Create new sales and retain customers with new CRM campaign module
Businesses have the potential to increase sales lead generation and customer retention with a new marketing campaign module launched by web-based Customer Relationship Management (CRM) provider, webCRM.
Launched this month, the new module makes webCRM one of the most comprehensive and yet easy to use online business CRM systems on the market. Delivering targeted sales and marketing campaigns the module also automates client data recording, ensuring businesses have the latest sales and customer information to hand at all times.
“The campaign module builds on the already effective webCRM system. It ensures our clients can undertake a targeted campaign knowing all relevant data and interaction is captured, recorded and acted on,” said James Bogue of Leicestershire-based webCRM.
“It also has the ability to analyse each and every part of the campaign to maximise effectiveness and concentrate investment and resources on winning and retaining new business.”
Key elements to the module include the ability to create newsletters and e-shots, monitor emailed link clicks, the automatic creation of follow-up activities, opportunities and meetings directly from campaigns, event booking, surveys, self-editing and adding of contact details by recipients. Read more
Businesses are “too reliant” on spreadsheets
Businesses are too reliant on out-of-date, un-secure and often inaccessible spreadsheets, according to web-based Customer Relationship Management (CRM) provider, webCRM.
The Leicestershire-based online CRM company is urging businesses to consider the implications of using spreadsheets for sales and customer data – such as losing sales opportunities, having inaccurate data and sales staff duplicating on leads.
“It’s important for a company of any size to have instant and up-to-date access to sales lead details, customer information and other data, otherwise everyone’s working on different information, most of which will be out-of-date before they begin a task,” said James Bogue of webCRM.
“Businesses are often too reliant on spreadsheets. Every sales lead is vital – not to mention expensive. Managing these leads can mean the difference between success and failure or even profit and loss. That’s where a good CRM system can make the difference.
“Existing spreadsheets can be imported to web-based systems such as webCRM meaning data can be refreshed and updated easily. That means sales teams on the road can access and update customer data or sales leads and colleagues have real-time access to it.”
webCRM can help the growth of franchise businesses
The UK’s £12.4 billion turnover franchise industry could create further growth by making greater use of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems.
With more than half a million people employed in franchise businesses in the UK and the sector seeing its turnover and number of franchise businesses growing by 15 per cent in 2010, the industry is ripe for further growth with the right tools, according to Stephen Todd of webCRM, a web-based CRM provider.
A survey published by the British Franchise Association and NatWest states that franchise systems grew by 897 to 36,900 last year. Mr Todd said these businesses could develop even more growth by using CRM systems that help them track leads and retain existing clients.
“Franchise licence owners and franchises are often working together but can also be fragmented in their approach,” said Mr Todd.
“A good CRM system can bring the businesses closer together while maintaining the franchises individual business requirements. Tracking leads within each franchise, tapping into customer enquiries and enabling co-ordinated marketing communications can provide greater efficiencies and improved sales opportunities as a result. It’s a win for all involved.”
Planning consultant plans ahead with webCRM
A Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system capable of integrating with Microsoft Outlook, support increased marketing mailshots and improve customer interaction was a key requirement from Nathaniel Lichfield & Partners (NLP).
webCRM met all of its requirements and has helped the business and its 156 CRM users to integrate and consolidate business development processes.
The planning consultancy, which has offices in London, Cardiff, Manchester and Newscastle, was using four shared contact lists in Outlook and monitoring weekly marketing activities on an Excel spreadsheet before it considered a CRM system
“We identified a need to help with our new business development towards the beginning of the recession. We decided we needed better tools to see where our effort was on the marketing side and to improve our targeting,” said Peter Claxton, Technology Manager at NLP.
webCRM launches mobile CRM
At webCRM we are thrilled to announce the launch of the new mobile friendly webCRM interface.
Users are now free to access and update their work via their mobile phones – including Apple iPhone and Android devices – as well as tablet PCs and laptops.
Smaller screen sizes are no longer an issue as webCRM has been carefully rendered to fit and offer user access to all the main functions necessary for mobile users to manage their work.
Users can see all their previous notes, download documents, run reports and even send emails. As all this is live, the system is kept up to date provided users have a mobile signal.
“The company’s web-based CRM system is already used widely by clients via laptops, tablet PCs and on the iPad. Now they can access directly on their mobile phones,” explains James Bogue at webCRM UK
webCRM’s advantage in the healthcare and medical devices sectors
A pioneering medical system providing accurate record-keeping and greater safety in hospital anaesthetics is building on its UK market by implementing webCRM’s web-based Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system.
Safer Sleep Ltd enables greater safety by cross checking drugs being administered and fast, accurate generation of anaesthetic patient records. This allows more time for medical staff to concentrate on the patient.
Mike Harrison, UK Business Development Manager at Safer Sleep, said the adaptability and simplicity of webCRM was crucial. “We are working in multiple countries, so the ability to work in multiple currencies and then bring that information together is an advantage,” he said.
But critically, it is the simplicity of webCRM. “The most critical factor is that it’s simple to use and a number of people can add to the same record in a controlled manner.” Read more
webCRM shortlisted for CRM Idol 2011
webCRM is pleased to announce that it has been shortlisted and entered into the final of CRM Idol 2011.
CRM Idol is a global competition open to CRM system providers. We are just one of 20 companies in Europe to reach the final. There are 32 entrants in the US element of the competition.
This exciting news follows webCRM being placed in the Top 40 CRM systems in a recent global list. And that’s on top of us being given 9/10 in a recent GetApp.com CRM review.
We’d like to thank the clients who provided references to the organisers of CRM Idol 2011 for their time. The next stage in the contest is an interview with a prestigious judging panel and we’ll be undertaking this on the 9th September.
Logistics industry needs to drive forward with CRM
The UK’s logistics and transportation industry could drive up profitability and efficiencies if it improved the use of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) technology.
Facing a continued battle against fuel and transportation costs, James Bogue of webCRM Ltd said logistics and transportation businesses could ramp-up efficiencies by using web-based CRM systems to allow improved interaction with existing and new customers.
“Understanding what a new or existing customer wants can be the difference between profit and loss for a logistics firm,” said Mr Bogue. “A firm might be transporting goods to one city for a client when another has mentioned a similar destination to a different member of the sales team who has failed to record it.
“As a result, a potential sale has been lost or the margins of the job have been poor as it was only 75 per cent full. This impacts not only on the profitability of the job, but the overall business.” He added that enquiries logged from potential clients could have the same effect if data was recorded and shared via CRM. Read more
webCRM helps college engage with businesses
Farnborough College of Technology turned to webCRM when it needed a dynamic and effective Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system to increase interaction with the business community and to compete with other training providers.
With an existing CRM system structured predominantly around learners, the college’s Business Services team needed a CRM system capable of supporting their drive for new business, securing repeat contracts, and to compete with other training providers.
“Our focus is very much on providing businesses with first-class training services and we found we needed a CRM system that would support us in both developing new relationships and managing existing ones effectively.” said Geoff Roy, Business Development Consultant.
“The training sector is highly competitive and we needed to ensure we could target and retain business and having an effective CRM system was vital. The fact that it tracks sales gives us a good idea of potential new business at any given time.” Read more
More businesses turn to cloud services like webCRM
More businesses are turning to cloud computing services to host their business systems, backing the surge in users for webCRM’s web-based Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system.
According to research published this week, around 45 per cent of large businesses are using cloud services for their IT services which is up 24 per cent compared to the same period in 2010. The research was carried out by Ovum who questioned 110 multinationals.
The trend follows research published earlier this year that found more small and medium-sized businesses are turning to web-based services for many of their IT and business services, including Customer Relationship Management systems like webCRM.
“There’s a clear shift in business confidence when it comes to hosted services,” said James Bogue of webCRM.
“Companies are realising it’s more cost effective to have their system hosted off site on secure servers than having to procure and run their own costly IT-based systems.”
He added: “webCRM is a good example of this. Companies can be safe in the knowledge that their CRM system is secure and backed-up. More importantly, webCRM ensures customers have access to a fast and reliable system that is securely accessible anywhere via a PC, MAC, iPad, mobile phone or other portable device. Read more
webcrm helps Seafield Logistics to distribute information
With 18 sites spread throughout the UK, rapidly growing distribution and warehousing company Seafield Logistics needed a business CRM system capable of integrating management and customer information.
A specialist in storing and distributing goods as quickly and efficiently as possible throughout the UK and Europe, ensuring the business has access to key data and customer information from each site is critical to its success within one of the most competitive industries in the UK. A fast, secure and reliable CRM system was paramount.
The company turned to web-based webCRM for its CRM system and is already benefiting from its decision.
“We have 18 sites throughout the UK which all have their own customers and they all operate autonomously with their own sales information,” said Natalie Holt of Seafield Logistics based in Worksop, Nottinghamshire. Read more
webCRM improves business development at Oxford Hardware
Converting from paper and Excel files to a fast, secure and integrated CRM system was the only way to improve business development opportunities at Oxford Hardware, a leading provider of commercial catering, refrigeration and plumbing equipment.
The Warwick-based company, which has customers throughout the UK and Ireland, chose webCRM because of its adaptability and the fact that its cloud hosting means it can be accessed by the sales team from virtually anywhere.
Sales and Marketing spokesperson, Joanne Taylor, said the business had needed to move from a paper-based system to improve business opportunities.
“We were all working off paper and I was finding that it was all very well knowing who our customers were but we weren’t aware of who wasn’t. So it was a waste of business development,” she said.
“Initially we were looking for a CRM system of any sort. We wanted something that was easy to use and manage. When I’m out and about I also need to be able to fire up the laptop and have information to hand and access all the relevant information about the customer. I can check that there’s anything that I should be aware of before I walk into the customer’s building.” Read more
webCRM integrates website contact forms with CRM
Potential clients are more likely to use a company’s website contact form than call direct with an enquiry about a product and service.
Wouldn’t it be great if that information was automatically captured on your CRM system without the need to manually transfer or input the information from the form or the automated e-mail it produces?
Well, with webCRM you can now capture the information straight into your CRM system, ensuring an immediate response to the lead from your sales or customer services team.
The web forms support standard fields, for example ‘Name’ and ‘E-mail’, plus your preferred custom fields, such as ‘Products of Interest’ and ‘Timescales’. Use this to seamlessly create follow-up activities with all the enquiry details. Read more
Lightwater Environmental improves efficiency with webCRM
Environmental management company Lightwater Environmental Ltd focuses on reducing the carbon footprint of businesses in the UK and saving them money at the same time. But now it’s improving its own business efficiency with the help of webCRM.
Lightwater Environmental Ltd provides businesses with free energy management surveys and recommends financially viable solutions to help businesses make informed decisions to reduce their carbon footprint while saving large amounts of money in the process.
With a growing client base and range of environmental management services on offer, Lightwater realised that it needed a single system for capturing, recording and distributing customer information, data and sales leads around its team. Lightwater are also known for providing a very high level of customer service to their clients and so the simple answer was a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system and it turned to web-based webCRM for the answer. Read more
Small businesses want ‘local cloud’ hosts like webCRM
Small and medium-sized businesses believe the local presence of a cloud computing service is “highly important” when deciding on procuring such a service.
More than 3,250 businesses across 16 countries in Europe were surveyed and 82 per cent of recipients said local presence would be an important factor for them when considering such a system.
That’s why webCRM is a perfect answer for small, medium and large businesses in the UK where we have a dedicated team working with a wide range of clients in varying industries and sectors on their CRM needs. Read more
