The internet has truly redefined how we do business both as a sales channel and a marketing channel.

The internet has truly redefined how we do business both as a sales channel and a marketing channel. It has also redefined how we collect information on our customer. We’ve taken CRM to a new level eCRM.

We’ve been told for decades that knowledge is power but only in recent years has it been so easy to access that knowledge. That means you can use your CRM system to learn how your customer shops and their behavior.

The way we shop has changed dramatically which also affects the type of CRM system a company needs to incorporate. With the internet there is a great deal of purchasing occurring online. But a recent survey on customer service online showed that businesses are failing miserably.

Many sites don’t even display a phone number for customers to contact them and as many as 75% have poor customer records causing customers to get a real run around. Even when you manage to find a phone number to call you can spend an hour on the telephone trying to explain to the rep about your problem on the website.Much of this customer frustration and disassociation between website sales and store sales is a result of business failing to implement the same type of CRM system on their websites as they do with their brick and mortar stores. As a result there is no connection between the CRM system and the customer.

A smart website owner will incorporate their company CRM system because there is a lot of valuable and useful information which could be used by the company. Electronic customer relationship management or eCRM is the latest approach to integrating customer information online with customer information offline. And the cost is very affordable even for small to medium size businesses. It’s the key to meeting customer expectations in today’s market.

eCRM serves the same purpose online as CRM does for your brick and mortar business. You will begin to understand who your customers are and what it is they want. The challenge is merging data from so many sources into a useful format that can provide the best customer service and also provide the company with valuable information.

eCRM provides a contact point that remembers who your customers are and provides that personal touch. Their likes and dislikes are available, their purchase history, credit status, as well as all their history with the company is now able to integrate with the online customer. It allows for instant interaction between consumer and system. It also allows for automated emails, instant messages, voice mail, and live help. It’s a powerful tool that should not be ignored. eCRM allows your company marketing department to first identify and then target your customer. You will be able to set goals, objectives, improve sales, manage sales, manage customer data, create and manage marketing campaigns, create instant accounting records, and a host of other thing.

Basically expect the same performance from your eCRM system as you do from your CRM system. Thanks to the internet markets are more competitive than ever so it’s important you keep your edge and a quality eCRM system is a great way to do just that.

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Your Website As A Virtual Office

The online business is on an all time high. Millions and millions of people are venturing in online businesses and as expected, they would try to outdo each other. Competition is so stiff that businesses have tried to do all tricks in the book just to be able to stand out from the rest. Massive advertising campaigns were launched with the purpose of luring potential customers. Giving coupons and promotional items are just two of the several tricks employed by business to promote the company. Of course these are effective ways to gain traffic that could be converted into potential customers but an equally important factor vital to the success of any online business is a good website.

A good website serves as the virtual office of an online business and as such should be able to present a good impression to the potential customer. Just like any other office, it should be “uncluttered”, clean and pleasant to the eye. With just a single click, it should be able to provide the visitor or customer with the vital information he or she is seeking for. And this is possible by creating a website free from excessive trimmings, from unnecessary graphics and animations.

Slow loading sites due to heavy graphics are comparable to an unattended store where customers are waiting in line to be served. There’s a great probability that customers would transfer to other stores rather than cool their heels waiting. This would mean losses in terms of sales. Just like an office space, the interiors should be pleasant and cool to the eyes. This could be achieved by using complementary colors and decorations. This is also true in a website; the background should be lighter to give emphasis to the darker text. This way, the site is made more reader friendly. Nothing is more distracting than a website with glaring colors, with jumping animations and with bouncing banners. These are sure customer turn-offs.

Serving as an online store, the website should be able to provide unobstructed view of the merchandise offered. Using the simple Times New Roman and Arial for the text is most advisable as well as using bold letters and underlining words to give emphasis to key points. This would surely draw the attention of readers.

An office or a place of business will reflect the personality of the company-meaning a beautifully kept office with carefully tended grounds would mean that owners are serious with the business and that they are ready to give the optimum service to customers. The same is true with an online business. A website that is visually appealing to the visitors would draw more traffic thus increasing the chances of attracting customers. This would also mean that the webmaster is serious with his business and have taken great pains to ensure that the site have a professional look. Moreover this would mean that the website owner have used programs that made the creation of the website faster and easier. Attracting visitors is easy with professional looking websites and shopping would be a pleasure because of the security it provides to the customers.

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Your Website Really Needs a Physical Address

I see it happening all the time websites with no physical mailing address. It's as if they don't exist anywhere but in the scary world of cyberspace. I say scary because that's exactly what a high percentage of the web browsing population thinks of the Internet. When these people are looking to purchase a product and don't see a physical address, they get scared, and very likely abandon the purchase. And don't think that a typical email address for your contact information cuts it. People want a physical location.

So, what do you do? Simple. Use a physical mailing address as a contact option in your 'Contact Us' page and/or website order form. However, if you're a website owner that operates from your home, don't go and attach your home address to your website just yet, you might want to think about your mailing options.

Deciding where to have your business mail sent is not as straightforward as you might think. There are a few factors that you have to take into consideration quantity of mail received, length of time at location, convenience, and of course, cost.

The good news is that you have several options that are available to you:

Using your home address: Using your home address is definitely the cheapest option. To the small to medium size website owners, it is probably the best option. However, if you tend to grow rapidly, or if your website already has a large user-base, then your home address may not be the best option for you.

If you are selling products from your website and allowing customers the option to mail in their order (which is good practice – and many do), then you could potentially get a lot of mail, depending on the user-base of your website, of course. If this is the case, then your home mailman will not be happy with you at this stage! And you may also find yourself spending a half hour out of each day prying your mail out of your tiny home mailbox that is not big enough to accommodate all that mail. Furthermore, if you ever move you will need to forward your mail to your new location, which never seems to be as smooth as you'd like it to be.

Then there's the fact the all of your customers can easily find out where you live. Not that you're hiding from anyone! But you could find yourself in the situation where you have a few inquisitive customers that don't mind "stopping by" to ask a few questions!

Using a Mailing Services: The use of a mailing service can be quite expensive ($25-$45 per month). However, there are some benefits. You can assign a suite number or have a real street name assigned to your business address, instead of a P.O. box. This can give the potential customer the impression that your business has an office or building that resides at the location. However, I have found that the cost of this service usually outweighs the benefits associated with it. Nevertheless, the money you pay to use a mailing service is tax deductible as a business expense.

Using Mail Forwarding: Now, if you REALLY want to get fancy you can opt for the mail forwarding option. Here you can pay a company in a "big time" city like New York or Chicago to accept your mail and forward your mail to you. This is EXPENSIVE! And there is another major drawback - you are always getting your mail about 2-5 days late due to the forwarding time.

Using a Post Office Box: The use of a P.O. Box is, in my opinion, the best choice for those that run high traffic websites out of their home. Not only does your mail get to the P.O. Box more quickly, but also the cost is relatively cheap (about $50-$125 per year). Again, this cost is a business expense, so save your receipt and write it off!
In my opinion and experience, most people are accustom to the P.O. Box and do not mind sending orders to it. In fact, many big companies use P.O. boxes as a matter of conveniently keeping the mail separate.

There you have it, four good ways to make your customers feel more secure by adding a physical address to your website. Pick the one that suites you and your company's needs best – everyone is different. The important thing is to give your customers a place to send physical mail.

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