Posts Tagged ‘Small Business Tip’

“Behind the Cloud: The Untold Story of How Salesforce.com Went from Idea to Billion-Dollar Company–and Revolutionized an Industry”

Thursday, April 14th, 2011

Every cloud has a silver lining, and Marc Benioff’s is no exception. “Behind the Cloud” is his story of how Salesforce.com went from an idea to a billion-dollar company — and changed an industry. Salesforce.com turned software-as-a-product into software-as-a-service. Instead of buying and installing a customer-relationship-management software program, Salesforce.com revolutionized the industry by offering it as a “cloud computing” service to businesses on a per-user, per-month fee.

Benioff explores nine elements in growing from a start-up company of three employees using card tables and folding chairs in an apartment in 1999 to a company with a billion dollars in revenue in 2010. No one’s using card tables or folding chairs anymore, either. 

The nine areas Benioff talks about in the book are:

  • Start up — Get through all the normal start-up phases.
  • Marketing — Figure out how to stand out from the crowd and be heard.
  • Events — Build buzz and drive customers to your business.
  • Sales — Have your customers be your sales team.
  • Technology — Develop products/services that customers love.
  • Philanthropy — Care about more than just the bottom line.
  • Global — Introduce your product/service to new markets progressively.
  • Finance — Raise capital and generate a return.
  • Leadership — Align everyone so they know vision, values, methods and obstacles.

Benioff lays his business-development philosophy and marketing strategy on the table. And to say some of it (especially some of his advertising) is edgy is a bit of an understatement. But it was all incredibly successful for Salesforce.com.

What I found most interesting throughout the book, is that Benioff observes and judges Salesforce.com’s performance not from his founder/leader perspective, but from how his customers, his investors, his employees and his competitors see the company.

What went on “Behind the Cloud” is a very interesting story and definitely worth the read.

Frances Starr, Director of Sales & Marketing for Alert Communications.  Alert Communications provides 24/7 call answering support including: legal media and marketing support.

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They’re Coming — Can You Handle It? Leads from Your Media and Marketing Campaigns

Tuesday, April 5th, 2011

You are fully focused on marketing your business. You’re exploring direct-response advertising over the Internet, on select billboards, in radio ads, and you’re even considering a television ad. But have you figured out who’s answering those direct-response calls when they start coming into your business? It’s important if you want to turn your leads into conversions.

Two ways to turn leads into conversions:

  1. Have a real person answer prospective-client calls. An answering machine or voicemail can only answer a call, not questions.  There may be times during the day or after hours when no one is in the office to take potential client calls.  Route those calls to an on-call attorney or have an industry-savvy receptionist at a live call center answer them.  Prospective clients want to speak with a real person and if one is not available then they’ll often hang up and call another law practice. 
     
  2. Take the caller to the next step in the ‘selling’ process.  Sales gurus say that each contact with a prospect should take them to the next step in the selling process.  If you’re outsourcing your potential client calls, rather then just taking a message the receptionst could collect intake information, connecting qualified leads or schedule consults.  All of these would qualify as taking the caller to the next step in the process

And here are the ways Alert Communications can help:

  • Manage your leads 24/7, and record calls for quality assurance.
  • Develop custom scripts to qualify those leads.
  • Deliver qualified leads to your sale people via call transfer or e-mail.
  • Schedule appointments and confirm scheduled appointments.

We can answer your calls 24/7, after regular hours and/or for overflow. Our live and automated services enable customized call routing, which can help you manage costs and increase the efficiency of your call traffic. We even provide Spanish-language support at no charge.

If you’re expanding your marketing and media efforts to promote your business, or your business provides that service to others, talk with Alert Communications to learn more about our 24/7 media and marketing support services.

Frances Starr, Director of Sales & Marketing for Alert Communications.  Alert Communications provides 24/7 call answering support including: legal media and marketing support.

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Posted in Attorney Answering, Business Answering, E-ffective Marketing, Small Business Tip | No Comments »

e-Marketing Essentials

Monday, January 31st, 2011

You have about one second to grab an e-mail recipient’s attention before he deletes your message.   How do you make the most of that first second?

Begin with reaching the people who want to receive your e-mails. How? By either having people sign up on your web site or giving their e-mail addresses when they purchase from you.

Once you have permission to e-mail them, you don’t want to bore them so:
     -Have a catchy headline.
     -Offer new or discounted products/services.
     -Include links to click to get more information.

Grab attention with bits of info — five tips for protecting your home if you own a security firm or suggestions on stress relief if you’re promoting a fitness center. 

Link from your e-mail to landing pages that give recipients information they want about your offer without having to pass through your home page. Still offer them an option to link to your web site if they choose.  

Keep these suggestions in mind, too:
     -Tell recipients their information is not shared.
     -Offer an unsubscribe option.
     -Do not over blast — more than once a week is annoying.

E-mail marketing can be an inexpensive and quick way to reach your customers and potential customers. Just be sure your message grabs their attention before they hit “delete.”

Frances Starr, Director of Sales & Marketing for Alert Communications.  Alert Communications is a 24/7bilingual inbound call center, specializing in professional attorney answering, virtual receptionist, Spanish answering and business answering solutions.

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Fourth Quarter Is the New Destination

Wednesday, September 22nd, 2010

Summer is over and as fourth quarter moves closer, small business owners find their thoughts turning more toward year-end results than vacation destinations. The fourth quarter of any year is an important time for small business owners. That’s when you need to be doing year-end tax planning and looking ahead to next year.

Whether you do it yourself or with the help of a CPA, don’t put off fourth-quarter planning. You could end up paying a heavy price — and not just in taxes —  if you don’t look at your books and think about how your company will fare for the rest of 2010 and into early 2011. By looking at your business over a longer period of time, you can make smarter decisions about spending and running your business.

Looking at your business performance over the long term is the best way to plan for what’s ahead. Accountants look at balance sheets as well as income statements for the past few years. Balance sheets show a company’s cash flow, and income statements help determine whether your business is likely to turn a profit. For instance, your company might show a significant profit by year’s end, but if the first quarter usually is a slow period (shown by cash flow), don’t be throwing your money around. Instead, put it aside for those lean days that are sure to hit in early 2011.

Fourth quarter is a good time to think about capital spending, too, and whether you can benefit from certain tax breaks, like Section 179 deductions. Those deductions allow you to deduct, up front,  the cost of certain kinds of equipment bought and used during the tax year rather than depreciating the purchase over time. You’ll also want to keep in mind what you’re cash flow is like when you’re making capital-spending decisions. Forgoing the tax break in order to have the cash on hand for the lean days of first quarter might be the smarter thing to do.

If you’re diligent about contributing to your retirement plan, take a look at your financial statements to decide how much you can contribute for 2010. Fourth quarter is also a good time to make any plan changes you might be considering and still possibly benefit from those changes in the current tax year.

As the summer heat starts to dwindle, consider turning up the heat on your fourth-quarter business review. It just might save you some cold, hard cash.

Frances Starr, Director of Sales & Marketing for Alert Communications.  Alert Communications is a 24/7bilingual inbound call center, specializing in professional attorney answering, virtual receptionist, Spanish answering and business answering solutions.

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6 Ways to Save a Few Dollars With Your Answering Service

Wednesday, February 10th, 2010

In today’s economy, we’re all looking for ways to save a few dollars, even on the things we know are absolutely necessary. So if you’re looking for ways to reduce your monthly virtual receptionist/live answering service charges, you might want to try to reduce the number of minutes you’re using. Whether you’re already an Alert Communications customer or are currently with another company, think about doing some of the following:

  1. Instead of having your calls go to the answering service throughout the work day, forward your calls only after hours and on the weekends. This reduces the number of overall minutes used.
  2. In the same vein, forward calls for portions of the day instead of all 24 hours. If you or someone else in the office can answer the phone for a few hours in the morning or afternoon, take advantage of that time to save on minutes usage.
  3. Use a voice-mail screen to help prevent non-emergency calls going through to your virtual receptionist.
  4. See if your service can notify you about calls using text messaging/e-mail instead of a more expensive phone call.
  5. Call your customers back instead of having calls patched through. The less time spent using out-dialed resources, the fewer minutes accrued.
  6. Refine your call-protocol guidelines so you have just a one-number or one-person contact. More isn’t necessarily better when you have to pay in minutes for each one.

If you’d love to save a little money each month, try implementing some of these cost-saving ideas with your virtual receptionist/live answering service provider. If it doesnt feel like money is growing in your backyard, at least you may end up with a few extra coins in your pocket.

Frances Starr, Director of Sales & Marketing for Alert Communications.  Alert Communications is a 24/7bilingual inbound call center, specializing in professional attorney answering, virtual receptionist, Spanish answering and business answering solutions.

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Posted in Small Business Tip | 1 Comment »