When the Bottom Line is the Top Priority

Here are some low-cost or no-cost CRM strategies for when money is tight—plus counterintuitive approaches to spending your way out of the recession.

Closely monitor the returns on each of your channels to ensure they're worth the investment.
Integrate your marketing channels to avoid redundancy and create a comprehensive view of the customer.
Create an internal and/or external blog or discussion board where customers and employees can communicate with upper-level management to create transparency and solicit input.
Try out some virtual events over physical ones.
Tap into social networks for advice from your peers and maybe customers.
Analytics. Analytics. Analytics. (Google Analytics is free!)
Get out of your office. Go into the community and talk to your consumers.
Improve the usability of your customer-facing channels—especially your Web site.
Cost-per-acquisition networks (e.g., TrialPay) only charge when you make a sale.
Nurture your leads. Keep in contact, so when they are ready, you’re not starting from scratch.

Larson note: Keep it simple. Keep it cost effective and make use it is paying you back what it is suppose to, or drop it. Unless your name is Santa Clause you are not in business to lose money. So keep your focus tight and monitor all marketing expenditures in both time and money as to how they play out in your overall ROI.

I word of caution here is to look past the simple dollars and cents. You might be doing something that has a significant effect somewhere else in your over all marketing indicatives and is a catalyst for that channel. So don’t cut your nose off to save a penny. Marketing is an art, a rhythm of gut feelings that have certain rules that we follow, yet know when to deviate away from them. As a mentor of mine once told me, know the rules so you know when it makes sense to break them.

Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-0488
larsonassoc1975@yahoo.com
http://www.geocities.com/larsonassoc1979/1
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com
http://member.merchantcircle.com/larsonassociates
http://businesswarfare.ning.com/profile/HowardLarson
http://teamcircle.ning.com/profile/HowardLarson

https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate

P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.

P.P.S. Twice a week we offer 2 free ½ hour consultations for marketing your business. Call or email to get your spot to pick my brain for 3o minutes today.

*Source: CRM magazine