Let’s talk about how a CRM software can help startups get a head-start: Streamline all the Information It’s very common for startups to get confused with constant surge in flow of customer information.

Imagine having a thousand leads & having to search for the one from a particular city with whom you had an appointment the next day!

With the use of a CRM, startups often get an organised visual representation of all the customer data available, so that everything they need is at their disposal all the time.

They are better prepared while interacting with a prospect & don’t miss out on even a single piece of information.

Note: Wakeupsales CRM offers a series of features that help streamline customer information for businesses across the globe.

The lead management module along with Kanban (pipeline) view is easy to use & gives out all the important information at a glance.

At Wakeupsales, our goal is to always offer superior user experiences to all our users.

And like every year, we went back to the drawing board to start from scratch all over again.

This time our goal was to make the app even more intuitive, easier to navigate around & let our users do more with less effort.

After countless hours & dozens of coffee shots… we zeroed in on the fact that we not only had to redesign the application from the inside (including a brand new logo) but also had to add a few missing features to the jigsaw.

Read the full article at Wakeupsales Blog.

The basic goal of keeping customers satisfied has always been at the heart of Customer Services. Back in the days, it meant taking occasional phone calls from an upset customer & assuring them of resolving their issues. Things aren’t the same in the modern days.

The biggest change in customer service is the sheer number of channels through which people can contact your business. Instead of just phone calls and emails, customers can now reach you via social media, video call, text message, or even live chat.

The rate at which it’s been accepted across the corporate world, you can’t simply overlook it. It’s no more an option to update your skills and use the latest tools and technology in order to provide the best customer service to the customers. You’ve got to stay in the game!

Here are a few customer service trends that I think will rule this year & beyond

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The holiday season is here! And there’s no better time for businesses to generate awareness about their brand or clock the highest sales figures for the entire year. A lot of time & effort goes into planning the entire promotional strategies & its execution.

Amidst all the madness, email still remains one of the most powerful mediums for businesses to reach their prospects/customers. Matter of fact, research says that more than 55% of the brands prefer emails as their go-to mode of communication.

Hence, it’s very important to put on your creative hat to make sure your emails stand out or grab the attention of a reader. Here are a few tips:

Consider a Holiday Special Mailing List

Give your website or blog a holiday theme makeover. This will bring more eyeballs to your website. Place action forms at strategic positions to catch the boom & make sure you keep the emailing list separate from your regular email database.

Offers & More Offers

Coz everyone likes gifts during this time of the year!

Make sure you have planned well in advance to offer discounts or incentives of all kinds from special pricing, limited offers, free upgrades & add-ons to special referral coupons to create maximum interest amongst users who haven’t turned into customers yet.

Also, do not forget to reach out to your existing customers thanking them for their trust in you. Don’t shy away to offer them a month of free upgrade or a one-time discount coupon for their next recurring bill. It’s equally important to make them feel important too. Good word-of-mouth can do wonders for your business.

Read full article on Wakeupsales Blog.

With the adoption of the internet growing like wildfire in every corner of the world, customers are pretty well informed in every direction. They have abundant options for everything they need & decision making is way easier than before. This mandates all the business owners (small/medium/large) to be always on top of their game, to remain competitive.

As sales folks… while you & your sales team has been busy working through those deals, we researched what the most successful entrepreneurs are doing right & prepared a list of trends you should look out for in the next year.

Go Mobile or Go Home!

The title pretty much says it all. At a time when almost a billion people in this world have smart phones… if your business doesn’t have its own mobile app, you’re losing out on directly connecting with a lot of potential customers. Get yourself mobile apps for Android & iOS, or if that’s applicable to your line of work… make sure your website is mobile responsive.

Push notifications are one of the most effective ways to generate direct interest amongst the customers.

Social Media is here to stay!

With the ever-growing base of Instagram, YouTube, TikTok & other social media platforms… it’s really difficult to stay out of the heat. Forbes says more than 90% B2B businesses now engage with their customers on social media platforms.

The best thing about social media is that it’s relatively easier to reach out & connect to someone over Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. than any other medium. Widen your network & reach out to the right people at the right time with the right offers!

Micro-Influencer Marketing

Hiring superstars & public figures aren’t always possible for all the businesses. Hence, what you should do is rather do some scouting & look for micro-influencers in your respective domains. These are people who have built a community around themselves over Instagram, YouTube, etc. & have a wide reach in terms of their contents.

Micro-influencers are mostly young, self-employed, chilled out & fun people with a fire to do new & exciting things in life. Collaborating with them is super easy & doesn’t hurt your wallets. Promoting your services/products through them really brings in new audiences to the radar.

Customer Relationship Management

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) applications streamline your entire sales pipeline by bringing all the customer data into one platform, making your deal closures easier. And if you have a team, CRM helps everyone collaborate seamlessly with each other. Most modern-day CRMs now come with a bunch of features such as Lead Management, Contact Management, Kanban View, Invoicing, Email Integration & so much more.

Read the full article on Wakeupsales Blog.

A smartly implemented CRM helps streamline your sales pipeline, improve efficiency, boost your customer satisfaction ratings & build a long-lasting relationship with your customers… eventually resulting in more sales. Having a CRM also makes sure, you figure out who your valuable customers are & you have enough data to acquire more such customers over time.

However, implementing a CRM hasn’t always turned out to be game-changing for all businesses. A lot of factors need to be taken into account before you take the plunge. One wrong step could result in things going worse than before.

Here are some mistakes that may result in CRM failure:

1. No Leadership

Senior management should always be the trendsetters in using a CRM & show others the way. It’s their job to set the strategies right, coach their teams & get the best out of the CRM. Passing a new CRM over directly to the middle management without any supervision is a recipe for disaster.

2. Lack of Goals

Clearly defined goals are the foundations of choosing & implementing a CRM. Without goals, it’s tough for you to get the desired outcomes from your CRM project. It’s always recommended to list down all your goals before you start looking out for a CRM. Clarity is key!

Read The Full Article On Wakeupsales Blog

At Wakeupsales, we always aim to get better every day & provide the best possible experience for all our users.

This past month of May was BIG for us; with some really BIG changes both at the front-end & behind the scenes.Wakeupsales Cloud CRM has a Whole-New Look!This is by far the biggest visual upgrade to Wakeupsales since we started off.

A whole-new interface which makes the user experience even simpler & navigation more friendly.

Tons of optimization at the back-end have also ensured, the app runs faster than ever before… with close to no loading time.Let’s take a sneak peek: The all-new dashboard now gives you more information in a beautifully curated layout.

Read The Full Article On Wakeupsales Blog 

Sales are the most important factor in any organization.

No matter how well your research & development is, how well your product has come up… everything ultimately boils down to the sales figures.There have been a lot of products in recent times that looked like possible game-changers but didn’t really sell; whereas some have gone on to become best-sellers out of nowhere.

That’s what matters the most!The real challenge nowadays is that everyone’s trying their best to master the art of selling.

And when the competition is so high, it really takes something extraordinary to stand out amongst the rest.As sales involve interacting with a lot of people, there can never be the perfect sales pitch.

As Much as you can!Confidence, rehearsal & a strong sales pitch can only take you up to a certain point.

Easy availability of information means every prospect pretty much has all the basic information they need about your company & your offerings.

We negotiate every day at every point in our lives; with our family members, with our friends, our pets, our bosses & as sales folks… certainly with our customers. It’s a skill we just can’t live without. Some people are good at it, some struggle…

Here are my 8 points to consider, if you wish to get better at negotiations:

1. Start at the Right Time

The golden rule of negotiation is “Don’t start it yourself”. But it’s unavoidable if you’re into selling a service or software. Negotiations will pop-up at some point of time.

Starting the negotiations talking about pricing or contracts isn’t always wise. Very early in the conversation, set the tone…. If you want to get some, give some. That they will get exactly what they pay for; nothing more or less.

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If you’re into sales, you know it’s a high-pressure job. Almost every sales team constantly works under a significant amount of pressure. Every time a goal is set for the team or any individual, stress is triggered in some way or the other. Contrary to popular belief, stress can actually work both ways… positive & negative. When taken in your stride, it can really push you to fulfill your full potential. On the other hand… frequent stress may also result in frustration amongst the employees.

As a team manager, it’s your responsibility to make sure your team remains stress-free. Here are a few steps you can take in this regard:

Set Realistic but Challenging Goals

It’s always wise to analyze factors such as earlier sales stats, market competition, current trends etc. before setting up a target for your sales folks. They should be challenged to push themselves & yet feel they can achieve the goal. Missed targets create a dent in the team’s confidence.

Breaking the long term target/goal into smaller weekly or monthly targets is another good step towards making your team feel comfortable

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It can cost you upto four times more to win a new customer than to hold on to an existing one. The amount you are paying OUT, long before they start paying YOU, can be scary.

Don’t make excuses while making sales. Your company needs sales to survive. It’s always a challenge to do sales and keep the customers for a long time. But don’t let those challenges stop you. 

Below are 3 of the most common sales challenges every business faces and how to work around them.

#1. Difficulty in Prospecting & Qualifying Leads:

More than 37% of sales folks find it hard to build a connection with prospects.

Most salespeople say, “Get me in front of the client and I will close!” but how does one get this opportunity if they haven’t prospected properly and filled their pipeline with qualified leads in the first place? Is it possible to get new clients without having qualified leads and proper prospecting?

Well, it doesn’t happen. In order to find new prospects, the easiest and most effective way is to obtain referrals from your existing clientele. If you have already exploited your existing network for new business referrals, you need to start cold calling. 

Read The Full Article On Wakeupsales Blog

You need to be selling to the right audience, for transactions to actually happen.

Rather than going by your instincts, try to gather as much information about your target audiences as possible.

Always go with facts & proven figures.

How a Customer Persona will Help?

If you have the right customer persona, you will also be able to send personalized sales pitches to your prospects which will have higher chances of conversion.

Probable Questions to Ask for a Customer Persona

“It is the cold that is dead, NOT the calling“, once said Trish Bertuzzi…a famous sales guru & business head.

And I couldn’t agree more!Cold calling has almost become a thing of the past… hardly effective.

Warm calling is the way forward in today’s hyper-competitive market.

And to do warm calling, you need to do thorough homework on your customers & follow up with them on regular intervals.Hence, you need a proper well-defined sales pitch strategy to reach out, engage & connect with the prospects/customers.Let’s talk about 6 important points you should consider while preparing your sales pitch strategy: 

In order to succeed in business, you need to go beyond just selling products & services; you have to build and nurture good relationships with your customers.

Thanks to technology, there are plenty of ways you can learn about your customers, their needs, and regularly engage with them.

Because customer data is the biggest key to business success!Every organization talks about the importance of big data.

But most of them don’t put that data to good use or they don’t know how to.

Proper management of customer data isn’t always challenging.

With a little planning, your sales team can manage data smartly without losing or compromising any valuable information.

Your sales staff is underperforming, but you can’t figure out why. You’re pretty sure that you’ve hired the best possible talents, but some days it seems like your sales management is lagging behind.

According to a recent study cited by HBR, 69% of salespeople who exceeded their annual quota rated their sales manager as excellent or above average. Hence, do your sales managers really know how to guide and motivate your sales folks?

Where did you go wrong?

Poor sales performance can be the result of a number of factors:

• Lack of necessary skills & knowledge
• Inefficient pipeline & process design
• Poor use of CRM & other tools
• Inadequate compensation & incentives

Your sales team is only as good as the manager who shows the path. Without proper guidance and direction, achieving your revenue goal can be really difficult.

Here are 3 Very Common Mistakes to Avoid

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