Posts Tagged ‘crm software’
Social Customer Relationship Management Spending to Increase: CRM Market to Reach $1 Billion by 2012
Friday, September 16th, 2011
Posted by: T.J. Bloom, COO of MDL Tech, LLC
Customer relationship management (CRM) has and always will be a focus for the majority of businesses, and now its become even more important with the emergence of social media. This article from CIO.com explains how CRM will become more of a priority as it becomes integrated with social media.
Social CRM spend set to surge
Business-to-business spending on social CRM is growing fast
The worldwide social customer relationship management (CRM) market is forecast to reach over $US1 billion in revenue by year-end 2012, up from $US625 million in 2010.
According to Gartner analysts, spending on social software for marketing, customer service and sales increased by 40 per cent in 2010, but social CRM remained less than 5 per cent of the total CRM application market.
“Spending on business-to-business CRM use is growing fast and will account for 30 per cent of total CRM spending by 2015,” said Gartner research director, Adam Sarner.
“The market will continue its rapid consolidation throughout 2011.
“Until recently, many companies have treated social CRM as a series of experiments and tactical purchases. Few have a social CRM policy or established metrics to measure its effect on hard business results. Different departments, employees and managers implement different types of applications for different purposes.”
Gartner said research and development in social CRM will centre on five main areas: Deeper integration with traditional CRM processes; tools to measure ROI; deeper integration with social network services — especially Facebook and Twitter; increased use of analytics; and new use cases for CRM.
MDL Technology LLC, Kansas City IT Company, Reviews Google Picks KCK as 1st Fiber Community
Thursday, March 31st, 2011
Posted By: Mark Dryer, president of MDL Technology, LLC
According to an article from http://www.kmbc.com, Google announced Wednesday that Kansas City, Kan., will be its first “Google Fiber” community.
Google will build an ultra-high speed broadband network for the city. It is expected to start in 2012. The company said it would work with the Kauffman Foundation, KC Next and the University of Kansas Medical Center to help develop applications.
The new broadband service will deliver the Internet at over 1 gigabit per second or “100 times faster than what most Americans are used to,” according to a Google background report. It will increase the speed of data transmissions, providing cleaner video signals and moving large files in a shorter amount of time.
“We want to be able to increase the speed of the Internet by a factor of 100,” said Google executive Milo Medin. “This is the beginning, not the end, and we are starting in Kansas City, Kansas.”
“I don’t know what it will lead to, but it’s a good place to be,” said Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback. “This puts us in the lead of Internet technology.”
Unlike many of Google’s services, the new service was not expected to be offered for free. Google said it would be “competitively priced” with other broadband services.
Google will offer it to cities between 50,000 and 500,000 population.
Google said it will transform computer service such as the way the conversion from broadband versus dial up.
Kansas City IT Company, MDL Technology, LLC, to Host Cloud Computing Seminar April 2011
Wednesday, March 23rd, 2011
MDL Technology, LLC, a managed services company, announced today that it will host a cloud computing seminar on April 28, 2011 from 1-2 p.m. Pat Powell, president of Spectrum Sales, will be presenting a cloud computing case study along with T.J. Bloom, COO of MDL Technology, LLC at their 1102 GRAND office location in Kansas City (www.mdltechnology.com).
To RSVP for the cloud computing seminar, email tjbloom@mdltechnology.com.
MDL Technology, LLC Reviews Mashable.com Article: Japan Tech Shortage: Who’s Affected?
Friday, March 18th, 2011
Posted By: TJ Bloom, COO, LLC
I would like to share an article from Mashable.com regarding how the tsunami and earthquake in Japan will effect technology. This article shares what products were most effected by the natural disaster.
Japan Tech Shortage: Who’s Affected?
As Japan digs out from its worst earthquake and tsunami in recent history, and engineers scramble to contain the damage at the Fukushima nuclear plant, another crisis is unfolding behind the scenes: massive disruption to the global supply chain.
As relatively unimportant as it may seem, Japan’s factories are the lifeline for electronics companies the world over. Some 20% of all semiconductors and 40% of all flash memory chips sold in the world’s smartphones, tablets, cameras and computers are made in Japan. Manufacturers are facing a drastic reduction in supply, which could have significant knock-on effects in earnings, employment — and the global economy as a whole.
So which companies and products are most at risk? Here’s what we know so far:
Toshiba makes NAND Flash memory chips used in the iPhone, iPad and a string of tablets launching this year. Prices of the 32GB NAND chip jumped nearly 20% in component markets Monday. Toshiba says it is examining damage to its plant, and has no date set for reopening. Toshiba President Norio Sasaki has more important things on his mind at the moment: Prime Minister Naoto Kan has ordered him to help with efforts to stop radiation leaking from the Fukushima plant, according to reports.
Most affected products: The iPad 2 and similar tablets.
Sony, the nation’s largest consumer electronics exporter, shut down six factories last week and another two this week. One of those factories took a direct hit from the tsunami. The plants are all involved in making Blu-ray discs, magnetic heads, PlayStation 3s and lithium-ion batteries. The company makes about 10% of the world’s laptop batteries. The factories are likely to remain shut for at least the next two weeks.
Most affected products: Blu-ray DVDs, PlayStations, PC laptops.
Texas Instruments lost two of its plants making wafers and DLP chips. A spokesperson told Reuters it would take until July for them to come back online.
Most affected products: DLP TVs, video projectors.
Hitachi has six manufacturing facilities in the quake-struck north of Japan, all of them now closed, all of them now being inspected.
Most affected products: Plasma TVs, LCD TVs, camcorders and DVD players.
CBS & Turner Sports are Streaming all the March Madness Games to PCs, iPhones & iPads for Free
Monday, March 7th, 2011
Posted By: Mark Dryer, president of MDL Technology, LLC
According to an article from www.engadget.com, CBS and Turner sports will stream all of the March Madness games to PCs, iPhones and iPads for free.
Every year CBS has enhanced its March Madness On Demand experience, from HD VOD on cable boxes to HD streaming on PCs before adding PiP and paid mobile access last year. For 2011, a new deal has brought in Turner Sports to not only provide enough channels to air all the games in high definition (we figure you’ll find CBS, TNT and TBS on the channel guide with no problem, but with some of the games diverted to lesser known TruTV HD check the HDSportsGuide link below to see if it’s in your area yet) but also expand the streaming experience by promising higher quality video, personalized channel lineup and social tie ins. If you’re on the go, the mobile client for iOS devices (sorry, no Android or other mobile OSes) is free this year so you can keep that fiver in your pocket this time. There’s another pic of the iPad client, a video trailer and all sorts of details waiting after the break, so click through to find out more or just wait for the free apps to hit iTunes March 10th.
10 Cool Things Virtualization Lets You Do
Tuesday, March 1st, 2011
Posted By: Mark Dryer, president of MDL Technology, LLC
A recent article from CIO magazine, written by Keir Thomas, discusses the benefits of virtualization for businesses and individuals. According to the article virtualization refers to running two or more operating systems one one physical PC. Either the multiple operating systems run side-by-side, with a separate piece of software called a hypervisor used to manage them, or one operating system runs the other operating systems within program windows. The former is usually limited to servers, with the latter finding common use on desktop computers.
Here are 10 things you can do with virtualization that might convince you that it’s worth giving it a try, if you haven’t already-
1. Run Old Apps
Got an application that won’t play nice in Windows 7 or Vista, but works fine in XP or an even earlier version of Windows, like Me? Just grab an old Windows CD and install it within a virtual machine (VM). Then install your app.
VMware Player features Unity mode, which allows applications running in the virtual machine to appear as if they’re running natively on the host computer. They have their own taskbar buttons and their own program windows, making for a seamless experience. For this to work, however, you’ll need to install the VMware Tools program on the virtualized operating system. You’re usually prompted to do this after installation of the OS has finished.
2. Access Virus-Infected Data
Ever been sent a file that your antivirus program has flagged, but which contains important data you just have to view? Most virtualization software includes snapshot functionality, which means you can create a “saved state” of the virtual OS and its entire hard disk. It’s a little like travelling back in time.
You could create a snapshot in the virtual machine, open the infected file within the VM to access the data and, if the virus causes chaos, simply click to restore the VM snapshot. Hey presto–a clean virtualized computer.
3. Browse in Complete Safely
Why not install Windows on VMware Player, then install Firefox, and run it in Unity mode so it appears to run natively on the host computer?
Essentially Firefox will be running in what’s known as a sandbox, meaning that should it (or one of its plugins) get hacked while you’re online, there’ll be no absolutely no risk to your actual operating system. You could create a snapshot once everything’s been configured in the virtual machine in order to get things back up and running quickly, should anything go wrong.
4. Test Software, Upgrades, or New Configurations
The virus testing technique above isn’t limited to malware. You could use your virtual computer to test new software, updates, or even new configurations of software before you roll them out for real on your main OS.
Some server administrators use virtualization to create a copy of an existing installation of an operating system, plus its data, which they then run virtualized and play with to see if configuration changes or updates will cause any harm. If you manage workstation computers and want to be sure a Windows update is OK before rolling it out, you could do the same thing–just test it in a virtualized machine first.
5. Run Linux on Top of Windows (or vice-versa)
Want to give Linux a try but can’t face repartitioning your computer’s hard disk? Provided that it would ordinarily install on your computer, you can run just about any operating system inside a virtual machine, including most Linux distros.
Linux and Mac users have been using virtualization for years to run Windows on top of their chosen OS in this way.
If you run a Linux machine for mail or Web services, as examples, having a desktop version of Linux for occasional use will also make it easier to communicate with the server. There’s no need to install PuTTY on Windowsto communicate via secure shell (SSH), for example, because Linux has that kind of thing built-in.
Put Cloud CRM to Work
Wednesday, February 23rd, 2011
Posted By: Mark Dryer, president of MDL Technology, LLC
In every industry customer relationships are extremely important. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software makes it easy for business owners to stay in touch with clients. A recent article from www.pcworld.com, written by James A. Martin, explains that the most compelling CRM products live in the cloud. The article states how to select the right online CRM tools for a business, and how to put them to work.
Here are some of the tips-
Salesforce.com
Salesforce.com has become the recognized leader among cloud CRM systems.By now, most Web-savvy small-business owners have at least heard of Salesforce.com. Founded in 1999, the company was a pioneer in offering a CRM system in the cloud for small and midsize businesses; and today it is the recognized leader among cloud CRM systems. Because plenty of third-party cloud services integrate with Salesforce.com, users have access to more options and features. And Salesforce.com offers tools for businesses of all sizes. For example, the Salesforce Contact Manager service costs just $5 per month per user.
But Salesforce.com is by no means the only cloud CRM tool for small businesses. In fact, the market is bursting with interesting choices. Some are free or extremely inexpensive. Others, so-called ‘social CRM’ tools, add social media components, making it easier to follow your customers’ activities, interests and needs online. And a few CRM systems now offer mobile versions, so you can access customer data on the go.
(For more about the pros and cons of cloud computing in general, read “Should You Move Your Small Business to the Cloud?”)
Free and Inexpensive Cloud CRM Systems
If you’ve never tried a CRM system before, your best bet is begin by experimenting with a free or low-cost cloud tool, says James E. Gaskin, a small-business technology consultant. “Play around with them for a while to find out what you like and don’t like. Then, when you’re ready, you can start adding more users and data to the system or switch to another one, if the free tool doesn’t meet your needs.”
Among the free or low-cost cloud CRM services available are these:
• Zoho CRM offers many CRM features, and it integrates with the Zoho suite of cloud applications, including e-mail and Web conferencing apps. Like most Zoho apps, Zoho CRM is free–albeit in a limited version, and for no more than three users. After that, the service costs a minimum of $12 per user per month.
• Free CRM is, no surprise, a free cloud CRM tool that supports up to five users and up to 10MB of storage (which isn’t a huge amount). Named one of PCWorld’s 15 best free services for businesses a few years back, Free CRM takes some time to set up and learn, but it offers straightforward tracking of prospects, sales forecasting, and other features. The Professional Editions ($15 per user per month and up) provide live support, unlimited data storage, and other features.
• SugarCRM and vTiger CRM are free, open-source CRM applications that include some cloud components. Both have active development communities, meaning that third parties can add functionality and flexibility to the tools. SugarCRM is available in Professional ($360) and Enterprise ($600) editions with enhanced feature sets.
Nine Social CRM Tips for 2011
Tuesday, February 15th, 2011
Posted By: Mark Dryer, president of MDL Technology, LLC
The start of 2011 is the perfect time to review how your company can put into effect a social CRM strategy. A social CRM strategy can allow a company to monitor their brand and have an active voice in online conversations regarding a certain industry. I would like to share an article from http://www.tmcnet.com, written by Rich Tehrani, that further explains how to implement or improve a social CRM strategy.
To improve your social CRM strategy for 2011 consider focusing on/doing the following:
Meet: Have regular social networking meetings to keep your marketing, product management, branding and executive teams to keep them on the same page.
Monitor: Be sure you are on top of relevant keywords via hashtags and keyword search on social networking sites as well as search engine alerts. Don’t forget to focus on your competitors’ keywords as well to see what the world is saying and if you can potentially leverage these comments as a competitive differentiator. Go to hashtag.org to learn more.
Measure: Is your social networking strategy working? Are you being mentioned more or less as time goes on and is the chatter positive or negative? Where is it trending? Why?
React: What is being said about your company and what are you saying in return? Was a customer unhappy with an experience in your retail store? If so, what are you doing about it? Did you send the angry customer a gift certificate and apologize? Furthermore, did you address what actions you have taken as a result? For example, did you change your return policy? Did you decide to keep the store open longer during the holidays, etc?
Participate: Be proactive. Share tips, coupons, news and information which could be of interest to your community.
Network: You will find there are people who love you and those who hate you online. Encourage those who love you with direct messages and engage with those who hate you. It is far more difficult to trash a company online if you receive regular and personalized communications from the entity you love to flame.
Integrate: Get social networking into the arteries of the organization. Determine transparency guidelines and be sure everyone knows how to engage with existing and potential customers.
Dialogue: Encourage reaction. Try polls and asking questions to get your community to engage with you and your brand.
Don’t Over Promote: Find a balance between objectively educating and engaging with your market without being a 24×7 salesperson. This is a crucial point.
CRM Tips: Delete the Delete Privilege
Monday, February 7th, 2011
Posted by: Mark Dryer, president of MDL Technology, LLC
In a recent article from CIO Magazine, written by David Taber, he reviews Customer Relationship Management (CRM) features and benefits. Taber gives the reader tips about CRM software and how to create and delete leads, accounts and opportunities.
CRM Tips: Delete the Delete Privilege
CRM systems are designed to be user friendly, not imposing undue security in the interest of usability and fast adoption. CRM users are business people who aren’t likely to put up with sound arguments about the need for data hygiene. After a few months of disappearing data and incomplete reports, they’re more likely to listen…but not at the beginning.
So for most CRM vendors, the default settings for access control, feature availability, and field-level C/R/U/D privileges are “wide open.” It doesn’t take the Sales and Marketing types too long to figure out why they need to limit visibility of the opportunity pipeline or the lead queues, and they’ll soon be asking to tighten up that level of data visibility. But they typically want far more privileges than is really good for system health.
As I wrote previously, a classic symptom of this is an excessive number of people with System Administrator privileges. Just say no. Instead, use delegated administration, field sharing controls, sales teams, or other advanced CRM features to give power users the access they need.
In this article, I’m going to dig into some more subtle access control issues, particularly around creating and deleting records.
Creating and Deleting Opportunities
The opportunity pipeline is almost the exclusive domain of the sales organization. So it stands to reason that they should be able to create opportunities at will. (Although, I’ll argue that in a complex sales organization, the individual rep shouldn’t be doing even that — see chapter 9 of my book for more on this).
Once an opportunity has been created, though, it really should never be deleted. The rep will want to, for emotional reasons. But that’s the wrong thing to do: whether the opportunity is dead, has gone into no-action purgatory, or was completely unqualified (read: make-believe) in the first place, you’ll never be able to improve your sales process if you delete these opportunities. Deleting opportunities not only masks the truth, it makes it un-knowable.
Tips to Enhance IT Revenue
Tuesday, February 1st, 2011
By: T.J. Bloom, COO of MDL Technology, LLC
IT serves the function of providing support to a company by making it more efficient.
Focusing on things like customer relations, productive employees, faster decisions and automating some business processes can make a big difference in revenue growth in any company.
For example, how much does losing a single customer cost your company? Implementing a CRM system can lower the risk of a customer following through the cracks. Automated notifications, tracking of customer issues or complaints and reporting of strong and weak relationships can help generate a company more revenue.
More productive employees might mean taking some of the monotonous tasks off an employee’s plate and finding a solution that fits the need for developing a solution that does.
Utilizing the tools you have to their fullest potential is one of the most overlooked and least expensive solution to a lot of businesses. Companies can find a lot of value in software packages that they already own by just taking a closer look or the time to fully understand them. Software companies pack so many things into one product that it is easy to focus only on your immediate need from that product.
