Take time during your day to treat your new “coworkers” like you would your work teammates. Check in about their day, share a snack, or go for a walk (dogs like this one best).

Explore a new space.

If you’re safely able to, consider working from a new location. Many remote workers have been able to explore the world while maintaining their jobs. This unprecedented lifestyle was once on the fringe, but is now accessible for anyone able to travel safely.

Make it yours.

For the entire history of the modern workplace, workers have played by their company’s rules. When to work, where to work, what to wear: this was all determined by one person in charge. Now, this power has returned to employees. Consider what truly makes you happiest in your work life, and pursue it.

Sources:

Forecast Analysis: Remote Work IT Spending, Worldwide. Ranjit Atwal, Neha Gupta, Dean Blackmore, Christian Canales, Grigory Betskov. Gartner. January 31, 2021

9 Tips for Managing Remote Employees. Mary Baker. Gartner. January 4, 2021

The Psychology of Flow. Kendra Cherry. Very Well Mind. January 13, 2021

The post 40 tips for remote work appeared first on Insightly.

In reality, it’s not that simple. People who are hungry could go to the grocery store, or they could order take-out. People looking for a new book could go to your bookstore, or they could go to a library. Companies looking to improve processes could buy software, or hire a specialist.

Your company, product, customer, and price point all contribute to your value proposition. Your value prop details the exact usefulness that your product provides. It is also your differentiator.

Value proposition definition

Value proposition is a promise of value stated by a company that summarizes how the benefit of the company’s product or service will be delivered, experienced, and acquired. (Corporate Finance Institute)

A value proposition is what you do, and how you do it.

Why is a value proposition important?

A value proposition is crucial for your company’s success. Here’s why.

A value proposition centers your company

Value propositions define exactly what your company should be doing. Oftentimes growing companies can be tempted to pivot or adjust their vision. A value proposition serves as an investment to keep the company focused on the task at hand.

A value proposition explains your company to your customers

At the end of the day, a customer doesn’t care about your marketing spend. They don’t care about how many social media posts you publish, or how many blog posts are on your site. They care about what your product does, and if it serves their needs and meets their expectations. The value proposition is the bridge to your customer having brand awareness.

A unique value proposition sets you apart from your competitors

Your product, value and price point are different from those of your competition. But does your audience know that? Your value proposition allows you to outline what makes your offering unique, and how it disrupts the market.

How to create a value proposition statement

Value proposition statements are best done when developing your business plan. Yet, many CMOs may want to go through value proposition exercises later on, as they refine and improve marketing programs. You can adjust your value prop as your company grows and changes. Use these steps for new and revised value proposition statements.

Identify the features of your product

Start simple: list the products that you offer and their useful features. If you are a software as a service (SaaS) company you may have many features that allow users to do many different tasks. If you are a restaurant, your products may offer breakfast, lunch and dinner. You can include outstanding customer service or special events as your offerings.

Features can be large or small, many or few, original or unoriginal. By listing each feature, you get an idea of exactly what you are offering to your customers.

Identify the benefit of each feature

Features and benefits are often lumped together, but they are distinct. Each feature should provide a benefit. For example, Uber’s app for requesting a carshare is a feature. The driver picking you up and taking you where you need to go is a benefit.

Map each of your features to their customer benefit. By doing this exercise, you’ll start to see which features provide the biggest benefits.

Define your target customer

You’ve likely completed many exercises aimed at understanding your target customers. By clarifying their identity, you’ll better understand their journey to your product.

Dive deep into your customers wants & needs

Sure, your customer might want to buy a new software solution because they need a new software solution. But—what do they really need? Say, you sell financial management software. If your target customer is a finance manager, they might need your solution. Yet, what they really need is to free up some time during their end-of-month close. This will give them the time they need to still have 1-on-1s with team members. They might be searching for a financial solution, but what they are really looking for is time.

Clarify your price point

It takes time and research, but you must understand if your product has a price below, at, or above market rate. This allows you to understand if your product is a value product, a typical product, or a premium product. Your unique value proposition allows customers to understand if they are getting their money’s worth.

Put it all together

Steve Blank (Lean Startup) suggests the following simple phrasing for your value proposition. “We help X do Y by doing Z.”

Mapped to the above framework, this may look more like:

“We help our [TARGET CUSTOMERS] do [CUSTOMER NEEDS] by doing [OUR FEATURES AND BENEFITS].”

If you offer a low-cost or premium product, include your pricing in your value proposition statement well.

Examples of effective value propositions

These seven digital technology companies each offer a unique product, but also face stiff competition. Each of these value props outlines their target customer, their needs, and how they meet them—setting them apart from their competitors.

Calm

Calm is a mobile app based in San Francisco.

Value proposition example

Calm helps people who have trouble relaxing sleep, rest, and meditate by providing an app that offers these experiences.

Curology

Curology is a custom skin care solution based in San Francisco.

Value proposition example

Curology helps people in need of skin care by providing custom skin care products. They also include their competitive pricing and delivery mechanism.

Duolingo

Duolingo is a language-learning app based in Pittsburg.

Value proposition example

Duolingo teaches second-language enthusiasts how to speak a new language by providing an app that gamifies language education.

Impossible Foods

Impossible is a meat-alternative company based in Redwood City, CA.

Value proposition example

Impossible Foods provides an option for health-and-environmentally-conscious consumers to eat sustainably, by offering a meat product alternative.

Slack

Slack is collaboration software based in San Francisco.

Value proposition example

Slack provides busy professionals a way to avoid using email, by offering a more comprehensive and easy-to-use collaboration and communication tool.

Zendesk

Zendesk is a customer support SaaS based in San Francisco.

Value proposition example

Zendesk provides customer service professionals a way to manage their operations with a comprehensive software solution.

Conclusion

Setting your value proposition is an exercise that helps everyone. It aligns your internal focuses and it better communicates your company to customers.

The post What is a value proposition? Definition + examples appeared first on Insightly.

Customer experience (CX) and satisfaction are some of the driving forces behind modern business success. To meet customer-centric goals, new CRM tools with greater precision are being developed.

Every year, new trends come up in the CRM space. Keeping track of these trends will help you plan ahead, meet changing business needs, and gain a competitive edge.

So, here are the top CRM trends for 2021.

IoT technologies

IoT stands for “the internet of things” and is used to describe a network of physical objects that are tied to the internet through sensors, scanners, software, and other technologies.

In 2019, it was estimated that 93% of enterprises had adopted IoT technologies and by the year 2025, there are expected to be over 64 billion IoT devices worldwide.

One of the main purposes of connecting the physical and digital worlds is the exchange of information. There has been an upward tick of CRM integrations with IoT tech to make life a little easier.

Enriched IoT data

IoT technology helps to monitor and service clients in proactive ways. Data generated from these solutions is used to increase customer satisfaction and retention.

CRMs are integrating with compact resources that have flexible offline/online capabilities, such as:

• Wearable monitors
• GPS systems
• Cybersecurity scanners
• Smart appliances
• Energy meters
• And more…

These advanced solutions lead to greater visibility and cost efficiencies. The more mobile people become, the more IoT integrations we will see.

Workflow automation

Automation-enabled self-service is another emerging trend in 2021. The concept of self-help in the CRM world is catching on.

New virtual assistants are designed to not only ask questions, but engage customers, sum up details, and provide productive and personalized answers. Artificial intelligence (AI) can then automatically guide users through sales and marketing pipelines.

This synergy has enabled chatbots to complete more contact management tasks without any human interference. They can quickly guide users through the right channels and provide actionable insights. Integrate that with a CRM, and you have an entire workflow that’s completely run by machine learning.

This extends to email communications as well. The concept of self-service CRMs means customers get quicker answers with little to no effort on the part of employees. Entire drip campaigns can be automated to nurture sales prospects down the funnel.

Workflow automation enables a business to offer high-quality customer service while optimizing operational costs. This is something that CRMs are supporting in new and innovative ways.

Flexible APIs

In CRM, APIs are the roadmap to customer intelligence. An API is what integrates platforms together. It is the glue that binds enterprise systems and helps to capture greater revenue growth.

Flexible APIs create a valuable record of customer preferences, while driving successful strategies. It’s one of the key technologies that enable cloud-based CRM applications to flex in response to sales and marketing needs. They’re fueling an unprecedented level of data-driven insights.

Additionally, CRMs with open API integration are enabling entirely new business models. As the development becomes increasingly customer-centric, APIs allow for greater versatility and  flexibility in designing custom:

• Workflows
• Graphical user interfaces (GUI)
• Screen designs
• Process steps

Over time, APIs will redefine the nature of how cloud-based CRMs operate. Today, nearly every CRM will offer API features (some more scalable and mature than others).

Cloud-based CRMs have enterprise-grade APIs that orchestrate a wide variety of databases. Cloud management is helping APIs become more customer-oriented by providing scalable integration frameworks and technologies. This allows for greater collaboration across departments, teams, divisions, and channels.

APIs are facilitating a new era of integrated CRM systems that are innovative and data-driven.

Dynamic user interface

One of the top CRM trends for 2021 also involves dynamic user interfaces. As CRMs evolve, the need to manage multiple functions in one spot becomes apparent. Rather than using separate systems for sales, marketing, service, and operations, new CRM dashboards are multifaceted.

A business can condense robust sales and marketing tech stacks into a single spot. Brands like Insightly provide several dashboards for universal insight. Toggle between opportunities, projects, and leads with a simple click. Colorful visuals that include charts, graphs, and gauges help a business assess important data at a glance.

Dynamic CRM dashboards display a quick overview of your most critical reports. It presents complex information that’s easy to digest and share with the team. As CRMs continue to evolve, the user interface will convey more and more data streams, in less amount of time.

Voice & conversational AI

As technology like Alexa and other voice-activated hardware hit the market, business software will soon follow. Customers are getting comfortable with conversational AI and this means, CRMs are following suit.

According to an Adobe report on voice technology, 94% of users consider voice technology not only easy to use, but state it also improves the quality of life.

That means that conversational apps are critical for the evolution of CRM tools. Voice technology is a key factor for accessibility and helps to increase user engagement.

Voice-assisted virtual assistants within CRM infrastructures are helping salespeople track, manage, message, update, and notify teams about customer data in real-time. This leads to faster decision-making and a quicker close.

In the near future, you should expect to see an increase in the usage of voice assistants and supporting hardware in CRM processes and interfaces.

One last thought

Most trends in CRM are influenced by brands that can quickly pivot to meet evolving customer needs. In order to stay relevant to tech-savvy consumers, top CRMs need to offer tools with advanced automation, IoT integrations, flexible APIs, a dynamic user interface, and conversational AI technology.

Does that seem like a big ask? 

Not really. The truth is, most of this technology is currently in place. More intelligent and contextually-aware CRM applications already incorporate machine learning, AI, and business intelligence.

The companies that are getting ahead use CRMs to build lasting customer relationships, drive sales, measure performance, and contribute to business growth; all while keeping customer satisfaction at an all-time high.

According to a study by McKinsey & Company, customer relationship management platforms will continue to outpace all other business software growth. This is because the technologies and strategies that CRM applications support contribute directly to new customer acquisition and retention, gross margin growth, and a healthy return on investment.

If you’re looking for a CRM that stays on top of trends, Insightly is a great place to start. You can try it for free, with zero commitment.

The post Top CRM trends for 2021 appeared first on Insightly.

Travis Kalanick and Garrett Camp couldn’t get a ride on a cold winter evening in Paris, so they came up with a ride-sharing app and called it Uber. Jessica Alba didn’t feel safe using childcare products from popular brands, so she launched The Honest Company to make baby and beauty products without synthetic ingredients. These are stories of entrepreneurs building products they wanted to use. They became their own customers and found enough demand to turn ideas into business opportunities. It’s a familiar theme in many inventions and company origin stories.

There is another familiar theme. According to Harvard Business School professor Clayton Christensen, more than 30,000 new products are introduced to market every year, but only 5% of them succeed.

So what sets apart successful entrepreneurs from all those whose stories we don’t know or remember? Part of the answer is their sustained focus on the customer. Here are a few basic steps in building products you want to use and becoming a customer-centric company.

1. Know your audience

This may seem pretty obvious, but so often entrepreneurs get distracted by shiny objects and start building products or features that don’t add value for customers. Once you have established there is a demand for your product, stay focused on your customers’ needs. Consider what your customers can afford and are willing to pay for. This is true whether you are building a productivity app or a toothbrush.

In the software industry, for example, there is a big difference between building products for large enterprises versus mid-market companies or small businesses. Large companies can afford expensive platforms that come with lots of bells and whistles, while smaller companies can’t. Yet, every business owner, no matter the size of his/her company, wants technology that can help them to save time, become more productive, and increase revenue. They just don’t want to pay a steep price for implementation and the time and effort it takes to set up complex systems. The trick here is to scrutinize every new idea to make sure it creates more value for customers and at a price they are willing to pay.

2. Collect customer feedback

Talk to your customers on a regular basis. Find your own way to reach out and connect. Send brief surveys, ask for individual feedback, when possible, and/or organize groups of 10-15 customers to test a few specific ideas.

For example, if you are developing an app or software, you may get a wide range of requests and ideas. So, it’ll be up to you and your team to come up with product features or solutions that are generic enough to solve most of what your customers want, while leaving some room for future adjustments. Deciding on which features or products to prioritize is one of the most difficult tasks in product development.

Sometimes, after the initial feedback, you still may not have a clear idea of what you are going to build. Use these first conversations to gain more clarity on what you want to do and prepare for more informed conversations with the next group of customers.

As you review customer requests, you might change your mind or rearrange the order in which you will deliver different features. Set clear priorities and timelines, so that both your team and your customers know what to expect.

When you listen to your customers and follow up on their feedback, you’re not just gaining valuable information and improving your product, you’re also strengthening your customer relationships.

3. Make it easy to use & buy

This is as true for consumer products as it is in the B2B space. Time is our most valuable asset. And with so much continuous information and distractions, our attention span is getting shorter and harder to keep. The only way your customers are going to buy from you is if you make it easy to find and use your products.

Here again, you must know your customers at a granular level. Learn where your target customers get their information and how they consume content. If you sell clothing or decorate homes, Instagram might be a perfect tool to find new customers and keep them engaged.

In the software industry, a product’s ease-of-use is one of the top factors in user adoption. If customers don’t quickly adopt and use the software on a regular basis or as-intended, they’ll never be able to realize its full value. Forget about upsell or cross-sell. It’s as simple as that.

Don’t get too comfortable with your product or marketing success. Consumer behavior, including buying habits and preferences, is constantly changing. The expectations for personalized interactions, stellar customer service, and convenience are only growing. If you don’t make it easy for customers to buy and use your products, someone else will and your customers will flock to them pretty quickly.

4. Scale with your customers

This is probably more relevant for B2B than consumer products. Whether you offer consulting services or build software, you may start by building products for small companies. But, as your customers’ businesses grow, you’ll need to scale operations and products to meet their new needs. They may ask for more customizable tools that are easy to adopt and use. Some features that were “nice-to-have” will become “must-haves.” For example, when a business goes from 10 employees to 2,000, the “search bar” to look up an employee in the list (instead of endlessly scrolling) becomes pretty useful.

Growing businesses want tools that scale and adapt to their needs, so they don’t have to get a replacement, retrain staff, and reshape their tech stack every year. If you want to keep your customers and grow your own business, stay focused on your customers throughout their journey. Make your products scalable and scale your operations to serve bigger customers.

Just as Uber went on to add UberX and UberEats and The Honest Company launched a whole slew of baby and beauty products, successful companies adapt and scale with changing customer demands and preferences.

Read more from Anthony:

• Marketing’s role in building a customer-centric company
• How to approach digital transformation in the new normal
• Tips on introducing artificial intelligence in your business
• 4 steps to building a unified business approach in 2020

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