You probably already have some way of recording customer contact details, right? Excel spreadsheets, Outlook groups, post it notes, or even a database that was set up once, but is now gathering dust. Is this costing you time and profits?

Some micro business owners feel caught in the middle – they do not have the time or resources to use the full functionality of the large CRMs built for medium to large enterprises – but they could do with a contact management system to keep it all together in one place, as well as build targeted marketing campaigns.

With a well-executed CRM system, you can better service customers, increase customer loyalty and repeat business, streamline tasks, and of course ensure long-term profitability. The more information you gather in your system, the better you will become at seeing where the opportunities lie.

Unfortunately, while all business owners know they are vital, these strategies are rarely implemented consistently and easily, so let’s look at some of the sticking points.

Problem Overcome – Under-Marketing

Often we overlook marketing our other services/products to people that we have already sold to. This upsell or cross-sell can be an easy way to add to your profits for little extra costs. But how?  One way is to market to a segmented list with a special offer for that particular type of client.

Many business people have been doing it the manual way so long, that they are surprised when I show them a system that does it all so easily … often automatically. This frees up their time as well as aids their brand recall.

Problem Overcome – Crossing Over Tasks, Chaotic Working Style

In working with businesses, I have seen some partner businesses misallocating tasks, sometimes forgetting tasks, crossing over tasks, and having poor systems and tools. Once such couple I recently coached at length had all these problems.

When it comes to this couple, their working style was very different, one had more on their plate, and the unbalanced task allocation was having a big impact on their relationship all-round. A fresh look at it opened up some great answers, like using a journal for noting ideas instead of interrupting, respecting the spouse’s time, having a schedule, discussing business at a weekly planning meeting and prioritizing tasks.

In your team, who are doing similar tasks?  Which tasks could be streamlined?  If it’s a manual task or process then we see how it can be automated using technology or a simple system sequence.  Oft-times using a software tool can streamline a task into a few simple steps…  saving many hours of painstaking work.

You may even be paying for a bells & whistles CRM program, but haven’t seen the benefits yet as so-and-so was supposed to be doing it (i.e. a dusty database). Take charge and look at new ways to perform those regular repetitive tasks like quotes, proposals, invoicing, follow-up emails, newsletters, etc. I’d love to hear all your questions about how to streamline your tasks.

There are many ‘experts’ out there – but who do we listen to when it comes to good advice?  Take copywriting, for example.  I have clients who say that writing their own sales copy is the hardest thing to do.

Sure, it’s difficult to craft the words that hit their target and achieve desired results. If we look to the master copywriters like John Carlton or Dan Kennedy, there is a real difference in their copy – and it’s not the industry, the product, or the freebies on offer (OK, sometimes it’s the freebies, because we can’t resist).

What is that difference?  First of all the text is understandable by all. It’s chatty and helpful, as if the writer was talking to a friend. It’s specific and it’s credible.

These days business owners and marketers are all so worried about conveying their experience, professionalism, quality and capability, that they often forget to create empathy with the customer. So they write from a we focus. You need to sound like you are helping them – copywriters call this a “you” focus.

You might notice my headline above… it has a question which might appeal to a business owner, it creates a little intrigue (what is you-focussed?), and it contains the word “your”. I want you to go to your website home page now and count the ‘you’s, then count the ‘we’s. Do your ‘we’s outnumber your ‘you’s?

Another thing you might not have thought of – every serious business that thrives today did not get to that point with the owner writing their own marketing material or website (except where he or she was specifically experienced in copywriting).

Outrageous Advertising pioneer Bill Glazer did not get where he is today without the tuition of copywriter Dan Kennedy, although he did have his own novel ideas about marketing to the people in his menswear retail store. (You can read his methods in the book, Outrageous Advertising that’s Outrageously Successful).

My suggestion to those who are struggling with sales copy is…  leave it to the copywriters. You probably have enough balls to juggle as it is. Plus you can’t just rely on that old maxim “build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door”. Savvy businesses have to target their marketing towards those people most bothered with mice, for instance, with a good answer to that awful problem!

Please comment with what you found in your website copy.

Every business owner I speak to has the problem of wearing multiple hats, chasing their tail and doing many things at once.  Is there an answer to this problem?  I think each business type is different but they all have common issues to deal with.

Because there are so many options, and so much information at our fingertips, many business owners get really frustrated and time poor. So what are some simple steps to get out of the mire and into productivity and growth mode?

Reminding ourselves to “Eat that Frog” and do just the most important things first in our day is the first step (recommended book: Eat That Frog by Brian Tracy).

Once you have your task list prioritised and under control, the next step is delegation of some tasks.  Sometimes you can outsource administrative/marketing tasks to someone who is either paid a lot less than you or else is much better at it, freeing up your time to focus on your core talent.

Next, you can set up a system to deal with repeated or follow-up tasks. You need a way to not only capture interested people’s details, but also build trust and respect. Say for example your system captures email addresses and emails a seven part course to interested prospects. It also tracks their interests and follows up with recommended products/services. They are invited to events you have put into the email service – and have a way of responding that is easy, like booking/paying through your own portal. This is all possible from within Infusionsoft.

What you are trying to achieve with these sytems is automation, to take less of your time and to increase the results from marketing activities. Infusionsoft is a powerful tool that enables business owners to leverage their time, grow their leads, and increase revenue and profits.

Hello and welcome to the first blog post for Infusionoz!  We’re in exciting times.  At least, we feel that we are!  And I hope you feel that way too.

I must share with you something that happened on the weekend that has got me thinking… and that has made me realise the ‘social media’ age that we are now living in and how important it is to be a part of it.

Last night I went to the Adam Hills live performance at the Powerhouse in Brisbane, seated just a few rows from the front (I love being up close so I can see expressions and the REAL person!!).  Adam came onto stage to a very excited crowd and within minutes he had discovered a man seated in the front row who looked a little like Santa.  Actually maybe a LOT like Santa! No kidding, and his name was Lex Cush.  Lex went along with Adam’s frivolity of wanting to take a picture of them both together and he then posted it on his blog page via his mobile phone, and then posted a tweet (on Twitter) to see who could come back with the funniest caption.

This might not sound that strange, however it was a live show and Adam was sitting on the edge of the stage with his mobile phone in hand, sending tweets and reading some back.  Not your usual stand-up comedy!  And it wasn’t just the photo of him and Lex that was posted either, as he found humour in some of the audience’s surnames (and admittedly it was VERY funny) so had to ID them and of course take more photos to post off.

After a little while Adam checked his mobile phone for responses and read out some tweets from around the world, with proposed captions for the picture of him and Lex, and we had a laugh.

What struck me as both funny and interesting is that one of the tweet replies came from a guy in the audience… who used his mobile to respond to Adam’s tweet.   As Adam remarked: “how funny that you’re communicating with me via a satellite and we’re about 15 metres apart”.

That is exactly the sign of our times:  tweeting, blog posting, re-tweeting, and using mobile phones to post comments and keep in contact with strangers all around the world, at any time, anywhere.

Not everyone is up with it though… it’s generally seen as a ‘young persons thing’.  Yet here was Adam Hills, an almost-40-yr-old sitting on stage with his blackberry taking photos, posting them and tweeting during his show.  Technology is available and accessible to anyone who wants it, and to anyone who chooses to get on board.

In business circles the traditional marketing channels are slowly being overtaken by our social media and technology advances in marketing automation such as Infusionsoft.  Those people who haven’t yet caught on are either looking in or choosing to let it go by.  I believe, to their detriment.

Regardless of what worked yesterday, we do know that things are always changing.  Traditional marketing of the past won’t bring the same results today or tomorrow, and with social media taking charge of the way we communicate – it’s something that simply can’t be ignored.

So with the memory of last night’s performance and Adam’s versatility with his tweeting and posting, I’m off to go tweeting myself.

Have a great week!

Aveline