Best CRM for Small Businesses: Our Top Picks

After extensive research, we have compiled a list of top CRM systems that cater specifically to small businesses‘ needs.

Monday Sales CRM

Monday Sales CRM is a comprehensive solution with features such as contact management, deal tracking, pipeline management, email integration, and basic reporting capabilities. It offers a visually pleasing interface on its ‘boards’, akin to Kanban-style digital whiteboards.

HubSpot CRM

HubSpot CRM is an all-in-one solution integrating sales, marketing, customer service, content management, and operations. It offers a free plan, making it easier for SMBs to test its capabilities without a large upfront commitment.

Zoho CRM

Zoho CRM is an affordable solution that offers basic CRM features within your Gmail account. The platform is user-friendly and provides essential features for small businesses.

Freshsales CRM

Freshsales CRM by Freshworks is a powerful CRM that leverages AI to automate tasks and forecast trends and behavior patterns. It offers a competitive edge by enabling businesses to retain customers cost-effectively.

Salesforce CRM

Salesforce CRM is a comprehensive and reliable CRM solution with multiple plans to choose from. It offers sophisticated customization and analytics, making it ideal for businesses looking to professionalize their sales teams.

Zendesk Sell

Zendesk Sell offers a robust CRM with an excellent mobile app. It provides all communication history in one place, ensuring high-quality responses to queries, leading to better customer satisfaction.

Pipedrive CRM

Pipedrive CRM is a straightforward, sales-focused CRM, ideal for beginners. It offers 24/7 support for all plan holders, making it a user-friendly option for small businesses.

Insightly CRM

Insightly CRM offers robust customization options. It has a higher starting price than many other options, but it tops out at a reasonable price per enterprise user.

Less Annoying CRM (LACRM)

Less Annoying CRM offers a single tier and no add-ons. It is user-friendly and has the highest customer review score.

CRM Software: An Overview

CRM software is a technology suite designed to streamline and analyze customer interactions and data throughout the customer lifecycle. It centralizes crucial data such as contact information, communication history, and purchasing behaviors, offering businesses the means to enhance customer service, drive sales, and manage data effectively.

Why Adopt CRM?

Implementing a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system can have profound benefits for small businesses, enabling them to streamline operations, enhance customer interactions, and drive growth. Here’s why adopting CRM is essential for small business success:

1. Automation of Repetitive Tasks: CRM software automates routine tasks such as data entry, email communications, and appointment scheduling. By eliminating manual processes, small businesses can save valuable time and resources, allowing employees to focus on more strategic tasks like sales, marketing, and customer service. Automation also reduces the risk of errors and ensures consistency in customer interactions, leading to increased efficiency and productivity.
2. Streamlined Customer Interactions: CRM systems centralize customer data, providing a comprehensive view of each customer’s history, preferences, and interactions with the business. This centralized database allows small businesses to deliver personalized experiences tailored to individual customer needs and preferences. With access to detailed customer profiles, employees can anticipate customer needs, resolve inquiries promptly, and provide proactive support, ultimately enhancing customer satisfaction and loyalty.
3. Enhanced Communication and Collaboration: CRM platforms facilitate seamless communication and collaboration among team members by providing a centralized platform for sharing information, tracking activities, and collaborating on projects. With features like shared calendars, task management tools, and real-time messaging, small business teams can coordinate efforts more effectively, ensuring everyone is aligned and working towards common goals. Improved communication leads to better coordination, faster decision-making, and a more cohesive team dynamic.
4. Data-Driven Insights and Reporting: CRM systems capture valuable data on customer interactions, sales performance, marketing campaigns, and more. By leveraging this data, small businesses can gain actionable insights into customer behavior, market trends, and business performance. Advanced reporting and analytics tools allow businesses to track key metrics, identify areas for improvement, and make data-driven decisions to drive growth and profitability. With access to real-time dashboards and performance reports, small business owners can monitor progress, identify opportunities, and optimize strategies for success.
5. Scalability and Growth: As small businesses expand and acquire new customers, CRM systems provide scalability to accommodate growth. Whether adding new users, scaling up operations, or entering new markets, CRM platforms can adapt to evolving business needs and requirements. By providing a flexible and scalable infrastructure, CRM enables small businesses to manage growth effectively, maintain customer satisfaction, and capitalize on new opportunities for expansion.

In summary, adopting a CRM system is essential for small businesses looking to streamline operations, improve customer relationships, and drive growth. From automating repetitive tasks to providing data-driven insights, CRM software offers a range of benefits that empower small businesses to succeed in today’s competitive market landscape. By investing in CRM, small business owners can unlock the full potential of their business and achieve long-term success.

When Does Your Business Require CRM?

Recognizing the need for a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system is pivotal for small businesses seeking operational efficiency and improved customer relationships. Here are some key indicators that suggest your business could benefit from adopting a CRM solution:

Fragmented Communication Channels: If your business grapples with scattered communication channels, where team members rely on disparate tools like emails, spreadsheets, and messaging apps to interact with customers, it may signal the need for CRM integration. A CRM platform centralizes communication, providing a unified hub for managing customer interactions, inquiries, and feedback. By consolidating communication channels, CRM promotes collaboration, expedites response times, and ensures consistency in customer engagement.

Disjointed Customer Data: Managing customer data across various sources, including spreadsheets, email threads, and paper records, can lead to inefficiencies and inaccuracies. A CRM solution centralizes and organizes customer information within a single database, facilitating real-time updates and access. By establishing a unified repository for customer data, CRM minimizes duplication, mitigates errors, and fosters data consistency across the organization.

Manual Data Entry and Administrative Tasks: Excessive time spent on manual data entry and administrative tasks can hamper productivity and impede business growth. CRM systems automate routine processes such as data entry, lead capture, and follow-up communications, enabling employees to focus on value-added activities like sales, customer service, and strategic planning. By automating repetitive tasks, CRM enhances efficiency, streamlines workflows, and boosts employee morale.

Inefficient Sales and Marketing Processes: Inefficient sales and marketing processes, characterized by disjointed lead management, pipeline tracking, and campaign management, can hinder business performance. CRM platforms offer features such as lead scoring, pipeline management, and campaign tracking, empowering businesses to optimize their sales and marketing efforts. By providing visibility into the sales funnel, CRM identifies bottlenecks, prioritizes leads, and improves conversion rates.

Lack of Customer Insights and Analytics: Without access to comprehensive customer insights and analytics, businesses may struggle to make informed decisions and drive growth. CRM systems deliver robust reporting and analytics capabilities, allowing businesses to track key metrics, monitor customer engagement, and measure the effectiveness of marketing initiatives. By harnessing data-driven insights, businesses can identify opportunities for improvement, optimize strategies, and enhance overall performance.

In summary, if your business contends with fragmented communication channels, disjointed customer data, manual data entry, inefficient sales and marketing processes, or a lack of customer insights, it may be time to explore CRM solutions. By addressing these challenges, CRM empowers small businesses to streamline operations, nurture customer relationships, and achieve sustainable growth in today’s competitive landscape.

Selecting the Right CRM: Key Considerations

Choosing the right Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system is a critical decision that can significantly impact your business’s efficiency, productivity, and bottom line. To ensure you select a CRM solution that aligns with your business objectives and operational requirements, it’s essential to carefully evaluate several key considerations:

1. Understand Your Business Needs: Begin by identifying your business needs and objectives. Consider factors such as the size of your business, the industry you operate in, and the specific challenges you’re looking to address with a CRM solution. Determine whether you require basic contact management, sales automation, marketing automation, customer service functionalities, or a comprehensive CRM suite that integrates multiple business functions.
2. User Adoption and Team Requirements: Assess the needs and preferences of the teams that will be using the CRM system. Involve key stakeholders from sales, marketing, customer service, and other relevant departments in the selection process to ensure their buy-in and alignment with the chosen solution. Consider factors such as user interface intuitiveness, mobile accessibility, and integration with existing tools and workflows to facilitate seamless adoption and user satisfaction.
3. Identify Pain Points and Must-Have Features: Identify the specific pain points and challenges your business is facing that necessitate a CRM solution. Whether it’s improving lead management, enhancing customer communication, or streamlining sales processes, prioritize the features and functionalities that are essential for addressing these pain points. Common CRM features include contact management, lead scoring, sales pipeline management, email automation, reporting and analytics, and customer support ticketing.
4. Scalability and Flexibility: Evaluate the scalability and flexibility of the CRM solution to accommodate your business’s growth and evolving needs. Consider whether the CRM can scale with your business expansion, accommodate increasing data volumes and user numbers, and support customization and integration capabilities to adapt to changing requirements over time.
5. Budget Constraints and Total Cost of Ownership (TCO): Establish a clear budget for CRM implementation and ongoing maintenance, taking into account upfront costs, subscription fees, customization expenses, training costs, and any additional charges for add-on features or modules. Compare pricing plans offered by different CRM vendors and assess the total cost of ownership (TCO) over the long term to ensure affordability and cost-effectiveness.
6. Industry-Specific Regulations and Compliance: If your business operates in a regulated industry such as healthcare, finance, or legal services, consider industry-specific regulations and compliance requirements when selecting a CRM solution. Ensure that the chosen CRM platform complies with relevant data protection laws (e.g., GDPR, CCPA), industry standards, and security certifications to safeguard sensitive customer information and maintain regulatory compliance.

By carefully considering these key factors, you can effectively evaluate CRM solutions and choose the one that best meets your business needs, drives user adoption, and delivers tangible value and ROI in the long run. Remember to prioritize usability, functionality, scalability, and affordability when making your selection to maximize the benefits of CRM adoption for your small business.

Notable CRM Software Trends in 2024

1. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Automation

In 2024, AI-powered capabilities are increasingly integrated into CRM systems to automate repetitive tasks, analyze customer data, and deliver personalized experiences at scale. Machine learning algorithms enable predictive analytics, lead scoring, and dynamic content recommendations, allowing businesses to anticipate customer needs and provide proactive support.

2. Omni-Channel Integration

With customers interacting across multiple channels and devices, CRM systems are focusing on seamless omni-channel integration to ensure a consistent and cohesive experience across all touchpoints. Integrated communication channels such as email, phone, social media, chat, and SMS enable businesses to engage with customers wherever they are, fostering deeper relationships and improving customer satisfaction.

3. Emergence of Customer Data Platforms (CDPs)

CDPs are gaining prominence as a central hub for collecting, unifying, and activating customer data from various sources in real-time. These platforms enable businesses to create a comprehensive view of each customer by aggregating data from CRM systems, marketing automation tools, e-commerce platforms, and other sources, facilitating more targeted and personalized marketing campaigns and customer interactions.

4. Emphasis on First-Party Data

With increasing privacy regulations and restrictions on third-party cookies, there’s a growing emphasis on collecting and leveraging first-party data obtained directly from customers. CRM systems play a crucial role in capturing and analyzing first-party data, including customer preferences, behaviors, and interactions, to drive more effective marketing strategies and personalized experiences while respecting user privacy preferences.

5. Voice-Enabled CRM

The adoption of voice-enabled technology is transforming how users interact with CRM systems, enabling hands-free operation and voice-controlled commands for tasks such as data entry, scheduling appointments, and retrieving information. Voice-enabled CRM capabilities enhance user productivity, streamline workflows, and offer greater accessibility for users on the go.

6. Adoption of Blockchain Technology for Data Security

Blockchain technology is increasingly being explored as a solution for enhancing data security and integrity in CRM systems. By leveraging blockchain’s decentralized and immutable ledger, businesses can ensure the integrity and authenticity of customer data, protect against unauthorized access and tampering, and enhance trust and transparency in customer interactions.

7. Focus on Hyper-Personalized Customer Experiences

Personalization continues to be a key focus for CRM systems, with businesses leveraging advanced analytics and AI-driven insights to deliver hyper-personalized customer experiences. By tailoring content, offers, and recommendations based on individual preferences, behaviors, and past interactions, businesses can increase customer engagement, loyalty, and lifetime value.

These trends underscore the ongoing evolution of CRM software and its growing importance in enabling small businesses to build stronger customer relationships, drive revenue growth, and stay ahead in today’s competitive market landscape. By embracing these trends and leveraging the latest CRM technologies, small businesses can position themselves for success and deliver exceptional customer experiences in 2024 and beyond.

Final Thoughts

Choosing the best CRM for your small business can be overwhelming due to the numerous options available. However, by carefully considering your business needs and evaluating different CRM systems based on their features, scalability, and pricing, you can find a solution that aligns with your objectives and enhances your business operations.

Remember, the best CRM system for your business is the one that meets your specific needs and fits within your budget. Therefore, take the time to understand your requirements and evaluate different systems before making a decision.

When utilized effectively, CRM software can immensely contribute to the success of your small business, fostering customer loyalty, enhancing operational efficiency, and driving business growth. Thus, investing in a robust CRM system can be a game-changing decision for small businesses looking to thrive in today’s competitive business landscape.

Best CRM for Small Business FAQs

Does Google have a free CRM?

Google offers a CRM platform called Google Workspace that includes tools like Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Drive, and Google Meet. While it’s not a dedicated CRM, businesses can utilize these tools for basic CRM functionalities. However, for more robust CRM features, businesses may consider integrating third-party CRM solutions with Google Workspace.

Which CRM is best for my business?

The best CRM for your business depends on your specific needs, budget, and industry. Popular CRM options include Salesforce, HubSpot, Zoho CRM, and Pipedrive, each offering unique features and pricing plans tailored to different business sizes and requirements.

Is there a free CRM for small businesses?

Yes, several CRM platforms offer free plans specifically designed for small businesses. Examples include HubSpot CRM, Zoho CRM Free Edition, and Freshsales Free Plan. These free versions typically offer basic CRM functionalities and limited features, making them suitable for startups and small businesses with minimal requirements.

Is CRM suitable for small businesses?

Yes, CRM (Customer Relationship Management) systems are beneficial for small businesses as they help streamline customer interactions, improve communication, and enhance sales and marketing efforts. By centralizing customer data and automating tasks, CRM software enables small businesses to efficiently manage customer relationships and drive growth.

Is there a 100% free CRM?

While some CRM platforms offer free plans, it’s essential to note that these free versions often come with limitations in terms of features, user capacity, and storage. While they provide basic CRM functionalities, businesses may need to upgrade to paid plans for advanced features and scalability.

Does Google have a CRM?

Google does not have a standalone CRM product. However, businesses can utilize Google Workspace tools such as Gmail, Google Contacts, and Google Sheets for basic CRM functionalities. Additionally, Google offers integrations with various third-party CRM platforms to enhance CRM capabilities within its ecosystem.

Is HubSpot actually free?

Yes, HubSpot offers a free CRM platform known as HubSpot CRM. The free version includes core CRM features such as contact management, email tracking, and deal management. While additional HubSpot tools and features are available through paid plans, the CRM itself remains free to use indefinitely.

What is the easiest CRM tool?

The ease of use of CRM tools varies depending on user preferences and requirements. However, some CRM platforms are known for their user-friendly interfaces and intuitive features. HubSpot CRM, Zoho CRM, and Freshsales are often praised for their simplicity and ease of adoption.

Is Zoho completely free?

Zoho offers a free edition of its CRM platform, aptly named Zoho CRM Free Edition. While this version provides basic CRM functionalities, Zoho also offers various paid plans with additional features and capabilities tailored to different business needs and budgets.

Featured Image Credit: Photo by Gabriel Benois; Unsplash – Thank you!

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In the end, your customer service personnel is the face of your organization, and their skills and quality will define their experiences. A powerful company already has amazing customers. Good customer service is about being attentive to your clients’  needs and wants. Furthermore, your connections will stagnate if you don’t always look for ways to improve customer service.

Here are some customer service tips to help your team improve:

Tip #1. Improve customer service abilities.

First, make sure your customer care crew has the capabilities to handle consumer requests. No amount of CRM software can make up for this. But what abilities should a customer service rep have?

• A sense of humor. Customers may be enraged. Others will be perplexed. Others will simply chatter. Your team must be able to handle them all and deliver the same level of service.
• Adaptability. Every consumer is unique, and some appear to change from week to week. Therefore, you should be able to handle the unexpected and adjust to the customer’s mood. Good customer service requires a constant learning process.
• Excellent Communication Skills Make sure you say exactly what you mean. No one wants to think they’re getting 50% off when they’re actually getting 50% more merchandise. Furthermore, never finish a conversation without confirming that the customer is satisfied.
• Work Ethic. Customers appreciate a rep that will follow up on their issue. At the same time, you must be able to manage your time well and not waste it on one customer while others wait. Therefore, focus is necessary in order to strike the correct balance.
• Knowledge. In the end, your customers rely on your product knowledge. Therefore, know enough to answer most questions and know where to go if the questions are too difficult or technical. However, don’t be afraid to say that you don’t know. Your customers will appreciate both your diligence and your candor.
• Thick Skin. Accepting blame or negative feedback is vital. Customer satisfaction is paramount, whether your team interacts directly with clients or solicits input via social media.

2. Examine each touchpoint.

A poor customer experience at any point in the lifecycle of your relationship can be damaging. Therefore, you must have the right skills available at the right time. In addition, focus on critical touchpoints. However, also ensure that you have a complete picture of the client experience in order to avoid costly service gaps.

3. Improve customer interactions.

It helps if your personnel has the right skills. However, they must still relate to your customers. Here are some customer service tips for providing the best service:

• Ask salespeople to find common ground with the people they assist. This knowledge helps resolve conflicts by humanizing the relationship and endears clients to your rep and ultimately to your company.
• Actively listen to your customers. Ask questions to clarify and restate what customers say. Encourage them by saying things such as, “I understand how you feel” or “I understand your frustration.”
• Admit your faults, even if you find them first. This restores confidence and trust.
  It also allows you to regain control of the situation and fix the issue.
• After-problem follow-up. Make sure there is resolution and that your consumers are happy. Sending a follow-up email or feedback survey shows the customer you are still on their side.

4. Expand your customer service strategy.

Your employees may be able to interact with your clients. However, how do you please customers as an organization? Therefore, make your customers happy with you before they have a chance to complain. How do you do this?

• Be Persuasive. Your customers want to talk to real people, not bots or FAQs.
  Therefore, make use of social media and make comments to your consumers’ posts. In addition, publish images and bios online. This demonstrates to your clients that you are human.
• Show up. Providing a personal touch includes being accessible. Always be flexible, especially if your clients are in different time zones.
• Cater to your clients. Ensure you thoroughly satisfy your customers. Therefore, consider assigning salespeople to individual clients to foster relationships. In addition, show your appreciation by giving your finest customers VIP treatment.
• Form groups. Treat your consumers like valuable members of a community. You can connect customers via webinars, social media, interactive websites, trade exhibits, or conferences.

5. Reps who are engaged are more effective.

The best customer service skills and training in the world won’t matter if your reps are less than enthusiastic. Improving employee engagement also benefits customers. Employees that are unhappy are unlikely to speak up. Therefore, consider an anonymous tip box or an employee engagement survey.

A supportive staff is one of the best customer service tips. Sometimes that means huddling up and encouraging yourselves before a long day of work.

6. Allow customers to submit feedback.

No matter how proactive you are, you can never anticipate every client’s concerns. Therefore, create an easy mechanism for customers to provide feedback. That way, you can learn about their experiences.

Furthermore, having a way for customers to provide feedback makes it easier to learn what needs improving. Additionally, it keeps angry consumers from venting on public forums like your social media platforms. Your customers will always notice your commitment to offering top-notch, proactive customer service.

Image Credit: Andrea Piacquadio; Pexels; Thank you!

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It’s safe for us to say that the year 2020 was like none other, and 2021 is also proving special and challenging. As marketers look to build brands, next year may be challenging as well. What’s the way that marketing is being reinvented after Covid-19?

The ability to ask and answer these questions is crucial for marketing success throughout the coming months and years. In the past several months, there have been many comparisons. We’ve learned a lot in this one year of massive transformation.

Here are some truths from the past, as well as newer truths that have replaced them.

1. The old saying still goes: Marketing starts by knowing your client. Add in a new reality: Marketing starts with understanding your customer segment.

The Covid-19 pandemic confirmed that marketing must be more customer-specific. It requires a thorough understanding of the reality of the market country by country, state by state, zip code by zip code. For restaurants, banks, or retailers, it could be a matter of tailoring the communications store for each store.

We’ve realized that marketing messages must be personal and relevant, corresponding to the individual’s needs and beliefs. And not the influence of demographics such as gender and age. Making a human, personal connection with any commercial communication requires the definition of consumers as segments.

The EY Future Consumer Index, which has conducted five rounds of research with 14,500 participants across 20 countries since the outbreak of the pandemic, has identified five distinct cohorts of consumers:

1. First, affordability (32 percent of customers): Living within their budget and means, not focusing on brand names and more on the functionality of their products.
2. The health first (25 25 %): Protecting their health (especially from the pandemic) as well as that of their families, by choosing items they believe to be secure and minimizing the risk in the way they shop.
   
3. Planet First (16 percent): Trying to minimize their impact on the environment, and purchasing brands to reflect their values.
4. Social first (15 15 percent): Working together to benefit the community purchasing from companies that they consider to be transparent and honest.
5. The first experience (12 percent): Living in the moment and making the most of every moment and often making them more open to new brands, products, and experiences.

Utilizing personas and segmentation of customers can provide more insight into marketing strategies for media and innovative methods. And even better is that these insights are able to provide the complete customer journey.

2. Older truth: You have to compete with your marketing rivals. The new truth is that you compete with the most positive experience your client ever had.

Consumer expectations were already rising prior to the Covid-19 pandemic. Gen Z was raised with technology that was seamlessly woven into their daily lives. Direct-to-consumer companies (such as Glossier or Parachute) were already conditioning us to expect a level of hyper-personalization as they were particularly adept with our personal data.

However, when the pandemic struck the technological transformation increased exponentially.

This resulted in rising consumer expectations of what businesses could provide them with. The consumer expects more than a simple digital transaction, say marketing experts. With the advent of companies having their customers’ personal information, they are looking for personalized, anticipatory experiences throughout the customer journey.

Companies should implement three steps to ensure their services meet their customers’ ever-growing expectations:

1. Create brand scores as a crucial KPI for all customers in the company, and ideally use real-time analytics instead of an image looking backward from an earlier date.
2. Develop the proper information and technology marketing foundation to help support the most critical use cases across your customer’s journey.
3. Affiliate goals of both individuals and collectives across the entire customer journey. Any gaps in functional silos such as sales, marketing, or customer service are not visible to the end-user.

3. An old truth that is still true: Your customers want to know you’ve got what they want. The new truth for marketing is that customers are expecting you to provide exactly what they need.

If the bar continues climbing, we should strive toward a new customer experience — from both a B2C as well as a B2B context. Today, consumers expect that any experience they have will be seamless, timely, informative, and asynchronous. That is, they’re focused on receiving what they want whenever they want it. They will not let anything distract them.

Companies need to put marketing data and technology at the center of their business.

This could mean incorporating some level of machine learning or artificial intelligence in the mix. Why is that? Because data allows us to provide more relevant experiences that span one or more that comprise the four Cs:

• Content (that could be delivered via mobile apps or emails);
• Commerce (such as physical retail, e-commerce, or the hybrid experience);
• Community (such as gathering B2B buyers in a virtual trade fair or hosting an online webinar on home repair for consumers) as well as
• Convenience (like giving consumers coupons or other benefits of the loyalty program).

Nowadays, the majority of 4Cs are offered in “one-size-fits-all” strategies. However, consumers demand more personalization. Businesses are required to utilize more data and information to improve their decision-making.

Increase the relevance of your interactions with customers. Build more human connections with their brands.

4. The old adage: Courting customers is similar to dating. The new fact: Customer service is the online world of dating.

For many years, marketing was mostly focused on buying massive coverage or targeted for the highest rates for media and hoping to make money from it. In essence, it was similar to going to every bar or party you could, hoping you’d meet that perfect person. It was a place of serendipity, spontaneity, and, frankly, many meetings with friends.

Start online dating and swiping through apps. Today, finding your ideal person could be less than luck, and more about algorithms and data.

In terms of marketing, we’ve witnessed the shift from branding marketing to expand reach and performance marketing to create leads. The rapid growth of digital channels only amplified the trend. Get ready for this trend to continue and sharpen.

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• The chances of selling products/services to a new customer are only 5-20% whereas the odds of selling additional products/services to an existing customer are approximately 60-70%.

With loyalty program management, companies can retain and make repeat sales to existing customers. Loyalty management is a powerful strategy that uses various tools and tactics. Companies use these tools to gain, engage, and maintain customers. A well-organized and executed loyalty program is beneficial for both companies and customers.

Loyalty programs are often not considered an important part of the overall customer experience. However, they can help build strong relationships and loyalty. According to one report, approximately 75% of adults in the U.S. belong to at least one loyalty program. A survey by KPMG revealed that a loyalty program encourages 80% of millennials to spend more with a brand. Roughly 78% said that they would switch to another brand if they get a better offer. 85% of people loyal to a brand said they would recommend it to their friends and family members.

Well-executed loyalty programs can prevent customers from straying to other brands. They are effective at retaining customers and also augment the lifetime value of your regulars by offering incentives to make more purchases. Loyalty programs provide added recurring revenue to the company and improve overall customer satisfaction through various offers, rewards, and perks, resulting in a superior experience.

Three Ways to Enhance Customer Experience via Loyalty Programs

Listed below are three of the most effective ways to manage a customer loyalty program.

1. Personalization provides the key.

Businesses can use relevant information about their customers in their loyalty programs. This helps deliver personalized experiences throughout the customer journey. Customer details and preferences can help businesses better incentivize their customers. It’s important to note that customers tend to react well to a personalized approach. Personalizing a loyalty program can make it far more powerful.

It’s likely that personalization will make a customer feel more satisfied — about eight times more — with your offer. Tailored products and services enhance business by targeting a customer’s attention. Businesses can provide only the most relevant offers to their customers even if they don’t provide all the details upfront.

Personalization is made possible by tracking order history, search history, location, current service subscriptions, and so forth. Showing customers that their individual preferences and requirements are important to your business can make a big difference. It can enhance the relationship with your company and make your loyalty program successful.

2. Streamline the buying process.

Any effective customer loyalty program must be able to ease the entire buying process. Most loyalty programs collect only essential information, even the payment details. This allows customers to purchase quickly, without a lengthy checkout process.

Nowadays, many businesses use customizable apps to enhance customer experience. These apps allow customers to buy any product and pay immediately without waiting in a queue. Since the system has all the essential details about the customers, it eliminates the obstacles that can slow down a seamless transaction.

3. Implement creative ways to engage and delight customers.

Finding effective ways to engage and delight customers is another important factor in building customer loyalty. Rewards such as free shipping, early access to new products, coupons, discounts, gifts, and added benefits make customers willing to pay extra to be a part of a loyalty program. The rewards or offers should encourage customers to repeat purchases and also make them likely to recommend the product/service to others.

With loyalty program management, companies can engage and delight existing customers. To create customer excitement, brands can make the buying process as well as the contacting process easier for their customers. This can be achieved by paying attention to the devices as well as channels customers use to reach out to a particular brand. Brands can use new tactics as part of their loyalty program to set themselves apart from the competition.

Setting Up a Loyalty Program Is Easier Than Ever Nowadays

Technology has filtered down such that small businesses can set up loyalty programs just as effective as those of large corporations.

Owing to their benefits, more and more companies of all sizes are implementing loyalty programs. When executed carefully, loyalty programs can bring great results for just about any company. They lead to higher sales and improved brand identity. In all, a successful loyalty program can drive significant value and growth for a business.

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Some agencies are faring better than others. In a recent survey among marketing agencies around the globe, 16% of participants experienced an increase in revenues.

What sets these agencies apart is their ability to adapt to change. For digital marketing agencies to survive, it’s essential to play the long game—especially since it’s not known when the pandemic will end. This includes being creative, adaptive, and being able to craft as well as implement the right strategies. Here are a few tips to help you keep your agency running at its best:

Understand the Pandemic’s Effects on Individual Clients

COVID-19 has impacted all businesses, but some more than others. Certain industries are hard-hit, while others seem to be adapting well to the change wrought by the pandemic.

No matter how many clients you have, it’s good to assess the impact of COVID-19 on each one. By doing so, you can identify which clients in which industries are in danger of jumping ship. Catching warning signs early allows you more time to formulate and implement retention strategies.

Measuring the pandemic’s impact on your clients also allows you to determine which of them is doing well. Focusing your attention on these customers could be even more beneficial than offering incentives to clients who are considering churning. These types of clients may be more receptive to offers of added services and solutions.

Having a better understanding of your clients’ situations is also helpful in improving your relationship with them. Adding value for your clients and going the extra mile for them will go a long way toward making your relationship last beyond these challenging times.

Analyze your Ongoing Burn-Rate in Both Normal and Barebones Scenarios

Many organizations run with too many excesses—however, you don’t have to be one of them. Many expenses are avoidable, so you will want to go over your spending and figure out what’s essential and what you can do away with. Doing so can help you control overspending and get a leg up on the competition.

Identify areas where added effort and time allows you to reduce spending. Tailor your reductions to your business goals. Typically, you won’t be able to optimize your burn rate with just one significant change. Multiple incremental changes across departments can better help you trim low-value activities with minimal organizational disruption. 

Focus on what maximizes the return on money, time, and effort. The goal is to be as efficient and lean as possible without sacrificing the quality of service you provide to your clients. 

In a Changed Business Environment, Dare to Think Out of the Box

Across all industries, businesses are making major changes to the way they do business to survive in the new normal. Some companies are doing more than just survive. One example is Evil Genius, a brewery known for its cleverly named craft beers and popular bar and retail location in Philadelphia.

Having previously relied on sales to bars and restaurants for about two-thirds of their sales, Evil Genius faced a dilemma when these distribution channels closed off due to the lockdown. According to co-founder Hayward, the closure of bars reduced their business by about 60%.

Employing out-of-the-box thinking, Evil Genius focused on offering carry out service at their retail location and taking online orders for pick-up and delivery. They also introduced new products—a risky move that ultimately paid off when one of them, a beer referencing the wildly popular Netflix series Tiger King, became a hit.

A whiz at staying topical, the company also offered a free roll of toilet paper with a purchase of “The Gang Gets Quarantined,” a beer referencing both the lockdown situation and the popular TV show It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

Their unique approach to marketing their products have helped them rise above today’s cluttered advertising environment. Their innovations in marketing helped make Evil Genius an online talking point when the news and social media outlets are heavily saturated with both bad news and a slew of competitors eager to capitalize on the public’s increased social media usage.

Evil Genius is an example of how traditional marketing approaches need to be innovative and adaptive. Creativity has always been the lifeblood of marketing, and it is even more so now. Your clients are facing significant changes in the way they market their products and services, and your success in helping them meet their goals rides on how quickly and creatively you can respond to these changes.

Be Flexible and Open to Adjustments

Small- to medium-sized digital agencies have the advantage of being more flexible than their larger counterparts. Since smaller agencies don’t have substantial overhead costs to worry about, they can typically afford to offer competitive pricing. This is especially true for agencies that work with businesses or organizations that are experiencing layoffs.

While the cost of retaining your services is lower than that of hiring an employee or employing their in-house marketing department, your clients must be fully aware of this fact. You would also want to show your clients that the value you deliver to their business far exceeds the cost of having you onboard.

You can achieve this by being more flexible in terms of pricing. At the same time, lowering your rates is an act that conveys your understanding of the current situation’s difficulties. It shows that you value your relationship and that you have integrity.

Flexibility can mean:

• Delaying Invoice Scheduling. If you have the financial capacity to do so, delaying invoices can be beneficial to both you and the client. Deferring payments allows your client more time to meet their obligations, and you also get to keep your clients at the same rate they paid pre-lockdown.
  
• Restructuring Contracts to Reduce Pricing. According to a survey by Upplers, 58% of agencies became more flexible in client terms, and 28% reduced their fees. The reality of the pandemic situation is that many businesses cannot or will not justify marketing spend in these uncertain times. 

To retain clients, consider restructuring your clients’ contracts to accommodate their needs while reducing their marketing spend. This shows that your relationship with your clients is essential to your agency, and at the same time, it’s a move that drives long-term instead of short-term value.

• Offering Limited Services. If your client’s marketing budget is tight or if they don’t need as much work done on their account, consider reworking your contract to include limited services. For instance, your client may no longer need assistance with content creation but could use some help in social media. You can rework your contract to include only the services they need and reduce your rates accordingly.

This strategy results in cost savings for them and allows you to retain their business on an as-needed basis until the overall situation improves.

Learn From Your Competition

The pandemic has affected all businesses, but some are doing better than others. Assess your direct and indirect competitors and identify which ones seem to be toughing out the crisis better than most. Knowing your competitors and how they’re positioning themselves for success can help you identify strategies that allow your agency to succeed.

For example, many small to medium-sized agencies are currently outsourcing or planning to in the future. Outsourcing provides agencies with on-demand access to talent at less than the cost of taking on new team members.

You can use knowledge gleaned from observing your competitors to take advantage of their weaknesses. At the same time, you can improve your agency’s performance. Identify which of their strategies seem to be working and apply them, making adjustments to tailor-fit them to your needs and goals. This also positions you well for when the crisis is over, and your agency resumes normal operations.

Leverage Social Media Effectively and Creatively

Consumers are more active on social media than they used to be in pre-lockdown days. More people are at home and rely on social media channels to connect with their loved ones and get news and updates. Agencies that typically focus on other channels can leverage this uptick in social media usage to increase their clients’ reach, boost engagement, and ultimately improve conversion rate.

Doing so requires more than a little bit of creativity. Making memes, videos, contests, and the like a part of your clients’ social media campaigns allow their products or services to stand out. The key is to stay on-trend and keep content engaging and relevant.    

Deliver Added Value to Your Clients

COVID-19 has not only transformed the way that agencies do business with their clients but also the way their clients do business with their customers. Changing attitudes to what’s essential and what’s not can lead to decreased revenue for your clients and, in turn, reduced marketing spending.

One way to keep your clients is to find places where you can add more value, especially for those businesses and organizations that are at high risk of churning. Determine whether there are additional services you can pitch to your clients. For example, you may be skilled at data analytics or content creation. You can offer these services at reduced or zero cost. This allows your clients to obtain services all from one place while minimizing their expenses.

What if you and your team don’t have additional skills that you can turn into add-on services? It’s best to be proactive and identify the areas with which your clients need the most help. Learn and refine skills in these areas to provide more value to your clients even after the crisis is over. 

Assess Your Clients for Opportunities

As previously mentioned, the pandemic has affected different clients in different ways. For example, while clients in industries like tourism and hospitality are among the hardest hit, clients in the medical and personal care sectors are likely experiencing steady or increased volume.

When rebuilding your agency’s client portfolio, target businesses and organizations that are doing well. Even if they’re not usually the type of clients you take on, getting their business can keep your agency afloat.

E-commerce businesses are also faring well. For instance, if you typically handle local companies’ accounts, it may be worth your while to broaden your scope and pitch your services to online businesses.  

Don’t Forego Strategic Planning

This crisis is rapidly evolving—as societal changes and their effects trickle down to marketing, agencies should be well-poised to plan for and adapt to them. This may mean having to re-strategize your accounts.

One strategy is to incorporate COVID-19 messaging in the ad copy. Doing so shows consumers that businesses are aware of the situation and keeps them relevant. It also allows brands to communicate how they’re helping consumers during the crisis.

Some brands are further adjusting their marketing to show messages of support or information on how they’re helping communities during these trying times. As evidenced by a spike in Love reactions on ads posted on Facebook, this is a strategy that seems to be working as far as brand engagement is concerned.

A good relationship with your clients comes in useful here. You can more easily communicate with them why and how any changes need to be made, from minor updates to ad copy to a complete pivot from traditional to social media marketing campaigns.

Plan for You and Your Clients’ Post-Crisis Recovery

While it’s not known when the current crisis will end and its impact further down the line, agencies should plan ahead. This may involve defining best- and worst-case scenarios, listening for changes in consumer attitudes, and adapting marketing plans on an as-needed basis.

While you may not have the expenses that larger agencies have to contend with, it is still wise to cut costs where possible without sacrificing quality. Keep in mind that all agencies, no matter their size, are going through the same major upheaval to their operations, and the key to surviving lies in resilience and your ability to adapt. 

Making no adjustments and simply hoping to ride out the wave of change can result in your agency sinking. Staying afloat requires being open to change and prioritizing innovation to adapt to the new normal. Lastly, employing a COVID 19 Business Sanitization Services will help sanitize every corner of your office, eliminating the risk of catching the virus.

The post Staying Resilient in a Pandemic: Strategies for Digital Agencies appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Think about that: Even if everything else goes right with their experience, a misfire on the service side will drive off three-quarters of your customers. In that light, customer service agent training might be the single most important CX investment your company makes. If you want your customers to have a great experience then consider using this voice of customer sentiment analysis. 

Top-Notch Agent Training

To help your agents deliver a high-level customer experience:

1. Set up a surprise product demo.

Whatever product or service you provide, make sure your agents know it like the back of their hand. An American Express study revealed that 62% of customers see the agent’s knowledge as key to positive service experiences.

Even if your agents are all former product engineers, put on a product demonstration for them. A few days later, without warning, ask each of them to give you a demo. Your goal isn’t to put them on the spot; it’s to identify where their understanding of the product differs from the company’s intent. Create a reference sheet that agents can keep beside their desks for common issues.

2. Get agents more team exposure. 

Too many businesses operate contact centers that are cut off from the rest of the company. Although outsourcing the function can save companies about 50% on their customer service expenses, it has a hidden cost: putting distance between agents and the company’s mission. 

Don’t trade short-term savings for a long-term hit to your customer experience. If possible, keep everyone in the same building. If your agents work remotely, implement processes that require regular contact. Set up once-a-week video lunches. Fly everyone out for quarterly retreats. Encourage banter with tools like Slack. 

3. Take turns playing the customer’s role.

When customer service people spend all day talking to users, they tend to think they’re good at seeing the customer’s side. Put that to the test: Pair agents up, with one playing the rep and the other acting as the customer.

When agents sit on the side of a call they’re not used to, it changes the way they see their role. Take discounts: Reps often receive pressure from above to limit the number of freebies they hand out. But forcing a customer to eat the cost of a defective product is a sure way to destroy his experience. Help agents approach their role with empathy, even if it costs extra.

4. Emphasize relationship-building.

Everyone wants her concerns to be heard by human beings. According to a study done by McKinsey, 70% of the customer experience comes down to how the customer feels she’s treated. Real, human connections make even the most difficult interactions go more smoothly.

Encourage agents to engage with customers on a personal level. Really listen to what they have to say, be sensitive to their emotions, and don’t be afraid to talk briefly about things other than business. Customer service agents are the face of your company, so it’s important that the impression they give off is a human one. 

Customers choose companies not for their products, but for how those companies make them feel. Regardless of why they contacted customer service in the first place, you have a chance to keep — or even upsell — them if you handle it well. Give agents the tools they need to deliver better experiences, and watch your customer experience create lasting relationships.

The post Want to Improve Your Customer Experience? Start With Your Agent Training appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

These answers are provided by Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. YEC has also launched BusinessCollective, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses.

1. Performance Optimization

Although it’s often more of a development change, improving the load speed of your website or app can often have a tremendous impact on customer experience. Consumer attention is fickle, so anything you can do to grab it before it’s gone is essential to driving sales or conversion. Optimize your code to ensure you optimize your sales. – Ross Beyeler, Growth Spark

2. Color Usage

Color is an important design tool that can increase customer engagement, as well as sales. When you use contrasting colors between the background, CTA buttons and text on your site, you are influencing the way a user moves around the page. When color is used appropriately, it can lead a user’s eye to the most important items, such as a click to buy option or a button that allows them to request more information. – Blair Thomas, eMerchantBroker

3. Call Scheduling

The ability to speak with someone over the phone or in person is highly important to most consumers. We added a giant ‘schedule a call’ button right in the middle of our homepage. This has led to hundreds of additional calls in the past couple months compared to when we only had this button on the contact us page of the website. – Mike A. Podesto, Find My Profession

4. Transaction Speed

We’ve changed how our transactions work on our website to speed up how customers experience them. There are fewer abandoned shopping carts and more completed sales due to changing how transactions work, including allowing customers to store their information. – Peter Daisyme, Calendar

5. Mobile Responsiveness

Well, our website is still very important, but our sales funnel is very broad and each level of communication funnels back to our website. For example, we leverage social media to gain new clients, directing them to the ‘link in bio.’ You better make sure your site is mobile friendly. You’re very late if it’s not. – Andrew Namminga, Andesign

6. Simpler Websites

I tend to skew more toward a minimalist web design for both speed and ease of use. Eliminate long scrolls, display a clear CTA and make conversions as easy as one click. Testimonials, case studies and content do help nurture leads, but you don’t need to stuff these on your homepage or landing page. Minimalism appears more natural and professional. Offer clear benefits, but don’t oversell them. – Kristopher Jones, LSEO.com

7. Fewer Steps

The two primary purposes for UX are to make it easy and clear to the user. Having fewer steps allows people to get what they want faster, and making that clear for the users allows them to do that. You should always ask yourself if your design flow and UI is easy and clear for the users to understand. Everything else is more specific and tactical. Your design will stem from that. – Andy Karuza, FenSens

8. Social Proof

We implemented a social proof application that pops up in the corner of the site. It will give the first name and city of someone that has recently purchased the product increasing social validation. You can use apps like Upfunnel or Uptible to implement it. – Chris Christoff, MonsterInsights

9. Chat Options

Our chat receives more engagement than any form on our website. We started using the chat to understand our customer’s goals, but then as we started seeing the same questions over and over again. So we used the chat to have prospects answer questions for us. Once they answered ‘yes’ to three questions, we would have a phone call with them to discuss their goals and evaluate their fit. Use chat; it helps. – Sweta Patel, Silicon Valley Startup Marketing

10. Exit-Intent Pop-Ups

We’ve implemented exit-intent pop-ups that have helped increase subscriber conversions right before the visitor leaves the site. One way we boosted subscription rates was to create lead magnets, basically a free resource in exchange for their email address. – Syed Balkhi, WPBeginner

The post 10 Ways to Improve User Experience and Increase User Engagement appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

In this article, we’ll go over the 5 ways you can improve your business’ reputation online.

1. Create a website with a customseo domain so people can find your business online.

Every business should have their own website. It’s your online calling card and should be the first thing people see when they look you up online. This is especially true for consumer electronics companies, where businesses are competing for a limited number of product categories. You can do so much in one place such as list your products, market them using blogs, and sell them by using a payment gateway.

2. Set up your social media channels.

After setting up your website, the next step should be to create a profile on the appropriate social media channels. You can post photos, announcements, discounts, and sell your products on these channels. Most businesses start with Facebook, but there are other social media platforms that are niche-specific, such as LinkedIn, Angie’s List, Pinterest, etc.

It is important to have a social presence because a huge number of social media users make their purchasing decisions based on what they see on social media. By putting your products and your company where potential customers are searching, you are able to reach a larger audience.

3. Register your website on online business listings

If people want to find a business like yours, they will often go to authority business listing sites like Yelp for Business, Google My Business, Better Business Bureau, etc. Once your business is listed, clients can easily find you and see how you compare to other businesses in the same niche or industry. Users can leave reviews for others to see and rate your company based on their experience. And don’t stop at just one listing. Get multiple listings (also called citations) so that your business exudes more credibility, since they verify businesses before they allow them on their site.

4. Optimize your website for SEO purposes.

Now that you are have your own site and are listed on all relevant third party sites, Auckland SEO agency helps you to optimize your presence online – starting with your website. Conduct basic keyword research to discover what terms people are searching for when looking for your type of product. Then, make sure that your website contains these keywords on the appropriate pages for which SEO agency can help you in a better way.

5. Improve customer service and engagement

The most organic and genuine way to improve your online reputation is to talk to your target audience online, just Achieve your desire ranking results. Try affordable seo services. Don’t spam them with sales emails – learn what their problems are, provide the solution, and continue to build your relationship. Find the ones that have had a positive experience and ask them to review your website on social media, business listings, and other review sites. After that, make sure that they continue to have a positive experience with your business. Your overall reputation is something that your customers will always remember whether they are online or offline.

The post How To Improve Your Business’ Online Reputation appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

In what way is your business using technology to transform customer support? 

The post 12 Technology-Based Tips to Improve Your Business’s Customer Support appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

These answers are provided by Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. YEChas also launched BusinessCollective, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses.

1. Send Personalized Gifts to Customers

We send personalized gifts that aren’t that expensive, but customers love them. An example would be sending a customized handwritten note. I suggest something like maillift.com. They have an API so you can do everything programmatically. – Liam Martin, TimeDoctor.com

2. Let Artificial Intelligence Handle Your Grunt Work

If you take time to develop a robust AI system to interact with clients at the prospecting stage and upkeep stage of your relationship, then you should be able to invest more of your time to really give personalized attention when it’s needed most. – Artem Maskov, DEVTRIBE INC

3. Survey Your Customers to Help Address Their Needs Better

I use quizzes to automate the personalization of our customer experience. Based on the responses to the quiz, we are able to send subscribers emails that specifically answer the issues they are experiencing. This makes it much easier to sell to them, build their trust and help them. – Bryan Kesler, CPA Exam Guide

4. Commit to Personal Check-Ins

The most effective tactics are sometimes the most traditional. Although our accounts team is phenomenal, I still regularly dedicate time to personally connect with clients as much as possible. This opportunity to converse frankly with the top level of leadership, even if brief or intermittent, is clear evidence of our commitment to serving our clients well. – Ryan Wilson, FiveFifty

5. Follow Up After the Purchase

Every customer has a unique assortment of products in their shopping cart when they complete checkout. Use that information to customize their post-purchase emails. Send educational product information to help them maximize the utility of their purchase, and help them discover new use cases for the product. – Firas Kittaneh, Amerisleep

6. Make Thoughtful, Genuine Gestures That Put Your Product in Context

When people rent cellphone charging stations from us for events, we add hand wipes in case their hands get dirty during assembly. We also line the cases with dryer sheets so when they open the box they get a sense of calm in what is typically a hectic environment. In the past, we have included things like mints, energy candies and other little items that could be useful for surviving an event. – Jessica Gonzalez, InCharged

7. Make Your System-Generated Emails Feel Personal

I am always amazed at how our customers will respond to a system-generated email, thinking that it was actually typed up by a human being. We find great success with our emails because we make them very personal. We avoid sending messages from a standardized email account but instead generate them as if they were coming from a team member. Emails coming from someone is the ultimate personalization. – Diego Orjuela, Cables & Sensors

8. Segment Your Email Lists

Email marketing is most effective when you send targeted emails to your website visitors. You can segment lists based on previous behavior and create buyer personas for your visitors depending on their interaction with your site. This will make it easier for you to understand what your visitors are looking for and deliver emails that are more likely to convert. – Syed Balkhi, OptinMonster

9. Serve Automated Recommendations 

Lead people with recommendations that are related to their purchase. Amazon utilizes this very well to boost its e-commerce sales. Recommendations could be based on similar products or what people searched for after they landed on that given landing page. This strategy could also be followed up in a personal email or invoice sent to the customer after a purchase or abandoning a purchase. – Kristopher Jones, LSEO.com

10. Use the Data You Have

Use the valuable data you already have to learn from your business, consumers and competition. Data can help you learn what’s most effective for your business and how to utilize these insights to effectively customize the customer experience. Your insights provide you a picture of your consumer’s needs and expectations so you can update the areas that need an improved, relevant experience. – Solomon Thimothy, OneIMS

11. Offer Personalized Deals Through a Loyalty Rewards Program

For digital commerce business that already have a loyalty rewards program, offer your customers a deal that your company has never offered before. Create 48-hour flash sales with incredible deals. Businesses that don’t have a rewards program need to implement one as soon as possible. At the very least, you’ll be able to grow your mailing list. – Patrick Barnhill, Specialist ID, Inc.

12. Send Relevant, Timely Content Via Email

As long as you’re writing content and keeping a pulse on what is out there in your industry, you can create an email marketing campaign that is pretty cost-effective. Make sure you have a way to capture email addresses of site users and then put them into a drip campaign based on where they are in the buyer’s journey. This will help keep the experience personalized. – John Hall, Influence & Co.

13. Emphasize Customer Service

The importance of great customer service is sometimes not given adequate appreciation, although this can be a great channel through which to connect with users. Acknowledging that you understand their concerns and can find a creative solution to their problem, in addition to addressing them by name, can have ripple effects that improve someone’s overall experience and spread to other users. – Mark Krassner, Expectful

14. Incorporate Automation Into Your CRM System

Many automated programs are not expensive and do wonders in terms of personalization, especially when it comes through your CRM system. This can give you the ability to send out targeted messages that relate to a special time of year for the recipient, or that generate a personalized discount or promotion. – John Rampton, Calendar

The post 14 Easy (and Affordable) Ways to Personalize Your Customer Experience appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

If you’re like most, you probably said something along the lines of building an effective and well-maintained email list. And it’s true – an email list can easily become your best friend when it comes to conversions.

It’s an avenue that allows frequent and direct communication to keep you top of mind and it can be one of the best ways to direct traffic to new content. In fact, email automation platform Campaign Monitor conducted an annual report for 2016 that shows for every dollar spent on email marketing, you’ll typically earn back $44. That’s some impressive ROI!

But that kind of return is only possible if you’re using your email list wisely. The five tactics outlined below will help you not only grow your email list, but also turn it into a customer converting machine.

1. Strategically Located Opt-Ins

An email list without opt-in forms is like a flower without roots – it won’t last long and it makes you wonder how it came to be in the first place. But it’s where you place these opt-ins that really drives conversions.

In classic newspaper form, above the fold placement on your page is essential. It’s all about being able to spot the opt-in quickly and easily. Draw the eye with some colors and make it especially visually appealing to bring in more subscribers and grow your list a breakneck pace.

2. Take Advantage of Lightbox Popups

The sight of an opt-in may be enough to scare off some prospective leads. That’s why you should also incorporate a different tactic – lightboxes. Think of these as mobile opt-in forms, ones that are activated once a prospect reads a certain post or scrolls through your page enough.

Technically considered popups (which if you’re completely opposed to then checkout tip #5), these nifty features have a clear call to action, catch the eye, and trigger strategically, among their many other benefits.

3. Split Test Like Crazy

This should be a major priority already but just in case it isn’t, split testing is absolutely essential in the marketing game. Color psychology, word connotation, length, and structure all come into play when someone decides whether or not to engage with content.

Thankfully, most email platforms have this capability built right in. Beyond that, there are a host of other software options out there to help you along the way. Happy testing!

4. Encourage Forwarding

Depending on the platform you use, asking your users to forward your emails along to others can be a great way to grow your list without having to put in nearly any time at all.

You’ve heard of the power of asking followers to retweet on Twitter (which can boost these numbers by 23x)? Well the same principle applies to email.

But be sure to check the terms and conditions of your platform first as some may outlaw this technique specifically.

And as with almost any other marketing tactic, be sure to keep the pushiness down to a reasonable level.

5. Forget About Popups

Popups may be the go-to for a lot of marketers these days but for others, they’re the bane of their existence. And while the efficacy of such tactics can certainly be backed up by some impressive numbers, some people are moving away from popups entirely.

Luckily, though, there are a number of other ways you can still drive growth for your email lists without the help of these intrusive ads.

The Best Ways to Grow Your Email Lists

Emails are by far one of the most effective methods for making a connection, staying top of mind, and ushering prospects through your expertly crafted sales funnel. In fact, many marketers turn to email campaigns as their primary source of new customers.

And when you use the tactics above, you can be sure that your list will grow faster than ever!

The post 5 Ways to Grow an Email List that Actually Converts appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Though this answer seems simple on the surface, there are a lot of details that can make or break your customer relationships. A poor customer experience not only sends a customer running to the nearest competitor, but it can even spread a bad name for you across social media – because after all, who doesn’t turn to Facebook to vent about a stressful experience? Here we’ve assembled some of the top ways to build strong relationships with your customers so that you can create a loyal clientele and a positive company image.

Train Your Employees

Are your employees friendly and helpful, with excellent communication skills and a knack for problem solving? Are they experts on all your products and services? Do they have a good working knowledge of all your policies and procedures so that they don’t accidentally mislead customers? Thoroughly training salespeople and/or customer service representatives is the first place to start if you’re aiming to build better customer relationships.

Your employees are the face of your company; respectful representatives will help create an approachability that facilitates these connections. Additionally, your employees’ knowledge and experience lets your customers know that they can trust your expertise. Keep your employees apprised of every change in your products and procedures so that they can convey the most up-to-date information. You may even want to implement regular training sessions to discuss communication techniques so that employees are constantly improving their relationship skills.

Listen to Complaints

One of the biggest strains on a relationship occurs when one party spends too much time talking and not enough time listening. This is true across the board, but it’s especially meaningful when you’re dealing with customer relationships. Your customers want to know that you take their concerns seriously. By sympathetically listening to their needs and complaints, you advance the trust that’s so critical to all company-customer relationships.

When a customer approaches you with a grievance, start by listening attentively. But don’t just listen – assure your customer that appropriate action will be taken to remedy the problem. If their issue is significant, offer a discount on a future purchase or some other kind of “peace offering” to smooth things over, then follow up a couple weeks later to ensure that they are satisfied with how you resolved their problem.

Stay in Touch by Using a CRM

Customer Relationship Management systems (or CRM’s for short) are another handy tool in your relationship-building tool belt. A CRM can help you keep track of your customers, their information, and any communication you’ve had with them. This helps you stay organized so that if you do reach out with a phone call, you’re not repeating any information they’ve heard before.

A CRM also keeps your employees on the same page, as they each log communications in the database for better coordination. This prevents any mix-up that could cause a customer to be overlooked or bombarded with phone calls. Timing your communication is a critical aspect of fostering customer relationships, so implement a CRM to ensure that your phone calls are prompt but not excessive.

Reward Loyal Customers

Do you have customers that purchase from you regularly? Show them how much you appreciate their business by offering them a reward for their loyalty. Relationships need to be nurtured; you can’t simply woo your customer to get them in the door and then cease all efforts on your part. Continue to win them by giving them valuable incentives to remain with your company.

There are many ways to reward customer loyalty. Some companies make use of point systems (i.e., if you spend X dollars you earn points that earn you free or discounted products), while others go the more straightforward route of charging a flat-fee VIP program that gives members exclusive benefits. Whatever method you choose, be sure that the rewards you offer are valuable to your customers but are still profitable enough that they don’t put you into negative numbers.

Fostering healthy, lasting relationships with your customers is no easy task. It takes continual maintenance and attention. However, the effort you put into keeping open lines of communication will pay off in the long run, as your satisfied customers turn into brand promoters and loyal, lifelong customers.

The post How to Build Better Relationships with Your Customers appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

If you focus on each individual, you’ll end up perceiving retention as this formula full of fine details where even the tiniest misstep can completely ruin your vibe. The truth is that customer retention—at least in the initial stages of growth—involves painting with the broadest strokes possible. Get too caught up in the details, and you’ll spend too much time on minutiae to run your business efficiently.

Repeat customers are the lifeblood of small businesses, with about a third of them reporting that 71-90% of their customers visit more than once per year and 70% of their profits come from their loyal customer base. Once you’ve gathered steam, you have to know how to keep it without blowing it all out. Here are a couple of guidelines that will create an environment that’s conducive to that kind of momentum:

Show Your Expertise

Let’s suppose you’re running a hardware shop and you don’t know how a rotary-percussion drill works. That would leave a horrible impression on customers even if they themselves don’t know this information. The moment someone walks up to you, they come with the expectation that you’re the authority on everything you’re offering.

Make sure that any employees you hire have a passion for what it is you offer. They should be willing to walk up to customers and assist them even when such assistance wasn’t requested. Interacting with people who represent a business makes it feel more “alive”. Even if you’re selling hammers, your customers want to feel like they also bought a service. They want to value the time that they spent with you.

Don’t Be Shy About Social Media

Surely your idea of running a business 10 years ago didn’t involve spending time on the laptop or tablet typing up tweets, did it? Oh, how times have changed! Almost half the world’s population is connected to the internet, which gives you a potential reach that stretches far beyond your local area.

Keep in mind that buying ads on social media has its uses, but it only takes you so far. People on the web pay more attention when you speak with them directly and give them a line with which they can reach you anytime. Facebook is great for this since it allows people with accounts to send your business page a message that you can reply to. Twitter on the other hand is great for inserting your brand into conversations. Get active on the web and see where it takes you. People who like your attitude will feel as if they “fit in” with your business culture. When others see that you are responsive to messages, they’re more likely to send you one, too. It’s up to you if you want to take advantage of the potential snowball effect.

Organize Your Background Processes

The modern-day small business runs on coffee and technology. The days of the “mom and pop” shop that closed at odd hours of the day to do its inventory and get its papers in order were left behind back in 2011.

Today, we are overwhelmed with the sheer amount of applications we need to keep everything running smoothly. Having most day-to-day functions handy in your point of sale system would not only ease this burden, but also keep your customers’ data safe. Modern POS systems offer you the possibility of introducing reward systems like loyalty cards and give you access to a variety of payment systems that anticipate any needs a customer might have.

Modernizing your infrastructure no longer requires the large investment it did back in the early 2010s and most applications now mold themselves around your business model. You now have a plethora of options that can give customers more incentive to return while at the same time improving their overall experience during visits. This two-pronged strategy provides you with the synergy you need to keep people coming to your door.

Reward Your Most Loyal Customers

Loyal customers often have a tendency to spend more. The 80-20 rule comes to mind, which states that 80 percent of your revenue will come from 20 percent of your customers. They’ve stuck with you and have given you the largest chunk of your revenue. Perhaps it’s time to think about how you can reward that.

By providing a reward, you’re giving your customers a clear signal that you appreciate their patronage. That may provide just the incentive they need to stick with you through the long run. Perhaps you can give them a discount on their next purchase or provide them with a higher-tiered loyalty program with which they can save more as they make larger purchases. Whatever you do has to be sufficiently memorable enough for you to have a reasonable expectation that the customer will come more often.

It’s All About The Experience

Customer retention goes hand-in-hand with quality of experience. If your customers walk out with warm, fuzzy feelings, they’re more likely to put your business in their “mental speed-dial”. This makes them more likely to think about your brand the next time they need something you have to offer. Rewarding loyalty will solidify the relationship you have with your customers, establishing a bond that gets more difficult to break as time passes. Building upon that increases your customer retention and makes life easier for everyone!

The post How to Become a Customer Retention Guru appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

The Importance of Existing Customers

These days, people do business with companies that they’ve formed “relationships” with, which means that a focus on existing customers can boost your customer retention, customer loyalty and, therefore, your profit. This article features four best practices for paying attention to existing customers, including how to deepen your relationships, stay in contact, and give your customers exactly what they’re looking for.

Click to read Why and How Successful Businesses Grow Revenue by Paying Attention to Existing Customers

Should You Surcharge?

Surcharging has definite benefits and costs. On the one hand, it helps you recoup the costs of credit card charges. However, on the other hand, your customers might not appreciate these extra fees. This article is designed to help you decide if surcharging is right for your business, sharing pros, cons, considerations, and alternatives to surcharging.

Click to read Surcharging Credit Cards in Your Small Business: What You Need to Consider

Boost Your Training with a Learning Management System

Training is an important part of bringing new employees aboard, implementing new systems and procedures, and keeping all of your team members at the top of their game. Have you ever considered a learning management system? These online systems help you create training programs that standardize the training process in an online e-learning program that you can customize to employees and also use to track their progress.

Click to read Why Your Company Needs a Learning Management System

What Is Holding You Back from Success?  

Do you ever feel frustrated because you seem to be hitting an invisible brick wall – that there is something holding you back, but you can’t quite pinpoint what it is? It’s time to let go of these hidden blocks so you can find the success you deserve! This article reveals three potential sources of your hidden blocks, so you can resolve the issue and move forward in your business.

Click to read 3 Ways to Uncover Your Hidden Blocks to Business Success

Smart Hustle aims to tackle the various problems that small business owners face, whether related to sales, marketing, business operations, technology, or any other area that is crucial to small business success. So what is on the top of your mind these days? Bring it to our attention in the Smart Hustle Community, and for other great stories, visit SmartHustle.com.

The post Smart Hustle Recap: The Importance of Existing Customers, Surcharging Credit Cards, & More! appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Gleanster and Yesmail Interactive conducted a survey that found that close to 80 percent of brands do not have sufficient data to launch an effective marketing campaign. The basic information can be easily accessed from numerous sources – but getting to know the customers well is harder than it has ever been. In order to increase conversion rates, one must have a clear understanding about who the customers are and what drives them. When a business makes the decision to put more effort towards better understanding their customers, they are following one of many marketing best practices for small businesses. This is a big step in the right direction.

Ready to make that step? Here are some ways to use customer data for a better customer experience and smarter marketing.

Leverage social media.

Everyone wants to know how to become the smartest Internet marketer out there, yet only 38 percent of marketers utilize data from social media that could help them better target their audience. Having a social media account is a must for businesses that can use it to interact with the current and prospective customers. Social networks provide insights into customer’s likes, habits, and what they are really buying. Customers often have complaints about a product or service and by resolving those issues through social media, business can learn more about customers’ likes and dislikes.

Leverage new technology.

Technology has progressing at an astounding rate over the last decade. From the smart phone boom has come entirely new communication channels like social media and huge businesses like Facebook. It’s these new channels that gives consumers more power over how they interact with brands and businesses more ways to communicate what makes them better than their competition. As businesses look for the next technology boom to leverage there’s one that stands alone as probably the most potentially impactful to people’s everyday lives. 3D technology has the potential of changing how people see and interact with the world around them.

3D and augmented reality technologies are making a big splash at every technology conference across the world and for good reason. The social and business implications of a completely immersive experience are mind blowing. Businesses went from understanding very little about their customers, beyond basic demographic and psycho-graphic profiles, to knowing who influences them and what their likes and dislikes are in just a few years. With these technologies people can interact with businesses in entirely new ways.

With brands brining more immersive experiences to their customers, the customer affinity becomes more tightly woven with the brand. This leads to better marketing and longer customer relationships.

New technology has always given us pause when consumers and businesses first started using them but over time they become part of our everyday lives. Society feels more comfortable with the human interaction with technology while business become more adept at leveraging it. While social media is today’s top connection point between consumers and brands, the future holds a much more connected experience with technologies like 3D and augmented reality. It will be up the businesses to be early adopters to come out ahead.

How do you get to know your customers better?

The post Leveraging Technology for Smarter Marketing and a Better User Experience appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Small Business Owners Can Capitalize on Freelance Workers

Freelance workers currently make up 34 percent of the United States workforce. Is your small business capitalizing on this group of skilled workers yet? If you said no, you probably aren’t sure what freelance workers offer your company and how to find them. This article will clear up all of your questions.

The article includes an interview with Constantine Anastasakis, the Senior Director of Business Development at Fiverr. Constantine is sharing more about how Fiverr works and how you can use freelance workers to push your own small business ahead. This is a trend every small business owner should be embracing! Learn how to do so by reading this helpful article.

Click to read Fiverr Interview: How to Use Freelancers as Your Competitive Advantage.

Boosting Your Small Biz Security

Hackers do not discriminate – your small business is just as vulnerable as your larger competitors (and perhaps even more so). Security breaches cost money ($3.79 million total in 2015) and they can also cost your customers’ trust. Fortunately, boosting your small business security does not have to be costly or complex. This article covers 6 of the best ways that you can secure and protect your small business.

Click to read 6 Easy Ways to Secure Your Business and Find Peace of Mind.

Calming Down Angry Customers

No matter how focused on customer service your business is, an angry customer will eventually fall through the cracks and you have to know how to successfully deal with them. When someone is yelling at you, it is easy to become frustrated and yell back, but this only makes the matter worse. So how should you deal with angry customers? This article is full of tips on what you can do when things heat up to turn the negative experience around and turn that angry customer into a loyal supporter of your business.

Click to read How to Calm Down Infuriated Customers to Your Advantage.

So what’s on your mind this week – building a remote team of workers, boosting your business security, or dealing with angry customers? Get help with the articles above, and check out the Smart Hustle homepage to read the latest stories.

The post Smart Hustle Recap: Capitalizing on Freelance Workers, Boosting Biz Security & Calming Angry Customers appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of theoretical marketing and sales advice. Give me some clear, actionable tasks I can implement today. In the past few months I’ve read what seems like every “growth hacking” article on web. I’ve tried some of the ideas from these articles. And you know what? There’s no silver bullet. You just have to do the work. In this post we’ll cover five “hacks” to help you generate more leads and sales from your small business website. These aren’t silver bullets, but they are practical tips you can implement today.

Submit your content to community sites

Share your expertise on Linkedin or Reddit (relevant subreddit’s only), Inbound.org and BizSugar. StartupNation is completely free and started by entrepreneurs. Small Business Bonfire also includes a community full of news and resources. Take 10 minutes to identify the best communities for you and your business. You can go to resources such as Feedly or Alltop to find the best communities for you. Respond to a couple existing questions and share one of your blog posts. It should go without saying that you should give more than you take when joining a community.

Review products you use and love

Crazy about your accounting software? Or your project management tool? Write up a glowing recommendation and send it to their marketing team. Make sure to ask for a link back to your website. Most marketing teams will be grateful for your proactive advocacy and you’ll benefit as well. For one, you and your company will be listed on a prominent website for free. I’m all about win/win marketing! And two, the URL on their site will send “SEO juice” back to your website. Last I checked, everyone can use more backlinks.

Add live chat to your website

Phone and email are old and slow. When visitors on your website want to make a purchase, they are ready to buy now. When they have a question, they want an answer now. Live chat is fast, easy and more comfortable. You can easily add live chat to your website in less than five minutes. Even when you’re not available to instantly message website visitors, live chat software works to collect leads for you. With products like Pure Chat, the chat box converts into an email capture form when you’re offline. Or, you can use mobile apps to chat with website visitors from anywhere.

Live chat also creates better customers. An eMarketer report found that “63% of respondents who chatted said they were more likely to return to the site, and 62% reported being more likely to purchase from the site again.”

Improve your user experience without a designer

Even if your website doesn’t look like it’s from the 90’s, it still may be out of date in today’s world of mobile searching and browsing. When was the last time you checked your own website on your mobile phone? As a small business owner you need to optimize for mobile. In fact, Google announced that mobile traffic exceeded desktop traffic in ten countries in 2015. First impressions matter for new website visitors browsing on web or mobile devices.

It doesn’t have to cost and arm and a leg to have a beautiful web presence. The fastest way to improve your web presence is migrate to a website platform like Weebly, Shopify or Squarespace. Only sell 1-15 products? Consider using Gumroad. Each product offers beautiful templates that are easy to customize and continually update. Use ColorHunt to pick your own set of modern colors. A fresh website will make you and your company look more trustworthy and professional. All of these platforms are already well-designed so you’ll benefit from the improved user experience.

Optimize your site for local search

Build a base of loyal, vocal fans locally. If you haven’t set up a Google My Business account yet, do it today. Creating local community is so important for small business. Even if you have customers nationally or internationally you still likely have local prospects and customers. Setting up your Google profile will get you exposure on Google Maps, Google Search and G+. There’s really no excuse not to list your business. It will help you simultaneously drive web and foot traffic. It won’t take much time if you follow these steps.

The post Is Your Web Site A Sales Lead Machine? Here Are 5 Ways To Turn It Into One. appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.