Sage Blog

You know your business inside out, but do you know your customers inside out?

Acquiring new customers is five times more expensive than keeping the ones you already have, so customer turnover could be the largest financial burden for your business. By getting to know your customers and learning how to make them feel special, you build up a detailed picture of them and take steps towards retaining their business.

So, what CRM software can you use to help you know your customers better? How can you increase customer satisfaction? And what can you do to make customers feel special?

We’ve recently produced a guide to improving customer loyalty and here our some of our ideas for making your customers feel special.

What is customer satisfaction?

In short customer satisfaction is a measure of how your business meets or surpasses customers’ expectations.  It means retained customers generate long-term business for you, delivering positive feedback and great testimonials. Without it, customer churn increases and reputation risks damage through negative word of mouth marketing. In fact, in our recent customer experience survey we found that one in three consumers would ditch a company for good after just one below-par experience.

How do I increase customer satisfaction?

Understanding what your existing customers want and delivering it to them effectively is the best way to satisfy; meaning you can secure repeat orders, keep and retain your customers and benefit from positive word of mouth. Ways of doing this might include;

Customer loyalty schemes

You can immediately make a customer feel special and valued with a reward or loyalty scheme that offers them perks throughout the year…and they might even tell their colleagues and friends about it too! For example, we gave our lucky SageCover customers their very own VIP area at our recent SageWorld event.  Nice armchairs, trendy bags and tasty cakes all round!

Analysing customer data

Use the data you are gain everyday to find out a little more about your customers – like their propensity to buy at certain times of year or previous products they have bought – anything that might indicate their purchase preferences and behaviours. Then tailor your marketing to fit with the profile you have built up of them – something personalised or highly topical to them is much more likely to get through. Getting the right CRM software, or Customer Relationship Management software, can help with this.

Encouraging customer feedback

Giving your customers a chance to engage in two-way dialogue with you is vital. This could be through feedback surveys, social media, review meetings etc. It shows that you are more than just a business; it shows you have empathy and that you want to develop a relationship with customers – no bad thing! Here at Sage we try to do as much as possible.  We’d love you to hear from you through our Sage UK Twitter feed, our Facebook page or even by commenting on this blog.

Effective complaints management

Customer complaints can be telling, so it’s essential to deal with them efficiently, fairly and ensure the customer receives a satisfactory response and follow up. If a complaint is handled effectively, it can give you important root cause information that may help you to predict future issues or trends.

Improved customer service

Customer service needs to be sincere for it to be effective, so it’s vital to ensure that your staff are trained to fulfil this. If your staff can consistently treat all customers with respect and show efficiency, you will gain customer satisfaction and are sure to retain their business in the long-term.

Iain Ramsay, Small Business Team

Formerly a sales promotion and business adviser, Worcestershire-based Mark Edwards is now an acclaimed adviser and public speaker on low-cost, low-carbon eco-heating – after building a revolutionary new home for his family using Sage ACT.  Mark talks to us about how he managed such a mammoth project.

As a recent dad to two sons, Mark tells us that his awareness of the world and his surroundings has become increasingly more acute.  The more the media reminded him of the expanding global population, dwindling natural resources and the inevitable increase in domestic heating costs, the more he felt compelled to act.  Mark set to work on a major project: building a new, eco-friendly home for his family that would be low-cost to run, and  that would last for generations.

But it wasn’t enough for the house to be energy efficient and eco-friendly.  Mark was determined to prove the point that renewable eco-technology which would lower fuel consumption and expenditure could still look great.  Taking the Gherkin in London as his inspiration, he planned a home full of curved structures, natural light and character – a far cry from the builds of the traditional cottages and Georgian houses in the area, and costing only a fraction of the heating bills to boot.

The project wasn’t a walk in the park.  The plans took Mark to Germany to meet a renowned property developer, and it was during this visit that Mark learned that his projected energy savings were indeed possible – but that they were yet to be achieved in the UK.  Full of determination, Mark attended no fewer than eight trade shows to learn how to integrate the latest industry technologies into his new home, all the while networking with a large number of German, Italian, Belgian and British suppliers and industry specialists along the way.

Every step of Mark’s journey involved a huge list of new contacts, new information and new actions and, to manage all of this information, Mark used Sage’s leading CRM and project management tool: Sage ACT.  This software helped Mark to:

• Manage contractors, provide training and track results
• Track 927 points of contact from his idea, the trip to Germany, project and business planning, reporting, and seeking additional funding
• Access Sage ACT on his smartphone, enabling him to send pictures and specifications of new products to architects and advisors while on the move – without the delay of arranging meetings

Thanks to Sage ACT, Mark had full oversight and control of his growing database of suppliers, their details and their updates.  Commenting that it was ”easy” to manage and analyse transaction and action history, and to always have a clear overview of his next steps, he used Sage ACT to schedule and track his progress, review proposals, make decisions and build and cement relationships.

Mark believes it would have been impossible to complete such a revolutionary new home on budget and on time without the use of Sage ACT.  Sage ACT was crucial to maximising Mark’s productivity and making his new eco-friendly home, Valley Views, a huge success for him and his family for many years to come.

As providers of CRM software it felt like a natural step for us to headline sponsor the prestigious Chartered Institute of Marketing’s (CIM) Marketing Excellence Awards 2011. The Awards, now in their third year, recognise the importance of marketing excellence in the private and the public sector and celebrate the top talent and triumphs in marketing today.

In a crowded communication market place, getting the right message to the right people at the right time and in the right way is essential. Smart tools in the hands of smart Marketing people can make the difference between success and failure in a difficult economy. The cream of the Marketing community are spending and evaluating their budgets wisely to make the greatest impact. We’re delighted to support these awards that allow the very best from the world of Marketing to stand up and be applauded.

For us, this sponsorship demonstrates our commitment to empowering marketers with the best tools to do the best job for their organisations. Here at Sage, we see Customer Relationship Management (CRM) as more than just strategy or a piece of software – it’s about people, their attitudes and commitment to deliver outstanding service. And we pride ourselves on working in partnership with many talented marketers, enabling them to work smarter to find new customers and build profitable, long lasting relationships. Good luck to all those who have been shortlisted and we’ll see you on the 23rd February to celebrate your success.

Bob Anderson, Sage CRM Solutions

CRM (Customer Relationship Management) is more than a strategy, more than a piece of software – it’s about people. You need to have everyone actively involved who is going be part of your company’s CRM solution and will ultimately help you achieve your goals. On most CRM projects some key members of your team will be experts you use to help implement your  strategy. Here at Sage we work with selected, certified Business Partners to give you experts in your local area to enable you to get the people you need to bring your plan to life.

Sage Business Partners

In case you don’t know, SalesLogix is our CRM solution that is available either on premise or as a cloud-based CRM system.  Our Business Partners are highly experienced, professional CRM experts who not only know how to install, configure and customise Sage’s CRM solution, SalesLogix, but can help you lay out your CRM plan and strategy.

We’re proud of our Business Partner community; they truly are experts in their fields, and it’s absolutely key that they are kept up to date with the latest information about our products and industry innovations. Our CRM solution lives in a world of innovation and we consistently deliver CRM leadership through our SalesLogix’s roadmap. The new innovations in SalesLogix deliver what customers are demanding in today’s world to help people to take advantage of the modern work world.

So, how do we keep our Business Partners up to date? And how do we make sure that the information our Business Partners glean from customers is fed back into future product development? One way is through our SalesLogix Boot Camp.

Our global CRM community

The SalesLogix Boot Camp is a truly global event that delivers the knowledge our Business Partner’s need to help our customers’ in their CRM journey as well as sharing the latest innovations and customer feedback. I was lucky enough to attend this year’s event in November in Arizona, along with people from Spain, France, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Italy, Holland, United Kingdom and America.

CRM – the hot topics

Getting together a group of CRM experts from across the globe gives a great opportunity to discuss not just our roadmap and CRM vision, but also the key topics affecting the community from mobile, to analytics, and of course cloud.

But our Business Partners agree that the most important part is talking with our customers, and hearing firsthand about the things they want. Overall the feedback was they want an affordable, flexible CRM system that “works the way I do” on “the devices I use” – so we are focussed on enabling our customers to work more efficiently in a way that suits them.

Celebrating success and innovation

We’re an innovative bunch in the SalesLogix team. As a team we’ve introduced the new HTML5 Mobile client which can happily work on a variety of mobile devices such as iPhone, Andriod and BlackBerry. We encourage the same attitude in our Business Partner community and it was great that Europe dominated the nattily named Business Partner Customisation Competition aka Geekapolooza. The winner was Alberto Chiesa from Gianos Consulting (Italy) with an application he wrote over 4 nights, followed by Mark Cooper from Qgate (England) and 3^rd place for Domenico Catrambone also from Gianos Consulting.

What’s in the future for SalesLogix?

So, with all this talk of innovation and customer insight what does the future bring for SalesLogix? The consensus from our Business Partners was that “SalesLogix Version 8 looks cool.” So what’s coming? Well, sorry, you’re going to have to wait and see! Version 8 communications will start early in 2012, but let’s just say our Business Partners are excited and even the English guys were whooping and clapping!

Of course, not all the talk is of CRM at these events. Most of our Business Partners were able to join us for dinner followed by karaoke. They’re a talented lot our Business Partners. Not only can they help you with your CRM system they can do a pretty mean Elvis rendition too! What more do you need?

Check out #slxbootcamp for more of our antics.

Duncan Wood, Sage Saleslogix Expert

Follow Duncan on Twitter

The business partners that came along from our part of the world were (in alphabetical order):

• http://www.bond-solutions.com/
• http://www.cbssolutions.com/
• http://www.collierpickard.co.uk/
• http://www.datel.info/
• http://www.dmcsoftware.co.uk/
• http://www.empath-e.com/
• http://www.gianos.it/
• http://www.managedsaleslogix.com
• http://www.pinnacle-online.com/
• http://www.qgate.co.uk
• http://www.seelogic.co.uk

Many companies are feeling the strain of current economic conditions. This strain often increases pressure on the “selling part” of a business. Business owners are looking for innovations from the sales team to “find” the revenue. The trouble is enthusiasm for new innovations is often low when working in tough times – it’s just a push to “find the deals”. Planning for and executing best practices or innovations goes by the wayside.

So, articulating the benefits of a proposition is a key skill. It’s not enough to say “here’s a great CRM tool, where can we make it fit?” It is all about proving where software can make a difference – in terms that really matter:

• increasing revenue,
• avoiding costs,
• or improving service

Returns that can be shown to be objective, detailed and quantifiable.

No, more than ever, is the time to be measurable. How do you make sure you think in terms of benefits ?

Where to start? Understand the current processes in a company. How long do typical activities take to complete? How many steps and people are involved? What does that add up to in time (and money)? How can they be improved – looking not just at direct costs but also the risks of lost or incorrect steps along the way. Now think about CRM tools and how they can improve upon the current situation. What is that worth to a buyer – in terms that really matter – Increasing Revenue, Avoiding Costs or Improving Service?

Shape your conversations to those discussions. Talk about the returns, the money saved or the value created. The return that will “keep on giving” each & every day. Show a tangible return on investment, with real savings that can be measured in months, not years. Help the company commit to a well defined project that demonstrates tangible improvements to current processes. And be sure to engage the “selling part” of the business – find a group of salespeople willing to innovate to achieve for themselves and ultimately, their company.

Be prepared to be measured.

How often during your day-to-day operations, do your employees duplicate or even triplicate data entry into disparate business applications?

New customers need to be put into your Customer Relationship Management (CRM) for sales and aftercare, right? But you also need them in your finance system so you can bill them.  Employees get put in your HR and Payroll solution and then the HRM cost is input separately into your journal? Suppliers in your Sales system and your purchase ledger….the list goes on, as do the associated personnel costs.

Integration Generation

Different business applications manage customer information; front-office employees use CRM applications that support customer-facing activities, such as sales, marketing and customer service. Whereas back office employees use ERP systems that support transactional reporting and compliancy activities, such as invoicing, account receivable, cash-flow management and financial reporting.

While front-office applications have historically been developed around the idea of cross-organisational collaboration, back-office applications, by contrast have been insular in nature. This may possibly be  due to the legacy of the systems or perhaps the need for increased security within finance operations that has lead to reluctance in opening this data up to the rest of the business.

The lack of cross pollination of data from front to back office has historically lead companies to run business applications that have struggled to address key business needs. This is particularly true where  customer related processes cross from front to back office processing such as sales order processing and supply chain management, leading to silo’s of information, administrative inefficiencies and process duplication.

Today’s CRM and ERP systems have gone someway to address these common problems experienced in medium and large sized businesses –enhanced integration, workflow management, exceptions monitoring, mandatory fields and data moving from one part of the application to the other have all provided capabilities that increase front to back office integration, for example:

• Consistent data across ERP and CRM applications.
• 360 degree customer visibility, regardless of whether the customer data originated in the ERP or CRM.
• Straight through processing – which enables a user to initiate a transaction, and then automatically trigger all the business related processes.

The Sage integration advantage

I’ve been lucky enough to work within the team at Sage that looks at these challenges and develops solutions, such as Sage ERP X3 to address them. Front-to-back office integration is essential for companies – regardless of their size – to bring together disconnected employees, applications, data and develop business processes in order to help drive revenue, serve customers more efficiently and reduce cost.

Our approach to assimilating business management software is to focus on improving and simplifying the integration experience for all of our users. This is achieved by developing ERP products that, out-of-the-box, are compatible with market leading Sage CRM solutions. We also have our own integration contract. This technology, known as SData, is a common interface that enables desktop, server and web-based applications to communicate with each other and is used across the Sage organisation around the world.

The Sage ERP advantage

Using SData, our flagship ERP products now provide out-of-the box integration with Sage CRM solutions.  This equips businesses with a low cost, low complexity solution that in the short term gives the user consistent customer data across their front and back office environments, provides straight through processing and a 360 degree view of the customer. And in the long term will provide a decrease in administrative costs, increased customer satisfaction and the opportunity to build a sustainable competitive advantage.

Julia Commons, Sage ERP Team

Visit our ERP pages for more information.

If you’re not from a technical background, attempting to understand “cloud computing” could be both confusing and somewhat daunting. But it needn’t be. Put simply, cloud computing is a way to access products and services securely through an internet connection anywhere in the world.

It has been around for years. Whether you’re accessing Facebook, Amazon, Hotmail, YouTube, Sage CRM OnDemand or Sage One, you’re using cloud computing. You tap in to huge banks of data through some very complex programs, each of which are hosted on various forms of physical hardware, located elsewhere in the world.

The term “cloud computing” incorporates all of the clever networking, languages, programs and environments that allow us to do this. It refers to our ability to link to computer technologies globally through our modest internet connection.

Why the big fuss?

Whilst types of cloud computing have been around for years, the ability to link to these technologies has only recently started to mature. IT investment is expected to focus on this area in the coming years. Where certain technologies were once out of reach for particular businesses, they are now accessible.

Take software, for example. Traditionally, it came on a disc and you loaded it on to your hard drive. In a larger business it was stored on local servers, where the IT department would have needed to buy and install the software, as well as set up and maintain the servers it ran on.

More recently, however, software that we access through our web browser has become more popular. This is known as ‘software as a service’ (SaaS), and is one of three components classified within cloud computing. Sage One and Sage CRM On Demand are examples of software we host and provide using cloud computing.

‘I’ve heard of Saas, but what else is involved with cloud computing?’

I’ve introduced you to the first component of cloud computing, SaaS. There are two more. The second component is ‘platform as a service’ (PaaS). While SaaS allows access to software through a browser, PaaS offers much more than just buying and installing the software. It allows an organisation’s IT department or IT supplier to:

(i)      Source or build and maintain the platform for the users to work from.

(ii)    Customise the software to fit the organisation’s processes.

(iii)  Develop software for its users.

This can be a complex process. PaaS providers allow their customers to build software and make changes to it using a simple internet connection in an environment they have built, support and manage.

The third component is ‘infrastructure as a service’ (IaaS). Data, hardware, servers and networking components require ongoing maintenance. Providers offer to host products in a central location and provide access to them through a secure internet connection. Huge buildings full of hardware exist worldwide, with masses of virtual and real-life security. They are there to ensure that no one can access those servers but the customers using their internet connection thousands of miles away. This service is IaaS.

Cloud computing gives IT buyers access to technologies, without the constraints of large upfront fixed costs, space, power or extensive setup times. As technology continues to improve and develop, the ability to access the best products and services from anywhere in the world is also improving and evolving.

‘Does Sage offer any Cloud applications?’

Yes – we have partnered with a major provider of cloud technologies, Amazon EC2, to host our business relationship software, Sage SalesLogix on the Cloud.

Most hosted software only offers what is known as ‘multi tenant’ software. While this means you can access your own data, the core of the software is still shared by all users of the service, so it can’t really be customised to suit a business’s processes.

We are offering a more extensive application – leasing our customer their own servers (with backup) on which they can host their version of Sage SalesLogix. Sage Business Partners can also access the software remotely and customise it if desired. This can be done from anywhere in the world, using a web browser.

Sage provides hosted relationship management software, services and support through Sage CRM On Demand, ACT and E-Marketing to small and medium sized businesses. You can contact us on 0845 111 99 88 if you would like to find out more.

Chris Coulson and Simon Campbell, Sage SalesLogix Team

Networking expert Andy Lopata shares his tips to help build a customer base. You can also catch Andy at our business event, Sage World, this October. Visit www.sageworld2011.co.uk to register for free.

According to recent research, on average it costs four times as much to gain a new customer, as it does to retain an existing one. So building a great customer experience is not just a nice to have, but is a must in today’s market place.

ERP expert, Julia Commons

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software can help you retain valuable customers and provide them with an exceptional experience that will have them coming back to your products and services time and time again as well as delivering many other benefits to organisations large or small.

By creating a 360 degree view of your customer,  integrated Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and CRM software can help you to increase sales activity, track sales leads at every stage and get the right product to the right customer, on time, every time.

The evolution of CRM and ERP

In an ever-maturing CRM market, there is general recognition by vendors and end-users alike that CRM and indeed the whole process of customer management cannot be dealt with using a ‘one size fits all’ approach. Alongside this, the industry has evolved to take advantage of the growth of technologies such as eMarketing and social media. Vendors such as Sage can now also support multiple deployment and configuration options, for example, monthly subscription, hosted or on-premise.

Whilst sticking closely to its heritage of addressing key productivity issues, ERP software has also moved on from the foundations of being a data repository for larger organisations, to being used more and more to automate processes, identify business opportunities and drive management decisions.

So perhaps the most interesting trend is that of system integration and in particular, the integration of CRM and ERP into one single system and the benefits that system can bring to our customers.

Front to back office integration

Front to back office integration is about bringing together disconnected business processes, applications and data sets. With this integrated view, you gain a mechanism to manage customer relationships more effectively, reduce costs and increase profitability whilst achieving a sustainable competitive advantage over the long term.

A great example of this is the ‘quote to cash’ business process, which enables the user to create a quote during the sales cycle, apply the correct customer discounts and bundles, and carry this same information through to invoice – all within one integrated ERP and CRM system.

In simple terms, front to back office integration provides the following capabilities:

• Consistent data across ERP and CRM Applications
• A true 360 degree view of your customer – regardless of whether the data originated in the CRM or ERP.
• More efficient processes such as straight through order processing which enable the user to initiate a transaction that will then trigger all related business processes, for example – check stock availability, add customer discounts, create and track sales order, generate an invoice and verify order fulfillment.
• A strong mechanism to deliver the very best customer service and maximise customer retention

The benefits

The benefits that integrated ERP and CRM systems can bring to an organisation are many, and can be realised by sales, marketing, operational and finance teams as well as, and perhaps most importantly, your customers.

ERP and CRM vendors are continuously improving their products, making them available on new platforms and also adding new features to meet the specific needs of different vertical sectors across the range of company sizes.

An ERP and CRM system is a major purchase and choosing a vendor and product set can be a daunting task.  It is important that organisations settle on a system that will not only meet their current needs and budget, but which will be flexible enough to scale with them and to take full advantage of emerging technologies.

For more information on the integrated ERP and CRM solutions that Sage can offer you, such as Sage ERP 1000 or view our full range of ERP solutions.

Julia Commons, Product Marketing Manager, Sage Enterprise Solutions

Guy Clack, CRM Expert

Having worked on an app for our CRM software Sage ACT! for the last year or so I was especially amused to see last night’s The Apprentice and their attempts to design and release an app in just 24 hours.

The world of mobile is certainly here, and it’s a fast moving one. It’s all about apps, accessing data, accessing the mobile internet on the move and using the device of your choice. Yodel, a leading research company in this field helps businesses understand mobile through a simple lens,  say “Mobile” for a business is being able to communicate, interact and supply a service to your audience or customers at any time and at anyplace” and they encourage businesses to think outside of the box when interpreting Mobile – “Mobile is your tablet, your phone, your Kindle, your MP3 player, GPS… “

For businesses it’s important to capitalise on having a mobile app but also to ensure that customers can access their business through the mobile internet. The first is a bigger step change for businesses, than repurposing or changing an existing website to be mobile friendly and compatible. However, across the globe there are now 700,000+ apps now available from Apple and Google app stores with a breathtaking 13bn downloads to date. In the UK market, 33% of UK mobile users are already using apps of the 45 million aged 18+ mobile phone users.

The opportunity is clearly there for small to medium sized businesses and most now are already capitalising on the opportunity that mobile presents; through the usage of apps to improve business efficiency, communications and market to their customers. Helping their customers to find out information or complete a task quickly and simply.

For a business venturing into the mobile app space for the first time, it can be quite daunting. So to help you along the journey here’s some tips on how to design the perfect mobile application for your business:

Flesh out your idea

• What do you want it to do – It can be a game or something for your business but make sure it satisfies a need or customer want, is supported by research and doesn’t offend anyone.
• Who you want to attract ­- local to global new and existing customers
• What your commercial model might look like – You might offer it for free to start with. Think additional functionality, tiers and revenue opportunities going forward
• Building your app – You’re not alone. There’s a vast community of mobile developers and “build your own” tools that can help you get the mobile app for your business at the price you want.

Designing your app

• Easy to use - get it right first time. Successful apps are really easy to use and deliver on the need
• How it looks on the device – the look, feel and use of the app all important to the user. Use effective icons, design for touch and help the user get results quickly and effectively
• Personalisation – Users may want to personalise the way they use or see the app. Provide users with some capabilities to do this with early releases of apps
• Choose the devices, platforms and app stores for your app – You’re not in control of the device, platforms or app store your current and / or future customers use. Understand what’s hot and what your customers use and build solutions for these.

Getting your app out there

• Post it to the app stores – Your apps built, press the button and launch it the app stores of your choice.
• Provide a description to support your app – Describe your app in a short punchy strapline. Something that will instantly turn on your users and get them to download the app.
• Promote your app – showcase and communicate your app to everyone. There’s some great technology websites who can help you and a recommendation, as opposed to a mention can mean the difference between a few downloads and millions.

So, be inspired by The Apprentice and start work on your app today. If they can, anyone can!

We’d love to hear how you’re getting on with your own app.

Guy Clack, Sage ACT! Team

www.twitter.com/guyclack

www.sage.co.uk/act