You appreciate your current customers, but when was the last time you told them? As the economy and your business improve, it's easy to forget how important each of your existing clients has been to your success.
Make it a priority to regularly thank your customers. Here are some ideas:
- A phone call or handwritten note: Simple. Surprising. Effective.
- Coupons: How many times have you seen a business offer a coupon that is only good on your first order? Why reward strangers when the people who have done business with you for years get nothing? Doesn't make much sense.
Delight your customers with a coupon for services or a free software license. Let them know that their business is just as important to you as attracting new customers.
- Customer success stories: When was the last time you wrote a case study about one of your customers? Case studies are great content for your Web site, subjects for your blog posts and recognition for your clients. Commit to a schedule, like one case study each quarter -- and stick to it.
Case studies don't have to be long; one side of one page is plenty. Tell the story simply with a description of the customer's problem and your solution. Focus on the business benefit, not the technology.
- Free planning session: By staying involved with your customer's plans, you position yourself as a true partner rather than just a vendor. Planning sessions don't have to be at the end or the beginning of the year. Summer can be a great time to suggest planning sessions for some seasonal customers, like retailers and schools.
- Networking event: You probably have customers who share many of the same challenges. Why not facilitate the opportunity for them to connect? Sponsor a happy hour or dinner for a small group of IT managers or CFOs to help them share ideas and position yourself as an advocate.
A side benefit of the networking event is the opportunity to educate yourself on issues that affect these customers. By finding solutions, you can expand service offerings to meet the needs.
As your business picks up, don't forget to thank the customers who helped you keep the doors open during the tough times. Don't let the excitement of winning new clients take the focus off maintaining long-term client relationships.
How do you show clients that you care? Add a comment below or send me a note and let's share the knowledge.
Posted by Barb Levisay on May 16, 2012 at 2:45 PM0 comments
In this installment of our continuing series following "Dave" and his evaluation team as they define their five-year technology roadmap, we're going to take a step back to learn a valuable lesson.
The Value of System Review
As part of the evaluation process, Dave engaged his team's solution partner to perform a paid review of the current Syspro system.
Dave was skeptical about the review. Since the original implementation, the solution partner had been silent. An invoice for the annual maintenance agreement was the full extent of communication. "If we treated our customers the way most IT partners treat their customers, we would be out of business," Dave noted.
Based on Dave's experience with IT vendors he believes that they place too much emphasis on the technical solution and not enough on the business value. "I would gladly pay for a tune-up every now and again to make sure the system is being used to our greatest advantage," Dave said.
'I Wish I Had Known'
The system review went better than expected. The two-person team spent three days working with system users to observe how they were using the system and help them solve specific challenges.
"We found out we were being our own worst enemy," Dave observed. "We were not using the system as it was designed." The Syspro partner team fixed navigation issues, corrected problem data practices and suggested a number of small steps that will make a huge improvement in the company's use of the current system. Improvements worth the cost of the engagement -- even without the system review report.
The most common reaction to the guidance of the Syspro partner team was: "I wish I had known about this sooner." To the Syspro partner's credit, they acknowledged their oversight in follow-through and committed to change.
Lessons Learned
The primary lesson here is pretty self-evident. No matter what kind of technology you provide to your customers -- from managed services to ERP to training -- ask your clients how it's working for them. If you don't set up a systematic way for that question to get asked regularly, it won't happen.
Create and schedule an action plan to connect with your customers regularly and ask how they are doing. Different clients need different levels of attention. Segment your customers to align the right level of investment into keeping relationships going.
Based on their purchases or system value, tier your clients and build your customer relationship plan. For example:
- Top 20 percent of customers: Assign a client account manager to schedule quarterly or annual system reviews with the client and your solution architect.
- Next 40 percent: Assign a client account manager or consultant to call each customer at least once a year. "I am calling to see how Dynamics (Lync, training, IT services) is working out for you. Are there any ways the system could work better for you?"
- Last 40 percent: Send a personal e-mail asking about their system as well as an invitation to a webinar to learn about how new releases can build value in their business.
These touches should be in addition to a monthly e-mail newsletter which always includes an easy way for them to contact you with questions.
Next Up: The Decision Matrix
Dave is developing a decision matrix to help the evaluation team weigh the strengths and weaknesses of the business management solutions they are considering. In the next installment, we'll see how the company will prioritize and select.
How do you give your current customers the attention they deserve? Add a comment below or send me a note and let's share the knowledge.
More from This Series:
Posted by Barb Levisay on May 10, 2012 at 12:37 PM0 comments
Last month, Scott Bekker, Redmond Channel Partner's editor in chief, was invited to share his expert advice on media relations with the D.C. chapter of the International Association of Microsoft Channel Partners (IAMCP). The Internet may have made it easier to publish a press release, but harder to stand out from the crowd. Bekker's audience --which included MSPs, Dynamics partners, learning and break/fix partners -- learned valuable lessons to help them get noticed.
Why Don't Journalists Respond to Your Press Release?
Bekker delivered an eye-opening introduction explaining why it's so difficult to get attention from the press for the stories that you think would appeal to a broad audience. Two factors are primarily to blame, according to Bekker. "One, people want to read bad news," he said. "Two, time pressure on editors is becoming more intense as they take on more responsibility for writing and curating online content."
Since bad news is probably not the way you want to attract the media's attention, the second issue is where the opportunity lies.
What Can You Do To Get Noticed?
Treat media relations the same as you do customer marketing, Bekker advised. As we've said previously in this blog, building relationships is a continuous process and applies to customers and journalists. Consistently touching your target audience to educate them on the benefits you can deliver is the key to success with marketing and with media relations.
Journalists, just like customers, may not respond to your e-mail the first time or even the tenth time. But when the time comes that they need what you have to offer, they will remember you.
And just as you do with prospective customers, identify the journalists you think would be helpful to your business and concentrate on them. Sending mass-distributed press releases to publications that don't serve your markets is a waste of time and energy. Focus your PR efforts on the industries you serve and the publications that your customers read.
Help Journalists Build Content
Journalists are in the business of delivering meaningful content to their target audience -- they are always looking for good material. Build your relationship with journalists by helping them identify interesting stories and write great content. You efforts will be appreciated and likely rewarded.
Bekker had several specific suggestions for ways to connect with your target journalists:
- Comment on blogs or articles using your full name and company name.
- Follow on Twitter, reply and re-Tweet entries.
- When you send a news release, include a blog post the journalist can use.
Keep in mind that your focus should be on helping the journalist, not just helping yourself. Send an e-mail asking what stories are coming up. Respond with suggestions about how you could contribute to the story.
It all comes down to journalists being people, working with limited resources, who can use all the help they can get. As you build your relationship with the journalist, you'll be rewarded with exposure.
How has PR helped your business? Add a comment below, or e-mail me and let's share the knowledge.
Posted by Barb Levisay on May 03, 2012 at 4:32 PM0 comments
Understanding the buying process is the first step in building meaningful marketing content to educate and support our prospects. In this series, we are following a real manufacturing company through a business management system evaluation, guided by the director of operations, "Dave."
Consumers of Information Feel the Pain
In Part 1, Dave shared his plans to meet with the evaluation team to kick off the project. Dave reports that the educational start to the evaluation process was very well-received and got people talking.
To Dave's surprise, the most animated people in the kickoff meeting were the consumers of the system information as opposed to the heavy users, like the controller. "The people who weren't big users of the system were the most vocal about the challenges. They are more consumers of the system -- they need to know if a particular part is in stock or where a machine is in the manufacturing process," Dave said. "And they were most in agreement of the challenges with the current system."
Dave observed that the people who work with the system every day -- the accounting staff who use the system day in and day out -- have become immune to the problems. They are simply used to the way they have to operate. On the other hand, the consumers of the information outside of accounting are frustrated and feel strongly that "something needs to change."
Workarounds: The Symptoms of Pain
As a next step, each member of the evaluation team met with their department leaders, which included the manufacturing, parts and service, engineering, and accounting teams, to identify and list their points of pain.
Leading the manufacturing team discussion, Dave asked members to focus on their workarounds. "Every workaround is a sign of something that isn't working. Every spreadsheet that you have to keep, every notebook that you have that tells you how to access information or how to do things -- those are signs that something is not right," noted Dave.
After the workaround exercise, he showed his team other systems as examples of what could be to spark discussion. "People that are in it don't realize what they are in. When you are trying to elicit a discussion about what you would like, they need to have something to compare it to," Dave said. "A lot of the people on staff have never had any exposure to other systems so they don't know that there are better ways."
Lessons Learned
How have you defined your target audience? IT managers and CFOs have historically been the focus of marketing campaigns and messaging. Are there others in the organization who are feeling the pain more acutely who may be more interested in your solution?
In terms of content, there are two groups to consider at this stage of the process. You can connect with those frustrated department managers looking for answers and you can help the evaluation team document their pains. Ideas to get you started include:
- Content on your Web site that addresses common workarounds (think keywords) for the industries you serve.
- Blogs about the real-world workarounds that your consultants come across in the field.
- Screencasts demonstrating common solutions to workarounds for your target industries.
- An "Evaluation Team Workaround Worksheet" for your sales team to send to prospects.
Next Up: System Review
Last week, the partner supporting the current system, Syspro, performed a paid system review. While Dave is skeptical, he believes that due diligence dictates investigating the current system's potential to meet their needs. We'll find out how they did in the next installment.
How do you help your prospects navigate the evaluation process? Add a comment below or send me a note and let's share the knowledge.
More from This Series:
Posted by Barb Levisay on April 26, 2012 at 12:38 PM0 comments
A recent study of over 5,000 businesses conducted by Hubspot, the marketing service company, found that LinkedIn generated the highest visitor-to-lead conversion rate at 2.74 percent -- almost three times higher than both Twitter (.69 percent) and Facebook (.77 percent). The visitor-to-lead conversion rate means the percentage of Web site visitors who took some action to become a lead, like download a white paper.
The study's findings bring home the value of keeping your LinkedIn profile current, expanding your network and sharing updates that keep your connections well informed. You don't have to use Twitter to share your message with a wide audience. With far less social chatter than Facebook, LinkedIn shares get more attention and can deliver more value to your business.
Update Your Profile
The first step to making the most of LinkedIn is to update your profile and make sure that it is 100 percent complete. LinkedIn makes the process very simple with the "Improve your Profile" button located at the top of your Edit Profile page.
Michelle Glennie of The Partner Marketing Group offers three practical suggestions to keep in mind as you update your profile:
- You need to have three recommendations in order to have a complete profile. Through the recommendation tool, send an e-mail to customers, colleagues or vendors that you have worked with. Once they have written a recommendation for you, you will have a chance to review it before posting it to your profile.
- Be sure to add Skills & Expertise to your profile. This is a newer feature in LinkedIn and it's a tool that will make your profile more searchable. Think of these skills as "keywords" on your profile. Simply select as many skills as you like to represent what you do, what community you work in and where you have expertise.
- Add your company Web site, blog and Twitter links to your profile. You are allowed to have three Web site links on your personal profile and a link to your Twitter account if you have one. These can create some good inbound links for your company and blogs that you are participating in, not to mention bring more awareness on how to stay connected to you.
Glennie added, "Make a note on your calendar to take a look at your profile and update it on a monthly basis. Making small updates such as adding recommendations, adding skills, or updating your summary can keep your profile from going stale."
In future posts, we'll look at additional LinkedIn best practices to help you send more visitors to your Web site and convert them to customers.
How are you using LinkedIn? Add a comment below or send me a note and let's share the knowledge.
Posted by Barb Levisay on April 19, 2012 at 10:20 AM0 comments
In this blog, we have often talked about the importance of matching marketing activities and content to the buying process. For this series, we have been given the unique opportunity to follow the systems evaluation and purchase decision of a real company. Our guide on this journey attended Convergence as a prospect and volunteered to share his experience leading a business management systems evaluation. We'll refer to him as "Dave" throughout the series.
While the focus of this evaluation is ERP, the lessons learned from this selection process apply across all significant technology investments.
Background
The name of the company and Dave's true identity will remain anonymous to protect their privacy, but we'll share a few facts. The company is a manufacturer of specialty industrial machinery with 200 employees in seven North American locations. A Microsoft-centric organization, the company currently uses Syspro for ERP and SharePoint for document management.
As head of operations, Dave's role includes oversight of IT. He leads the eight-member evaluation team, including an executive team of four and the department managers.
The initial goal of the project is to define what systems the company needs to support growth. The first milestone is the development of a systems roadmap, due by the end of June. The roadmap will include a five-year systems vision and a 24-month action plan.
Education First
Last week, the selection process kicked off with a meeting to educate the evaluation team. Dave prepared a 44-slide PowerPoint presentation to introduce the project and get everyone on the same page. The deck covers:
- Lingo: Eighteen definitions of terms commonly used by vendors. Terms like VAR, ERP, add-on, workflow, integration and SharePoint.
- The Issues: Very high-level description of why the project is needed. Several slides on the importance of changing bad habits during the implementation.
- Getting to the Solution: Definition of next steps and deliverables.
Dave closed the presentation with these words of wisdom:
- Every company has these bad habits and system issues,
- Software looks wonderful in its demonstration state,
- There are hidden "uglys" in each solution, and
- Implementation of completely new systems is a ton of work (but may be worth it).
Lessons Learned
There are "Daves" out there now searching the Internet or asking their friends for information to help educate their evaluation team. Be ready to support their first steps and they will keep coming back for more. You can be prepared to help with:
- A page on your Web site with common definitions, include a downloadable PDF.
- An article or white paper on change management best practices -- something like, "How good companies break bad habits."
- An update of the services pages on your Web site, written for non-technical readers. When in doubt, ask a non-technical person to read it and explain it back to you.
- An "Evaluation Team Introduction" PowerPoint ready for your sales team to send to prospects.
To Be Continued
We are just getting started on this journey. We'll check back with Dave every couple of weeks to report on progress and build our lessons learned. Special thanks to Dave for allowing us to follow along and learn from his experience. His time and openness are appreciated.
What content do you have ready for the evaluation process? Add a comment below or send me a note and let's share the knowledge.
More from This Series:
Posted by Barb Levisay on April 11, 2012 at 12:38 PM0 comments
A few imaginative Microsoft partners are testing the use of Quick Response (QR) Codes and Microsoft Tags in marketing campaigns. Increasingly seen in magazine ads and store windows, QR Codes are two-dimensional matrix barcodes. Using your Windows Phone, iPhone or Android smartphone, users scan the code which takes them to a landing page or Web site for more information or additional actions.
Case in Point: Promoting Social Media
When planning for their Convergence Expo promotion, the Virginia Beach, Va.-based Torrential Data team wanted to add a social media component to the mix. Torrential Data's president, Brad Bimson, recalled, "Our intention was as much about learning what was possible as it was for getting substantial results out of it." The promotion invited booth visitors to register to win an iPad by posting a social media message about Datahaven for Dynamics, Torrential Data's ISV solution.
When a partner or customer visited the Torrential Data booth, they could pick up a 4x6-inch folded brochure for Datahaven with screenshots on the inside and two barcodes on the back -- one QR Code and one Microsoft Tag. Scanning the code with a smartphone took the prospect to a landing page with links to Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.
"We wanted to make it as easy as possible for visitors to share, so we put code behind the buttons and prepopulated the Tweets," Bimson said. The links were prepopulated with the message, "I saw Datahaven for Dynamics at Booth 1352 at Convergence. What a great document management solution!"
Overall, Bimson was pleased with the results but there were a few challenges. Some booth visitors wanted to post to Facebook or LinkedIn but didn't have their log-in set up on their phone. Others did not have the QR code readers installed on their phones.
Regardless, Convergence was a huge success for Torrential Data, delivering 50 percent more leads than expected from the Expo. And while the jury is still out on the final results coming from the QR Code promotion, the team learned valuable lessons to apply for the next trade show.
Are you using QR codes successfully? Add a comment below or send me an e-mail and let's share the knowledge.
Posted by Barb Levisay on April 05, 2012 at 10:36 AM1 comments
It's a given that the Internet has transformed marketing. A multitude of studies confirm that most buying decisions start with a Web search. But while that may be true, here's a real-world example that tells a different story.
When Connie Silverman, controller for Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts in Kansas City, Mo., started looking for an IT service provider, she didn't start on the Internet. The iconic Kauffman Center was under construction and Silverman was responsible for building the technology infrastructure to support operations at opening.
Silverman needed a partner she could completely trust to support the Center during the demanding months before grand opening. "We were growing from a staff of four employees to about 50," Silverman said "We needed someone who could scale with us."
It's Who You Know
To find the right vendor, Silverman worked with a board of directors evaluation committee to create a request for proposal (RFP) and review solution providers. The RFP was sent only to firms referred through the connections of the board. An Internet search was not part of the process.
As Silverman notes, "Most of our board members, as well as our donor base, are all high influencers in the Kansas City business community. They are in the Chamber or other associations in town, so the network is pretty wide."
The referral process was extremely important to the decision because it provided an initial endorsement to help filter potential vendors. Based on RFP responses, three vendors were selected for interviews with the evaluation committee.
It's Partnership
Carl Hentsch, strategic business consultant with Kansas City-based NetStandard, stood apart from the other vendors by delivering a message of partnership. During the NetStandard interview, Hentsch focused on how the two organizations could work together to meet the changing needs of the Kauffman Center.
The evaluation committee's decision was clear based on the interview. From file sharing to e-mail to Dynamics GP, Hentsch and NetStandard worked with Silverman to guide the IT decisions to support the Kauffman Center's growth. Balancing cost with the functionality that the Center needs, Silverman has complete confidence in the recommendations that Hentsch makes. The grand opening of the Kauffman Center last September, while very hectic in the last weeks, was completely supported by outsourced IT through a team approach.
Lessons Learned
One, networking builds relationships in your community that will deliver unexpected opportunities.
Two, most customers are looking for a partner, not a service provider.
Three, not all opportunities come through the Web.
How are you building your network? Add a comment below or send me an e-mail and let's share the knowledge.
Posted by Barb Levisay on March 29, 2012 at 2:58 PM0 comments
While it may seem obvious that taking a creative approach to marketing is a good idea, it's tough to step outside the norm and try untested tactics. The problem is that new ideas don't always work. Sometimes, though, they hit big -- and there lies the value in trying.
An Indirect Approach To Finding Customers
Microsoft Learning partner QuickStart Intelligence, headquartered in Irvine, Calif., trains IT professionals and developers on Microsoft technology. The bulk of QuickStart's business comes from Microsoft and partners, so it faces a common challenge for both training and ISV partners: How can it work cooperatively with partners to connect with end users?
In 2009, QuickStart decided to take a new approach to marketing. Justin Slagle, QuickStart's director of business development, said, "We wanted to get out of the loop of waiting for people to deploy new technologies. We wanted to help customers deploy more software which required a presales approach working with partners."
One-Day Technology Conference
QuickStart's unique approach was to hold a day-long technology event targeted at business decision-makers. By educating CEOs and other executives about the benefits of new technology, QuickStart was promoting adoption of applications new to the organization, as well as the latest versions of owned software. The assumption was that training opportunity would follow the adoption.
"We started out with a one-day technology conference," Slagle said. "We wanted to make it very local and very high-level so that we could draw in the c-level."
The event was so successful that QuickStart expanded the program. The company has hosted 16 events at various convention centers with as many as 28 partners as co-sponsors. The technology conferences typically draw between 200 and 600 customers who get to choose from dozens of sessions at the 100-200 technical levels.
This year, QuickStart has five SharePoint Intelligence Conference events and five Cloud Intelligence Technology Conferences scheduled. It is also leading a group of Microsoft Learning Partners, all Star Learning Alliance Partners, that are hosting nine more events to complete a 14-city series across the entire United States.
"The beauty of the event is that high-level decision-makers come to understand the new technology from Microsoft," Slagle said. "At the end of the event we ask the customers if they would like to do a proof-of-concept to see how the technology would work in their organization. We've had up to 77 proof-of-concept leads come from a single event."
QuickStart's investment in this marketing program has grown over the years. It has a dedicated staff to manage the events year-round. So, is it all worth it?
Slagle said, "We have helped our partners build multimillion-dollar pipelines as a result of these events. QuickStart sees a significant ROI in training business within six to 12 months."
How are you thinking outside the box? Add a comment below or send me an e-mail and let's share the knowledge.
Posted by Barb Levisay on March 15, 2012 at 2:09 PM0 comments
If you are like most partners, you have accumulated a pretty decent contact list over the years. From seminars, referrals and networking you have collected quite a few names and e-mails.
Chances are, those contacts are all stored in the Access database you built in 2001 when you had some spare time on your hands. Or, you have them in Sales#@$%.com. Wow. Time to change that.
Internal-Use Microsoft Dynamics CRM for Partners
Did you know that if you have earned one Gold or Silver competency, you have access to Microsoft Dynamics CRM? One Silver competency entitles you to 25 on-premises or 100 online user-access licenses. With one Gold competency, it's 100 on-premises and 250 online. Additional competencies earn you more user-access licenses. Check your MPN account for details on your internal use benefits.
"Partners should be taking advantage of Microsoft Dynamics CRM internally to grow their business," said Lisa Malone, Partner Account Manager for Microsoft Dynamics, East Region. "Sometimes we are so busy positioning the benefits of Dynamics to the broad market, we forget to share best practices with our valuable channel."
Step-by-step instructions are posted on PartnerPoint to help you figure out how many seats you are eligible to use, how to access and implementation resources.
Expand Business Opportunities
While the cost savings from internal-use Dynamics CRM licenses is the most obvious benefit, there's more. When your teams -- including sales, management and consulting -- are using a solution, they will see the possibilities for customers as well. Before you know it, you have a new practice area with expanded services for your existing clients.
Then, of course, there is the functionality of Dynamics CRM. As your business grows, the old Access database is probably not the best way to connect your employees to customer data. The social media connections and new mobile functionality of Dynamics CRM can take you to a new level of customer interaction instantly.
There's no better time to get started with Microsoft Dynamics CRM. Adoption is building and you can participate in the wave without big investment.
Are you building opportunities with Dynamics CRM? Add a comment below or tell me about it and let's share the knowledge.
See Also:
Posted by Barb Levisay on March 08, 2012 at 11:07 AM0 comments