Filed under: CRM
CRM or Customer Relationship Management simply means the methodology or the process of building stronger relationships with existing customers. This can be helpful for any business specially in knowing their customer’s needs and behavior. Many businessmen take this for granted and stay under the impression that once they have served a customer, he or she, will stay with them. But this is where they go wrong. Then after a couple of years they open their old customer’s files and are left wondering where they suddenly disappeared.
A customer can desert you on many grounds including you not caring enough for them or because of an unresolved complaint. In fact, these 2 are the biggest reasons for the customers to shift to competitor’s products. Here’s why CRM success is important:
- CRM gives a 360 degree view of the customer: Statistics prove that: a) Repeat customers spend 33% more than new customers. b) Referrals by old customers are 107 % more than new customers. Maintaining existing customers is extremely crucial and its not secret now. 80% of marketing budget is allotted to CRM in most big companies. Every part of your organization which is related to the customer should be integrated. A 360 degree approach or the end-to-end customer management also takes into account the following things: Executive management contact with key accounts, Customer support functions, such as a help-desk customers may call for technical support and Customer service functions, such as billing and accounts receivable.
- CRM is a mindset and a philosophy: CRM is not a tool, although many aspects of the customer relationship can be automated using packaged or customized software solutions. In fact, CRM is just a part of the equation that includes changing business practices to focus more on customer needs and re-organizing databases so customer data is made available easily.
- Implementing CRM requires patience: Most businesses start expecting results soon. But it is required that they understand that a CRM software solution can only give them an estimate as to how much time will it take to implement the change. The reality is that it takes much longer than estimated for the people to get used to the change. CRM cannot take place overnight.
- CRM= Customer Analysis: Any marketing strategy which loses out on the “CRM” aspect is sure to be a failure in today’s business world. Customer is the GOD for the company. It is important to carry out a detailed analysis to find out the buying habits and the reasons of their decision making. For eg. – You may find out that a particular group of customers is interested in buying a set of products. Then when you get a new customer with the same buying characteristics, you can try to up-sell something that goes along with it as well.
- CRM for optimizing the timing of the sales: When going into depth, CRM can actually help you customize the sales cycle for the individual customers so that you have the best chance of completing the sale. The customized sales cycle is flexible to meet the needs and motivations of the individual customer and is based on tracking the results of similar customers in the past.
- CRM for future customers: Holding back the rights of CRM can be very dangerous for a company’s existence. UPS went through a low phase during 1997 because of a strike. Their major customers were forced to shift to the competitors. Ay this point, UPS only had one thing in mind “Win back the customers or die”. After successfully clearing off the strike, UPS sent an apology letter to all the customers accompanied with personal phone calls expressing their apology for the inconvenience caused to them. This helped them gain 87% profits following the year strike took place. So until and unless the existing customers are made happy, new ones will also not stick.
It is quite clear the role that CRM carries with itself. A company’s future depends on the way it deals with its customers. The customer should never be in a situation where he/she is left wondering “Why did the owner not call or send an apology for the inconvenience caused by him?” A well designed CRM can cut down the costs in long run by more than 50%. This can further help the businessman to identify potential sales opportunities. Suggestions and comments are welcome!
Filed under: Cool stuff
Graphic designs have become the new way to communicate your messages and creative way to present your ideas. From computer games to movies ending with the print media everyone is coming up with amazing 3D graphics to promote themselves. A realistic 3D image captures persons fancy and helps in a lot of positive publicity and promotion. So here is the collection of 10 amazing creative designs which will surely leave a lasting impression:
1. 3D Graphic by Przemyslaw Kucinski
Starting the list of the amazing graphic designs, is this weird but totally innovative design by the Polish Graphic designer Przemyslaw Kucinski. Wild imagination can surely help in building beautiful castles in air is probably the message which is being delivered by Kucinski.
2. Glass Like Design by Tim Muller
Second in the list is another unusual graphic design by Belgian graphic designer Tim Muller whose special glass effect and the resultant amazing reflection from the objects surface adds a special sparkle in his graphic designs.
3. Desktopography
Well a good 3D graphics can also bring color to you screen as apparent from this beautiful design. Reach out for the sky is probably the message which the designer wants to convey.
4. Bird Graphics by Kucinski
Another beautiful 3D graphic by Kucinski is the 3D graphic of this golden bird. This graphic design is a beautiful masterpiece which reminds the viewer of the phoenix, rising from the ashes and ready to capture the world with its emanating golden aura.
5. Aurora by Buddy Z
This charismatic design with a mystical quality has been designed by graphics expert Buddy Z. A beautiful graphic art suitably complemented by a beautiful instrumental music which plays on krystalmatrix.com while loading this amazing scene.
6. Maxfield Parrish ‘s Daybreak
Reminding the world what peace and calm they can enjoy in heaven after performing good deeds on this planet earth. This 3D graphic by Maxfield Parrish is a constant reminder of beauties that can be enjoyed before and after this life.
7. Diva from the Fifth Element
One of the most popular bone tickling Science fiction comedy movie called “The fifth Element “has used 3D graphics to come up with “Diva”. Just for its ethereal quality this 3D design blows you out of your mind.
8. Dream Catcher
A must have 3D graphic for all the dreamers across the globe is “dream catcher” that can be downloaded from cognativedistortion.com. Now holding on to your dreams will be much easier using this outstanding graphic.
9. Fire Planet
Another impressive Graphic from cognitivedistortion.com is the orange fire planet with the miniature of the fire planet tied together to form a string of pearls for that special effect.
10. Return of Queen
So you love the fairytales and stories of kings and queens then this beautiful graphic design representing the return of the queen to her kingdom after a long hiatus. Expressions of the queen eager to get re united with her pupils and save them from all the misery is what adds to the true beauty of this 3D design
Hope you enjoyed these amazing art pieces. if you would like to share your graphic art/design, feel free to link us through your comments.
Ever thought what it would be like to be Steve Jobs? Forget the accumulated wealth he has. Creator of Apple, one of the biggest, brightest and the most successful brands ever. This is no small deal. But if you have your own brand, you might just feel equally happy as well. It’s just that he has succeeded in reaching out to the people through various means. So how do you create something with so much personality and grip that it works wonders for you.
Marketing has evolved from being just selling techniques and plans into becoming promotion and branding. There are dozens of companies offering just the same kind of products and services, but they still hold their respective shares in the market. This is all branding. Being a successful brand means a successful you, since it stays as a part of your identity. So ask yourself a single question: Who am I? Branding is just not meant only for products and companies. In this era, everything is a brand. It is quite important for professional success today. So here’s how YOU can create your own personal brand:
- Vision; First step to discovering your brand: Every step in management involves some kind of a set goal or a vision. This means declaring the context of your brand. You must have a clear vision of what you think and what you want, your goal or vision. Your brand will be also responsible for representing you to the public; hence, it becomes vital that your goal stays connected to your brand.
- Knowing who are is the first and foremost step to becoming a successful brand. This brings about communication among the people involved, eliminates competition, and gives a better product defense. All of this proves the authenticity of the brand.
- Knowing your competitors follows next. Just having confidence of having a good product does not solve the problems. It is extremely important to know your close competitors. Understand them, know your own position in the market and of course, how you can stand out of the crowd.
- Last but not the least, knowing your target. The target audience that you are to support should be communicated the right message in the language they best understand. Focus your brand on the right people.
- Expression; the essence of your brand: This includes description of the essence of your product. Many products fail repetitively primarily because of the fact that they fail to communicate the essence of the brand. Have the right tagline, the right brand profile and list the attributes that fit the statement. Now that there is a clear picture of who your competitors and your audience are, you just need the right mix to communicate to who you really want to address
- How you present it is crucial. Make sure you leave a mark with the brand everywhere you go. Meetings, presentations, conferences, airports are just some of the examples of where you can leave an impression of your name behind. Making it visible to the right people is also very important. Even during a business meal with your client. Adopt it as a part of your lifestyle. Eat, sleep and breathe it. Make sure every action performed is in consistency with your brand..
- “Just Do It”- Evaluate your actions: The last thing to do is to evaluate your brand. As an employee, take feedback from everybody in the company. Managers, staff, employees etc. can give out essential details which you might just have missed out. On the client’s side, have a feedback form attached or try for a formal verbal or written way of feedback. The idea is to make sure that you are taking as much input as possible. Better results are only possible if the input is taken and acted upon.
- The process unfortunately is a little painful since requires commitment and time. To stay relevant to the audience, it must evolve with the times. This could mean product or line modification or new and improved methods of communicating with the audience. This ensures that your brand stays in the sight of the audience and does not lose the authenticity.
One thing that goes without saying is “Give respect for respect.” Your name is a brand and the more respect you give will alone make a huge difference in the sales or profits. It’s a technique which comes handy often more than once. Name is a treasured item, so handle carefully. So put forth your brand with confidence.
Unique design, user friendly navigation links and usability are some of the ingredients which help you in making a successful website. There are different schools of thoughts regarding the philosophies which should be applied while coming up with a beautiful and profit making website but personally I recommend building a website which user may want to KISS ( Keep It Simple Stupid) as it is extremely SMART(Specific , Measurable , Attainable , Realistic , Timely).
World Wide Web has today become the hottest spot to promote your products and services and what better way to start your advertising then coming up with that perfect website. So let us uncover some hidden truths about web design that will help us in finding the perfect recipe for a high traffic pulling website:
Leave Guess Work for Solving Puzzles
You should congratulate yourself for the increased number of visitors getting attracted towards your website but what is the amount of time they spent browsing through your content? Do they revisit your website? Do fill up the referrals and invite their friends, families and business associates to visit your website? All these are the key indicators pointing towards the success of your website. A visitor is usually on your webpage to get some useful information and if his appetite for knowledge is not sated he is unlikely to revisit your webpage. If you want to redirect a person, all the links should work properly. There should be a site map to help a person in case he in unable to locate the information he is searching for, if you leave the person in maze you are likely to use a potential customer. So rule number one, take your visitors directly to the information they are looking for with right links, self explanatory informative content leaving no scope for ambiguities.
Get , Set & You Are Ready to Go
So you want a user to use your software or download your e-book the trick to keep your customer happy is not making him go through a lengthy registration process which is enough to test his patience. Your web design should not include some lengthy login forms which even a first time visitor has to fill just for browsing through your services and to understand what’s up for offer. Let the visitor get his share of information without the unnecessary hassle of divulging their personal information. Ease of browsing the content without sharing their personal data and absence of those tens of annoying pop ups are the second important rule to be followed in web design.
Gain Users’ Attention
A picture speaks a thousand words and should be included along with your content to gain users focus towards what you are trying to sell. But again a word of caution avoid using unnecessary images and heavy flash work which though attractive takes a lot of bandwidth and long time to load. Use eye catching graphics, patterns and images which are appealing and also help in generating curiosity in the mind of the users about how to get more information. Also maintain a proper flow so that user is redirected to the next page without applying much thought. Therefore in a nut shell the third rule for web design is to have a proper site orientation, capturing users’ focus and attention which leads to total customer satisfaction.
Clear Vision Easy Decision
Well would you like to use an easy step wise guide that will help you solve your problem? Well the fourth important rule of web design is the clear listing of all the features before the users that will help them in making a quick decision. Guiding your visitors through your website in a simple and friendly manner while exposing them to the treasures you have in store for you will help you in scoring those important brownie points. Use a clear cut layout in appealing colors with a systematic listing of all your features helps the user gain a better understanding of what benefits they can get from your business. So use a web design that presents content in a manner that is well understood by your site visitors.
Pen is Mightier Than a Sword
Well yes marketing is nothing but the war of words and to win this war it is essential to come up with effective content. Remember you have precisely say about 30 seconds to catch the attention of the user. Generally a visitor scans and not reads through the blocks of content written in a flowery language. So rule number five is coming up with excellent web content. Simple, short and sweet sentences effectively communicate what you want to say. Try using bullets and numbers with bold headings which a user can read easily and get a gist of what you are trying to say and if it matches with what they are looking you are a winner.
KISS web design
A clean page listing down what you had been looking for with out the unnecessary clutter of useless text and the noticeable absence of any annoying advertisements on the webpage is one of the best design practices. A simple layout with clear areas for navigation, header, footer and the content body will make the user appreciate your site more even if it is in another international language as french. Complex layout will make the content less digestible to the user as complex structures are difficult to scan, understand and to even work with. You can make your web design simpler by following Simon’s law of using hierarchical structure while presenting data which helps in reducing complexity making content easy to perceive.
Credibility is Reassuring
Would you like to visit the restaurant which has received rave reviews? Same is the case with the web site. An excellent web design technique would be to promote your credentials to the potential customers in form of amazing testimonials which you had received from your previous customers or by offering money back guarantee or warranty on the product that you are selling. Also if you want to create an e-commerce website ensure that you use a secure payment gateway that will safeguard the credit card information of your clients. Provide your contact information, email address and phone numbers on your web page that will make it easier for your potential clients to contact you.
Reach Out & Connect
Using proper keywords so that your website is search engine optimized and gets a higher ranking during search results is another web design technique which is helpful in popularizing your business by generating more traffic. But there are several other ways that can be used for promoting products like providing reciprocal links, coming out with your company’s newsletter and yes last but not the least online directories. Besides these networking is a great way to promote yourself, so start discussion boards, offer advices and yes ask customers to write back to you with their expectations which will help you in coming with solutions that are an exact match to customers’ expectations.
Nothing is Permanent But the Change
Continuous improvement is the key to success. Remember a good web site is never complete. To keep the visitors attracted towards your website keep on updating the content of your website if not daily then at least twice a week. Try adding new features, new pages and some special feeds which will tempt the users in revisiting your site. So rule number nine of web design is change, change layout, change content, add new features to keep users’ interest intact.
Test Away Bugs
Taking help of the above design principles you have built a great site but keep the tenth most important commandment in mind before launching your website- thoroughly test your website. Keep performing unit testing of your website whenever you complete one feature. Errors that are detected at the earlier cycle of web designing and development are often easier and cheaper to correct. Repeated testing will help you detecting and solving bugs that had remained undetected during previous rounds. A web develop should never test his own code and he will be unable to detect the flaws in his own web design. Ask your colleague or a member of the testing team to perform usability testing which will help in presenting your users with a problem free website.
Power packed with these rules of web design go ahead and design a unique and user friendly website which will soon be ranked high by all the search engines.
Filed under: Cool stuff
Marketing isn’t about pushing your message into people’s face. Its about grabbing people’s attention with creative advertisements. Marketing is about being creative and thinking outside the box. The more creative you can be the more you will stand out from the crowd. Here are 10 advertisements to inspire the marketer within you.
World No Tobacco Day: A lush green field called life can turn into death by smoking. The great ad was an initiative taken to promote the “World No Tobacco Day”. The crosses indicate the deaths that take place everyday due to smoking.
Orion Telescopes: This is a wonderful piece of advertising. Orion Telescopes have shown what they make and the power of it. The ad shows the USA flag on the moon was made in China and tries to imply that the power of their telescopes can look into the details of things that just might be impossible to see.
Pepsi Twist: Pepsi is one company which has always made great and successful ads. This time to promote their new lemon flavor, they made the ad that can be seen above. The lemon on the top of the bottle taking a leak in the Pepsi gives it a comic appeal, making it a successful and creative ad.
Porsche: Who wouldn’t like to step on the pedal when you get a car like Porsche on a road like that. The implication of it is that speeds that the car can touch can turn something impenetrable into a lethal weapon. The half smoked cigarette gutted into the sign board is just one of the many ads that the car company released.
Playstation PSP: A wonderful concept and an amazing piece of advertisement shows how addictive this gadget can be. PSP claims that it can get you hooked on to it so much you wont be able to keep your hands off it. The cops interrogate while the criminal is given a PSP to play instead of wearing handcuffs.
Rubiks: The Rubiks cube has been there for 25 years now and they are BLOODY proud of it. In the digital age that we live where we are constantly surrounded by flashy games and gadgets, Rubiks cube still holds the top spot. The ad shows a small girl grown old trying to get the colors aligned as they should be.
Sprite Ice Blue: Sprite tries to show how dedicated it is to its flavors by creating this ad. It is icy blue and its quite visible. There is no zing factor to it and that’s why maybe its simplicity makes it a clear winner. The model undoubtedly has done a superb job.
UNICEF: The tagline goes “Don’t ignore me”. This is unfortunately the reality because this is how the children are being ignored. They are not ghosts, they are human beings and need to be given a better life. The message comes clear in simple and hard hitting manner. This is one of the best ads that the world famous NGO has come up with in recent times.
WMF Knives: You better be careful when you use this knife. The famous knives manufacturer has shown what its products are capable of. Carrots or wood, they will cut through almost anything.
Land Rover UK: Land rover is tough and they portray it well with this ad. This is one of a kind ad and portrays well the solid look of the car. Go beyond!
Heineken Jammin’ Festival: How could we not have an alcohol based beverage ad? Let’s face it, these guys have the toughest time in making such ads because of the competition. See it from a distance and it looks like a glass of beer- look closely and you know its locust of people cheering on in a concert. Very well thought and intriguing!
Thats it for the day guys. Hope you guys enjoyed these ads. Sometimes its nice to look at ads that are creative and does not just add to the already cluttered advertising world.
