It has taken 3 years to get here but finally we have launched our SharePoint CRM Template - www.sharepointcrmtemplate.com.  Actually we launched it on March 15th but it was a quiet launch.  We wanted to see what would happen if we put a small brochure-site online.  Would anyone find us we wondered?  The answer was a resounding yes, they did.  No, they didn’t come in droves but that is fine.  We didn’t want droves, not yet anyway. 

(more…)

Let’s face it, we know we were getting carried away with excess and we know the piper will have to be paid eventually.  That time has come.  Doesn’t matter where, how or when… if we overdo anything the time will come when the price will have to be paid.  That’s life!  Now is a terrific time to reflect on how we can streamline our operations, fine-tune our sales and marketing processes and focus on what we do best.  Partner with people who can help us reduce costs in areas of our business that are not our strength.  The positive aspect of this Correction is that we get back to basics and focus on getting rid of our fat.  This is a good thing!  The bad part of a Correction is when the Media drive fear into our hearts and we become frozen into inaction.  Then a Depression comes upon us and it takes longer to get back up again.  I refuse to hear this news as bad news.  I had only 2 lbs of weight to lose.  Some organizations had 100’s of lbs to lose.  How much do you have?

(more…)

I am so glad its 2009.  I can leave some miserable experiences of 2008 behind.  One such experience was my trusted top lead generator who was promoted to sales and who ultimately stole everything I trusted to him - he even stole my writing and put it on his blog!  Whilst he was working for me he was quietly putting his own business together and his own Lead Generation Services Web Site.  I guess it is true that what goes around comes around because today his web site no longer exists.  I can only wonder what a tough learning experience for him when he found out there is more to business than a simple web site full of lies and a few ads on offshore personnel sites looking for cheap labour.  We all have to learn the hard way don’t we? 

(more…)

It’s such a cunumgeon!  We are all customers - where we have the “power”!  Then the flip side is that we are also often the seller ….suddenly struggling to deal with the new “Customer has the Power”.

(more…)

The Revenue Builder is one of the sweetest sales systems we at SalesPro Marketing have seen, and we have seen alot over the years as specialist in CRM software and solutions!  Here are some selling tips from the President, Pauline O’Malley, during her recent trip to Greece: (more…)

Many would have us believe that cold calling is dead!  Not true.  What is “dead” are people who cold call with intent to manipulate.  Just the other day I was called in my office by someone trying to manipulate me.  Could she have just said: “Good morning Ms. Groves. I am calling on behalf of ________to let you know about our new offer that could be of benefit to you, and I know this because I have looked at your web site and I could see that this amazing new whizbang, priced right to fit an organization your size seems like it could be of benefit to you.  If you have a few minutes I could tell you more about it now or I could call you at another time that might be better for you?”  

(more…)

In a paradigm shifting world business is a tough ship to captain. Symptoms may be inconsistent sales whilst solutions may seem to be a new CRM system, push reps harder or start an email marketing service going day and night.  Whatever strategy you deploy you may still be miserably watching cost of sales go up and profit margins go down!  Yikes!! But wait….whenever bad happens –good happens to counteract and “good” is outsourcing!  Outsourcing is the most inexpensive way to get the most for your money.  Ohhh…I am sure my English teacher would shake her head on that sentence!

(more…)

Yes outsourcing can be cheaper than in-house - even if outsourcing “appears” to cost more.  Of course you have to be sure that your outsource partner has the expertise they claim they do - but that is a given, right?

(more…)

Lead Generation is tough.  As they say “its a tough job but someone has to do it”.  Sometimes I wonder why that someone has to be me - ha ha.  Why did I get into this business in the first place I ask myself on those dark dreary days when getting a lead seems tougher than flying to Mars!  So many barriers against success.  So many variables to break down.  Too many ways to fail.  To be successful you got to be good at lots of wierd things like databases, lists, writing, talking and manipulation (oh, did I say that!).

(more…)

I smile when I recall the mad rush to email marketing in the mid 90’s (I know its a lifetime ago now). Its also hard to believe today that people actually believed they would be able to promote their business for free!  Several years before that I recall the bounding enthusiasm of new users of contact management software who bought into the “Sell Like Hell with Our Software” mantra. 

(more…)