Unified Technology, Marketing and Business Process Automation

A survey from Benchmark International determined that the average four-drawer file cabinet costs $25,000 to fill (includes paper, labor, share of facility cost, etc) and $2,100 per year to maintain. Add to this the cost of

Add to this the cost of organizing, finding, and copying these files. Lost files? Add $150 on average to find it. Document imaging solves these problems while greatly enhancing your ability to search data within each file, organize and share files, and create backups for disaster recovery.

The advances of document scanning have increased tremendously over the past decade to a point where most offices can support a digital document environment without adding expensive equipment, software or staff expertise.

How to Get Started:

1.      Take an assessment of the paper files your company handles on a regular basis. Make a hierarchy that could be used to organize them – this would be similar to your filing cabinet organization method (assuming you have one). For instance:

• Level 1: Clients
• Level 1.1: Client Name
• Level 1.2: Client Opportunities
• Level 1.3: Client Contracts
• Level 1.4: Contract Communications

Build out this hierarchy and then ask yourself what critical pieces of information you would want from each level to optimize how your staff accesses data – this will guide how you tag each document with keywords. For instance, let’s say you want to locate all client opportunity proposals – if you have tagged each digital file with the keyword “proposal” your search will return every proposal on the network instantly.

2.      Ensure you have the right equipment - most copiers made within the last few years also provide scanning capabilities and the ability to save files to a network drive – check to see if yours does. If not, dedicated document scanners are very affordable. Whatever type of equipment you choose ensure it provides a multi-page document feeder so you don’t have to scan one page at a time.

3.      Adopt a digital philosophy - Once you have the equipment to scan documents – integrate the philosophy of digital documents within your organization by requiring that every file be scanned and stored on the network. Help employees understand the financial benefits of using digital documents and how that translates to their compensation and work stability (not to mention reduced hassle from searching for lost files).

Posted by Kelly Short at 09:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Okay, an earthquake measuring 3.3 on the Richter scale is hardly worth noting, but it does remind us that disasters do happen and when they do, we must have a contingency plan. How will your business continue operating in time of disaster?

Hurricanes cut power, internet, and destroy office structures. Disease spreads rampantly causing public health officials to urge citizens to remain home for protection. A tornado ravages a central business district causing major disruption to office access. Sound familiar? It should – all of these disasters and more have occurred in the past decade causing billions of lost revenue to companies – and forcing many companies out of business.

How to Proceed:

Your company’s disaster plan (or disaster recovery or contingency plan as they are also called) can be enacted at a moments notice to ensure the impact to your business is greatly minimized, but have you recently updated your disaster plan to account for changes in business process, technology and new or changing staff responsibilities?

Review your disaster plan at least once per year and ask yourself the following questions:

1. Is the disaster recovery plan up-to-date? Does it reflect our current operating model and business processes?

2. Do all employees understand how to execute the disaster recovery plan? When was the last time the disaster recovery plan was rehearsed?

3. Does your technology stack support working remotely if employees can’t access the physical office? Do employees have access to important files, software, and systems required to perform their daily jobs?

4. When was the last time your data was backed-up? If all your computers were destroyed overnight where would you turn to for mission-critical data?

These and many other questions will help you ensure your disaster recovery plan will sustain your business when disasters hit. As the Boy Scouts motto reads – “Be Prepared.”

Posted by Kelly Short at 09:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

A recent study from McCann Erikson UK Social Media survey found that 65% of marketing managers do not adequately understand how social networking tools can be used to market their company. This while an overwhelming number admit social networking is here to stay (86%).

A recent study from McCann Erikson UK Social Media survey found that 65% of marketing managers do not adequately understand how social networking tools can be used to market their company. This while an overwhelming number admit social networking is here to stay (86%).

If your company has a marketing manager, or if you wear that hat in addition to your role as CEO, consider the following:

1. Most users of social networking sites are NOT in high school.

2. Word of mouth is more important that ever in marketing services and products to customers – social networking sites have become incredibly powerful tools in spreading this word of mouth

3. Creating a presence on social networking sites extends brand and creates community with potential and existing customers, but also improves your search engine rankings

How to Get Started

1. Determine which social networking site is most appropriate for your target audience based on their general member demographics and interests

2. Determine what content you will provide in your profile – will it be product/service information to attract new customers or customer service information to facilitate communications with existing customers?

3. Identify a resource within your company who will be responsible for monitoring and creating posts on your social network site, then create a profile based on the information you determined in step #2.

4. Engage, engage, engage! Social networking is just that – networking. So make sure your company is maintaining its online relationship the way you maintain your real-world equivalents.

Posted by Kelly Short at 08:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The consultancy at McKinsey published in the McKinsey Quarterly the top online marketing trends affecting business today. Of note, more than half of respondents stated that by 2010 they will generate more than 10% of their sales from online channels. Considering online sales channels often generate more bottom-line revenue when compared to offline channels, this shift in sales generation represents a tremendous paradigm shift for companies of all sizes.

“Most companies today don’t integrate their online and offline marketing activities; companies that use online tools across the full spectrum of marketing activities are much more likely to do so,” the survey summarizes. By integrating your online sales, service and marketing with in-house technology and process management you will create a new competitive advantage within your company.

Points of interest from the survey

Most Popular New Online Marketing Vehicles for 2009

• Blogs
• Social Network Sites
• Wikis
• Web Services
• Podcasts
• Widgets
• Online Games
• Virtual Worlds

Importance of Using Online Tools in Respondents’ Marketing

• Service management – 93%
• Sales management – 76%
• Advertising – 68%
• Product development – 66%
• Pricing – 40%

Which digital channels does your company use to sell products or services?

• Company website – 79%
• Proprietary or external e-commerce platform – 42%
• Store in virtual world – 8 %
• External auction site – 6%

Which digital tools does your company use for service?

• Information on company website – 86%
• Email – 78%
• One click-to-call – 29%
• Hosting a knowledgebase or user forum on website for self help – 16%
• Online text or voice chat with customer support person – 8%
• Online video chat with customer support person – 6%

Posted by Kelly Short at 08:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

According to a recent Dealix survey of 3,000 phone calls to auto dealerships 72% of inquiry calls received were mishandled. The study notes that most mishandled calls fall into three areas:

• Seventy-two percent of dealers did not ask for an appointment with the caller.
• Thirty-five percent of dealers did not suggest alternatives if the caller's first vehicle of interest was already sold.
• Twenty-four percent of dealer voice mail systems were full or not functional, so the customer was unable leave a message.

How can your company learn from these mistakes? Consider the following:

Problem 1: Are your agents, sales staff or receptionist asking potential customers for face time when they have them on the phone?

Solution: Getting a lead on the phone is equivalent to gold – think how many voice messages you’ve never had returned. You must convert while you have a lead on the phone and asking them right then for a meeting will begin the process of converting that lead to a sale. Enabling your staff with a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solution will help them ask the right questions from the potential customer.

Problem 2: Are your sales agents and front-line employees enabled to suggest alternatives if you don’t offer what the potential customer is seeking?

Solution: If a customer calls asking for Plastic Zippers Size 5 enable your staff to suggest your company’s line of Brass Zippers Size 4 which last longer, require less space, and in recent laboratory tests perform better than plastic zippers. Decision and pricing engines, internal wiki’s and CRM solutions can all help in directing the customer towards products and services your company offers.

Problem 3: Is voice mail killing your leads? Potential customers unable to leave messages? Do you even know the answer to this question?

Solution: It may seem obvious, but setting up your voicemail system appropriately can have an enormous impact on your company’s image. Ensure a “catch all” mailbox is created for overflow calls, create a general inquiries mailbox that mentions your company’s website for additional information, and run reports to determine which mailboxes are filling up the most.

Posted by Kelly Short at 09:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Summary: Used properly, social networking tools like Facebook, Twitter and MySpace can generate leads, create community with existing customers, and provide information on products and services.

You might think Twitter, Facebook and MySpace are only for your fifteen year old tween texting wildly on her cell phone, but these social networking sites have become important tools for large, respectable companies in generating business leads and extending their brand.

Facebook currently has over 100,000,000 members who link to each other through known friends and to new friends through suggestions from existing friends. Though primarily for personal profiles – many companies have discovered that creating a company profile enables existing and perspective customers to learn about your company’s services, products and to receive news blasts as you update your status.

Twitter has recently exploded as a quick and efficient means of sending short communications to customers since tweets are limited to 140 characters. (This sentence has 127 characters) “All ladies tops 50% off today only at DFW Dress Shack” is a great example of a tweet a retail company might send to their “followers” to generate interest and drive sales. Most followers receive tweets immediately on their cell phone further enhancing the timeliness of the Twitter mechanism.

The oldest of the three social networking sites, MySpace caters to a much younger audience but members cover all age groups. Rock bands, television shows, and other entertainment organizations have embraced MySpace to communicate with their friends in the same manner as Facebook.

The best way to use social networking sites is to provide your existing and potential customers with a mechanism to communicate with your team, learn more about your products and services, and to keep customers updated on exciting changes within your organization. The tools tend to be less formal so include the personality of your organization to increase interest from perspective customers.

Things to consider:

• How to track and convert new “friends” or “followers” to leads, then to customers?
• What is the most efficient method for managing communications with friends/followers?
• How can social networking and viral marketing be leveraged to garner attention and potential customers?

Interesting stats:

A recent report from http://www.whitepapersource.com/socialmediamarketing/report/ provides insight into the habits of the social networker:

Posted by Kelly Short at 01:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)