MAS blogs from 2014 on Slideshare

2014 MAS Blogs from 2014

A quick reference to our

the Sales and Marketing

Technology blogs

©Marketing Answers and Solutions Limited

2015

Introduction

This ebook is intended to give you a quick reference

guide to all the blogs published in 2014.

The MAS Blog focussed on current CRM Topics

together with Sales and Marketing Technology

subjects of interest.

In our view, our 2014 Blogs covered a wide range of

topics, although the focus this last year was on CRM

issue and implementation advice.

Her we publish the initial introduction of each blog to

give you a better idea, together of course with a

hyperlink direct to that blog.


2015

Should you create your own CRM system?

Introduction

Or to put it another way, is it worthwhile

designing and developing your own CRM

system?

Why this question from a CRM

consultancy?

Recently, I had an enquiry from a large

financial services company looking to

purchase a large CRM system to act as

their core platform.

Link

http://blog.marketinganswers.co.uk/shoul

d-you-create-your-own-crm-system

Published 17/1/14 ©Marketing Answers and Solutions Limited

2015

Should you Upgrade Your GoldMine now?

Introduction

GoldMine has now been around for 25

years! Incredible as it seems it was, with

ACT! , one of the first contact managers,

arriving in 1989 as a networkable or in

those days 'Workgroup’ contact manager…

Link

http://blog.marketinganswers.co.uk/shoul

d-you-upgrade-goldmine-now

Published: 20/2/14


2015

Moving from a Legacy System …Part 1 Introduction

Recently, I encountered a case of a legacy CRM

system client who needed to move to a new

CRM system. This was a typical case of a

company that had embraced the concept of a

managed CRM system 10 years ago and had

developed a system themselves using internal

resources.

Link

http://blog.marketinganswers.co.uk/moving-

from-a-legacy-system-to-new-crm…examples-

part-1

Published :08/02/14


2015

Moving from a Legacy System…Part 2 Introduction

In my previous article, I gave an example of

what had prompted a client to move from two

different systems; a pure Sales and Marketing

system and a Service and Equipment Tracking

system driven by then need for a single

centralised CRM.

Link:

http://blog.marketinganswers.co.uk/moving-

from-a-legacy-system-to-new-crm…the-

challenges-part-2

Published:08/03/14


2015

How to Search for a new CRM

Consultancy & Consultants SearchIntroduction

After 18 years in the Customer Relationship Management

software industry. In that time, I have come across many

of the best CRM systems and since I started out as

GoldMine's Channel Manager way back in 1996, this has

meant that I have developed strong connections with

many of the UK's leading CRM partners, enabling MAS to

offer and advise many clients selecting a system, so

whether they choose from our portfolio or not, I like to

believe that we can help to find a consultant to fit!

Link

http://blog.marketinganswers.co.uk/how-to-search-for-a-

crm-consultancy

Published: 26/04/14


2015

CRM KPI’s – What’s good to measure in

CRM and whyIntroduction

When implementing any CRM system, many clients

often find that all of sudden they now have the ability

to measure a whole set of data which sometimes was

not possible before. Since 2005, we have maintained

these core metrics, with some additions and minor

deletions as priorities have changed, for example the

addition of Social Media!

link

http://blog.marketinganswers.co.uk/crm-kpis-whats-

good-to-measure-in-a-crm-system-and-why

Published: 17/05/14


2015

Why Use CRM and Not a Spread-sheetIntroduction

Everyone has MS Excel and it’s easy to use

and easy to read, right? A Case Study (my

own)!

I found out this is not the case whilst doing

work for my Father helping with an

exhibition and then making follow-up

calls. Initially, I thought it would be easier

to load 40+ leads into MS Excel...How

wrong I was!

Link

http://blog.marketinganswers.co.uk/why-

use-crm-and-not-a-spread-sheet

Published : 05/06/14


2015

Customer Service KPI’s from your CRM

system you should MeasureIntroduction

When implementing any Customer

Relationship Management software system,

clients find that they now have the ability to

measure a whole set of data which may not

have been easy or possible before. My last

article was about “sales and marketing”

metrics, but now I want to talk about which

metrics can help to support your Customer

Service activities and initiatives...

Link

http://blog.marketinganswers.co.uk/customer

-service-kpis-your-crm-system-should-

measure

Published: 09/07/14 ©Marketing Answers and Solutions Limited

2015

Are you Using a CRM Discovery ProcessIntroduction

As independent consultants specialising in advising

and helping clients when choosing and selecting

CRM software for their needs and dealing with sales

and marketing people, we are frequently asked about

our own sales processes and how many touches we

make.

Over the last 18 years, we have evolved our system for

the gathering of a client’s needs and requirements:

we call this process "CRM Discovery". This could work

for you as well...

Link

http://blog.marketinganswers.co.uk/are-you-using-a-

crm-discovery-process

Published:11/08/14


2015

Using KPI’s from your CRM you should

measure?


2015

Introduction

Measuring your Users engagement is a key

metric for any business. Too often we come

across companies where CRM has had a

lukewarm response and whilst there are

methods we have covered such as “on-boarding

processes”, what can you use to help to measure

the uptake and users performance their new

software?

Link

http://blog.marketinganswers.co.uk/user-crm-

kpis-what-should-you-measure

Published:01/09/14

12 Tips on delivering a On-Boarding

Process Introduction

How to do an on-boarding process when you

have decided to embrace Customer Relationship

Management can be a critical component in the

effective adoption of your system. On-Boarding,

whilst a US term, does accurately describe the

process where your Users are brought alongside

the system and start to use it on a day to day

basis, but still need to be monitored and

encouraged, typically in my experience over the

first critical 90 days. So, this blog focusses on our

top 5 tips, together with a further 7 tips available

as part of a download ebook.

Link

http://blog.marketinganswers.co.uk/5-tips-on-

how-to-do-deliver-a-crm-on-boarding-process

Published: 16/09/14©Marketing Answers and Solutions Limited

2015

Top 8 CRM Implementation ChallengesIntroduction

Reviewing some recent questions from clients, I

thought it would be useful to briefly summarise

what I see as some of the main challenges in any

CRM implementation.

In my view, there are probably eight main

challenges in implementing a fully embraced

Customer Relationship Management system.

Link

http://blog.marketinganswers.co.uk/top-8-crm-

implementation-challenges

Published: 01/10/14


2015

12 Reasons to Use a Sales Pipeline …Introduction

The power of the Sales Pipeline is often

underestimated. I still come across organisations

with sales teams that either don’t use a sales

pipeline at all or don’t use this key functionality

within their CRM system.

“Without a Sales Pipeline, companies do not

know where they are going or what they need to

do. This is a fundamental requirement for all

businesses with paying customers.”

Link

http://blog.marketinganswers.co.uk/12-reasons-

to-use-a-sales-pipeline-found-in-all-crm-systems

Published:14/10/14


2015

Extending Your CRM or xCRM

Introduction

Whilst the core function of any Customer

Relationship Management system is the day to

day Contact and Opportunity management

mentioned in previous blogs, having a CRM

system, and especially one of the most modern

systems means with some imagination it can

be used for other things, sometimes this can

be called xCRM or “Extending your CRM”

system by using its core capabilities in more

creative areas. So, what are these core

capabilities?

Link

http://blog.marketinganswers.co.uk/extending

-your-crm-system-or-xcrm

Published:28/10/14©Marketing Answers and Solutions Limited

2015

Why SOPs are the secret to CRM success

Introduction

Recently my posts have focused on the challenges

faced when introducing Customer Relationship

Management systems such as the need for gaining

User Adoption with the use of On-Boarding

Techniques.

One item which was mentioned was the need to

have clear and documented SOP’s or Standard

Operating Procedures.

Link

http://blog.marketinganswers.co.uk/why-sops-are-

the-secret-to-crm-adoption-success

Published:14/11/14


2015

Is the Cloud the Future for CRM

Introduction

Over the last few years, it has become very

apparent that nearly all the CRM vendors seem

to have become obsessed with the Cloud or

Software as a Service (SaaS) as it is still

sometimes referred to, indeed, nearly all new

systems coming to market are Cloud based.

However, my view is that the Cloud is not a

universal panacea, and with apologies to Mark

Twain, for On-Premise Customer Relationship

Management software, “the rumours of my

death are greatly exaggerated” ...

Link

http://blog.marketinganswers.co.uk/is-the-

cloud-the-future-for-crm


2015

Sales Team Resistance to CRMIntroduction

And what you can do about it!

There are often times when we are asked why

people should use a system and turning this

on its head, there are a few reasons we

encounter as to why people Don't use a CRM

system or don’t want to!

There are usually a number of core reasons…

This blogs focusses on the number one issue

we encounter...Sales Team Resistance!

Link

http://blog.marketinganswers.co.uk/salestea

m-resistance-to-crm-and-what-you-can-do


2015

What Should I Do Next?

MAS have spent many years managing CRM implementations

and have gained a wealth of experience and ideas to support

our processes.

The MAS Blog is intended for us to be able to share our

thoughts and experience in dealing with CRM and introducing

sales and marketing technology to help business become more

effective and efficient in their sales and marketing processes.

So, if you are looking into how a CRM system can be used more

effectively or if you are looking at how you can improve your

existing CRM functionality and user adoption, then speak to a

MAS consultant to see how we can help on 01905 380920

Or visit this page to learn more about either our CRM Audit

and Review or our CRM Discovery Review.

More

Questions?


2015

MAS blogs from 2014 on Slideshare

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