This is a copy of a post I made a year ago, but since I seem to be having this discussion with a lot of folks recently, I thought I would repost it today. Incidentally, the folks at Versage do a much better job of making this argument than I do, so I encourage you to...
The Wall Street Journal has a nice report on the challenges that small business owners face when it comes to advertising. The article discusses alternatives to advertising - word of mouth, using the Internet to generate buzz, etc. The implication seems to be that...
Ok, I need someone to explain this to me. Almost every CRM package that I look at has a report that looks like this: Forecasted Sales x Probability of Closing = Potential Sale or Value of Opportunity x Probability of Closing = Expected Revenue ...
As the end of the year approaches, it's time to think about how to get profitable new clients to know, like, and trust you for the upcoming tax season. Here are some tips to help you get your marketing ship in shape so you can enjoy your most profitable tax season...
After managing existing customers, managing leads is probably the next thing people think of when they think of CRM. "Leads" means different things to different people; when I use "leads" I am referring to "suspects." Suspects -> Prospects -> Customers ->...
First things, first. Let me describe my business and some of my CRM needs first in order to give some context to this series of posts. I am currently a sole-proprietor. I have a brother who works with me while he is in grad school and hope to have him onboard full...
I was talking to a small business owner today about referral marketing when I commented that he had gotten good at asking for referrals often, but he didn't ask for them early enough. To have a successful referral marketing system, you need to expect referrals. One...
It seems like I have been having a lot of conversations around the subject of how to get more referrals lately. Small business owners love referral marketing because it is cheap and effective. The main cost is time spent seeking and following up with prospects....
Many small business owners fall into the trap of believing that the only way to improve their revenue is to use advertising to drive more traffic to their business. The model looks something like this – Traffic x Conversion Rate x Average Sale = Revenue. The...
Did boring presentations exist before PowerPoint? Personal experience tells me that PowerPoint users do not have a monopoly on boring presentations. I also have never attended a presentation given by PowerPoint (or any other piece of software). However, I often hear...