Why Does Every Organization Need a CRM?

In this day and age of wonderfully hi-tech innovations, customers have become much more sophisticated in the ways that they shop and how they want to communicate with you and evaluate their experience. This means that you, too, must make sure to stay up to speed on the best ways of conducting business with these savvy folks. If you haven’t started already, you need to be using CRM software, and here’s why:

First and foremost, you need a place to store contacts anyway, so why not use the most efficient tool available? Outdated methods like spreadsheets or paper files really limit your team’s visibility into customer interactions, as well as your ability to make informed, timely decisions—especially as your organization grows. Using a CRM program will give your entire staff a central, convenient location of immediately accessible, real-time information and data, so you’ll be able to assess what works (or doesn’t) in order to increase customer retention and improve sales success rates. The best part is that CRM saves each client’s information in a single, up-to-date file. This means that it can be easily accessed, and updated immediately, for each interaction that anyone on your team has ever had with that contact: meetings, emails, phone calls, live chats, scanned documents—everything is right there in a single spot! You can even cross-reference the files with schedules, calendars, and other software programs. Such convenience (and major time- and stress-saving) is priceless.

       Not only does CRM help you save time and stay organized, but it keeps every stakeholder on the same page. Whether it’s your customer service agents, sponsors, team leaders, customers, etc., everyone who’s been even remotely involved should, ideally, have matching notes. With CRM, these fine details are less likely to be lost, so communication is practically crystal clear. With everyone on the same page, it can save a lot of time and money, and can vastly improve customer relations! When your organization presents a seamless, united front, it gives your customers confidence; they’ll put more trust in you as a result. Finding and retaining customers is challenging enough as it is, so why risk losing them due to miscommunication?

Lastly, using CRM to monitor and understand how your clients engage with the organization can foster stronger, longer relationships. Knowing their habits, preferences, and what they’ve complained about (or been delighted with) can lead to organic, unforced upsells and suggestions for new opportunities to do more business. You will create closer, more informed relationships with your customers with your CRM solution, because you will have tracked their complete journey taken with your company. Like old friends, your customers’ needs and your business will be growing, together—and that’s a connection worth nurturing.

3 Tools to Track Your Expenses and Why They Are Helpful

Tax season is upon us, and that means we are all thinking about numbers! How do you track your organization’s finances? Which tools do you use, and are you finding them to be helpful, or is your current method creating more stress than it seems to be worth? Don’t worry, we can help.

I’d like to briefly highlight my favorite tools for tracking expenses. Check them out and see if one sounds like a good fit for you:

• Quickbooks – This awesome tool, available in app or web form, is VERY user-friendly and will help you separate business and personal expenses (which is critical during tax filing season). And speaking of taxes, it can automatically generate your tax docs! This inexpensive resource is totally affordable for anyone and is a must-have.  Click here to learn more.
• Mileage IQ – If you’re doing a lot of driving, this smartphone app can help you keep track of those miles and separate your personal travel from business driving. Bonus: as mileage rates change, the app automatically updates the figures so that you don’t have to!
• Expensify – This can help keep track of your expenses in real time via your smartphone. You upload photos of your business or personal receipts and link them to the card used for the purchase. No need to sift through a shoe box full of receipts or pore over your credit card statements ever again. 

Time, they say, is money, so the more time you save on doing your organization’s expenses (and taxes), the more time you’ll have to focus on and work toward your mission. And that is PRICELESS.

If you would like more information about our services, please click to check out our Strategy Academy. 

Happy filing!

It goes without saying, if everyone within an organization is on the same page, then operations and processes will run more smoothly. Have you ever wondered how those SUPER-successful companies seem to have amazing clarity of vision? Their teams often seem like they can read each other’s minds!

Don’t worry! I know 3 steps you can take to garner some of that mind-reading magic for your own team:

• INVOLVE key players in the tasks at hand. Let them have a chance to give input, ask questions, and work together to brainstorm ways to streamline the work that will eventually lead to your organization’s objectives being met. If employees are engaged in setting goals, they are more likely to feel personally invested in the work, and they’ll have a clear vision for the end-game and the processes needed to get there. 
• SET DEADLINES for your goals, whether big or small. If you have an end date in mind for a big project, start by thinking about that date. Then, work your way backward on a timeline, breaking this large mission into smaller goals. You’ll be able to assess where you stand as far as your target date(s), and your team can talk about ways to stay on track. 
• COMMUNICATE not only in the beginning, but at regular intervals. Ongoing updates will keep everyone accountable for the parts they play in achieving your collective goal. As the leader, this gives you a chance to celebrate those small victories for your employees and keep up morale, too! Crystal clear communication will ensure that everyone is apprised of the short- and long-term progress, and your employees will feel supported and valued.

Give these tips a try, and I bet your crew will start to work together more seamlessly. When everyone is on the same page, it sure makes for a better story to read, doesn’t it?

Let’s figure out more ways to get your team working together! Please check out our  People Academy and we’ll help your company find its groove.

3 Scary Branding Mistakes That Are Costing You

Whether you have a startup or an established business, if you’re hoping to compete with the status quo, you need to be focused on branding. Your products might be the best thing since sliced bread, but a poor brand image could be devastating for your sales. Are you making any of these mistakes?

1. Ignoring it. While it’s not listed in terms of a figure, one of the most valuable assets on a company’s balance sheet is its brand. Maybe the Powers that Be are under the impression that saving money in the short term doesn’t really affect the long-term brand, but it can be risky to view your marketing budget as a superficial expense instead of an important investment. Having a strong brand story can assure consistent sales from year to year; if you ignore your brand, it will decline exponentially faster than you can rebuild it. Once you start cutting corners, you may not be able to tape it back together.
2. Inconsistency. Your company should be using the same name, logo, slogan, etc. for everything internally or externally. The uniform your staff wears and the sign painted on the front of your business need to match your business cards and your website, and all the fonts and colors should be the same. Because consistency in branding is difficult to achieve if you only use one or two avenues to get the word out, you need to market yourself far and wide (maybe with the exception of “brandalism,” of which the effects aren’t quantifiable, strictly from a business analyst point of view—best to avoid it). Customers need to be hearing your jingles and tag lines, and seeing your name and logo over and over, in a variety of ways, before they recognize your brand—and everything they see should be identical for this to happen sooner.
3. Not revisiting it when it’s time. As people grow, so do businesses. This means that every 5 years or so, you should take a look at how your brand story has worked to prop you up for success. Assess whether it’s time to change things up; revisit the direction and tone you want to portray. Does it seem outdated or stale? Are you reaching your target audience? What kind of feedback both internally and externally have you gotten over the years, and are you ready to take action as a result? If you’re not willing to evolve with your market, you may feel like you’re being left behind while others are keeping up with the Kardashians.

Remember, your brand is a representation of you and your company, so make sure you’re doing everything you can to cultivate and support it. 

Why Every Executive Director Needs to Define Their Organization’s Ethos

I know I’ve talked about ethos before, and it’s become a buzzword in business lately. But do you know why you should clarify your organization’s ethos? The dictionary defines ethos as “custom” or “character,” and was originally used in ancient Greece by Aristotle; it referred to a man’s character or personality, especially as it balanced between passion and caution. Today, the term is used to refer to practices or values that distinguish a person, organization, or society from others. And here’s why ethos is so important.

Clarity. Does each and every employee know in his or her heart what ethical choices your company makes, or always has intentions of making? Having a clear set of values means that your entire team, from the top down, knows what your company stands for. Something I write about often is that presenting a united front is crucial for so many reasons—and this is another way to be unified and highlight your group’s cohesiveness. Not only will your own team have a clear awareness of your values, but it’ll be so evident, your customers will see it, too.

Avoiding a negative culture. Establishing what you stand for is, in itself, a constructive task rather than a destructive one. This favors positivity and avoids discussing negatives, which don’t even need to be acknowledged in order for your ethos to be upheld. Continue to take a look in the mirror to reflect on what you champion, endorse, promote—and don’t focus on what others may be doing out there that’s contrary to the good you’re trying to do. Just state your own value system and stick by it, and you’ll be less likely to get swept up in others’ drama.

Consistency from the inside out. Everyone on your team should embrace, if not embody, your company’s core beliefs—otherwise your organization could risk being perceived as hypocritical. At the very least, that’s not good for business and goes back to presenting a united front. More importantly, it is simply a matter of principle, isn’t it? When your team shares a belief system, those stated values become lived-out values, and a group ethos is echoed. Character is often said to be what happens when no one is looking. What’s going on in your organization when nobody’s looking?

So, how would you define your ethos? How would others define it? These are questions worth asking and answering—in business and in life.

Is Your Strategic Plan Working for You? Here’s How to Tell.

How well do you think your organization’s strategic plan is working? I’d like to share some key questions you should ask yourself in order to fully assess your plan. Looking at these 4 elements, you can evaluate your strategy and, if needed, take evasive action on your path, to achieve greater success.

1. Do you know the 4-5 things you should be working on over the next 12 months? Looking at the big picture and then zooming in, you should be able to easily identify these items; they will be the top 4-5 most obvious goals that you know you must achieve as you drive toward your long-term plan. Simply starting by asking this will help you immediately identify if you’re on track, or if you need to reassess and move the needle because of circumstantial changes—anything from new technologies to turnover to market changes might be steering your plan, for better or for worse, in a new direction.

2. Do you have quarterly goals? Once you’ve gauged your overall plan by identifying where you stand with your top targets, set quarterly goals to keep your organization driving toward those marks. The best way to determine progress is to then meet with your leadership team every quarter to review these goals and take a look at whether you’ve hit or missed the targets. This is your chance to make sure the short-term goals are steadily moving toward that long-term plan.

3. Are you in alignment to meet your goals? Consider how to link your operations (short-term plans) to your strategy (long-range vision). Have you structured your company’s budget/resources around all of the key components of your strategy? There should be direct links between how your resources are allocated and how those efforts support your strategy. Areas that contribute more, and less, directly to your strategic goals will become clearer, and over time, you can work on aligning everything in your budget. Even if you’ve only budgeted for a single fiscal year, think about how you’ll align your strategy to future endeavors and projects that are out there on the horizon.

Have you discussed your organizational goals in the last 7 days? Make sure you’re having weekly leadership meetings to review key performance indicators for your business and how these affect your strategic plan. Everyone should share important updates and go over their team’s progress to date, such as milestones or upcoming events. Raise questions and identify concerns, assessing potential roadblocks or challenges—then prioritize any issues to resolve. Make sure leadership agrees on next steps, and be ready to share results and progress again the following week. A weekly meeting will keep key players accountable, put everyone on the same page, and help you navigate those shorter in-roads that lead to the long stretch of highway that is your strategic plan.