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How much rent do you pay?

No, I don’t just mean an apartment or housing. In our business lives we ‘rent’ many things. Equipment? Office space? How about software? The whole SaaS model is equivalent to paying monthly rent on your systems.

Think about all the technology you touch on a daily basis for your work – how many monthly/recurring payments do you have? It’s overwhelming, isn’t it – and a slight increase by multiple vendors can significantly impact your bottom line.

Give this song by Spoon a listen as we see what the experts are saying about the rent we pay this week…

For the CRM Aficionados…

SaaS pricing is an art unto itself. How many tiers, what features are available on each tier, etc. – there are many variables. For those of you who use Salesforce, you’ll probably be impacted by their latest price increases.

For the first time in more than seven years, Salesforce has increased its prices on the majority of its popular plans. The Starter plan stayed at the competitive $25/user/month, but the Professional, Enterprise, and Unlimited plans all saw an average increase of around 9%.

What’s the reason for the increase? According to the official Salesforce press release, it’s because the company has substantially increased its generative AI offerings, including AI Cloud, Einstein GPT, and others. As a result, they’ve increased prices to make up for the increased functionality of the platform as a whole.

I’d love to hear from you if you’re a Salesforce user – how are these increases impacting you? Maybe you’ve been losing sleep over the changes – or maybe you’re still seeing the value? I’m curious how other major CRM vendors will respond.

For the Music Lovers…

Spotify users have been waiting almost two years for the platform to up its game when it comes to audio quality. Apple, Tidal, Qobuz, Amazon, and others are already available in higher-res audio while Spotify seems stuck in 2017.

A “Supremium” tier was announced in 2021, and promises have been made and broken since then. Now, though, there may be a light at the end of the tunnel: data miners have identified changes in Spotify’s code that seem to include the ability to carry lossless audio.

The Verge also reports on the possibility of 24-bit lossless audio, AI playlists, advanced mixing tools, audiobooks, and more. And – the code seems to reference a cost of $19.99/month.

What do you think? Does a tier for higher-res audio resonate with you? And what about B2B? I’m sure most of us have found ourselves working with systems overdue for an update. Do you stick it out and make do because you like the rent you pay… or does the stuck-in-the-past software have you looking at alternatives?

As always, don’t hesitate to call me to brainstorm or just say hello!

Looking forward,
Rick

Rick Endrulat, President | ricke@v-causeway.com | www.linkedin.com/in/rickendrulat

The post The Art of SaaS: What Do You Pay? appeared first on Virtual Causeway.

1. Know your goals

You can’t achieve goals if you don’t set any. They provide long-term vision and short-term motivation.

By setting out Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound (SMART) goals you can motivate and challenge yourself to reach and even surpass those goals. Not only will this help you be a better salesperson, but you can take pride in the achievement of your goals. Even if they are small, they’ll help you see the forward progress you’ve made.

2. Keep organized

Staying organized will help you be more productive and save time. Use a CRM tool to keep track of leads as well as customer data and interactions so it’s on hand for when you need it. Make use of a scheduling assistant such as Plann3r when scheduling meetings and calls to find the perfect time-slot for everyone.

3. Believe in what you are selling

Of course, it’s important to be well informed about the company you work for. But more importantly, really believing in the product or service you are offering can make a world of difference. If you’re passionate about what you’re selling, it becomes that much easier to convince others that it’s something they need, especially if it’s something that’s going to make their job easier. If you want your customers to engage with you, it’s important that they feel your passion for the product. You’ll find that your excitement is contagious and that’s a great way to have them champion the investment.

4. Listen more than you speak (Start a conversation, not a pitch!)

Reading off a script or running a sales pitch certainly saves a lot of time and is much easier than carrying on a conversation. By starting a conversation, you are taking the pressure off the customer and lowering the likelihood of them feeling annoyed, intimidated, or overloaded with information. By listening more than you speak you will get a better idea of what it is the customer is looking for. As a result, you will be able to find a solution that better fits their needs rather than offering them something they might not want. This will help to provide a more positive experience for the customer and increase the likelihood of making a sale.

Remember the old saying: you were given two ears and one mouth, so be sure to listen twice as much as you talk.

5. Constantly build and maintain relationships

Customers are a company’s greatest asset. Without them, there is nobody to buy your product. The relationships you build with current and potential customers are priceless. Remain honest and authentic, and show genuine concern for their needs. Once the customer is engaged with you and you’re moving through the sales process, you should work on maintaining that relationship. If they’re satisfied with the service you provided they will look forward to continuing to do business with you or returning to do business in the future.

6. View the customer’s success as your own

Happy customer = happy manager = happy salesperson. When you sell a product or service, you should see this success not only as the customer’s, but also as your own. This is a chance to see what you did right (or did wrong) in your sales journey. This is also a great opportunity to seek feedback from the customer for your benefit, and for the benefit of the company.

These tips might not be for everyone, and following them isn’t a guarantee to make you a better salesperson. But adding some of these to your routine and changing things up a little may prove to be beneficial to your overall strategy.

What are some of your tips to up your game and become a more effective salesperson? Let me know!

Marlene Keay, Senior Manager, Business Development | marlenek@v-causeway.com | www.linkedin.com/in/marlenekeay

The post Six Tips to Become a More Effective Salesperson appeared first on Virtual Causeway.

Chances are you don’t consider Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software to be such a big deal. The reality is, along with 75% of other companies, you’re a fool to think so and you’re missing out.

*Here’s the actual title of this article:

Why you most certainly DO need a CRM

What is it exactly?

If you don’t know already, a CRM is software designed to help keep track of all of your prospects, customers, and accounts. It allows you to manage your sales process and track your sales activity across the entire sales funnel. You can manage all of your tasks, sales opportunities, forecasts and reports so that you have complete visibility into your revenue generation activities. It allows you to monitor and track all activity, thereby ensuring all staff are working efficiently and effectively towards milestone-based and recurring goals and metrics. It gives management a dashboard into the organization’s well-being and long-term viability of the company.

Here’s why you need one:

Customer relationship Management is crucial when running a business and especially when you are a salesperson. While not every company needs one, CRM software has been proven to increase sales by 29% in small businesses, and 75% of sales managers say that using a CRM helps to drive and increase sales. If you don’t have one already, it might be worth it to consider a free trial. – I recommend Salesforce or Hubspot or Pipedrive.

Basically, if you sell stuff and you’re not using a CRM, you’re missing out.

The Canadian Professional Sales Association says that Long-term relationship building and a dedication to customer service are among the top 5 skills to succeed in sales.

CRM tools make it much easier to manage relationships and keep track of crucial information about your clients and customers. And as a bonus, nobody has to carry around a Rolodex of business cards with notes on the back.

Sometimes I wonder to myself how many CRM’s my name shows up in. Probably many.

Here are some benefits of how a CRM can help replace that Rolodex, and some of the benefits you’re missing out on:

1. Greater staff satisfaction and efficiency 

When information is shared and easy to find, everyone works more efficiently. According to a McKinsey report, employees spend 1.8 hours every day—9.3 hours per week, on average—searching and gathering information. A CRM makes it easy to find information without having to data mine through emails and call history for information on a client. Happy employees mean happy customers.

2. Better client relationships

The more you know about your clients the more your clients know you care about them. This helps nurture a much stronger relationship with clients and helps build a foundation of trust. According to an Edelman study, trust in business is declining rapidly. It’s important to maintain customers trust in order to earn their business.

3. Better Internal Communication

Having an up-to-date CRM helps everybody. Sharing customer data between departments will help everybody to work as a team. This will increase profitability and will help to provide high quality service to customers

Some programs are free and some are more expensive depending on which features you are interested in and how many people will be using it. Check out this article by Hubspot on how to choose the right CRM for your businesses individual needs.

Conclusion

Having a CRM on its own isn’t going to do much. A Customer database is only good if everyone works together to populate it and keep it updated. One MIT student completed a study using Hubspot’s CRM software and found that 79% of customers saw an increase in sales revenue within one year. While you shouldn’t expect to see quick results right away, it won’t be long before you have a really great, effective database solution to help reach your sales and management goals.

The post Why You Don’t Need a CRM* appeared first on Virtual Causeway.