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Resources & Advisors for Buying & Selling a Business
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Case Study – Healthcare – Skyway Behavioral Health
Start Up Requiring Robust Infrastructure – From Planning to Implementation
The 7 Irresistible Qualities of Cloud ERP
Learn why ERP tools are an critical component for many businesses.
Why a Business Continuity Plan is Essential
Learn why your company needs a business continuity plan.
Ransomware 101
If you’re looking for ways to stop ransomware dead in its tracks, the experts at CCS Technology are here to help.
How managed services make the difference
Learn more about the benefits of partnering with a managed services provider.
Cloud Services and the SMB Revolution
Learn more about how Cloud Services from CCS make your life easier.
Office 365 Migration Made Easy
Migrating over to Office 365 has never been easier with CCS Technology.
The Advantages of Working with I.T. Pros
Learn how working with a seasoned technology pro makes your work easier.
Closing Common Cybersecurity Holes
Learn several critical cybersecurity tips and tricks any SMB can use.
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Do you know the value of your CRM?
/in Blog, Customer Relationship Management, Productivity /by wpengineIn 1989, a small-time collector was perusing art at a flea market. He ended up buying an uninspired pastoral painting, purely for the frame.
When he got it home, he removed the painting. He had no intention of keeping it. To his dismay, he discovered the frame was cheaply made and not salvageable.
But he found something else inside. Folded behind the painting was a copy of the Declaration of Independence. He could tell it was old, but he didn’t think it valuable. Then a friend urged him to research it.
As it turned out, the hidden copy was one of only 24 first prints of the historic document. In June of 2000, it sold at Sotheby’s for $8.1 million.
Hidden Value
If you do a quick Google search, you’ll find a slew of similar stories.
The original Velvet Underground demo someone bought for 75¢. The 11th-century Chinese pottery bought for three bucks and later sold for $2.2 million. The Warhol sketch purchased for $5 that turned out to be worth an estimated $2 million.
Sometimes there’s immeasurable value right under our noses, but we don’t see it. For many small business leaders, that’s true of their CRM solution. If you think of your CRM as little more than an elaborate database, you could be one of them.
How Your CRM Can Be A Game-Changer
A CRM (short for “customer relationship management”) solution is a powerful, robust tool—if you know how to use it. Unfortunately, we’ve worked with plenty of SMB owners who are barely scratching the surface.
Below is a quick list of some of the powerful things your CRM can do that you might not know about.
Streamline the sales process.
The goal in sales is to convert leads to prospects and prospects to customers. A CRM helps with that process by providing a clear picture of where each contact is in the process. By reviewing previous sales attempts, you can determine what strategies work best, equipping your sales team for better closing rates in the future.
Close the right deals.
One of the challenges of sales is qualifying potential customers. The faster you can determine who is and who is not a likely to buy, the less time you have to waste pursuing dead ends. A CRM gives you a framework for making that call faster, ensuring that you close the right deals—for you and for your clients.
Know your market.
You can also use the data in your CRM to tease out trends and movements in your market. If customers are migrating from one kind of product or service to another, you’ll see it in the reports. If your business is seasonal, that’ll become clear, too.
Meet customers’ needs.
Cross-selling and upselling get a bad rap. Neither is inherently bad. It’s all about knowing what actually helps your customer base. The better your customer records, the more easily you can identify the products and add-ons that will help the most.
Manage customer communication.
When all communication is housed in one place, it’s much easier for your employees to deliver top-tier customer service. This is especially true in the moment, like when they have a customer on the phone. A CRM makes that extra insight possible across your team.
Personalize communication.
Automatic messaging can include order status updates, shipping notifications, and simple thank you messages. A CRM gives you the ability to automate each of these with some nice personal touches. That way your customers know what’s going on at all times.
Incorporate social media.
The most current CRM tools also incorporate options for social media contact. Given the marketing potential of social media, this is a must-have for small business owners. And a CRM makes utilizing social media—for everything from announcements to events to contests to customer stories—so much easier.
Let CCS Technology Guide You to the Perfect CRM
With all the CRM solutions out there, how do you find the one that’s best for your business? And once you’ve found it, how do you transition your current process over to the new CRM?
The easiest way also happens to be the smartest way—get some help from the experts.
The pros at CCS can take you through the whole process, ensuring you end up with the best possible CRM solution for your business needs. If you’re ready to unleash the power of a CRM, give us a call. We’re ready to help.
Office 365: An overview
/in Blog, Productivity /by wpengineMicrosoft changed the game dramatically a few of years back. The introduction of its cloud-hosted productivity suite was big. Office 365 is a subscription-based service designed to replace the older license-based business model.
With an Office 365 subscription, companies buy time-limited access to a host of Microsoft’s tools. The service comes with the latest versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and more. Also included are premium mobile applications and online, browser-based versions.
In tech terms, Office 365 is a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) package. SaaS is fast becoming the most popular way to deploy enterprise software. However, the shift does prompt a key question.
Is the new model better than older, licensed versions of Microsoft Office?
Office 365 Advantages
The older, licensed-based model was simple. You bought copies of Microsoft Office and that was it. You had a productivity suite . . . and nothing more.
But with Office 365, you gain an array of perks and benefits not available within older versions.
Get the Services You Need
One of the main advantages for small and medium-sized business is the potential for cost savings. With Office 365 you’ll enjoy a predictable monthly cost. The budget-friendly nature of a fixed expense is particularly nice for SMBs.
Microsoft offers a variety of plans for businesses. Options include packages based on users count and included applications. Many small business leaders find this model appealing because they can pick and choose what they want. For example, what if you need Microsoft’s applications, but you don’t need an exchange email server? With Office 365, there’s a package for that.
Microsoft’s basic plan for businesses includes all the core components of its suite – Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Access and Publisher. It also includes cloud-based storage and costs less than $10 per month per user. You also have the option to add several of Microsoft’s web services. This plan includes Exchange, SharePoint, Skype and more. Alternately, you can choose a plan that only includes the web services without the applications.
You select the components you need.
Always Updated
Microsoft rolls out updates and upgrades for the Office suite on a regular basis. Office 365 means you’ll always have access to the latest new features and tools. Gone are the days when you’d have to buy a whole new copy to avoid being stuck with an antiquated version.
Remote Access
Remote access is another huge benefit. You can access your documents and files via any mobile device. That gives your staff the ability to be more flexible and more productive.
Cloud Storage
Office 365 subscribers also get access to OneDrive for cloud-based storage. Currently, every Office 365 plan comes with 1 TB of storage per user.
A Solid Solution
There’s a lot to like about Office 365, and very few downsides. It’s a product that provides tremendous bang for the buck. We strongly recommend it for SMBs.
If Office 365 sounds like it would be a good fit for your business, CCS Technology is here to help. We can guide you to the right package for your organization. What’s more, we can also assist with the migration to Office 365, making sure the move is painless.
Give us a call today.
Is your network safe from cyber attacks?
/in Blog, Security /by wpengineBefore the landmark work of Louis Pasteur and Robert Koch, humanity had some . . . interesting explanations for causes of disease. A prominent theory held that “bad air” was to blame for ailments. Odd though that sounds, it makes sense.
With no knowledge of germs, people relied on basic observations about sickness and health. They saw that people living near foul odor (like primitive sewer systems) were more likely to fall ill. The most noticeable issue was the smell – hence the theory.
Eventually, Pasteur and Koch would develop what is now known as “germ theory.” This changed how we conceive of disease. But there’s a valuable lesson in humanity’s previous mistaken understanding.
You can’t adequately protect yourself from something if you don’t understand the true nature of the threat.
When your network gets sick.
There’s a modern, technical equivalent to germ theory: cyber crime. On some level, we all acknowledge the similarities. After all, we call malicious software “viruses.”
Unfortunately, a lot of business owners understand as much about ransomware as folks in the Middle Ages understood about bacteria. Too many of us talk about malicious software like it just appears out of the ether.
We know how horrible viruses are when they strike. But do you really understand where they come from? If you don’t, your network could be exposed.
The origins of malware.
Malware doesn’t spontaneously appear. Viruses and ransomware are the direct results of intentional effort. Said another way, cyber attacks start with cyber criminals.
Their motivations vary from financial gain to political statements. Their objectives are the same either way. Cyber criminals create malware to disrupt computer systems and take networks offline. Even if they don’t make money from the attack, the financial impact on affected businesses is still considerable.
The effects of cyber crime.
A recent Business Insider article starts with this ominous opening line.
That may sound like a dramatic overstatement, but the most recent cyber crime statistics lend Buffett’s assessment uncomfortable credibility. Cybersecurity Ventures estimates that the total cost of cyber crime will hit $6 trillion dollars by 2021. (Yes, that’s “trillion” with a “t.”) What’s more, half of all small to medium-sized business experienced at least one cyber attack in the last year. Finally, according to the Denver Post, “60% of small companies that suffer a cyber attack are out of business within six months.”
The financial impact of a single cyber attack is significant enough to undo the foundation of your business. That’s no small thing.
Stopping cyber crime.
You can’t stop something if you don’t understand it. Our efforts to stop literal epidemics weren’t nearly as successful as they could have been before we understood germ theory. Similarly, stopping cyber crime comes down to understanding the very nature of it.
If you want to protect your company, you have to tap into some serious know-how.
Of course, most small business owners don’t have the time for that. It can take years of experience to really understand the nature of cybersecurity. On top of that, the landscape of cyber crime is always changing. It’s not easy to stay current.
Which is why so many small businesses turn to outside help. Not only does it save you time, but it could easily save the future of your business should you experience a cyber attack.
CCS Technology and cybersecurity.
Here at CCS Technology, we understand the complexity of keeping your network safe. We know what’s at stake, and we know the kinds of tactics cyber criminals rely on. We have a consistent track record of safeguarding our clients, and we can help you beef up your security, too.
If you’re interested in giving your organization the protection you need from cyber crime, get in touch with us today. Our friendly technicians are ready to walk you through every step of the process.
Related Post: Cybercrime: 5 Things You Need to Know