The difference between contact management and customer relationship management (CRM) often confuses people. They are very similar in concept but have some distinct characteristics that differentiate them. Let’s start by clearing up any confusion.
If you run a business that provides customer support through a help desk software solution, you may struggle with certain aspects of the support process. Providing great customer support is essential to maintaining a satisfied customer base. When customers have issues, it’s your responsibility to resolve them as quickly and efficiently as possible.
I remember the good old days of the early 2000s. It was the era before customer relationship management (CRM) software and automation were the main drivers of business growth. Everything was manual and more time-consuming. For example, I’d have a telephone meeting, be frantically taking notes, and then have to complete lots of after call work to create a record of the call and manually complete any follow-up tasks.
This after call work included organizing the notes I frantically jotted down, saving them, sending follow-up emails, marking my calendar with any follow-up meetings, etc. The time involved was a huge drain on my productivity. Forbes confirms this by stating: “Online systems save time, energy, resources and headaches for busy call center representatives, allowing them to reach higher levels of productivity and efficiency.”
Today, you can do nearly everything online. And most things are done through an online digital format. This includes everything from ordering a pizza to checking in to your airplane flight. And calendar management is no different. Loads of people use Google Calendar or other online calendars to keep themselves organized.
It makes sense. An online calendar sends reminders to your mobile device or computer, so you never miss a meeting. It streamlines and automates the scheduling process, which dramatically increases productivity.
Bill Gates once said, “Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.” And he is right! It’s critical to understand how your customers feel about your product, service, and brand. It’s the best way to improve the overall customer experience and increase customer engagement. And you can gain that insight through the use of web form surveys.
Why are customer surveys so important? Consider this: Reports state that by 2020, over half (51%) of consumers will want companies to know their needs and provide relevant suggestions before the company ever makes contact with them.
Online appointment scheduling is pretty much what it sounds like. It is a way for customers and prospects to schedule appointments or meetings with you online. This happens through the use of a cloud-based web scheduler app, which automates the process.
The use of online web scheduler apps is growing in popularity. And the rise in popularity shows no signs of slowing down. In 2017, the global market size for online appointment scheduling software was $160 million and is expected to reach $480 million by the end of 2025.
When you hear the term customer relationship management (CRM), you probably think about CRM software. But the concept of CRM is larger than the software that companies use to manage relationships. Customer relationship management also includes interpersonal interactions with customers that take place in person or outside of your CRM solution.
For a host of reasons, CRM is in a state of rapid evolution and transition. The days when companies used CRM software to interact with every customer, in the same way, are over. Over the next few years, you can expect to see significant changes in CRM software and how businesses use it.
Marketing is rapidly evolving, and so are the tactics that marketers must use to engage prospects and customers. You must stay ahead of emerging marketing trends to remain competitive in your respective industry.
Below we’ll cover the top eight marketing trends that you can anticipate seeing in 2019. Check them out and stay ahead of the game.
Behavioral triggers are incredibly helpful and effective at delivering the right message to the right person at the right time. With marketing automation software, you can set up workflows that execute a variety of actions when certain behaviors take place. The behavior triggers the action automatically, streamlining your marketing campaign.
Automating your marketing campaign with behavioral triggers ensures that the system executes every part of the campaign at just the right time. And you determine when that time is, and which behavior triggers it. Behavioral triggers are considered the low hanging fruit of marketing automation because they are so easy to use and produce such great results.
Below, we’ll dig into behavioral triggers and how to use them to run a successful marketing campaign. We’ll start with the basics.
Customer engagement is an often overlooked, but incredibly important variable that determines the success of your business. But what is customer engagement (or client engagement)? Simply put, it’s the act of engaging your customers with your brand via social media, personal outreach, and a laundry list of other methods.
Engaged customers are more loyal, stick around longer, and provide you with a reliable revenue stream. That is because customer engagement directly impacts customer satisfaction. And the benefits mentioned above actually stem from satisfaction.
