Planning is the Key

A question that is quite common is -  “How do I design a successful Web site?”

As you might suspect, the answer is, “Lack of proper planning beforehand.”

Let’s put it another way, in programming, there’s an old saying, which states: “The sooner you start your coding the longer it takes to finish.”

Planning out your website before you build it is essential. To borrow a technique from the film industry, I recommend that you create a storyboard or mind map, which is a type of a flow chart of your new website design. You don’t have to be an accomplished artist to draw out your idea, but it’s essential to create it on paper or using a mind map first.

On each piece of paper if creating the storyboard, the goal is to have room for an image at the top, plus space underneath for writing down information. As you might suspect, the first page to start with is your home (or welcome) page, which will typically have the most information as it will contain the page the people visit before they enter your site and as people go through your site, the will encounter more information (in tiers) as they go down.

Typically, the home page links to 5-15 pages below that, which we could refer to as Tier 2. Each of those pages links to another 5-15 pages, which you could call Tier 3.

If you use all of these pages, you’ll wind up with an extensive Web site design, of at least 226 pages (including the home page).

If you are using a mind map, you will go through a similar process to above, but on one piece of paper as a type of flow chart. A basic example is shown below:

It’s during this process that all sorts of problems will crop up. But it’s much easier to solve them on paper than in the middle of building the site rather than when you are finished, although if you are developing a content managed website such as our ConvallisCMS sites the content can easily be changed, but it's a bit more difficult to change the template design.

Working things out on paper or a mind map will give you a much better idea of how things will work and how to fix problems. And, if you have knowledgeable friends, get a second opinion. Once you’ve completed the on-paper/mind map process, and you and your web designer are satisfied with the results, you’re ready to translate it into code.

Thinking of investing in a CRM? Some things to consider.

Putting the customer right at the centre of the organization is the be-all and end-all of successful Customer Relationship Management (CRM). To do that you have to know what your customers really want and really think about your business and then use that to deliver better products and services, improve customer service and increase sales opportunities yes CRM has a purpose it is not just a concept!

Companies that invest in CRM systems can learn even more about their customers and offer more personalized products and services because they receive relevant information daily in a way that allows them to spot trends.

Implementing new business strategies always includes an element of risk but proper change management practices can reduce this dramatically. The reason many projects fail lies with poor project execution. Many companies have made the mistake of rushing headlong into CRM without a well thought out plan. So when investing in CRM:

1. Have a CRM strategy because CRM initiatives launched without a strategy invariably cause pain. Do not think of CRM as a project separate from your overall business plan. That way madness lies. CRM only works when there is clear understanding of why the organisation is doing it and how it will improve service and loyalty, cut costs or increase revenue.

2. Understand the technology. Far too often CRM is considered an IT project not a business initiative and it should not be thought of like this; but this means that the business has to understand the technology and what and how it can do for them and what it cannot do for them. The greatest success will come from the coordinated efforts business users, IT and supplier.

3. Focus more on business processes than technology. CRM is about an organizations internal and external business processes becoming more customer-centric. Understand your “customer flow”. The systems are merely the enablers, not an end in themselves.

4. Don't try and design the perfect CRM system that will meet 100% of each and every persons wish list and do not expect the new CRM solution to just mirror current business processes. Instead, accept that not everyone can have everything they say they want and use the new system as an opportunity to invent and use new processes that improve customer service, reduce costs and provide better customer service.

5. Do not try to change the whole organization overnight. Go for the highest priority and highest return areas first. Take small, manageable steps not giant leaps and bring the whole organization along with you.

6. Think about the user interface and plan it carefully. For people to use the system, it must be useful to them and easy to use. Every extra field you ask the people to complete, especially mandatory ones, the greater the chance that they will enter garbage or only use the system under duress.

7. Especially if you haven't implemented a CRM system before get help and expect to pay for it even if it is just a day of a suppliers time to go through the issues. They'll see the pitfalls that you can't and you will not waste time and money on trying to do things that can't be done, expecting them to happen in a certain way and then be disappointed or miss out on crucial issues that are essential to successful implementation.

8. Make it somebody's responsibility to own the data, and to make sure that it is correct and complete. Sounds obvious but so many projects just ignore this central detail and CRM systems stand or fall by their data integrity and data quality.

9. User acceptance is the single most important success factor for a CRM system so invest in training. Training is essential to ensuring user acceptance. Never let an untrained employee have customer contact.

What businesses can use a CRM?

When I go out networking and to other businesses about what we do, when I mention CRM (Customer Relationship Management) solutions I often get asked 'Well what kind of businesses use that?' and 'Why have a CRM?'

We have many different business sectors using our ConvallisCRM product. These include sports clubs, retailers, cleaning companies, a pyrotechnic company and holiday cottages. These businesses have a varying number of employees and users of the system.

If you are just starting out in business you may think that you do not need a formalised system of recording your contacts, maybe you keep a box of business cards, a record in a notebook or a spreadsheet. Over time this will become uncontrollable and you could potentially lose some essential information. Getting a CRM system in place early on allows you to keep control of your records from the start in one central location and reduces the need to do something later on when your data may be starting to become out of control.

As your business grows you might end up taking on more staff. A CRM allows you to add additional users (you may have to pay for additional user licenses) to enable everyone in your business access to important client data. This reduces the need for multiple contact spreadsheets - sometimes duplicating data more than once - not very efficient I hope you agree.

Going back to the original question, 'What businesses can use a CRM?' personally I think any size business would find a use for a CRM to help keep accurate records and to have a central database for all their contact data, I say this as we have businesses from one single user to 50 users using our CRM.

Ensure your website looks professional.

A professionally presented business website is a powerful and essential marketing tool: it’s the first thing prospective customers will look at before they decide to contact you. If the copy on your website is not written to an acceptable standard, it may be losing you customers. It's not enough just to have amazing graphics and imagery: you need the words to make it complete. Is the spelling correct? Are punctuation marks in place? Does the copy make sense? These are questions that your website designer and you should be asking before a new site is uploaded.

One of the biggest flaws with website copy is inconsistency: for example the word website. Some sites spell it as one word, website, some as two words, web site; as far as I am aware both are acceptable, but not both versions on the same site! Personally I prefer website. In my opinion, a lack of consistency will deter a significant amount of would-be customers from using the services of a company that has not taken the trouble to proofread their website.

Poor spelling on a website is another costly but avoidable mistake.

The majority of visitors will leave the site very quickly if they find too many spelling errors. This again will give them the impression that the site owners don't really care; and they would be right! I am also convinced that copy that has been padded out with insignificant trivia is also a big turn-off for visitors clear, concise and informative is the order of the day.

Anything containing textual content should as a matter of course be proofread: it’s important that not only are mistakes in spelling, punctuation and grammar found and corrected, but that the text flows smoothly for the reader. The copy on a website should not be treated as the ‘poor relation’ of the project. You can have the most up-to-date, eye-catching graphics available but you will still need well-written copy to compliment them.

There are the odd few web design companies around that will happily inform visitors how they can supply them with a state-of-the-art website but then insert second-rate copy, which totally negates any good work they have achieved. This will reduce the initial impact of the site, and more often than not will have an adverse effect on business. Here at Convallis our customers generally provide us with content, either from themselves or a copywriter. It is difficult for us as an IT company to totally understand another business (we like to learn as much as we can about our customers and their business), but in the end it is you the business owner that knows the most about your own business.

It pays to have the copy checked professionally; it may cost a lot less than you think to have a website proofread – it could cost you considerably more if you don’t!

Remember: if visitors to your site cannot find the information they are looking for because of badly written copy they will simply leave the site. The only people to benefit will be your competitors.

Are you looking for a new website? Take a look at our website packages, a range of affordable website solutions.

Listening to your Customers

What do you do when you receive customer feedback about a product or service you supply?

Here at Convallis Software customer feedback has played an important part in the development of our ConvallisCRM product.

ConvallisCRM has been developed and improved over many years and this improvement is ongoing, quite a bit in part to feedback received from our customers. The software started out as a very simple contact management solution but over time has been developed into a far more functional customer relationship management (CRM) solution.

One example of a feature that was integrated in the software following customer feedback is the 'personal' details section.

Example of Personal information in ConvallisCRM

This feature came after talking to two clients, one runs a holiday let and wanted the medical conditions box to make notes if their clients were disabled or ill and needed and special facilities and/or access. The date of birth feature came from a club that wanted to make a report each month of their member's birthdays so that they could send them a birthday card or special offer for their birthday.

This is just one example of how listening to your customers can allow you to improve a product or service, but don't forget that as businesses we may sometimes get negative feedback. This should also be acted on appropriately and can still help to improve your business product or service.

Are you still using Windows XP?

Are you still using Windows XP as the operating system for your PC or laptop?

In September of 2007 Microsoft communicated their plans to end support for Windows XP SP3 and how that may affect your business.  Microsoft recognizes how integral Windows XP may have been in your operations and valuable to your employees, thus they have provided support for these past 12 years. The time has come for Microsoft and us to invest our resources toward supporting more recent technologies such that we can continue to deliver great new experiences for you as your IT environment evolves to meet the changing needs of your users in this increasingly social and mobile world. 

After April 8, 2014, technical assistance for Windows XP will no longer be available, nor will automatic updates be sent that have helped protect your organization’s PCs (including home users). For specific details, please review Microsoft’s Windows XP end of support information here. 

Microsoft continues to take steps to help all users, including home users, of Windows XP understand what end of support means, when it will take place, and what steps they can take to move to a modern operating system (ie. Windows 8.1) and Windows devices. Therefore, beginning March 8th, 2014, users using Windows XP (Home and Professional editions) who elected to receive updates via Windows Update will receive an end of support notification through Windows Update.   The message will state, “Windows XP End of Support is on April 8^th, 2014. Click Here to learn more.”  While the message is scheduled to recur monthly, users have the option to click “Do not show this message again.”  Enterprises that are managing their infrastructure using WSUS will not receive the notifications.

If you are still using Windows XP now is the time to consider upgrading your operating system, we use Windows 8.1 here at Convallis and can assist with your upgrade decision.

Don't leave it too late and leave your computers vulnerable plus don't forget not all modern software works with Windows XP.

What is CRM?

CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management. This is an integrated system of managing data which is used to schedule, plan, and control both the post-sale and the pre-sale activities engaged in by an organization. CRM’s objective is to improve long-term profits and growth of a company. Contact activity, indirect and direct sales, tasks and marketing efforts are some of the things that can be covered by CRM applications.

It is believed that CRM systems provide more accurate feedback and better-focused data concerning the aforementioned areas. Reports can be generated directly from the CRM to provided this detailed data.

The first component of CRM that was ever made available was SFA, or “sales force automation”. Automated field service, call centre activity, and SFA were all running down parallel tracks during most of the 1990s and late in that decade all of those began to merge with marketing plans to finally emerge into CRM.

So. CRM is actually not a technology and not something tangible at all. During the dot-com era, many people began to think of CRM as a technology in its own right. There are those who have implemented CRM technology just because they are technophiles or think that any new technology can in and of itself increase their business’ profits. But CRM technology is not about that. Too many businesses start using CRM technology without the slightest idea of how it is supposed to be used, or what the true CRM principles are. This is nothing other than putting the cart before the horse.

CRM is supposed to reflect your methodology of doing sales and marketing and customer service, supported by data and by the interpersonal relationship that you have with each individual customer that does business with you. CRM technology enables a front line person, a sales or marketing agent or a customer service rep, to instantly access all of the most relevant and important data about a client when that client contacts you, and use that data to give a personalized, relevant, and up-to-date response to the client. CRM technology implementation lets you have smooth transitions between stages of a client’s relationship with you both in terms of projects and in terms of the client’s own activity. At the same time, you keep very detailed and accurate notes about every contact with a client.

If you are looking to implement a CRM solution why not take a look at ConvallisCRM and take a free trial today.

Adapted from: http://plrplr.com/89090/what-is-crm-2/