Online Customer Relationship Managers

Online Customer Relationship Managers provide all of the functions a remote sales team needs to successfully operate. These online CRMs have telephony software solutions, such as power dialing and voice messaging, built right into them. These technologies are designed specifically for businesses who sell to other businesses through their website or over the phone.

Customer Relationship Managers provide a platform for organizing and managing all of the different processes related to inside sales. An online CRM is one specific type of customer relationship manager and is also called a hosted CRM. The software needed to run the CRM is stored on a host company’s server and is accessed over the internet. Using an online-hosted CRM frees an organization from needing to developing its own system and database. Additionally, the information stored in the CRM can be accessed from any computer with internet access. This can be especially convenient when sales agents work remotely and not all in one physical location.

Some of the key featuring that an online CRM includes are power dialing, voice messaging, fax, and email marketing.

A power dialer is also called a phone dialer or an auto dialer. Dialer software will automatically calls through a predefined list of phone numbers and patches them through to available sales reps. This automation software frequently triples the amount of calls each agent is able to make in a typical work day.

Voice messaging technology allows a sales agent to save a previously recorded voice message within the online CRM. By saving and using only their most compelling voice messages a good first impression can be guaranteed with each message left. Voice messages can also be designed allowing listeners to press a button on their own phone in order to prevent further calls from reaching them or to automatically patch them through to an available agent.

Fax and email messaging serves a similar purpose as voice mail. Carefully crafted templates for both kinds of messages can be saved in the online CRM. These templates can be sent to a contact that a sales rep is speaking to as soon as the contact requests additional information. Alternatively, these messages may be sent in place of a voice message. Since these messages are saved with the Customer Relationship Manager they can be sent by the system quickly with little extra work from the sales representative.

Voice Broadcasting

A voice message dialer allows a remote sales business to use voice broadcasting. This technology takes traditional voice message campaigns and implements them in a much more efficient manner.

Voice messaging fulfills several important roles within inside sales. First, it gives sales agents the opportunity to make positive contact with a potential client when they are unable to reach them on the phone. The best possible message a sales representative could leave can be recorded before the sales rep ever makes a call. This message is saved to be used later, whenever a message like that needs to be left. In this way voice messaging becomes a convenient tool, letting the sales rep leave the kind of quality messages he or she would like to every time. Several advances in telephony software make it possible for a sales agent to be able to move onto another call as their computer program leaves that message, which adds up to a large amount of time saved.

These voice messages can still be interactive, for times when a client answers the phone after the sales agent directs the message to be left. Interactive Voice Response, often refereed to by the acronym IVR, grants the contact the option of pressing specific keys on their dial pad to direct the computer program what to do. This could include having their number placed on a do not call list or having a call routed through to a live agent immediately.

Voice broadcasting takes this technology one step further. Voice broadcasting means no longer will a sales agent call through a large volume of calls one by one and leave messages only when a new lead is not contacted. Voice broadcasting takes care of all of that for the sales representatives.

Voice broadcasting works by having a prerecorded message uploaded into its system. Additionally a phone list of potential clients needs to be provided. The voice broadcasting system will dial through to each of those phone numbers automatically. Once those calls are either answered or a voice message system picks up the voice broadcasting system then relays the message saved within it. These messages traditionally are compatible with IVR. Because of this clients are able to speak to a live agent if they choose to do so.

Voice broadcasting not only speeds the contact process, but it also frees sales agents to perform other calls. Voice broadcasting can serve as a powerful way to contact a large volume of contacts in a short period of time.

Dialer Software that meets the Demands of Inside Sales

Several problems are faced by inside sales teams. Those problems may include—what can be done to increase productivity by making more calls and closing more sales? How is a high level of quality and customer care going to be assured? What measures are going to be taken to ensure that all promises made to contacts will be fulfilled? There are probably numerous answers for each of these problems, but to remain efficient a sales team needs to use one simple and effective solution to meet all of these needs. Power dialer software is such a solution.

Power dialer software, in its simplest form, is a program that automatically dials phone numbers from a contact list for a sales agent. This alone decreases the amount of time spent on each individual call and increase the volume of calls each sales person is able to make in a typical work day. Power dialers are designed to help a sales representative to make three hundred dials in a day, compared to a manual dialing average that is around seventy five.

Phone dialer software increases productivity further when that dialer is integrated with email or voice messaging solutions. From the dialer software previously composed emails and voice messages can automatically be sent. This frees the sales agent from using valuable calling time waiting to leave messages himself on voice mail systems or sending various different emails to many different customers at the end of his or her work day. A typical sales person spends only five or six hours of their day making phone calls and upwards of three hours sending emails or other messages to those contacts. Phone dialer software cuts this time down to a fraction of what it commonly takes, all with only a couple of mouse clicks.

Using carefully constructed emails and voice messages is also one of the steps dialer software takes to ensuring quality control. Instead of fumbling over their messages sales agents can record one in their own voice that says exactly what they and their employers want said. An additional way phone dialers assure quality from a sales team’s performance is with optional call recording. By recording and monitoring sales calls training can be planned to strengthen the sales agents and help them be more efficient in their job.

Each of these functions of well designed dialer software works together to create an easy to use system that meets the demands of inside sales.

So, what can my CRM do anyway?

The power and versatility of telephony software allows inside sales companies to increase their calls, contacts, impressions, faxes, emails, and callbacks. All of this serves to increase conversions and revenue. Telephony software solutions are available to complete the myriad of tasks that call centers or remote sales organizations need to accomplish. The software that manages all of the processes that need to occur for a remote sales professional to meet the needs of their clients and their employer is Customer Relationship Management software.

Customer Relationship Management software, or CRM, serves as a database for the storage of an organization’s information. A CRM calendars private and company events and tasks. It automatically captures information on new leads and incoming calls, and a CRM manages customer accounts through the entire sales process.

CRMs can be integrated with other computer telephony integration (CTI) software solutions. Perhaps the most important piece of software to use alongside Customer Relationship Management would be a telephone dialer.

Dialers automatically call through a list of leads, or a similar list of phone numbers pulled from the CRM. A dialer then patches that call through to a live sales agent. Several different dialers exist, from the speedy but sometimes unreliable ratio dialer to the effective and methodical power dialer. No matter what dialer is being used, they all become more effective when they are allowed to pull info from, and up load data too, the CRM.

CRM can also integrate other telephony business solutions with their own database and the dialers they empower. Voice messaging software allows sales reps to leave prerecorded, relevant voice messages on the voicemail of leads they attempt to contact. The CRM will automatically leave the message while the sales rep may move on to take another call. Alternatively these messages can be broadcasted by the CRM. The dialer will call through the list of contacts and automatically play the prerecorded message, freeing the sales rep to receive inbound calls or dial through a separate list. Generally, at any time the contact listening to the message may choose to speak to a live agent.

Email messaging is another example of a CTI solution. Pre-composed email templates may be selected and sent by the CRM during a conversation by a sales agent. These messages can automatically pull information to be included within the email, such as the contacts name or business. Instantly the lead can receive additional information promised to them by the sales agent.

Customer Relationship Management is the backbone of remote sales, and the industry has responded by producing plenty of business solutions to amplify it.

Voice Messaging

Voice messaging software provides many options to sales agents. These software solutions are an example of CTI, or Computer Telephony Integration. They provide telephone automation for sales, customer support, and marketing programs within an organization’s Customer Relationship Management, or CRM.

Customer Relationship Management captures, contains, and retrieves the important information on leads, contacts, and clients. A CRM may be implemented with a major investment by the company to purchase or design software and hardware to support the processes of managing all the jobs associated with inside sales, or a host company may provide the software and hardware for the organization to use. The companies that provide the hosted CRM sometimes offer voice messaging solutions through their same company.

The voice messaging software creates voice broadcast initiatives from the contact lists within the CRM. Voice broadcasting is where a series of calls are made from a selected list and a prerecorded message is automatically played. Those listening to these messages generally have the option to press a button to be removed from the list or to speak to a live agent. Good voice messaging systems will allow these messages to be any length and allow these messages to be recorded from anywhere.

Different messages may be played if the call goes to voicemail versus whether or not the lead is contacted. Both of these messages can be prerecorded in the sales agents own voice and catered to whether it is a voicemail or a live-call scenario. Additionally multiple numbers may be called simultaneously for one contact. Whatever number answers first is where the voice message will be broadcasted to.

The time that these voice messages will be broadcasted is also customizable. This allows a sales team to ensure voice messages will be sent out at the best times of day to contact their leads. The CRM voice message pairing can identify the time zones different contacts live in and call numbers from the same contact list at different times based on their geographic location.

Voice messaging software also enhances inbound calling. These features start with the option for listeners of broadcasted messages to press a number to talk to a live agent. Similarly automatic messages can be set up as the default answer to toll free numbers, such as help lines. Answers to the most common questions can be recorded and the option to contact a live agent is presented also.

If an inbound call is not able to be answered by a sales agent voice message software provides a solution for that caller. He or she may then choose to leave a voice mail his or her self, which will be transferred to the first available agent for them to listen and respond to.
Voice messaging enhances many of the primary functions of Customer Relationship Management. It allows sales reps and contacts to get in contact with each other quickly and efficiently.

Which sales tools will help your company perform best?

A company’s Customer Relationship Management System (CRM) tracks all of the information a sales team needs to capture about prospective and current clients, but there is more to being a successful salesperson than keeping track of numbers and reports. Vendors that develop and distribute sales automation software have provided many sales tools to enhance the productivity of a CRM and the sales agents using it.

Telephony sales tools vary widely in their functions. Some provide ways to perform the tasks associated with remote sales easily, while others can drastically reduce the amount of paperwork and form filing an agent has to do.

Voice messaging systems are one example of a sales automation tool that speeds up the job of sales professionals. Instead of forcing each agent to wait through long answering machines and leaving their own voice messages – mistakes and all – a voice messaging system allows an agent to leave a pre-recorded message with a simple click of a button. Voicemails then become sales tools. Individual agents are not wasting time that could be used to contact a live lead, but their messages sound more professional since they were recorded (and possibly rerecorded several times) without the pressure of having to get it right the first time. Additionally those messages are still left in their own voices, bringing a personal feel to the automated responses.

An important sales tool to include in a CRM is a permission marketing tracking system. This allows an organization to be in complete compliance with anti-spam and “Do Not Fax” regulations without increasing the workload of their sales department. Permission marketing tracking systems automatically include at the bottom of each fax and email the date and time that permission to send the message was given.

Other sales tools that work in conjunction with the permission marketing tracking system are Do Not Call Maintenance systems. These record “do not call” or “do not contact” requests from contacts directly into the CRM, and records the time and date the request was made.

The most powerful of sales automation tools that incorporate with a CRM are power dialers. These drastically increase the call per hour rate for phone sales professionals by automatically providing leads for them to contact. After uploading a phone list of leads or contacts into the power dialer from the CRM, the power dialer cycles through the list allowing the salesperson to call the next lead with a single click.

Sales tools enhance the already useful and powerful CRM. Many different telephony tools are offered in the industry. They give an organization of any size the resources to be successful.

What to shop for in a Voice Messaging system

It is impossible for any business to be successful without customers. A business must contact as many leads as possible to gain those customers, and studies show that contacting leads within five minutes of them showing interest increases the likelihood of them becoming a customer.

A voice messaging system is one effective and simple way to communicate with both sales leads and your tried and true clients. It is a system for calling a large number of individuals and presenting them a prerecorded voice message. These messages are recorded by you and your employees, allowing your contacts to have a good and personal experience. It also frees your live agents to be working with those contacts that show the most interest.

Voice messaging systems manage telephone messages that can then be sent to a large number of people. They are perfect for sales, prospecting, lead generation and appointment-setting – or for any other organization that want to make a high number of calls in a short period of time automatically using a prerecorded message.

There are some key features to look forward in a voice messaging system to make sure that you get the best service and highest returns from your investment.

1. 
   Find a system that uses a single screen for the multiple tasks it has to perform. This will allow your organization to efficiently cover all the tasks you need: leaving prerecorded messages, recording calls, converting leads, sending emails...
2. 
   Make sure your voice messaging system allows for the option that any lead listening to the pre-recorded message has the option to be routed to a live person, receive an email, or opt out of future calls. This should be as easy as simply pushing a button for the recipients of your messages.
3. 
   De-duplication is a must. This feature automatically makes sure the same phone number will not be sent the same message numerous times.
4. 
   You will want a system with the capacity to manage your Do Not Call list. Look for software that will not only keep track of those contacts who ask to be taken off of your calling list, but also one that will cross-check against the national DNC list for larger projects by utilizing the CRM.
   Going with a trusted company that will host your voice messaging system will save you money compared to purchasing your own hardware and software to run the system yourself. This will allow you to effectively start sending messages to your contacts regardless of how little prior experience you have with voice messaging, and will also give you flexibility as your company expands.

Voice messaging will free your employees from making simple, routine calls while still allowing your customers to receive a personalized message from your company and easily getting in touch with a live person. A well designed voice messaging system has the potential to catapult the progress of your organization.