Tag Archive for: small business

Top 4 CRM Software For Small Businesses

Growth is the primary goal of virtually every small business today. But, as a business grows, using spreadsheets to organize and keep track of customer data becomes an increasingly complex task. Small businesses finding success require a more efficient system. The most effective way to manage customer data is to use CRM software, also known as Customer Relationship Management.

What is Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Software?

Customer Relationship Management – CRM software – is a specialized system designed to gather data pertaining to past interactions with customers and prospects in one place. CRM software can significantly improve business processes and caters to businesses of every size and budget.

Why Your Small Business Needs CRM Software

Customers are the core of every business. Without them, your business would not exist. Without an accurate view of your customers and prospects, your sales team will have difficulty following up on leads and staying on top of customers.

A CRM system provides businesses with an accurate view of all customer data. By using this data, businesses can better understand their customers needs and wants, and provide better customer service. CRM software can also help businesses manage and improve existing customer relationships, and enhance the customer experience, resulting in satisfied and loyal customers.

Basic Features of CRM Software

  • Contact Management
  • Lead Management
  • Campaign Management
  • Social Media Management
  • Email Tracking
  • Tasks and Deals
  • Reports and Dashboard
  • Mobile Application
  • Third-Party Integrations

Major Benefits of Using CRM Software For Your Small Business

  • Centralized location for all customer data.
  • Track history and status of all interactions with existing and potential customers.
  • Enhance customer relationships and retain existing customers.
  • Increase sales and marketing efforts.
  • Help your sales team close more deals which boosts revenue.
  • Segment customers so messages can be tailored to suit different groups.
  • Cross-sell products more effectively.
  • Increase productivity and improve team collaboration.
  • Make smarter data-driven decisions.

Benefits of Integrating Your ERP, CRM & Business Software

In today’s business environment, competition for customers has become increasingly fierce. Integrating your ERP system with your CRM software provides you with a holistic view of your customers, and will keep you one step ahead of your competition.

Having one system with all your customer data, sales history, inventory, terms, bill to and ship to addresses, etc., can eliminate the need for employees to manually share data. This will greatly benefit your sales and marketing efforts.

In addition, Commercient SYNC, the number one integration platform for sales, can connect your ERP data to your CRM software data, making valuable customer information from both sales and accounting systems available to the right people at the right time, all through a single interface. And from your CRM software, new orders, customers and invoices can be SYNC’d to your ERP. This will give you a 360-degree view of sales.

Top 4 CRM Software For Small Businesses in 2019

There are hundreds of CRM solutions out there, but not all are designed with the small business in mind. The best CRM software for your small business is one that has the capabilities and features that meet your specific business needs.

To help you make an informed decision, we’ve put together a list of the top 4 CRM software for small businesses in 2019.

  1. Salesforce Essentials
    A CRM is better than spreasheets. This out-of-the-box CRM software was designed to match the needs, budget, and resources of a small business. Salesforce Essentials comes with a setup assistant and in-app tutorials to help you navigate around the software with ease. With the help of Salesforce Einstein (built-in artificial intelligence), your teams will work smarter and be more productive. Salesforce Essentials is highly scalable, so you won’t have to transfer your data to another platform when your business grows. Salesforce Essentials is priced at $25/user/month.
  2. HubSpot CRM
    HubSpot CRM is an easy-to-use, cloud-hosted CRM software that is ideal for small businesses. With its customizable interface and mobile application, this software comes with all the basic features of a CRM. This solution is highly flexible and configurable, imposing no restrictions on the number of users or contacts you can have. HubSpot CRM caters to businesses operating in any industry, and best of all, it is absolutely free.
  3. Freshsales CRM
    This CRM software provides small businesses with the essential tools to help streamline key aspects of the sales process. This flexible and affordable software has all the essential features of a CRM, including an easy-to-navigate interface and superior analytics and reporting. Freshsales CRM is free to use for small teams, and allows you to migrate to a paid plan ranging from $12/user/month to $79/user/month, as your business grows.
  4. Pipedrive CRM
    Pipedrive CRM is a customizable software designed to help you gain control of your sales activities. This CRM software is easy to use and flexible across industries. It gives you a complete view of your sales pipeline and enables you to manage and track your deals. This solution makes it easy to plan events and schedule meetings allowing you to plan ahead and focus on what matters. Pipedrive CRM pricing ranges from $12/user/month to $59/user/month.

Keeping track of your customer data doesn’t have to be tedious and frustrating. CRM software can help you grow your small business, and set the stage for long-term success.

If you’d like to know more about how Commercient SYNC and IoT Pulse can help your small business with ERP and CRM, and ERP and business software integration, please contact us today.

SYNC Demo integrate CRM ERP

Top ERP Software Systems For Small Businesses

Enterprise Resource Planning, or ERP software, offers functionality that manages production, orders and inventory for businesses of all sizes, including small businesses. The system integrates data through various channels such as manufacturing, supply chain, accounts and more, and stores it in a single centralized location.

These fully integrated solutions come with the option of installations on premise, SaaS, or in the cloud. There is no need to maintain exhaustive excel sheets and multiple records due to automation and integration across various departments.

Whether you are a small or enterprise-level business, there are ERP solutions designed to meet your needs. ERP’s have transformed from the more complex, difficult-to-use, and expensive software to modern-day, reliable and user-friendly options. These are efficient and eliminate the need for consultants or complex coding to seamlessly merge with your existing processes without significant changes.

For smaller businesses, cloud-based ERP models are providing multiple options at favorable price points. We discuss some of the promising ERP systems available to companies to meet their daily operational needs, and the importance of data integration via Commercient SYNC and IoT Pulse between CRM and other apps.

Sage 50 and Sage 100

Sage 50 (formerly called Peachtree accounting) and Sage 100 (formerly Sage MAS 90 and 200) are both accounting software designed for the American market. Sage 50 is meant for a smaller user base, while Sage 100 provides answers to the more complex process of larger companies by managing every aspect of business finance. Sage 100 can be customized and integrated with a host of applications to give it a winning edge over traditional systems.

Sage 50 offers greater scalability than similar accounting systems, functionality and value for the money. Sage 50 brings the benefits of both cloud and desktop accounting system in one cohesive system and can also be integrated with other solutions for improved functionality. There is also the popular Sage 50 UK.

Customer Success Story

RC Imaging leverages Sage 50 US and Salesforce for their business, which is in the medical manufacturing industry. They recently switched to Commercient SYNC to integrate their sales and accounting systems, helping give them a 360-degree view of sales. With a two-way SYNC, new accounts and orders created in Salesforce are integrated back to Sage 50. This eliminates duplication and entry errors, such as wrong addresses inputted. Read more here.

QuickBooks

QuickBooks is one of the world’s leading software for accounting. It brings the advantage of smart accounting software to small- and medium-sized businesses with both on-premise and cloud solutions. You can manage sales and expenses of all daily accounting transactions as well as generate accurate reports with a simple to use interface.

Microsoft Dynamics GP

Another offering from Microsoft is Dynamics GP, an ERP solution catering to small- and medium-sized businesses. Designed to give you control over your accounting, inventory, and general business operations, Microsoft Dynamics GP can be configured and designed to meet the specific needs of a growing company. Backed by the reliability of Microsoft, it delivers on every aspect of the best ERP systems, and brings great insights into ERP data, propelling you towards business growth.

NetSuite

NetSuite runs all of your key financial business processes in the cloud to enable companies to operate seamlessly. NetSuite ERP software combined with Commercient’s expertise as a leading Integration solution provider ups the value quotient of this ERP for our customers. It is robust, highly scalable, well integrated and offers a right fit for all, be it a smaller domestic set-up or a medium size enterprise, across a host of industries.

SYSPRO

SYSPRO ERP Software is a manufacturing ERP solution, perfectly aligned to meet the financial needs of those involved in manufacturing and distribution. It provides a competitive advantage by automating tasks and eliminating time-consuming spreadsheets, reducing errors, removing duplication and speeding-up exhausting manual tasks. An excellent investment, SYSPRO can be deployed in the cloud, on-premise, and accessed through mobile and smart devices.

Acumatica

Acumatica is a fast growing, cloud- and browser-based ERP software to hit the market and offers many features and advantages over other ERPs making it the go-to solution for small to medium-sized business. Its greatest benefit is that it comes bundled as one connected system together with CRM, BI, sales, inventory, purchasing, e-commerce, etc. with a single user interface. Extremely competitive on pricing, it improves user productivity through easy and quick functionality.

Epicor

Epicor is a fully-integrated solution designed to help small and medium organizations take advantage of modern-day opportunities and delivers on choice, flexibility and agility to drive growth. The ERP finds applications across a host of industries making it versatile and powerful. It comes with built-in analytics which can intelligently be used to streamline the business process. Epicor ERP is designed around a service-oriented architecture and is modular in structure.

The Importance of Data Integration

Information within your ERP and CRM is siloed, and to enhance the efficiency of data across these systems, you leverage Commercient SYNC, the #1 data integration platform for sales. Your sales team will be able to access important ERP data directly in the CRM, such as customer information, sales history, invoicing, terms, serial numbers, inventory, and much more. New sales, accounts and invoices are SYNC’d from CRM to ERP.

Yet another product from Commercient’s offerings is IoT Pulse which connects your ERP to over 1,100 apps to bring you all the advantages that internet integration offers. Apps include HubSpot, email, marketing systems, eCommerce, etc. This will set your data free, and automate certain business processes.

If you’d like to learn more about Commercient SYNC and IoT Pulse, please contact us today. For more information about ERP software systems, please contact our partner, Edgeware.

About the Author

Raj Adhi is a professional writer, editor and blogger. She has completed her Graduation in Chemistry and Masters in Journalism from University of Mumbai.

 

SYNC Demo integrate CRM ERP

Tools To Help Build Your Small Business

“Spend time upfront to invest in systems and processes to make long-term growth sustainable.” – Jeff Platt, CEO-Sky Zone

With the exponential development of digital technologies and growing businesses each day, online marketing has become extremely competitive. For growth that sustains and builds your small business into a robust enterprise, it is important to have an effective digital marketing strategy. In addition, it’s important to have tools and applications that give your growth strategy the required impetus.

As Jeff Platt observes, any company looking for fast and consistent growth, buying into systems and processes is the number 1 priority. Enterprise-level businesses may find it comparatively easier to build their own apps or leverage systems built for them, while smaller companies or startups can face issues such as lack of adequate resources and infrastructure.

But, there is no shortage of solutions even for the emerging enterprises in the form of apps and tools. Thanks to the cloud, these solutions are built using surprisingly innovative concepts and come at minimal costs, some being free of charge.

Searching through the gamut of sales tools and apps, perfect for your company’s needs can be confusing. To help the small businesses reach their targeted goals, we offer some suggestions.

Commercient IoT Pulse

Integration provides the best alternative for small and medium entrepreneurs to get competitive without investing a ton into developing and deploying separate software systems. Commercient’s IoT Pulse connects your ERP to over 1100 apps, including CRM’s like HubSpot and Salesforce, as well as marketing systems, services like Mailchimp, social media, and many more.

By connecting your ERP with your sales tools and other apps, IoT Pulse helps free your data to pave the way for quick and efficient growth, while giving you complete control of the data.

Evernote

Evernote allows you to organize your thoughts and ideas, and everything in between. It takes the hassle out of organizing and maintaining lists, tables, projects, to-do lists and more, and easily retrieve them for reference. The app can be seamlessly integrated across all devices, for ease of use.

Fiverr

These days, you can hire resources pretty much on every budget, through the concept of freelancing. The Tel Aviv-based Fiverr is one of the most popular online marketplaces for freelancers. Harness the power of freelance services that Fiverr provides, starting at just $5.

Fiverr provides professionals with practically every qualification and experience you need, backed by reliability. There’s a good reason why the concept of freelancing is fast catching up.

Mailchimp

Mailchimp has transformed email marketing using a new age, innovative approach which automates sales campaigns. Each campaign can be customized with pre-set criteria, made using past data for the most effective results.

Campaign data can be easily tracked, which means quick, easy and accurate results! Mailchimp offers some awesome features and attractive content and templates. In addition, you can send emails free of charge (certain restrictions apply). It’s a good place to start, and Mailchimp has great options as your business grows.

Project Management

Successfully managing and completing Projects is the key to business progress. Managing every step of a project, from initiation to completion, can get daunting and sometimes stressful with upcoming deadlines. For maneuvering through even the most complex projects, you need to tie in all activities, strategize and plan right down to the smallest detail.

The Zoho Project management app automates most tasks with strategic use of features within applications to make completion of projects easy, efficient and accurate. The icing on the cake is that the app can be integrated with other Zoho apps (like their CRM), as well as third-party apps for greater efficiency.

You can simplify the process further by using apps such as Airtable and Asana. So whether you are working alone or as a team, Airtable helps organize the project activity. Asana serves as the central platform for those involved with the project to collaborate and interact. Integration of the two apps allows you to reap maximum benefits.

Google Drive

Another offering from software giant Google, Google Drive is a free data storage service that gives your small business up to 15GB of safe storage space. Now, you can use to store important files, documents and other data in a secure cloud environment. More than one user can work on documents, spreadsheets and files without hassle or waiting around. Using Google’s servers, you can access, share, and edit even large documents without any problems.

Skype

Skype is a pioneer of sorts in the area of digital communication, and is still considered the best. Who hasn’t used Skype in some form or other? With voice and video calling, chatting and sharing complicated information, the app uses the power of the internet to allow affordable exchange between co-workers, partners, vendors and even customers. It’s a free service, and a great way to communicate with those located around the world.

Dropbox

Dropbox is a cloud-based application that serves as storage for all the files of your small business, and a platform for sharing creative ideas on various projects and activities. Whether you are working on a task alone or with clients and co-workers, it is easy to collaborate on Dropbox, all you need to do is connect to Dropbox.

The files saved on the app can be accessed and worked upon from anywhere, anytime and you can be sure of the safety of your data. You have options of both free and paid services.

Social Media

A fun way to stay updated and connected with people and businesses, social media platforms are important for your small business, and each one comes with an app that’s easy-to-use. Both young and old find these apps enjoyable to use. You can interact, post pictures, share opinions, advertise and do much more. Social media can also play an important role in creating brand presence, as well as improve web traffic to your company website. Some of the most popular social media platforms include Facebook, Twitter,  and LinkedIn.

As smaller businesses strive to grow and thrive with today’s technology, there are plenty of apps that are aligned to your needs. The strategic use of these applications also means a greater advantage to the customer, and an effective method for sales and profits.

If you’d like more information on Commercient’s IoT Pulse, and how you can connect your business apps to your ERP to help streamline your processes, please contact us today.

About the Author

Raj Adhi is a professional writer, editor and blogger. She has completed her Graduation in Chemistry and Masters in Journalism from University of Mumbai.

IoT Pulse connect ERP to the Internet

Building A Successful Small Business That Can Run Without You

By Tikiela Mims

A small business that can run on its own is one that has been successfully built. As a small business owner, you provide the heart and soul that keeps your business running, so the thought of your company running without you can be hard to chew on. However, there may come a time when circumstances dictate that your business will need to run without you, such as retirement or starting a new company.

Here are a few tips for building a small business that can run without you.

Embrace the Power of Technology

If you’re looking to build a small business that can run without you, embrace the power of technology. With it, you can automate tasks that don’t need a human brain behind them.

For example, you can use a cloud-based integration app like Commercient’s IoT Pulse to connect your business applications, such as integrating your ERP with Slack, WordPress, CRM, timecard apps, and much more. You’ll be able to automate tasks like sending out emails instantly when customers input a new order, create new customers or vendors in your ERP, create new sales orders with multiple product line and much more.

Businesses in industries such as manufacturing, medical, services, and more, are growing by connecting their accounting ERP systems with their CRM. Breaking into new markets, predicting business growth opportunities, streamlining their sales process, are only some of the positive results these companies are experiencing.

When you embrace the power of technology, you even can stay in touch with your team through tools like Slack and Asana. You can also use tools like Dropbox to share files and Zoom for conference calls. With so many amazing tools, you can practically run your business without being there.

Keep Your Employees Committed

To step away from your business, you’ll need people who are willing and able to follow your lead and then take the wheel. This requires employees who are committed to their roles, who feel a connection with the organization, and that they understand the goals. This is why you must ensure you motivate and communicate with each of your employees.

Through effective communication, your employees will feel more empowered and motivated to do their jobs. It also gives them a sense of belonging, camaraderie and responsibility. And the good news is that you could use different forms of communication between phone calls, email blasts, webinars and more, all without having to come to the office.

Find a Business Partner

As two heads are better than one, a business partner can be the catalyst for building a small business that can run without you. In fact, the right business partner can be a source of ideas and a counterpart to your own management strengths and weaknesses. Moreover, your business partner can share your ambitions, and help you reach your full potential.

Would you like to learn more about connecting your ERP to over 815 apps with IoT Pulse, or Commercient SYNC, the #1 data integration app for sales? Contact us at today.

SYNC ERP and CRM

5 Goals Every Small Business Should Set In Quarter 3

If your small business is looking to grow in Quarter 3, consider setting new goals – it’s never too late. To help you, we’ve come up with five goals every small business should set in Q3 to be successful.

Boost Productivity in Your Business

One of the best things you can do to increase your business growth in Q3 is deploy productivity apps; and this should be the goal of every small business in Q3. For example, using accounting software like QuickBooks, Xero, and FreshBooks can eliminate manual calculations and simplify the aspects of record-keeping, which can help you save time and money.

You can also deploy project management apps like Asana, Slack and Trello, which can help you track task assignments as well as the progress of your project. This can help you ensure that everyone on your team is on the same page.

And, the good news is that you can connect all these apps to your ERP using Commercient IoT Pulse. Our platform provides integration with more than 815 Apps for your ERP to help you be more efficient. This can help save money and free up time for your staff to focus on what matters most – you’ll be able to get more work done. Apps such as email, marketing, CRM, time cards, and much more, can be connected to your ERP by IoT Pulse.

Listen to Your Customers More

As we are in the Age of the Customer, where the needs and wants of customers is always changing, it’s more important now than ever to listen and talk to your customers. By talking more to your customers, you will be able to understand each of them better, re-evaluate your products and services, and make small changes to stay ahead of your customers’ demands.

At Commercient we love communicating with our customers, whether it’s through our blog; social sites, including Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn; the Commercient newsletter; or through our customer success pages, where we showcase our current customers and how they feel about products. We also communicate with our customers through email, live chat and phone calls, and we’d love to hear from you.

Reduce Business Costs

Reducing your company’s expenditures and creating processes that will cost less money should also be a goal of every business in Q3. Thankfully, technology allows you to save money and advance your businesses in ways that weren’t possible before.

Businesses can now take advantage of open-source software, Web conferencing tools, remote desktop applications, and online payment services. All of these tools can help you cut costs.

And, if you decide you want to integrate your data between your ERP and CRM system, we suggest selecting Commercient as your integration vendor with SYNC, the #1 data connector platform for business. We provide premier, customized two-way data integration applications at an affordable price and rapid deployment rate. Check out our pricing page.

Find New Opportunities for Networking

If you are not actively networking, you should set a goal to find new opportunities to network in Q3. This will help get you in front of more people and expand your business network.

Try to attend more conferences, workshops, seminars and meetings, and ramp up your online networking on platforms like LinkedIn. Doing so can can lead to creating new connections, building stronger relationships, gaining exposure, growing your ventures, and meeting of VIPs. One networking event you don’t want to miss is Dreamforce 2018 – the Commercient team will be there, and we hope to meet with you there, too!

Build Your Online Presence

In Q3, you should also set the goal to build your online presence. Having a strong online presence will help you build your small business’ reputation and attract leads to your website. This can mean writing useful blog posts and sharing them with your social media followers, or optimizing your website to attract more search engine traffic (e.g. creating a customer success page with customer testimonials). You’d be surprise at what having a strong online presence can do for your business.

If you’d like to learn more about Commercient SYNC and IoT Pulse, or need more help in growing your small business? Contact us today — we’d love to hear from you.

SYNC Demo integrate CRM ERP

3 Changes To Your Business That Your Employees Will Love

Employees are the life of a business, which is why it’s important for companies to make sure their employees are happy. Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group, which controls more than 400 companies, once wrote, “No matter your industry, your employees are your company’s real competitive advantage. They’re the ones making the magic happen – so long as their needs are being met.”

So, what is your business doing to meet your employees needs? To help you, here are three changes to your business that your employees will absolutely love.

When you Leverage Tools that will Make Their Jobs Much Easier

There are many technologies that can help increase your workplace productivity, and refusing to upgrade and leverage that new tech can be seen as huge mistake for any business.

Today technologies like CRM, ERP, and Commercient SYNC, which allows you to seamlessly integrate your sales, accounting and marketing systems, can help you reduce the need for strenuous activities such as double data entry. It can create a more efficient and productive workplace.

These tools will allow your employees more time to focus on more pressing job duties, and automate the rest, giving you the ability to enhance employee productivity and eliminate unnecessary, time-consuming tasks – your employees will love you for it.

When you Integrate all your Business Apps

The use of multiple applications to manage different functions of a business has become commonplace. How many business apps are you currently deploying? Even a single small business may use a dozen or more different applications developed in-house or purchased from third-party vendors to manage different functions, like customer relationship management, service desk, and more.

When the applications used to manage these functions are operating in silos, it can take extra time to fulfill clients’ orders, or respond to their enquiries and complaints. Therefore you need a way to integrate your apps, so you and your employees can be more efficient, and better serve your customers.

Commercient IoT Pulse can help you achieve the goal of unifying those disparate systems to achieve efficiency across the business and its infrastructure. IoT Pulse provides you with connectivity from your accounting software (ERP) to more than 815 Apps, including MailChimp, Slack, marketing apps, Gmail, time card apps, WordPress, etc.

It allows you and your employees to automate tasks, like sending out emails instantly when customers input a new order or generate a new invoice and provides integration with MailChimp so that you can send new product information to all your customers. It’s great way to motivate your employees by making their jobs that much easier.

When You Give Your Employees Flexibility

Another change you can make that your employees will love is by allowing them to have flexible work schedules. You could allow them to work in locations they find to be more comfortable, such as their homes, and allow them to be more flexible in their work hours. This gives them the flexibility to meet family needs, personal obligations, and life responsibilities conveniently— all of which can help to increase employee productivity.

Thankfully, mobile devices and cloud-based applications like Asana, Slack, Commercient SYNC, and IoT Pulse enable your employees to collaborate and stay on the same page as well as carry out their daily tasks no matter where they may be. Making this change, we’re sure your employees will love their jobs even more.

Want your employees to experience Commercient SYNC and Iot Pulse? Contact us for a demo today.

SYNC ERP and CRM

 

3 Ways To Cut Small Business Costs Today

It’s no surprise businesses are looking for more ways to remain profitable and cut costs. If you’re a small business looking for ways to cut your overhead, we uncover three quick ways that you can cut small business costs starting today.

Allow Employees to Work Remotely

Depending on the type of business you run, you may be able to allow your employees to work remotely. By allowing your employees to telecommute, you’ll be able to reduce costs related to computers, phones, electricity, heating and air conditioning, and all the other small necessities that keep your office up and running.

According to Global Workplace Analytics, businesses can save over $11,000 for every half-time telecommuter per year. The good news is that nowadays there are many apps that allow you and your employees to work remotely and avoid travel and travel expenses.

With apps like Commercient SYNC and IoT Pulse for your business’ ERP, CRM and other software, you and your employees can work remotely, viewing updated customer information, sales and marketing data, and more, in real-time, no matter where they are, while staying on the same page. In addition, these apps are relatively inexpensive and are rapidly deployable. It’s a great way to cut your small business costs today.

Deploy Cloud-Based Applications

Another way that you can start to cut your small business costs is by deploying cloud-based applications. Without them, you’ll end up spending a lot of money on software and equipment such as servers to run your business. The cost can increase exponentially each year for renewing license agreements and updating software and replacing hardware.

With cloud-based applications, however, you can save money on both hardware and maintenance. Since the hardware is owned by vendors and stored in off-site locations, if servers and other hardware need repairs or upgrades, it is the responsibility of the vendor, and doesn’t cost your company any time or money. Eliminating routine maintenance can free your IT staff to focus on important initiatives and development.

In addition, since cloud-based apps are easily scalable, you only pay for what you need, when you need it. All of our apps at Commercient are cloud-based, and pricing is based per user/per month at an affordable price. Check out our pricing page to learn more.

Start a Blog and Update it Regularly

If you don’t have a blog yet, today is a good day to start one, especially if you want to cut costs while promoting your company. Through a blog, you can advertise, review your offerings and give free tips as often as you’d like without worrying about running up your budget. You can use your blog to gain free marketing. Use your social media channels and newsletter to promote your blog posts.

We love using our blog to inform and educate our customers on our various products and services, and we update it regularly. Check some of our latest posts and see how we do it.

Would you like to learn more about Commercient SYNC and IoT Pulse, and how your small business can be more productive, cut costs, and gain a competitive edge? Let’s talk today.

SYNC Demo integrate CRM ERP

 

Tips To Your Customers Smiling All Through The Year

The best business is the one that can keep its customers smiling all throughout the year. After all, the customer can greatly determine the success or failure of a business. With that said, we’ve come up with some quick tips that you can do now to keep your clients smiling all throughout the year.

Tip #1: Use Technology To Assist Your Customers

Technology is very much important to connecting with your clients on a deeper level, and is a great way to keep them smiling throughout the year. Here are some technologies that you can use to better serve your customers and keep them happy.

  • Live chat: This allows the people that visit your site to engage with your company. For instance, if visitors want to ask you questions, need help with navigation or want to find valuable information, with live chat, you can answer questions on the spot and in real-time. This gives them the instant help they are looking for. At Commercient, we give all our clients the opportunity to communicate with us using live chat. Our highly skilled reps are available to help out with questions or support, Monday through Friday.
  • Social media: You can also make your clients smile through your engaging posts on social media. We engage with our customers on all our social media channels, including Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. If you haven’t done so already, please add us.

Tip #2: Resolve Problems Quickly

If you still operate in a 9-to-5 time frame in delivering customer service, you are behind. They want timely and effective resolutions, and the option to contact you whenever and however they please. Whether it be through a social media channel or live chat.

LivePerson research found that 82% of consumers believe that getting their issues resolved quickly is the most important factor in a great customer service experience. Therefore, your reps must try to solve customer issues as soon as they are recognized. This means they must be available at all times, because if your clients don’t receive the support they need at the time they need it, there is a chance that they will find someone else who will. At Commercient, we serve our customers using live chat, social media, email, and phone, and our reps are available to help.

Tip #3: Keep Your Customers Updated

If you want to keep your customers smiling, one of your main goals should be to keep your clients and prospects engaged and updated. You should communicate company news, current events, special promotions, product updates and new products, address troubleshooting issues and FAQs, and much more.

By keeping them in the loop about what’s going on with your company, they will come to trust you more. At Commercient, we keep our customers up-to-date through not only our social media channels, but also through our company blog and newsletter.

Tip #4: Boast About Your Customers

Another way to keep you customers smiling is to boast about them. You can do this by featuring customer success stories and testimonials on your website. In essence, by showcasing the great experiences your existing clients have had, you’ll increase your chance of building trust with prospects and encouraging them to convert.

You will also keep your current customers happy, and make your prospects feel more excited about purchasing your products or services. See what our clientss are saying about us on our homepage.

Would you like to learn more about our data integration apps, Commercient SYNC and IoT Pulse, and how they can help you grow your business, and keep your customers smiling? Contact us today!

SYNC ERP and CRM

 

4 Low-Cost Ways To Boost Sales For Your Business In Quarter 3

Whether you’re a small business or a large enterprise, boosting sales while also cutting high costs are always an endeavor. The good news is that it doesn’t take a lot to save money, you just have to know where to make changes that will help you cut costs and boost sales for your business. Here are 4 low-cost ways to boost sales for your business in Quarter 3.

Invest In Cost-Saving Small Business Apps

Nowadays, there are plenty of cost-saving apps that will help you save time and money in Q3. For example, once upon time, businesses had to store all their data on physical servers, a practice that requires a significant amount of money and also IT specialists. But this is no longer the case.

Thanks to the cloud and cloud-based apps, you can now store and maintain your data remotely. This allows you to do business anywhere and at any time. Also, with cloud-based applications like our popular Commercient SYNC and IoT Pulse data integration apps, you don’t have to worry about upgrading-related costs, or the costs you would incur due to system failures or natural disasters because your data is stored, maintained, and backed up remotely.

Use Social Media Advertising

If you haven’t already, you’ll want to build a social media campaign, because marketing on social media platforms is inexpensive, targeted, extremely effective, and will help you boost sales. If your business offers items or services for sale, can create campaigns around that.

In addition, most social sites know a lot about their users, and you can use that data to learn more about your audience, increase brand awareness and exposure for your business, and attract more customers and prospects.

With Twitter, for example, you’ll be able to post information about your products and services and find out about your customers like we do on our Twitter page. You’ll be able learn what customers like about your company and how they feel about your brand. They can also provide your with their suggestions for improvement and let you know what their favorite products are and why. Having all this insight will help you make your business more successful and boost sales.

Ask Your Customers For Help (Referrals)

Another way you can help boost sales in Q3 is by encouraging your current customers to provide you with client referrals. For example, if you know that a client is satisfied and happy with your products, you can ask him or her to refer other clients who might also benefit from working with you.

You can also ask your satisfied customers for testimonials and then use those on your website or in sales emails and newsletters. You can also turn them into customer success stories. These will also help you to boost sales in Q3. If you have someone you’d like to refer to Commercient, check out our referral page. Also, check out some of our customer testimonials on the Commercient homepage.

Partner With Other Businesses

If you haven’t done so already, in Quarter 3 you can cut down on costs and boost sales by making connections with other businesses. By partnering with companies that offer complementary products or services to your own, you’ll be able to increase your sales activity and capture opportunities you may have not been exposed to more easily. See our partner page as an example.

Would you like to learn more about Commercient SYNC and IoT Pulse, and how data integration can help boost your sales? Contact us today!

IoT Pulse connect ERP to the Internet

 

Cloud vs. On-Premise: Which Is Best For Your Business?

When it comes to choosing where to store their data and applications, businesses must do a careful analysis. Should businesses use cloud-based software, or take the on-premise route? Of course each method has its own advantages and disadvantages, but in this blog, we’ll help you understand why you should consider choosing the Cloud.

What Is Cloud-Based Software?

Cloud-based software are solutions that allow you to store and access your data and applications over the Internet. This eliminates the need for you having to store and access data from your computer’s hard drive, or a server somewhere in the building.

Some good examples of cloud-based software at work include Commercient SYNC, the number one data integration app for business, and connect your ERP and CRM. Connect your ERP to the internet with IoT Pulse, with support of over 815 apps, such as Gmail, time card software, and much more. Make payments fast and secure with Sync2Pay.

You can update and store all your data over the Internet – you’ll then have the ability to access this data no matter where you are in the world.

What Is On-Premise Software?

Unlike cloud-based software, on-premise software is installed locally on a company’s computers and servers. This allows you to have physical access to the data and direct control over the configuration, management and security of the data. If you’re off-site, you’ll need Remote Desktop Access (RDA) to be able to connect.

Cloud or On-Prem?

Your choice between cloud and on-premise software depends a lot on the needs of your business. We’ll start by saying that the number of companies leveraging the Cloud has grown significantly in recent years. According to Gartner (via Tech Radar), 72% of business were using cloud-based software models in 2015 alone.

Here are some key points to help you see why leveraging cloud-based solutions may be a better option for your business:

  • You can have access to your cloud-based software no matter where you are in the world – you are not limited to any physical offices – or Remote Desktop Access – as you would be with on-premise solutions.
  • On-prem software requires in-house server hardware, software licenses, integration, and experienced IT support. After the system is functional, you will need to invest time and money for routine maintenance and upgrading of the system. This is way more expensive than cloud-based software, which does updates automatically, and handles maintenance.
  • In many cases, software and data stored off-site in the cloud is more secure from events such as natural disasters, or an old server’s hard drive failing.
  • Cloud-based solutions, such our SYNC data integration platform, are based on pay-as-you-go subscription models, which makes planning and usage of data easier for you, unlike on-premise solutions.
  • Cloud-based solutions are scalable, so as your business grows, you can use cloud solutions to quickly expand into new regions without having to make huge investments. On-prem expansion will require significant infrastructure and staff investments.

Conclusion

Are you convinced about moving your business to the Cloud? If so, be sure to check out our Commercient SYNC, IoT Pulse, and Sync2Pay pages if you’re looking to integrate all your business applications. We’re always here to help you.

SYNC Demo integrate CRM ERP