With a very few exceptions, businesses today cannot afford to ignore the customers who want to reach them online. More and more, “service” today means “Internet presence,” as increasing numbers of people go online to get information – whether it’s hours of operation, product and price information, or troubleshooting common problems. If you don’t have that information available and easy to access, you might lose a potential customer.

So your online presence is the first glimpse of your service that many people will see. How do you maximize this first impression? Let’s take a look at how one small florist has embraced the multimedia opportunities presented by the Internet in order to show their customers the level of service they provide.

Practical Application
Avante Gardens, in Anaheim, CA, has a fairly standard retail blog. You can browse floral arrangements by category, flower or occasion, learn about the types of roses, and of course place orders for local or out of town delivery. There are testimonials from satisfied customers and a delivery map – all standard stuff. But Avante Gardens takes it several steps further by featuring a custom design service, in which the customer chooses all the elements of an arrangement, and then receives a picture via email of their design. The owner of the company, Catherine Hillen-Rulloda, also blogs about flowers, florists, and everything floral. Her posts are chatty and informative, and really make the customer feel as though this business cares about providing the best service and product available. There is also a gallery of custom designs, and a video tour of the brick-and-mortar establishment—both of these show the customer exactly what kind of style and quality they can expect. Lastly, Avante Gardens has a wedding flowers video on YouTube. That kind of service—presented free of charge to anyone who wants to use it—can help drive customers, and might even make or break a sale.

If you’re like me—and you want to know as much as possible about a business before giving them your money—online research can be invaluable. And seeing that a company has taken the time to make their online presence as compelling, warm, and thorough as Avante Gardens has, makes me want to patronize them. On the contrary, if I stumble across a website that is poorly designed, hard to read, or riddled with spelling and grammar errors, I click away. Your website and online community reflect your quality and professionalism, and tips off a potential customer to what kind of service they can expect from you. Why wouldn’t you put your best foot forward, and provide superior service across the board? It just might net you more customers.

A sales force automation system can give you templates for follow-up emails, and a knowledge management system can give you step by step troubleshooting directions to pass along to customers, but make no mistake: you can’t automate communication.  You need to be genuine and transparent in your dealings with consumers; you need to put a personal face on a corporate logo.  But that doesn’t mean that a CRM system can’t help.

When you’ve got a large number of customers to reach, it’s tough to stay personal.  But with CRM, you can keep track of all of your customers, with relevant purchase histories and individual notes that personalize every interaction.  What’s more, when those customers get in touch with you, a list of prior service cases can help you solve recurring problems and be armed with the information you need to answer specific questions quickly, because you already know what products they’re going to ask about.

Continuing on the service side, it’s worth pointing out that a lot of customer service fails because it’s perceived as impersonal.  Too often, call center agents seem like they’re trying to get rid of a caller and move on to the next one without actually listening to the caller.  Or email responses that give broad troubleshooting tips and leave the customer to figure out where their problem fits into the solution.  If you can change this perception, you can change how your customers feel about your service.  Here’s how a CRM system can help you do that: it makes support agents more efficient.  Efficiency is what you’re looking for, that’s why cases are handled as quickly as they can be.  More callers per hour means your agents are working harder, and you’re providing more solutions, right?  Right.  But this isn’t always necessarily good.  You’re providing more service, but you’re not providing better service.  With a CRM system, your agents become more efficient because they can find solutions quicker and they don’t have to worry about the bureaucratic tasks that case studies that aren’t automated require.  They now have more time to listen to the customer and try to provide a personalized solution, one that shows empathy and concern instead of haste and a desire for better metrics.  And that’s what this is all about: we want to create relationships with customers, we want to listen to what they’re saying and provide the solutions they’re looking for.
Let’s see how the Red Cross does this.

Practical Application
Bay Area Red Cross
Faced with a huge database of contact information and no real effective method of using it all, the Bay Area Chapter of the Red Cross turned to a CRM system to sort it all out.  They had thousands of contacts, training and certification records, and information that needed to be accessible during emergencies.  How’d they organize it?  With a CRM solution that incorporated knowledge management and contact management to keep track of the information, they were able to set up a system to allow easy access of data throughout the organization, send personalized emails and widespread newsletters from the same application, and respond to up-to-date information during an emergency.  And they did it all without disrupting their everyday operations.

In this day and age (you know, the one with a tight economy, Web 2.0 tools, and fierce competition in the marketplace), getting and retaining customers is tough.  With consumers making more sacrifices these days, a traditional advertising campaign isn’t as effective as it used to be.  That’s because consumers are going the extra mile and researching the products they’re buying, making sure the brand in question has a solid reputation, helpful support, and, of course, the best product.  They’re turning to the Internet and to trade publications and to their friends.  You can make the greatest impact by turning to their friends too.

Make the jump and find out why.

Word of mouth advertising is perhaps the most effective advertising a company can hope for, so you want to turn your customers into fans.  When we looked at sales in the past, we wanted to lure consumers into stores and sell our product to them.  Today, however, we need to go further than that.  We need to lure them into stores, sell our product to them, and convince them to tell their friends.  That’s not always easy, sure.  But by offering a product that’s worth the price, comprehensive support when that product acts up, and an array of solutions to meet the needs of all of your buyers, you can be sure you’re giving customers what they’re looking for.  Don’t be satisfied until a customer becomes a promoter of your brand.

Practical Application
In addition to being one of the most popular airlines on the ground, Southwest has taken their popularity to the digital arena with an established presence on Twitter. With more than 800,000 followers – and growing each day – Southwest is upholding its reputation of providing great customer service in a unique way.

I really like their Twitter bio: “Airplanes can’t type so @ChristiDay, @Brandy_King, and @ChrisMainz are piloting the Twitterverse!” because it tells you who is behind the scenes, but is also just fun and entertaining. They really get how to use Twitter to their advantage, and provide useful updates – flights that are boarding, delayed, cancelled, and even special deals and discounts – as well as quick responses to customer’s questions. Let’s say that someone I follow on Twitter mentions @Southwest air in a tweet. I’m intrigued, because I’d never thought to look them up on Twitter before (or any other network for that matter). I go to their page, poke around, and become a follower – all because of my friend’s tweet. Then I go and do the same thing, and then my friends do it, too. See how easy it is?

In addition to Twitter, Southwest employees are also active on YouTube, Facebook, and Flikr, where they connect with thousands of other customers. The result of a move like this is not only loyal customers, but loyal fans who recognize the efforts of one of their favorite companies. From here, word is spread, and even more fans are born.

More than advertisements or television shows or any other influence, consumers are turning to their friends for product endorsements.  Wouldn’t it be nice if their friends were recommending your brand?

How do you turn your customers into promoters? Tell your stories in the comments, or send us a Tweet!

Few companies have as much sway worldwide as Coca Cola. With its instantly recognizable logo, to the cult following of its customers, Coca Cola has an influence in nearly every part of the world. Now, with the help of their customers, Coca Cola is spearheading a unique campaign that will bring people together from every corner of the globe. While it’s a few days over 80, Expedition 206 will bring together a group of three Coke fans to travel the world over the course of a year, visiting each of the 206 countries where Coca Cola sells products. Their goal? To find out what makes people happy.

Coca-Cola Expedition 206 – Project Introduction Video from Expedition 206 on Vimeo.

Now, how does this relate to CRM? For starters, it’s all about the customer. The entire project is run by customers and Coke fans, which not only provides a way to get the word out about Coca Cola, but to engage customers as well. The company picked three groups of finalists who entered themselves into the contest, for a total of nine individuals. Over a period of months, Coke fans from around the world were asked to vote for their favorite group, based on videos, interviews, bios and other interactive features on the Expedition 206 Web site. The winning group will then start traveling, doing what the fans want them to do; voting on activities and challenges will continue throughout the year. Throughout 2010, the team will interact with people in each country, documenting their experiences, to find out what makes the world happy. It’s a simple premise with a big impact that will certainly be felt far and wide.

More than ever, customers are seeking engagement online. Companies have the ability to interact with customers in a way like never before. Even if you can’t launch an international campaign, letting customers know you’re out there is the first step towards gaining more trust and establishing better relationships with them. A presence on social networks is a must. With the ability to integrate these features within your CRM system, you’ll never miss a beat.

Here are a few ideas of things your company can do to make the customer experience more interactive.

Polls – Whether it’s on your company Web site, Facebook page, or through a service like twtpoll, which surveys customers through Twitter, ask customers to provide honest feedback on a social networking medium. By reaching out to them, you’re not only making it easier for customers to find you, but getting feedback you might not have had access to otherwise.
Create a community – Sites like Ning.com make it easy for anyone to start their own community of users on any topic imaginable. Social networking communities allow users to gather virtually on a common ground and interact with other customers. You can easily monitor discussions and interact with customers, too.
Sponsor a contest – Giveaways and contests always draw people in, especially as the word gets passed on to more and more people through Tweets or blog posts. The Broadway show Bye Bye Birdie is currently sponsoring a contest looking for Birdie’s biggest fan. Candidates complete tasks and rally their friends to create awareness and spread the word about the show. Healthy competition never hurt anyone, right?

With a solid CRM system, you can manage everything right from your office computer or your mobile device. Everyone can get in on the action, without information being lost. You don’t need to send customers around the world to show them you care!

Here’s the setup to this one: large corporation tries to stop smaller corporation from producing a product with a similar name.  It started as a classic trademark protection case.  What followed, however, took any course but the traditional one, as social media – not lawyers – dictated the terms of the settlement.

You might have heard of Monster energy drinks, but you’ve probably never heard of the small Rock Art brewery in Vermont. Unless you actually live in Vermont, of course, in which case you might be familiar with their popular brew called “The Vermonster.”

Click it:

On September 14th, brewery owner Matt Nadeau received a cease-and-desist letter from the Hansen Beverage Co. informing him that his “Vermonster” beer violated a trademark they held for their energy drink.  Matt called his lawyers, met with some trademark lawyers, and was told the same thing by all of them: the case doesn’t have merit, but you don’t have the funds to fight it.  If this is to be believed, it meant that Hansen was hijacking the justice system to bully a smaller company that couldn’t afford a long, drawn-out legal battle.  If you don’t believe this, you’d say that Hansen was fighting to preserve its own trademark by employing tactics used by lots of companies in the past.  If you don’t actively protect a trademark, you can lose it.  Just ask the makers of linoleum, aspirin, or the zipper (click here for more).

Matt and his brewery turned to friends and media outlets for support, and the effort snowballed from there.  A simple email to the fans of Rock Art Brewery (and you thought email lists were dead) and a few interviews on local news was all it took to get the ball rolling.  That same day, Monster drinks were taken off the shelves of local stores.  On October 14, Green River Pictures posted an interview with Matt on YouTube.

Twitter hash tags #Isupportrockart and #boycottmonster started spreading and a Facebook group called “Vermonters and Craft Beer Drinkers Against Monster” reached over 18,000 fans.  Radio interviews in Texas and New Mexico and mentions in the New York Times and Boston Globe followed.  On October 21, the two sides came to an agreement, and Rock Art can continue making their Vermonster beer.

So is Hansen a bully, or a responsible corporation?  Legally, we’ll never know, because the case was settled, but in the public eye, it became clear how they were viewed.  So what can we learn from this?  Well, there are two lessons to be learned here…

1.Social media works well when it’s on your side
2.Social media can be killer when it’s on the other guy’s side

This case is one of the many that just shows how movements can spread like wildfire through the social media, gathering support that you can’t buy with traditional advertising.

But Matt’s not stopping with his victory.  He wants to continue the fight for small businesses.

There are two competing schools of thought when it comes to delivering CRM tools.  The first is through traditional methods, with software and servers.  This gives you a home-grown on-premises system, traditionally referred to as grid computing.  The other is a still-emerging technology that’s been on the market for about a decade now, and is one that I prefer.  Cloud computing delivers apps and information over the Internet, so you don’t have to worry about servers, network infrastructure, and other things that are expensive when they stop working.

Cloud computing has become a dominant force in customer relationship management.  It’s CRM for those on the go, for those who can’t afford the overhead of installing their own on-premises system, and for those that want scalability and custom applications.  With cloud computing, all of your data and applications are stored online, so it’s not locked up in your office.  This means that you can access account information, sales reports, and anything else you need from the road.  It’s safe and secure, so you don’t have to worry about backing up files – though you can – or protecting your network.  You also don’t have to worry about server costs and maintenance, software license fees, or costly upgrades when you outgrow your current system.  Everything is taken care of for you.  You pay a monthly subscription for the apps you use, but not for software that you don’t need.  And with custom application development tools, you can create your own apps to fit your business.

Practical Application
Looking forward, it doesn’t seem like the cloud computing momentum is going to end any time soon.  And with the way companies are also jumping on board, using cloud computing for their apps and CRM utilities, a lot of investment is going on to improve the way the cloud works.  So who’s buying into cloud computing?
Amazon
Dell
Google
HP
IBM
Microsoft
Salesforce.com
Possibly Apple
Those are some of the biggest names in technology today, and they’re all getting into cloud computing.

What happened to grid computing?

Well, nothing.  It’s not like it broke and everyone just decided to move on.  Instead, it’s still around, and in fact cloud computing is based on grid computing; it’s just that it’s now something you don’t have to worry about.  What I mean is this: when you subscribe to a cloud computing vendor, your information is stored online.  Well, the Internet isn’t magic, it’s still stored in hard copy somewhere.  That’s where the vendor comes in.  They set up servers to host everything themselves, meaning they’re doing what you would be doing if you had to store your information.  What’s different, and this is the real dealbreaker, is what happens next.  They store the information, but instead of using software that’s run on those servers and only accessible by computers on that grid, they run applications that run over the Internet.  I can’t open a Word document unless I have Word on my computer.  However, I can check my Facebook messages from anywhere I want – including my phone.  But I don’t have any special Facebook software that I take with me.  It’s all delivered online.  So your vendor worries about the servers and the application and the grid stuff, and you focus on accomplishing your goals.  Which is good, because servers are expensive.  And a lot of work.  You don’t have to worry about outgrowing your system, complicated software installs, or upgrades; it’s all taken care of for you in the cloud.

Everybody likes free stuff, and with Halloween coming up, what better time than now to talk about it?  After all, at Halloween, we all get – er, used to get – a sack full of free candy.  Remember when you used to get home from a night of trick-or-treating, you’d dump your bag – I used a pillow case – on the family room floor, compare hauls with your friends and trade the taffy for the Reese’s peanut butter cups.  Everybody likes candy, but let’s be honest: it was about 3 bucks worth of chocolate.  We were excited because we got something for free.  So why don’t we get excited when we look at the opportunities offered to us by social media?

Let’s talk about those opportunities.  What can a site like Twitter offer you?  In terms of a customer service solution, you get another channel that’s likely to be popular with your customers and an important resource for you to answer their questions and interact with them.  However, you’re not going to reach everyone with your Twitter account, so you shouldn’t close the call centers quite yet.  Before jumping headfirst into the social media movement, you need to do a few things to prepare yourself.

First, you need to know why you’re getting into Twitter.  That it’s trendy and has been talked about a ton as a great resource for customer service isn’t why you should join.  The goal of using Twitter should be to reach out to new customers and try to provide new channels of communication for consumers to learn about your brand.  There’s a difference.  The difference is that you can affect change if you buy into the idea of wanting to provide help to a wide audience of customers, and that you can fall flat if you expect a new piece of technology to do the work for you.  Follow some of the other brands that have established themselves as innovators on Twitter.

Practical Application
Plenty of companies have embraced Twitter as a customer support mechanism, and they’re finding it’s paying dividends.  Some of them have even expanded from giving customer service to offering discounts and special rates for their followers (Check this post for an example.)  Here are just a few of the companies who have been commended for their service over Twitter:

-Zappos
-Best Buy
-JetBlue
-Comcast

What makes these companies different from the thousands of others that are on Twitter?  Their dedication to providing quick, complete solutions and their ability to innovate keeps them out ahead.  Best Buy’s enlisted over a thousand employees to answer questions posed to their “Twelpforce,” JetBlue offers “Cheeps,” cheap fares that are only available to Twitter followers.

Second, consider the social parameters of Twitter.  What I mean is that social media is all about interaction, it’s about communication and a give-and-take relationship.  Note that all of the brands mentioned above have personalized their service, with a face and a name on the other end of the conversation.  They understand that consumers are looking for an interaction.

So this Halloween, when all of the candy is given out and traded away, think about what else you can be getting for free.  Certainly that’s worth more than 3 bucks.

Sales force automation is not your father’s sales technique, that’s for sure.  However, it’s not all that different.  Yes, it uses computers and automation techniques that are new, it makes life easier on sales reps in the field, it connects sales team members and uses marketing information in ways that we never could have before.  But even Willy Loman would recognize that sales deals aren’t closed by computers, they’re closed by sales reps.  And so, while sales force automation is new and different, it doesn’t change the sales game that your reps have been playing; it makes them better at it.

Look at it this way: in sports, better equipment doesn’t change the game.  No matter how big the padding you’re wearing, you still have to carry the football over the goal line.  That much stays the same.  So updating the tools your sales team uses will only help in the long run.  Employees who are hesitant of this change might be encouraged by this.  Here’s how it works:

Contact management
To begin, sales force automation – much as you’d suspect from the name – automates the sales process.  It records information about every contact made with a potential customer, and it does it for all of the potential customers you have.  This helps reps build relationships because they can create profiles of all of their prospects, taking note of personal details, product preferences, and other details that are helpful in establishing trust and closing the deal.  You also get up to the minute product information, inventory figures, and other data that can impact a deal, so you’re not blindsided by something that’s out of your control.

Lead tracking
With lead tracking software, you can channel all of your prospective customers’ information into one database, where it can be evaluated and directed to the right rep.  This allows you to prioritize your efforts, putting resources where they’ll do the most.  Define the spread of leads on a geographic basis or on any number of other factors, and the system will automatically send the information to the rep that is right for the job.

With some SFA systems – ones that use cloud computing – reps can also update their profiles from their mobile devices, so they can keep you in the loop even when they’re on the road.  You can monitor deal progress at any time with tools that allow you to see what stage the deal has reached.  You can tell when prospects are still considering your product, when there’s been an actual proposal or deal put on the table, or when the deal is closed.

Collaboration tools
With all of your deal information in the same system, collaboration between reps is easy.  New team members can be brought up to speed quickly, training is possible even when the reps are apart, and best practice tips and advice can be spread based on real case studies and examples.  Not only do your reps get a clear picture of what their customers habits and needs are, so does your marketing team, making advertising and promotional efforts more efficient.

So while sales force automation is a revolutionary new tool that makes sales teams more efficient, it’s not changing the way salespeople do their jobs. It’s just making them better at it.

Businesses choose CRM software because it automates the basic functions of the job that tend to waste the most time.  Mundane tasks like call logging, email follow-ups, and contact management all take time out of the day that could be better spent.  With a decent CRM solution, you can have all of these processes done for you. With a really good CRM system, you can do more.  But what if your industry requires that you complete tasks that most CRM systems don’t bother with or aren’t prepared for?  If you can’t find the apps to do what you’re looking for, you can create your own.  Most CRM vendors have easy point-and-click software so that you can create an app that does what you want without spending thousands of dollars on software development or taking your IT department away from the project they’re working on to help.

With cloud computing, apps are quick and easy to develop, and can be deployed almost immediately.  That’s because cloud computing doesn’t require any lengthy installations, upgrade times, or configuration.  Simply create the app and start using it.  Contrast this with the use of traditional software, and you can see why it’s so convenient.  You don’t need to worry about purchasing expensive servers, paying for their storage, electrical or cooling costs, or for a staff to maintain them, adding on when necessary and navigating through lengthy configuration processes when you update.  You also don’t have to worry about buggy software slowing you down.  This is because your custom apps are all tested inside the cloud, so you know they work.

If you need a more complex app than is available with the point-and-click tools, most vendors have simple APIs, so you can have a proprietary app created from scratch.  This probably won’t be necessary very often, however.  Cloud computing vendors serve a number of different companies, all of whom draw from the cloud.  Information is stored in the same place – I wrote a post about cloud security earlier today  – and apps from hundreds of developers are available to all subscribers, fully scalable and customizable.

Software can be expensive.  And when it comes out of a box, it has limits.  Custom apps are scalable, so they grow in size as you add information.  With the cloud, storage space is constantly added, allowing companies of all sizes to use the same apps.  It also means that companies don’t have to continually update their apps depending on the amount of information they’re inputting.  Software requires expensive licensing fees based on the number of computers it’s installed on.  In the cloud, subscription fees are also charged based on the number of users per app.  As you add or subtract users, your fees change.  By getting to pick and choose the apps you want to use, you are also giving yourself more freedom than you get from out-of-the-box software.  If your needs change, you can change apps.  But with software, you pay for what comes in the box, even if you don’t need it all.

Security is a concern for every business, but even more so when those businesses are entrusting their data to a third-party hosting service.  When considering if cloud computing is right for you, security is certainly an issue you want to explore.  Having your information compromised could cost you business, tarnish your reputation, and expose your customers to scams and attacks.  There can be a certain degree of buck passing in regards to security in these cases – “we didn’t lose the data, our cloud computing vendor did!” – but this only garners so much support in the court of public opinion.  So it’s up to you to make sure that whatever data storage solution you come up with is the right one for you and your customers.  After the jump, I’m going to discuss some of the security measures you should look for in a cloud computing vendor, and offer some tips on maximizing your security efforts.

When looking for the right cloud computing vendor, take a look at the measures they take to secure your data.  Most, if not all, providers understand this concern and will have information about their security measures front and center on their website.  (If they don’t, you should consider it a red flag: tread lightly around these sites).  Hopefully it’s presented in plain English, so you don’t need to bring an IT tech in to translate.  If it’s not, or there’s still something you don’t understand, feel free to email the company with your security questions.

Tip: A lot of company’s security officers can be reached by sending an email to security@theirname.com.

In looking over the outline of a company’s security measures, make sure they’re thorough (Hint: a 6-point outline isn’t thorough!).  Again, cloud providers understand your concern for security and are generally forthright in letting you know what they’ll do to protect your information.  They can’t be too detailed, as they don’t want to give their system away to those looking to attack it, but they should be able to explain to you the measures they take.  If they’re not, they are probably hiding something, so you might want to stay away.

Security is a broad term; this is a broad topic to talk about.  When we’re talking about security, we’re including firewalls, TLS or SSL encryption (that’s shorthand for protocol that ensures security when you log in from the Internet), and database protection, but also backup generators, security guards, and backup functions in case of emergencies.  Don’t be fooled into thinking that hackers are the only thing to guard against; the buildings that house the servers are still susceptible to natural disasters, fires, and power outages, not to mention physical attacks.  Compare the security protocols of at least a few of the top cloud computing vendors to see what kind of service is out there, and what kind of service you need.

You’ll also want to take your own steps to increase security.  There are certain security threats out there that don’t try to break into the cloud; instead, they try and trick you into giving up information or access to the servers.  With your information, they can simply log in as you would, and steal your data from the cloud.

Phishing
Phishing is when hackers set up sites that look legitimate, but are not.  They often mimic real sites down to the last minor detail.  However, there are a few things they can’t replicate.  For starters, always check the address bar of the page and make sure you’re at your vendor’s site – just because it has the Amazon Web Services logo doesn’t mean it’s an Amazon site.  Make sure the URL (i.e., the www.companyname.com) is right.  If it’s not, you’re probably at a malicious site.  Secondly, look for the “padlock” icon in your browser’s status bar.  This image is only displayed on sites that have been certified as secure, so if it’s not there, it’s vulnerable to data theft.  Don’t enter any log-in information to a site that doesn’t have this padlock.

Viruses and Email Attacks
Like creating an identical website, cyber criminals often send emails that look like company messages, also designed to trick you into giving out your personal information.  These emails often address you as “Company User” instead of by your name, and use general information instead of specific information, because they’re sent out to thousands of people.  If you receive one of these messages, or any message that you feel is suspicious, contact your vendor and send them a copy of it.  Do not fill it out, though, and do not download any attachments, as they might contain viruses or Trojan horses that will disrupt your personal computer.

Update Your Personal Security
If your computer is easier to break into than the servers of the cloud computing vendor, hackers will target you instead.  Using the above methods, they might try to send you viruses that steal information from your hard drive.  Make sure your anti-virus software is updated and that you secure your wireless network, if you have one.  Use firewalls to keep outside users from getting in.

Require Stronger Passwords
Something as simple as making passwords more complex and harder to guess can go a long way in securing your account.  Use both letters and numbers in your password, and change it on a regular basis, and require others with access to do the same.  Some applications will allow you to set an expiration date on passwords, requiring that you set a new one every so often.

If you’re looking for a cloud computing vendor, make sure you’re looking beyond the functionality of the system – check out the security features as well.  There are plenty of vendors out there that offer the services you’re looking for, but not as many that will help you keep your data secure.  However, the best cloud computing system isn’t worth anything if it doesn’t keep your data out of the hands of others.