Mobile marketing tips for small businesses
Posts tagged smb leads
4 Tips for Building a Successful Mobile App Sales Team
Jul 9th
If you want to develop apps for businesses, you may be tempted to sit back and let your advertisements bring in the prospects. But sadly, things don’t work that way – not even with a very strong ad campaign running. It’s important to continue actively pursuing customers to ensure that the time and effort invested in your app development enterprise pays off.
For many developers, this may require that you build your very first sales team. Don’t be scared – it isn’t as hard as it sounds. You don’t have to hire an army of salespeople. You just need to start with a few dedicated reps that are ready to roll up their sleeves and help make your business a success.
You might be tempted to go forward without a sales team due to the cost or headache associated with bringing new team members on board. But make no mistake: a sales team is the engine of your business’s revenue and growth. What you invest now can generate significant returns later on as your company gains momentum.
The following tips will help you build a team that creates sales and also cultivates long-term benefits for your company.
1. You don’t need programmers
Don’t be overly concerned with hiring technically oriented folks for your sales team. As long as your team members are familiar with apps and computers, you can teach them everything they need to know in order to sell app development. Some companies get hung up trying to find people that are extremely tech-savvy for their sales team, but it is more important that your sales team members have interpersonal skills.
Of course, if you can find people with both technical and sales skills – that’s even better!
2. Have them use the products
It isn’t enough to just read about your service as sales training – your team members should download and actually use some of the apps your company has created for clients. This will give them familiarity with your product that will be extremely helpful in selling it.
A big part of the sales process can be answering questions about how apps work and the possibilities for development that your company offers. If responses from your sales team are genuine and specific, it can give sales efforts a real boost. If they’re canned and ambiguous, you’re headed for trouble.
3. Focus on long-term success, not just raw numbers
Only looking at sales and subscriptions is a straightforward way to measure success, but it’s important to also keep an eye on retention and satisfaction. Sales teams can sometimes makes promises just to “Get to yes,” and this can hurt your business down the road. Make sure that your team members are interacting with customers in a way that is good for sales, but also your business as a whole.
4. Back them up with excellent support
This is key to ensuring sales success: support your ongoing customers and deliver on your selling points. If reviews are bad and referrals are non-existent, your sales team will struggle to meet its goals. If, on the other hand, customers are happy, your sales team will have a very strong leg to stand on when it comes time to speak to prospects.
A well-rounded approach like this will make your company a success not just today, but also well into the future.
5 Tips for Getting Small Business Leads
Jul 8th
Small business owners can be elusive. They’re a busy bunch, so you need all the help you can get when it comes to finding new leads from their ranks. The good news is, there are tons of ways to cultivate small business leads!
Some are online, some are offline, but they all can be tremendously effective in earning you new business. The tips below are a few tried-and-true methods that will help you connect with new prospects and boost your sales.
1. Be an expert
The Web offers a lot of opportunities for you to showcase your knowledge of your subject area, no matter what it is. LinkedIn Answers, your own blog, and topical forums – they’re all channels in which you can offer advice and get your name out there. The more helpful you are, the better. Your messages will serve as lasting beacons that can result in leads tracking you down. As far as sales go, there are few more favorable situations than that.
2. Run a Pay Per Click (PPC) Campaign
If you target the right keywords, a PPC campaign can be a very effective way to find exactly the types of leads you want. It will depend on what you’re selling, but with a little research, you can find a set of keywords that can pull in a stream of leads that are very likely to include small business owners. What’s great about this method is that, by clicking, the leads have already taken an action that shows some interest in your product. This acts as a prequalification to filter out pointless connections.
3. Speak
Speaking events (especially local chamber of commerce events) are a good way to raise your profile and to meet new leads. Make sure and stick around after your event, as attendees will likely approach you directly. Also, provide pamphlets or business cards on a nearby table for audience members to take as a reference.
To get extra mileage from your hard work, post a video of your event online. If your event was instructional, people conducting online searches for related questions may find your video and then reach out to you afterward.
In addition, don’t forget to list speaking engagements as a part of your credentials in your online profiles!
4. Cross-Promote
Joining others that serve small businesses in a joint venture or cross-promotional project can help you find new leads easily. Customers of your partner business will learn about your company as a result of the joint project, and you’ll instantly have access to a second audience. If you chose your partner carefully, this second audience could be a natural fit as customers of your business.
5. Get social
Don’t ignore Facebook, Twitter, and other social media platforms. They’re a highly cost effective way to make connections. It takes very little time, and the only thing you absolutely need to do is stay consistent. Post regularly on topics that are relevant to your business, and you’ll quickly cultivate a reputation for being knowledgeable and active. The leads will follow.
6. *Bonus tip
If you’re tired of tracking down your own small business leads, just use Bizness CRM! Small business leads are built directly into our simple, easy-to-use CRM system, which is designed specifically for those who sell to small businesses.
4 Tips for Getting Started Successfully with Bizness CRM
Jun 28th
Change is good, but change can also be tough.
Well, today we’re going to try to make things a little bit easier for you.
We designed Bizness CRM to be an incredibly simple and easy-to-use solution. But, as with any new software (if your business is located on Planet Earth), there will undoubtedly be a few hiccups when incorporating it into your operations. The below tips, however, can help smooth out the transition process as your team gets comfortable using Bizness CRM. That way, difficulties are minimized and the sales team can hit the ground running.
1. Invite feedback
When your team members are working with a new tool, it can be very beneficial to solicit their feedback. That way, they won’t feel like change is simply being inflicted on them. Even though you may be trying to help, you don’t want it to seem like you’ve dumped a new problem into their laps:
“Here guys, start using this thing. It’s supposed to be great. What? No, I don’t know how it fits into your workflow, just use it already! Oh yeah, and be more efficient, too!”
No good.
Instead, by listening to their opinions and feelings as they work with the software, you can learn what is working best for your team and what might need to change. This will increase the likelihood that they’ll embrace the new software and find helpful ways to incorporate it into your operations.
(And if your team has questions or feedback about Bizness CRM, good or bad, we always want to hear it, too!)
2. Let your team figure it out
As with the above point, this is about letting the transition take place organically. It’s fine to suggest some procedures through which Bizness CRM can be incorporated into your operations, but dictating terms of use may be a bad idea at the outset.
It can be more effective to train the team, and learn about their impressions, and then to let them figure out how it can support their efforts. Once a bit of comfort has been achieved, and experimentation has been done, you’ll then have an opportunity to formalize your procedures.
3. This can be an opportunity to revamp outmoded processes
Bizness CRM is built to minimize disruption and to be very simple to adopt. If you need to change some things, however, this can be the perfect opportunity to rethink how your sales team operates. In any business, there’s always room for improvement, and a transition period while you incorporate Bizness CRM into your processes may be the perfect time to analyze your efforts and find ways to get better.
4. Give it time
Rome wasn’t built in a day. Bizness CRM works out of the box, but give your team time to get used to it and any new processes adopted around it. With a bit of patience, your new CRM system will be up and running seamlessly, and you’ll soon wonder how you ever lived without it!
To learn more about Bizness CRM or to enjoy a free trial, click here.
The Importance of Using Bizness CRM When Selling to Small Businesses
Jun 26th
There are a lot of strategies for selling to small businesses, and they run the gamut from old-fashioned cold calling and door-knocking to the latest email and web marketing techniques. But no matter what strategies you favor, one of the most important ways to maximize your returns is to cut administrative tasks down to a minimum, so that the bulk of your sales time is spent selling (as opposed to preparing to sell, recording information, or coordinating schedules).
The most powerful tool available for this purpose is a CRM system (short for a “Customer Relationship Management” system).
What is a CRM system?
If you’ve been living undersea for the past few years, and you haven’t heard of CRM software, we’ll give you a quick overview: CRM software is a tool for researching leads, tracking sales efforts, and recording customer information. A CRM system can also include customer support and other features in addition to sales functions, depending on which one you use. Feature bloat, however, can quickly get out of control.
Why would I use a CRM tool for selling to small businesses?
In short, they help you boost the efficiency of your sales efforts, allowing you to sell more and generate more revenue. Small business sales sometimes depend on volume (as opposed to pursuit of big contracts with big enterprises), so efficiency is key.
In addition to streamlining your sales process, you can also learn about what you’re doing wrong. And because everything is tracked, you can study failures and improve your sales approach. You can also keep an eye on terminations or chronically unhappy customers and learn about other ways to improve your offering.
Any recommendations?
Bizness CRM, naturally! Bizness CRM was designed specifically for selling to small businesses, and is the most cost-effective solution for that purpose we know of:
• Bizness CRM has small business leads. You can search for small business leads by industry, and import the data provided if you want.
• Bizness CRM is streamlined. With our simple pipeline and tracking software, you can focus in on sales, and avoid any other distractions.
• Bizness CRM has a simple calendar. You can create and track appointments easily.
• Bizness CRM is collaborative. Your whole team can stay on the same page and know where each lead stands at any time.
• Bizness CRM is mobile. If your team is away from the office, Bizness CRM will still be with them, accessible on their mobile devices.
Interested in trying Bizness CRM for free? Start your free trial by signing up here.
