A campaign is used in many realms of our personal and business lives. Think of it, political campaigns we are deluged with constantly; product announcement campaigns every few minutes within our favorite television and radio programs, even as we workout at the gym; weight loss campaigns to keep us in shape; and on and on. In this next few paragraphs lets deal with marketing campaigns intended to introduce a product or service of your company.

At the outset, we need to define what the GOAL of the campaign is! Many people begin their campaign designing cool artwork, logos, brochures, newsletters, fliers, coupons, etc. Unfortunately, in the majority of the non-professionally driven campaigns, the GOAL is left until the end or is assumed at some level.

Let’s begin a definition of what we expect from a marketing campaign and   management tool.

The goal in every case is to generate an opportunity to create a meaningful relationship between the product/service provider and the prospective customer.  This statement encapsulates the very essence of why any communication is performed.  Need a larger goal? More reasons? We’d think not as every transaction begins with a relationship to the company, the service or the product – the depth of relationship is the only variable.

The campaign management toolkit should assist us in creation, setup, execution and follow-through.  In the RedHorse CRM toolbox the tools are there, now it’s up to us to use them appropriately and fully.

Let’s outline our approach and needs:

A – We need to be able to pick our recipients from our CRM and determine who will receive our message;

B – The toolkit should provide us with the ability to generate the messages in multiple forms, eg. e-mails, merged letters, printed fliers, online conversations, etc;

C – Once the messages and media are created, the system should assist us in distribution of the e-mail, the hard copy letters, and potentially even the social media message;

D – It should be obvious to most businesses that tracking the costs and ROI should be a significant toolkit piece!  But, apparently not in many systems.  In RedHorse CRM – “It’s Included….”

E – Measurement of the cycle of distribution, receipts, responses and follow-up is key to a successful campaign in fact possibly more important than the message preparation.  We need to know number distributed, number received by the target parties, quantity of responses, and actions taken.

F – Last but certainly not least, it is CRITICAL that we use the prospects actions as an opportunity to respect their needs, service their wants, and assist them in a way that further develops the relationship.  Yes, Relationship is the Middle name of CRM.

With the RedHorse CRM system, all of the above is possible and “It’s Included…”

If  marketing campaigns and management is a concern of your business, feel free to contact us for a brief discussion of the tools and how we might assist you.

For more information about CRM systems click here.

Now, back to external tables. Many might ask, “What is an external table?” An external table is a set of data which is somehow related to the records in your customer database (CRM database). Normally these external tables are in the form of dBase files (dbf), MS Access databases (mdb), MySQL databases (ie. online web databases), MS SQL databases, spreadsheets and other items where sets of data are stored in an ordered manner.

Examples of where an external table might be used: a warranty database organized by customer number; a spreadsheet of customer products organized by a customer name or number.

If there is a “key” to relate your external data to the current CRM system, RedHorse allows this to be done. And, as you may already know…. “It’s Included…” Nothing extra to purchase.

The connection to the external tables is available if your data tables are a SQL View (a special selection of data from SQL databases and tables), is a SQL Database, or is addressable by an ODBC Connection. This ODBC connection is probably the most common method of programs addressing data. Most applications utilizing current data technologies have ODBC connectivity.

Imagine, being on a client record in the CRM and being able to address the data in the warranty database directly on a tab in the customers record in your CRM. In this case, it is assumed that the “CustomerNumber” is the common key relating the two data sets. That set of warranty information is maintained by another program or system but is accessible via ODBC.

A few ideas for you to consider are:

- Real Estate: If you are a real estate agent, you might need to be able to reference a list of homes or buildings that contain the amenities requested by a buyer. Fill in a set of amenities required and select the external table view to see those fitting the needs.

- Customer Service / HelpDesk Systems: Your sales team could have a visual peek into the helpdesk information system (this assumes you are not utilizing customer service and ticketing within RedHorse) while working with a client on a future purchase.

- Automobile inventory at a branch lot: From the corporate office you may need to view inventory at a remote sales lot. This relationship could be into the corporate inventory database keyed on dealership/lot number. So, from Dealership A’s record, one could go to an inventory tab to view the inventory at that location.

- Accounting Systems Linkage: If your accounting system is accessible via ODBC, you could connect the customer/client record of the CRM system to the appropriate accounting information. By designing the viewer side, you can provide users with appropriate information while protecting that which should not be accessed by all.

These are just a few examples. We have found that external table connectivity simply allows the CRM system to be a central access point for all information related to servicing the client base and growing a business.

Imagine ONE program, with ONE central point of data access, with ONE idea in mind! RedHorse CRM would be that ONE product ready to make your company and team number ONE! With External Table connectivity, RedHorse provides that “window to the world” from within the CRM system. The ability to not lose information that resided in an old system.

If you are in a position where this is a concern of your business, feel free to contact us for a detailed analysis of your needs.  We not only advise in this area, but enjoy the process and can assist you in becoming familiar with choosing the proper database management tools.

For more information about CRM systems click here.

First question, not a data or technical question but one of daily business operations: Does your business deal with consumers directly or with businesses?

If your answer is CONSUMERS, then you will likely manage your customer data in a contact centric manner. Meaning that you will be specifically interested in grouping your information, intelligence, documentation, and other items around the person or contact. There is no real, “commercial entity” in the picture – or not that plays into any decision or action. Sure, you may have information about where the client works or what business a client owns, but in your business the business of the client doesn’t become a factor.

If your answer is “I deal with people AT COMPANIES….” then you should manage your data in an account centric fashion.  Let me explain.  Managing data in an account centric manner means that the top layer of the data model is a Company or Account name.  Of course, we deal with people so we need contact records.  In fact the bulk of our information from a relationship perspective really centers around the people at the company.  So, we need detailed abilities to “know” our customer, that person we talk with, in addition to the knowledge of the company as a whole entity.  To reiterate, account centric says the top level of the entity we deal with is the company.   Think a bit like this – “If Mr. Joe Customer changes employment from company A to company B, do I lose the entire business relationship at Company A?”  If the answer is yes then you are NOT an account centric business.  If the answer is no, then you are likely an account centric business.  Obviously, if your answer is not clear, then you might want to investigate your ties to Joe and potentially others.  Certainly Joe can be key but if you are account centric it is imperative that your team know the account as well as Joe.

Now, we must consider if the software you are using or planning to use will allow account, contact or both centricities. It is important to really investigate the software in detail with respect to this need.  There are products that claim to be account centric, there are products that claim to be contact centric, and there are those that supposedly do both.

One of the best questions to get a clear answer on is: If I work with Joe, and Joe works at ABC Company, where do I run an account report from?

If you are advised to go to Joes record, the product is likely a contact centric product and you will have difficulties managing a true business account with it.  An example of why this is true: Mary joins ABC Company as head of ABC’s division 2, your company is an HR Services company and you will be providing resources to Joe and Mary’s divisions.

Where do you go to run a company wide report about your business with ABC Company?  In a contact centric system it is virtually impossible and is many times done with “smoke and mirrors” and of course much human resource.

If you are told to go to the “account record” an run the report from there, then you are indeed in an account centric data structure.  An account data structure will allow the “rollup” abilities where all pending, history, details, product purchases, etc. are available on one record.

If you are in a position where this is a concern of your business, feel free to contact us for a detailed analysis of your needs.  We not only advise in this area, but enjoy the process and can assist you in becoming familiar with choosing the proper database management tools.

For more information about CRM systems click here.

As business owners and managers we have likely seen a number of trends come and go. Some quickly leaving no traces and others leaving marks on the pavement. We have spent money following the trend, sometimes trying to lead a trend, but most times just bouncing around within it. Now we have a new term – or maybe not so new – “Social Media”.

Social media is the phenomenon of every digitally connected individual having equal access to discuss events, products, services, people and other key “top of mind” items. Essentially, this is the new millennium’s, digital whispers. You know the ones, the ones that in the 60’s and 70’s were whispered in the hallways, never said aloud as it might be considered rude. Today, a whisper is written, published and distributed to hundreds of thousands, or even millions within seconds. It is very critical that businesses listen to these new whispers. These whispers are like the old ones, leading to reputation strength or destruction but certainly important to your business survival and successes.

If you fail to listen, the fallout could be detrimental to your business survival. So who are these whisperers, why are they so important, and what should we be doing to embrace this new mode of communication and communicators?

They are: your next customers, your future employees/partners, your neighbors, your relatives, your friends and not-so-friendlies. Bottom line is “they” are everyone and “they” can be tremendously powerful. Imagine your best friend controlling the Los Angeles Times and what it allows to be published. All would probably fare well for your business. But, imagine that your “friend” became a “not-so-friendly”, Oh my! With that in mind, lets look at how we can address this new opportunity, head-on and with a good attitude.

First, let’s agree that we will be out to make new associations in this new world not just sell something.  A respected associate recently explained the Twitter world as “It’s like attending a party, you are there to meet people and share experiences, joys, excitements, and other things.  You are building relationships not selling your goods and services.  You wouldn’t simply say to a fellow party goer  ‘hey… buy my stuff!’   So in the Twitter/social media environment, be like you would at a party, don’t be in my face with products.”

We are friendly, caring and helpful to others. Sure, we are looking to build business and gain market share, but who isn’t? Even the most frequent communicator in this online world is looking to be heard, to be known, and ultimately to gain from it. Many like to state they’re simply doing whats best for all or saying what others are afraid to say, but how many of us really agree with that when we have all the facts clearly visible. This is not to say these people are bad, it’s just implying that at the core, we (with few psychological exceptions) are all decent people simply exercising survival instincts and survival includes eating.  We must gather resources to gather food – it’s that simple!

On to the business side of this.

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It certainly would seem to be true as we see the X,Y, and Z generation walking around or worse yet driving while using messaging.  Instant messaging and emailing has grown at a rate never experienced in history. Everyone seems to “be connected”.   Most of those messaging systems are some version of Outlook.

In the world of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and sales force automation (the older SFA), Outlook has been a difficult communication tool  to deal with.  Microsoft has not always allowed or been open to developers knowing how to integrate to and from Outlook to other applications.  In fact, even the 1st couple of versions of MicroSoft CRM (now known as Microsoft Dynamics) did not communicate clearly and completely with Outlook.  Some might disagree, but recall the long cryptic message ID scheme in subject lines of the 1st few releases?  Enough said!

Today, as in the past, Outlook is with us in the business and personal realms of day-to-day life. It is time that the CRM developers learn and accept the integration to Outlook.  Some have, and others still struggle to get there.

What should a good Outlook link contain?

1. Email connectivity – to Outlook (from CRM) and from Outlook (to CRM)
2. Contact connectivity – ensure that contacts are available in Outlook that are in CRM and vice-versa
3. Calendar connectivity – it is critical that appointments and tasks created in Outlook (or the connected PDA/phones) get back into the CRM system; in addition tasks and appointments created in the CRM should be in the Outlook calendaring

There are a few including RedHorse CRM that have accomplished these important links as to not leave the Outlook user disconnected from the CRM system and connecting these Outlook users into the CRM system.  No longer is CRM and Outlook different worlds.

In the RedHorse Outlook Link (RHOLink03/07) the integration is comprehensive.

1. RedHorse can be configured to sync email, contacts and calendars, or any combination thereof; all managed from within Outlook.
2. Documents attached/embedded in Outlook messages are handled according to the document management configuration in RedHorse, controlled by the settings in Outlook.
3. Configuration of all record types handled in Outlook in one settings area.
4. RedHorse has the ability to determine how to handle email addresses in Outlook that are in the RedHorse Database and automatically sync them without user interruption, and to handle emails that are not in the RedHorse database differently.
5. RedHorse can be configured to use Outlook as the “fulltime” email messaging client while maintaining the full view of communications within the CRM.
6. RedHorse does not have to be running to synchronize with Outlook, so long as the SQL Database is accessible. This provides for remote access to RedHorse while still utilizing a local Outlook instance.

If you are ready to integrate Outlook as a valued tool for your customer database or CRM system, contact us.

Is Outlook a CRM?

I must say “IT REALLY IS INCLUDED….” After spending more than a decade in another product (yah, you know the one) we got so used to our add-on products that made life easier, we forgot to stand back and look at ourselves.

We’ve used phone dialers, technical support packages, quoting packages, report writing packages, custom written programs and hooks, on-and-on. Wow do we have a suitcase full of applications! Now let me not minimize those add-ons; they’ve worked nicely and as they were designed to. But it is SO NICE to be in one product all day where ALL the pieces are there. Sure it’s taking some adjustment steps and at times even a paradigm shock for us.

We’ve had a few issues with data that was imported as is the case in any import/transfer.  All minor and at times disappointing but none catastrophic.  We’ve spent 8-10 hours learning and adjusting to a new system this week.  By spending time, I mean really trying to understand the operation of what we are seeing.  In summary, our issues are mostly self generated or a result of prior product design and architecture but certainly resolvable.  Will write more about these in the future as my notes come together.

Without getting techie, I would just say “You must play with this tool to appreciate the craftsmanship that went into it.”

“It’s INCLUDED….” in the case of RedHorse CRM is not just a slogan, it is a way of life.

As is true with many of these projects we feel a bit hampered in our abilities to do our job at the speed we did last week. Due to the learning curve and simply a new paradigm, and of course the untangling of data and operational knots we’ve created over the last 20 years.

We find ourselves moving slower and with more caution and I would venture to say ignorance. We find what we believe are “undocumented features – or bugs as some call it” but later find that we are simply approaching the issue strangely.

What an experience for us. We are so set in our ways and so engrained and trained in GoldMine we have a difficult time with other technology. I summarized on the phone yesterday to someone by stating, “It’s kind of like writing with your left hand (I am right handed). I know I can do it but I may be sloppier and slower but I will get there.”

Short time today but will add more at a later time.

NICE product, just different for us.

The product is performing as expected but it seems my 15 year old data is an issue. Apparently our data is not as clean as we thought. Seems that our upgrade after upgrade since 1991 has not been as clean structurally as the converter routines would like. Also, our data has been sliced and diced with every imaginable tool over the years.  I suspect that has a lot to do with it.

Ended up speaking with the support department. Found that there is indeed bad data in some of the fields. For example, “3/2/2″ in a field that should be like “08:00″ and so on. Small amounts but in this computer data world, one character incorrect is one-to-many.

So, we had to create short routines to clean up the data in the known bad fields. Not too bad just unexpected.

Next, the process moved into converting our GoldMine contact2 data. Oh now that was a bit more interesting as it was one of those not so obvious problems to resolve. The support person ran a manual process which was the same code from the converter and it worked without flaw. Nice, now we only have E-mail to deal with.

Ran that process separately using the wizard. Runs smoothly with only dialogs popping when our mailbox records have unrecognized/illegal characters in the database. This process is slow as it must move files according to the document management settings we had set during post-installation configuration. Seems to be ‘garbage’ data in the records once every few thousand records.

All in all, more time consuming than expected but then again, I expected that. After all it is computer data land!

Will continue answering dialogs on the bad paths and will report back. I now have 4 hours into the conversion – mostly waiting for conversions though. Could be doing other things – such as writing blogs.

PS. Suggested a new pre-convert test tool to the developer.  Is cleaning our data the programs responsibility?

Our current system:

1. GoldMine – the central point of all activities and information -We live ” if it’s not in GoldMine it didn’t happen”.
2. TeleSupport HelpDesk – the customer service software that tracks all service activities and stats of such
3. QuoteWerks – the quoting and proposal generation software, all our years of products, templates, etc are there.
4. QuickBooks – the accounting software which is the end of the line

All our current products have years of information, they are connected although roughly and with special expensive-to-maintain connection programs.  We have years of add-on utilities that we’ve come to depend on.  A bit scary!

Those that may be familiar with our company may find this post amusing since installation and setup of CRM systems is our core business. But, as is true with many things in life, it is more difficult emotionally to change oneself than it is to supervise and execute a change for others.

As with any project, we’ve done our pre-switchover training, testing, cleansing, and in fact we are certified experts in the product we are switching to. We have done a few (try a few hundred over the years) of these conversions for others with success; we even can call in the forces (aka. Chief Developer) if needed as we are close to the company and its founders. But still, the small concerns are there as we all know there are unpredictable challenges at every software upgrade, update or installation.

We are confident that we will have some significant learning curves regarding the change of our paradigm but here we go.

Listed below are the known items of concern and I am confident I will return with more as time progresses.

A few of our items that must be addressed:

1. Document Management / Template Naming conventions in the new system.  This is a time we can use to clean up a bit of the legacy pieces.
2. Need to train the team a bit more on Filters/Sorting – we utilize filters and sorting heavily in our marketing efforts.  The RedHorse CRM is much more powerful in this respect but again, a difference we must deal with.
3. Support Tickets: Our current methods utilize the TeleSupport HelpDesk product line that we sell, service and support
4. Extended details – GoldMine’s details have ‘behind the scenes’ information that during a first round of testing, the extended pieces didn’t move quite appropriately.
5. Mergecodes: We use merge codes to determine who we have permission to communicate with via Email, Fax and telephone, etc. (we use filters/groups for what goes to them)
6. AutoDial:  we use yet another product to dial the phone (nope, not our fingers – we use TapiLink and TeleVantage).  I worked with the developer on the Skype and Tapi Dialing testing so we should be good here.
7. Web Imports:  As you might imagine, we use our web import forms heavily.  It is probably one of the most common methods for us of receiving new leads into the system.  We even use the forms to add new leads ourselves due to its automation abilities.
8. Quote Templates:  We have years of templates built mostly in QuoteWerks but in GoldMine as well.  Those will have to be recreated as they do not convert.
9. Service Agreements:  In our system we track service availability time.  Meaning, how much prepaid support time does a customer have.  RedHorse has a much more detailed and thorough system for this but we will have to re-enter the service agreement balances.
10. Invoice templates:  RedHorse will be used to send the service usage “Invoices” or shall we call them “Usage Notices”.  We will need to design those templates as well.
11. Quickbooks Import / CleanUp:  We will be using the Quickbooks items list to populate the quoting systems available parts and labor codes.  We, as most companies do, have a few (or more) items which were not used and are no longer necessary to carry along.  This means a bit of clean up in Quickbooks so we don’t pull ‘garbage data’ into the quoting system.
12. E-mail Accounts:  We will need to reproduce our email credentials in the RedHorse system as most of our users monitor multiple e-mail accounts.  Just a few moments per user to add those.
13. ArgoSoft: We use a 3rd party smtp program called Argosoft to handle our mass e-mails outbound for marketing.  We have not tested RedHorse with this but it should be rather straight forward as it is just another SMTP address.
14. SigFiles:  We will need to create our sigfiles in RedHorse – again small but came up in conversations.
15. E-mail Templates:  This one could be a time consumer as we utilize e-mail templates for most communications, product deliveries, registrations, lead management, etc.  Again fairly easy in RedHorse but minutes none the less.
16. Support Staff Readiness:  Those of us on the team who have spent time training, learning, experimenting and fumbling will have new experiences but those who were not in the loop will have major setbacks in terms of productivity.  A new training curve is about to happen.

At this point we I am ready to go to the server and make sure all appropriate backups from last evening are intact, USABLE, and ready to roll.  Remember backups are USELESS if not USABLE (more on that in another article.)

Will return!!

We tend to hold back our advertising and marketing efforts by using the age old, “I don’t have the budget for marketing… its all I can do to survive…. ” and add to that the additional “…. with what I have!” added to the end of the “it’s all I can do….”

Lets take a look at that approach. First, we had suspects, those businesses or consumers of our services that we believed could use our products and services. In economies past, we would send letters, meet them at trade shows, E-mail and fax them, and in affect reach out to them in any way we could. If the service provider was larger, then they would use television and radio media as well.

Each of those avenues cost budget dollars, and in most cases the same dollars as we have in place today. So, why then do we clam up, get afraid, and stop marketing? What do we think will naturally happen to our business growth? Why would we think that we would or could “survive” on the existing base of customers when we would not have even considered that 5 years ago?

Lets discuss how we can move from an economical induced stagnation to an economically induced expansion; of course we will assume that we cannot change the national economy, but we WILL change our internal and possibly the local economy (our household and neighborhood maybe).

First, we must allow ourselves to believe in our abilities to gather suspects, convert them to prospects (that is the easy part) and then into customers (consumers of our products and services). As some famous advertisers said in the past, and I do believe they’re survived, “Just Do It!” Simply get out the pencil (or keyboard in most modern situations) and write your next advertising campaign plan. Don’t expend days on this effort, spend at most two 2 hour sessions. Outline it. Consider the following guideline.

1. Define which product or service you will focus on. Be careful to not allow your focus to become expansive and/or blurred.  Stick with ONE product or service. Trying to advertise a bizarre of products and services really becomes a shopping expedition where the buyer just cannot make a decision, and they won’t for you either.
2. Define the distribution media and size: The quickest lowest cost method is e-mail of course.  But, you will be in a pool of multi-millions a day.  I like to compare this to finding a humming bird in a flock of sparrows – your advertisement  being the humming bird of course!  But, I must admit that done properly, your advertisement can be the eagle in the flock.  I will discuss the details of e-mailing as an eagle at a later point.
3. Write the advertisement/design the ad copy: Be cognizant of the content from all angles; verbage, images, spacing, etc.  Your advertisement must be 1st and foremost, pleasing to the eye in your distribution media. You have a split second to capture the mind of the future customer – I know most people say you have 2-3 seconds to capture a prospects eye.  Well if you have placed the ad and if the prospect came upon it, they will fly past in a split second unless it is visually pleasing or visually appalling (most of us do not want to use the second).  Your copy must capture the suspects MIND immediately after their eye.  Keep that in mind when creating the copy.
4. Determine who you will market to: This can be the difficult part for many small businesses and larger businesses that do not have a customer relationship manager (CRM) and all businesses that do not understand the databases they currently possess.  Gather your data in a database or spreadsheet if that is all you have. If you are having difficulty understanding where you get data from within your business, check out the following article, it may help you understand where your gold is today.
5. Determine how you will measure success: This may be one of the most important steps in the process.  Not for results but for your own feeling of accomplishment.  You need to know when you have succeeded in what you have set out to accomplish.  Don’t just assume increased revenues will give you the satisfaction of achievement; allowing that will just set in place a bad habit that will eventually implode upon you.  Define exactly what should be the 1st, 2nd, and final result you are desiring.
   For example:
   • Succeess is a click on my ad to my website (you will need to have specific landing pages)
   • Success is a phone call to my company about product X or service Y (you will need to inquire on incoming calls as to how the client found you)
   • Success is an appointment set for new product Z (you will need to ask how the client heard of your product)
     
6. Measure: Measure your success points as described in #5.  Depending on your success points you will need to create or have specific benchmarks.  Determine the benchmarks in #5 and create a measurement gathering place to record specifics. Keep in mind that you may have others in your organization involved in the measurements so make sure it is easy for them to provide the data to the measurement system.  Maybe a CRM?  Which one you might ask, check this link for more information on what to look for.
7. Re-distribute (a follow up message): After a defined time period for responses to occur you will want to gather the measurement data and determine a redistribution scheme.  In looking at the response data, you will want to segregate a number of facts.  In our example above, ask yourself  “did we increase our web page hits more or did we get more phone calls in?”  Be careful on this one, I would suggest that an inbound phone call is worth 100-200 webpage hits.  So, for each phone call directly recieved as a result of an e-mail campaign give it a weight of 200 hits.  Design a followup message to accentuate the best of the two response mechanisms.  This redistribution should push toward the conversion goal. Remember what you really want is a suspect to prospect conversion with the e-mail.  Your job on the phone is more valuable – it is prospect to customer conversion.  Customers are what drives growth of your business.
8. Measure the responses: Again in the same manner but add the additional level of prospect to customer conversion over time.  Your goal at this point should be to capture new customers in an effective manner for both the prospect and your team.
9. Repeat until satisfied……… OR more appropriately until the effectiveness drops by 25%.  Effectiveness in this case means the hits/distribution drop by 25%.  Remember we have converted phone calls in (directly related to a distribution of our message) to hits by the 100-200 factor.

To wrap up, we as business owners small, medium and larger must continue to build our customer base in the tough times as we did in the good times.  We have the same tools as we did in the past, we have the same need as we did in the past, we should execute with the same gusto as we did in the past.  Those businesses that marketed in the past did it for the same reason as they would today.  They did it to sustain a solid business.  In this difficult economy we must market for the same reason: to build a solid business.  As we slow down our marketing efforts, we immediately slow down inbound prospects and therefore our revenues and ultimately our ability to survive as businesses.  Do not get stagnate – market, market, market like you did in years past.