Committing to marketing your business is sort of like committing to waking up each morning for work. Before walking out of your house to head for the office, or meet a client or prospect, you stop and think about how you look, how you want to be seen (or perceived) by others, and then you…
If you can’t jump it, go around it
September 5, 2012 By
Everyday business owners and executives face all sorts of obstacles. From low sales numbers, HR challenges, customer service issues, to managing growth, legal burdens, and cash flow shortfalls. Marketing tends to be seen as another wrench in the cog. It’s easy to put marketing off, or make up reasons why it’s too difficult, time consuming,…
Stop thinking. Start doing.
September 4, 2012 By
When it comes to small-business marketing, I find that businesses often over-think too much that they fail to execute. They fail to create their marketing plan. They fail to keep it going. Their great intentions become, “I should haves.” Marketing needs to be woven into the fabric of your business culture. You need to…
6 Keys to Mining Your Database, Part 6
April 9, 2012 By
Perpetually Communicate with Your Contacts Alright, I’m almost finished with filing taxes this year. Which means that I can get back into posting blogs more consistently. Today I’m going to talk about what perpetually communicating with your contacts. Of course what’s the purpose of maintaining a customer relationship management tool if you don’t plan on staying…
6 Keys to Mining Your Database, Part 5
February 23, 2012 By
Create Alerts and Notifications Have you ever heard people say, “If it’s not on the calendar, then it will never get done?” I know I hear my wife say that all the time. :o) The saying holds true when it comes to managing your pipeline. The best way to manage your pipeline is through creating…
6 Keys to Mining Your Database, Part 4
February 16, 2012 By
Setup useful reports! If you’re trying to effectively mine your database without viewing key reports, then you will likely miss potential opportunities, hot prospects will cool down, and your pipeline can dry up. So what are the key reports that you need to setup? Daily Active Lead Report. Leads are those prospective buyers that have…
6 Keys to Mining Your Database, Part 3
February 8, 2012 By
Keep it fresh & relevant! I’ve always said the most important field to update in your CRM database, regarding your contacts, is the note section. Why? Whether or not an opportunity becomes a paid client, you and your sales team members have to massage those opportunites down the pipeline. It’s a relational thing… and a CRM…
6 Keys to Mining Your Database, Part 2
February 7, 2012 By
Keep Looking at it! I know this point sounds so obvious, but when was the last time you looked at the contacts in your database? Ran reports? Updated contact statuses or notes? Most likely your answer is not positive. Similar to looking at the scale every day if you’re trying to lose weight, you’ll never…
6 Keys to Mining Your Database
February 3, 2012 By
If there is one consistent problem that I see over and over again with businesses/organizations regarding their marketing, it’s their lack of utilizing their customer relationship management (CRM) database. I blog about this several times a year, because it’s so fundamental and paramount to good marketing. If you are not mining your database, then you…
