This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of SharpSpring CRM for IZEA Worldwide. All opinions are 100% mine. Solid customer relationship management (CRM) is critical for long-term sales growth. According to industry reports, 74 percent of businesses using CRM software experience a boost in their customer relationships, along with a 40 percent reduction in associated labor costs. Until recently, the only truly viable way to get the most out of CRM was to skip the free options … [Read more...]
How a Small Business Can Compete with a Major Brand Selling Similar Products
Small business owners typically face one major hurdle when building their own niches in the market: contending against bigger competitors. But any small business can compete with major brands by using a few effective marketing strategies. 1. Engage with Your Consumers Directly Engaging directly with consumers makes transactions more personal. It makes each customer feel valued and appreciated and is not just a means for the company to make a profit. Being a small business makes engaging … [Read more...]
Why You Need to Treat Job Applicants Like Customers
Like many people, I find the process of looking for a job to be tedious and draining. The last job that I really made an effort in applying to took four hours of my time, eating into my weekend and my workweek. I made it one step beyond the initial application before I was informed that I hadn’t been selected. However, the recruiter thanked me for the time I invested in applying. She also assured me that I was a competitive candidate and encouraged me to apply to future positions at … [Read more...]
Stepping Up CRM for Your Financial Services Company
With the diversification of financial services, customers have multiple options from which to choose. Switching between companies is now almost effortless. This ability has made exemplary customer relationship management (CRM) absolutely imperative. The need for a fail-proof CRM is now all the more urgent. Most financial services organizations have some sort of customer relationship management practice in place. However, there is always scope for improvement. Here are a few ways to … [Read more...]
Is Creating Invoices Painful? How to Make it Easy
It always surprises me that small businesses and freelancers are still creating invoices manually because there are free invoicing solutions available that work much better. Simply creating the invoices isn't the important part. Tracking whether you've been paid or not is! While we can send invoices in PayPal and it has some elementary tracking ability, invoicing solutions provide far better tracking. Take, for example, Due.com. Even their free version allows you to manage clients, … [Read more...]