Converting Cards to Cash (part 2 of 3)

Posted on March 24, 2011 by sean

continued from Converting Cards to Cash (part 1 of 3)

Step 2 – Where to store the data and in what format

This stumbling block seems to be a key barrier for that pile of business cards. To make it worse everyone has their opinion on what the best database program is and what format it should take. For the purpose of this blog I will stick to the fundamentals of what a good database should include.

Format

It is important that whatever database you choose that you have the ability to export the information into a format that is standards based, like a .csv file (comma separated value). The reason for this is that most Database Software will recognize this file format and you can migrate the information with ease.

Also you want the ability to sort and query your database. This is simply a way for you to get information from your database that you can segment and draw conclusions from – like who are the 20% of my customers that make up 80% of my revenues.

Information

Your business is unique and your customer database should reflect that. Being able to customize the information you collect is a must. This varies dramatically, but there are several frequently used types of business information:

  • Contact details
  • Customer preferences
  • Communications history
  • Sales history
  • Actions
  • Payments

Then there is specific customer information. For example, family information (spouse, children, pets…), birthdays, anniversaries, hobbies and interests are all key information for developing a relationship with your customers.

Ownership

If your customers are the heart of your business than their information is the soul. Keeping it secure is important. Retaining ownership of your database will ensure your customer information is safe. Ownership means you have exclusive password protected access to your database and can export the information at your convenience. This goes for both hosted database solutions (Software as a Service) and resident database solutions (saved on your hard drive or network).

Step 3 – Getting access to the data

To be continued…

How many separate databases does your business have??? (e.g. one for your accounting system, an excel spreadsheet for sales, one in a marketing tool like a newsletter/e-blast program, one on your phone…) Am I forgetting any?

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off

Converting Cards to Cash (part 1 of 3)

Posted on March 18, 2011 by sean

Where did that business card go…?

These pocket-sized billboards do come in handy for exchanging contact information. And if you are like me, you may have a pile/box/stash of them hiding somewhere in your office. We both know that that pile represents an unlimited potential of opportunities. That pile of business cards also represents a lot of work too.

  • Converting the cards into usable data
  • Where to store the data and in what format
  • Getting access to that data

The old Rolodex, which in 1954 was invented by Hildaur L. Neilsen of the Zephyr American Corp., is one way to keep this information organized and accessible.

Seeing as the world has evolved over the last 50 some odd years, and the fact that carrying this sucker around isn’t practical I’d like to suggest that we can evolve too.

Step 1 – Converting Business Cards

Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Capturing Customer Information

Posted on March 10, 2011 by sean

The first step in getting to know your customer starts with capturing and recording their information. Whether they are an existing customer or a potential customer it’s always a great idea to set up a system to collect contact information throughout the customer process. The crucial information to capture would be their first and last name, address, e-mail address and phone number. Permission based capture is always the best.

3 great ways to capture contact info Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

What is Your Customer Experiencing?

Posted on February 27, 2011 by sean

As a consumer that’s been in the workforce for over 20 years I am sad to report that over 90% of my experiences making a purchase are negative. 

I don’t think I ask for much. I ask three things: 

  1. I like to be warmly acknowledged at first contact,
  2. I want my questions answered and
  3. I like to be thanked for spending my hard earned money. 

These are the basics in customer service and many businesses are missing the mark on one or all three of these steps. Let me expand a little here on why I believe businesses are not accomplishing these three simple steps. 

 Your business, of course, is not included in the above statement… or is it? 

You should ask yourself these questions:

  •  Does your customer service staff have clear direction on your policies and procedures for customer service satisfaction?
  • When is the last time you expressed to your team your expectations of how they are to treat your most valuable asset – YOUR customer?
  • Are you meeting with your team on a regular basis to discuss customer service standards? It is a great way to gently remind everyone why we are here (hint: to give the customer a positive experience during the buying process so they want to return)? 

Here are a couple of stats that will reinforce your concerns in keeping your customers:  Continue reading →

Posted in General, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Qasper Offers Permission Based Texting

Posted on February 17, 2011 by sean

Text messages continue to command our attention. Research from MobileSquared found that 95 percent of people read a text within 15 minutes of receiving it and that 98 percent of all text messages are read.

The higher response rate can be attributed to the opt-in format or permission based marketing. Your customers have to sign up or subscribe to receive text based information or marketing creating a new form of communication.

For the customer

Permission based texting via Qasper is done right from the contact page. This gives every department the opportunity to connect on a personal level with the client. The sales department can send information on specials and discounts based on the customer’s preferences. The service department can notify the customer when their order is ready for pick up. The administration department can send out ‘thanks for your business’ messages after the purchase process. Other opportunities for permission based texting:

  • Reminder for service
  • Reminder for appointment
  • New product/service notification
  • Exclusive offers
  • Special events
  • Discounts or coupons

 For the staff

Qasper also features the ability to send a text message directly to someone on your team. When you create an activity for someone in your company – appointment, task, message, call-back or email – you can now instantly notify them via text message.

This is a great tool to connect with your out of office staff and to get information directly in front of the person. It also works great for up to the second notifications in changes to your scheduled appointments and activities.

Have you had any success with using Text Message Marketing in your business?

Posted in Tips and tricks, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Preparing for Business Growth

Posted on February 2, 2011 by sean

A recent online survey on what the top challenges facing Small to Mid-sized Business (SMB) was conducted by Padgett Business Services.

The results? Their main concerns revolved around developing new business prospects (21%).

In order to have the foundation to allow for business growth it is important to first set the stage.

3 Key Steps – Prior to Business Growth

Select Growth Method
There are three main ways to grow your business:

  • increase your customer base,
  • increase the frequency of purchase/number of units sold and/or
  • add a new product/service.

Although any one of these methods will lead to business growth, attempting multiple methods at the same time can be tricky and a serious drain on your resources. Be sure to conduct an in-depth market analysis prior to selecting your growth strategy. Click here to read more about business growth methods.

Take Care of Existing Key Customers
There is no point using up precious resources on developing new business opportunities at the cost of losing key existing customers.

Learn from current success and find out what drew these customers to your business in the first place.

  • Why they are loyal and what if any improvements they would like to see?
  • Don’t forget to inform them that you are planning to grow your business (referrals welcome).
  • Have them alert you personally if they see any changes to their experience in dealing with your company.

Gathering this information will ensure your vision for growth will be based on current customer sentiment. Here is a link to an outline for important questions you may want to ask these key customers.

Review Systems and Processes
Your team is your greatest asset, so arm them with the right tools to implement your growth strategy.

Getting the team involved early in the planning process is crucial to gathering the information necessary to address any system upgrades or procedure improvements.

Here is a link to some great methods to attract new clients and help get the creative juices flowing during your brainstorming session with your team.

What are some of your success stories of growing your business?

Posted in General, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Building Customer Loyalty

Posted on January 24, 2011 by sean

Today’s savvy consumer can be inundated with advertising, promotions and communications from businesses during all points of the purchase cycle. Prior to engaging the business, customers can and will research the company, do a competitive analysis and get reassurance from peer groups through forums.

With this in mind, is gaining customer loyalty as simple as implementing a loyalty program – rewarding the customer for patronage? Or does it have to start much earlier in the purchase process?

Let’s assume you have covered the fundamental key to customer loyalty – offering a quality product or service that when purchased the customer receives the intended value. Have you covered adding value to the customer prior to purchase?

 Top 3 ways to build loyalty – Prior to Purchase

 Website Content

Make it easy for potential customers to use your website as the launch for their information-gathering phase:

  • Keep your website up to date with the latest product/service information
  • Add access to detailed information on product/service descriptions
  • Add links to 3rd party product/service reviews

 Ratings and Reviews

Create an avenue for consumers to rate and review your products/services on your website.

Through Qasper’s online web information and registration, along with Qasper’s contact field customization, you can empower customers to send their comments and ratings direct to Qasper. Click here for some details. Your web consultant can easily implement this for you.

Also, click here to check out a list of “Rating and Review” options you can use to implement on your site.

Digital Coupons

Offering a digital coupon via your website offers value to the customer and helps with the transition from pre purchase searching to sale. It also allows for the tracking of the promotional campaign.

Keeping your focus on adding value to the customer at every stage will lead to increased profits, a strong customer base and ongoing customer loyalty.

Posted in General, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Comments Off

CES 2011 – Qasper goes to Vegas!

Posted on January 4, 2011 by sean

Qasper – Complete Mobility

As we prepare for our trip down to Las Vegas for CES 2011 and gather our gear I can’t help but think of what this would have entailed just a few short years ago…

We are attending the Consumer Electronics Show to meet with potential partners and resellers. Our goal is to partner with tablet manufacturer to co-market our products to the Small to Medium – size Enterprise (SME) market. You see, Qasper is not an “app” or an add-in. Qasper expands the tablet users standalone, personal device functionality and offers a real-time portal that links the tablet user directly to their business information and team.

Qasper is a major step forward in computing, as a complete, private cloud-based solution that brings full sales, marketing, collaboration and activity management to the user over any device (desktop, laptop, tablet or smartphone).

That said, I’m packing light. All I need is my weapon of choice, in this case it will be my tablet. I have complete access to all my sales materials, which I can forward to prospects via Qasper’s email module. I can give a presentation by accessing my Power Point via Qasper’s Document Manager. If this were a few short years ago, I’d have to pack a projector, maybe a screen, my laptop and some extension cords… Not anymore, we truly are in the age of mobility – thanks Qasper.

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off

Qasper Quill (online word processor) as a web designer

Posted on December 23, 2010 by Fred Dalgleish

Qasper Quill is a great online, collaborative, version-based word processor and basic HTML designer. It’s easy to use Quill to design some basic templates for your mailouts and campaigns.

The basic steps:

  1. Launch Qasper Office from your Home page and click Qasper Quill.
  2. Add a 9 cell table (Table > Table-add) on the workspace (3 columns x 3 rows). This will allow you to widen/narrow the width and height of the presentation easily.
  3. Working in the center cell, start adding your content. You might first want to format the cell’s alignment as Top/Left. Select Table > Cell properties from the menu and set the Alignment and Vertical Alignment

To set the widths, click into the applicable top row cell and use the space bar to widen it a bit. To get into the narrow cells, place the cursor in a wider cell and use the arrow keys to move to the narrow cells. By working only on the top row, you can set the width of everything on your design.

Here’s where you can be very quickly – we’ve used Qasper’s Insert > Field name to insert a date. You can add any field placeholders you want to.

We’ve included a subject using the Qasper rules: left square bracket followed by the word SUBJECT: (with a colon), then the subject content (without leaving a space between the colon and the content)

Add in pictures with commentary by first inserting another table. Typically, it’s a 1 row, 3 column table. Here’s an example:

To size a cell using your mouse, click onto the work area to ensure the page is selected, place the cursor over the cell’s boundaries and you will see the border turn red, the cursor change to a multi-pointer and a directional arrow appear. Click and drag as needed.

Use Insert > Image-browse or Insert > Image to upload/locate and insert images into a cell in the table. You can drag/drop the image to different cells if you want.

You can also use the inline menu. Right-click over a cell to bring up the menu. Select Table > Properties to display the table/cell editor. Click into the applicable cell and click Cell Properties to stylize the cell – set widths, margins,  etc. Below I’ve added a border around the image, set the column widths to 5%, 10% and 85%, added 10px as the margins and padding, set the right cell as Top/Left:

Save your document frequently. Remember, you are editing live over the Internet and it’s not 100% reliable…

Here we’ve added a firstname placeholder and an opt-out using Insert > Response back:

Preview how your template will appear by clicking File > Preview and print (I’ve added a border around the center cell and border around the image…

You can make it a lot fancier using the methods I’ve described here… but we urge you to keep it simple. Get your message across quickly and clearly.

Qasper Quill is an excellent tool for all your basic design needs.

Posted in Tips and tricks | Comments Off

I’ve got a restaurant – give me an example!

Posted on December 22, 2010 by Fred Dalgleish

This isn’t just for restaurants – it applies to most businesses, but we’ll include some restaurant examples.

Build customer loyalty, build your brand and get repeat business…the Qasper way.

By empowering everyone through Qasper’s “one-price-for-all” licensing, it’s easy to collaborate and encourage participation in your customers’ experiences.

Every smart business person knows they need to be more attentive to their customers’ needs. To get and keep the competitive advantage, Customer Experience Management is a must!

For an extra 5 minutes along with Qasper, you can increase your business, improve and build your customer relationships and streamline your campaigns and communications.

Let me show you how:

Qasper is targeted to leading-edge small and medium-size businesses just like yours, and provides:

• Full customer experience management, touchpoint tracking
• CRM (customer relationship management), Campaign and Newsletter management,
• Ticket management (customer complaints, input, etc.),
• In-Web customer profile capture,
• Direct chat
• Customer permission-based texting (something no other product has)

and a lot more features (like Opportunity Management, Document management, Email, online, collaborative Word Processing and Spreadsheet, auto-dialing, texting, Calendaring, Scheduling and still more). But these are the ones for this example.

In one way or another, perhaps direct from the customer, or by way of a dropped-in business card, or a reference to your business in a social environment, all your people can use Qasper to capture the first touchpoint’s information, and start the ball rolling.

For example, let’s suppose someone posts a comment on a social site about your business (good or bad….). It’s easy to use Qasper to capture such information - Q is online and ready any time, on any device, through any browser,

1. Someone versed in Qasper from your company would start with a Qasper Quick Note or Help Desk ticket copy/pasting information and adding some commentary.

2. That person would likely automatically create a contact record from that note/ticket and perhaps designate the contact as a customer.

3. They would click a button to set up a callback for you or another key person to contact the commenter, with a quick link to their new contact file.

4. You or that other person would fill in the call notes on the callback after the phone call.

5. You would likely clone the call note to a message to specific other staff, to bring things to their attention.

All of that takes about 10 minutes. Without doing that, it would be about 5-6 minutes of verbal messaging. So, you are investing an extra 5 minutes to build an extraordinary customer database. Also, you can refer your people to the contact record and not have to go over it all again and again verbally.

All the notes and ticket would be automatically attached to the contact record so any time you search for the customer by first name, last name, keyword or other criteria, you’d see the complete history.

• You could link in other contact records linked to that customer’s contact profile – for example, a contact record for their spouse or children, and/or other customers they know that are also in your database.

• You could add custom fields to the contact record, perhaps fields like Last Date Visited, Food Preferences, Customer Experience comments, and so on.

You’d be in a position to automatically include the new customer contact in your newsletters.

Some suggestions for the restaurant: Tell them about your “Special of the Week” offers, “Favourite Customer” insider offers (discounted New Year’s tickets, for example), “Meet our Chef” and, particularly, “How we make it from scratch” newsletters, and so on designed with our online word processor or any web design tool.

That:

 Makes your business more valuable,
 Improves your ability to connect with your customers
 Creates a history that can be mined for various promotional campaigns.

You will then have the makings of a great customer experience management system. Solid customer relations, excellent customer experiences, full feedback tracking and increased business…

All it costs is a few extra minutes.

Posted in Tips and tricks, Uncategorized | Comments Off