What Do B2B Marketers Do Now? is an ongoing email. Join the mailing list to be the first to receive these weekly insights!

Have you ever had something or someone get under your skin – stuck in your head and you can’t think of anything else? That’s been me since I shared a Smashing Pumpkins song last week – I started listening to their album Siamese Dream again – such an influential album for me as I was trying to build an indie music career waaaay back in the ’90s!

The song Hummer blew my mind – cool intro, huge guitars, cool riffs, great dynamics, and an awesome outro section that still gets me choked up when I hear it. So many emotions, memories – I just love this song, and love sharing it! Songs like this have special meaning, and I associate them with people and places that mean a lot to me.

Give it a listen with me as we see what the experts are saying this week… I hope you enjoy it!

Avoiding Regret in Relationships

My friend and colleague Dave Inglis posted something the other day that really got me thinking… how do we invest in the relationships that matter most to us? And more importantly, how can we create urgency to invest in those relationships?

Thinking through those relationships and identifying how much time you have left with those specific people is important. It could be how many more birthdays you’ll have to celebrate with that person. How many more chances to get a burrito at that favorite lunch spot. How many more times to listen to music and talk about life!

And of course, when you frame it that way, you create that sense of urgency to ensure that relationship gets the appropriate attention!

Now, what if we do the same with our customers? How do we invest in those customer relationships that matter most to us?

We talk a lot about Ideal Customer Profiles (ICPs), customer retention and customer success. But when we look at those client relationships and REALLY think about their value to us – perhaps we would start to treat them differently? Maybe we’d change how we treat our clients if we realized there was a definite end date to the relationship!

Sometimes you need to decide that your customer is a prize… time to renew and revive!

Investing in the (Music) Relationships that Matter Most

Speaking of investing in the relationships that matter most, this article from Hypebot shows how being a fan today can be expensive, complicated… and you’re being manipulated!

China’s recent crackdown on fandom has shone a light on the dark underbelly of the global fandom machine. Corporations have industrialized, leveraged – and even exploited – fan psychology to extract every possible penny from fanbases. This has manipulated fans to become dedicated to the extreme, leading to the crackdown. And this could very well lead to similar movements the world over in the same direction.

But what is the silver lining in all this? As Alan Cross explains, the Chinese music apps illustrate how much more can be achieved with experiences that are built around the music, rather than relying on only the music itself to be the experience.

As B2B marketers, maybe that should be our takeaway from this. You can build a fanbase with a great product or service. But if you can build an experience around your offering – something that engages and excites your customers – then your fans will become more loyal, more passionate, and more numerous!

So ask yourself a question… How can we transform our customers’ experience to ensure that they’re happier than they’ve ever been?

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 Avoid Regret – Invest in the Relationships that Matter Most! 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.