January can be a slow month. People and organisations have made investments over the previous months to ensure that the shelves and stores are filled to deal with the Christmas markets and January can be a time when stocks are assessed and accounts are checked. One way to beat the January blues is to show your data some love, and give your existing customer database a polish. In particular if new business slows down for the early months of the year, you have a chance to catch up on managing your existing customer relations and possibly winning some cross and upsells into the bargain.

Here

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Well the season of over-indulgence is just behind us – how was it for you? Did you manage a reasonable level of self-control, or did you give in to each and every temptation, meaning you are now facing a short period of self-assessment and navel gazing? This usually comes in shape of personal New Year’s resolutions – lose a few pounds or use that gym subscription a bit more this year, for example. I’m sure many of you will hit your approach to business with renewed vigour and will also have a new set of goals and targets for 2013.

But setting expectations and goals realistically can

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In an ever shrinking world, largely thanks to our online presence (not presents – focus, there’s a few business days left yet!) we’ve become much more accustomed to enquiries arriving at odd times in the morning, and indeed on ‘odd’ days of the year. While the rest of the world is off celebrating Christmas, shutting shop for the holidays comes with more consideration than in years gone by, and certainly doesn’t mean that you are closed for business.

If you do receive an enquiry at half past leaving time on Christmas Eve and nobody makes contact until early January, it’s likely

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A CRM solution is a fantastic place to bring the customer information for your organisation into one easily accessible location. As well as your current customers and companies that you do business with, you’ll want to collect and track information about your leads – or potential customers.

One of the most effective weapons in the CRM marketing and sales armoury is the ability to segment your data any way you like.

Regardless of the products and services you offer, understanding your customer demographics is of paramount importance – knowing exactly what type of person or business it

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Adopting new CRM software isn’t always seen as a positive move by your employees. There’s often a communication gap which can drive a void of understanding between what management believe CRM will achieve hierarchically vs. how your average user views your (management) intentions. The truth is usually much less nefarious, mostly the opposite to which the common office rumour mill purports; nevertheless this negative sentiment can lead to a steeper training and acceptance curve and a painful overall experience for everyone.

This shouldn’t be the attitude to kick start your journey into

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