Why, When and How to Use E-payments?

E-payments /


We are living in a digital world and people often prefer to use digital methods to get their work done. Due to the same reason, we can also see how people are using e-payment methods to make their financial transactions as well. Before you start using E-payments, you need to have a solid understanding about what they are and what you will be able to get out of them. This e payment guide will be able to assist you with it.

What is an e payment?
An e payment is an online payment, which you can do to another person or a merchant. In here, you will be moving money electronically. In most of the instances, you take money that you have in the credit or debit cards and move them electronically. On the other hand, it is also possible for you to have your own e payment accounts on the different service providers such as PayPal and Payoneer. Then you will be able to store money on those e payment accounts and use them for the financial transactions as well.
Why do people use e-payments?
As the next part of the e payment guide, let’s understand the reasons that have tempted people to use e-payments. Convenience is the most prominent reason behind the popularity of e payments among people who live out there in the world. We always prefer to make our lives easy. Due to the same reason, we tend to use e payments as much as possible.
If you have gone through the banking process, you have a clear understanding about the pain and frustration associated with it. In fact, you will have to spend your time unnecessarily to get work done. Along with e payments, you don’t need to go through that hassle. You will be able to make your payment from the comfort of your home. You can even make payments from your mobile device through the e-payment wallets.
How to use e payment?
In order to use e payment, you need to have an e-payment account. A large number of service providers are offering ability for the people to create these e payment account. PayPal is the most popular e payment account creation service provider that you can find out there in the world.
We will consider PayPal as an example for an e payment company, so that you can easily understand the process.
You can create a PayPal account and then add your debit card or credit card. Then you will be able to top up your PayPal account with the money that you have in the credit card or debit card. Or else, you can think about using it to make a payment directly from the card.
When you link the e payment account to your card, you don’t have actual money in the account. At the time of making a payment, the e payment company will be accessing your card and making the payment out of it. Then your account will be charged. You will be able to log into your online banking account and see the e payment usage. Or else, the e payment service will also provide you with a history of all transactions and you will be able to use this to monitor your e payment usage effectively.
Are there any expenses?
At the time of using the services offered by an e payment company, you will also wonder whether there are any expenses associated with the service that you are getting or not. In most of the instances, you don’t have to spend any money out of your pocket to use the services offered by an e payment company. You will be able to sue the services for free. However, there are instances where you will be charged. For example, when you are using the e payment account for selling purposes, the e payment company will implement some charges on you.
How can the e payment companies offer a free service to you? Well, most of the e payment companies are charging from the retailers. If you are using the service as a buyer, you don’t need to make a payment. Your cost will be covered by the amount of money that the e payment company will charge from a retailer.
In some of the instances, your e payment will charge you for receiving transactions in foreign currencies. Or else, if you spend money that you don’t have access to, there is a possibility for you to get charged. This would work pretty much similar to the interest that you are getting on the credit card.
While keeping these things in mind, you can use the e payment services and enjoy all benefits that come along with them.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Software Overview

Management /

Customer Relationship Management Software

What is CRM Software?

Customer relationship management (CRM) is a business strategy that stresses good ongoing relationships with customers. It holds that maintaining these relationships drives growth and profitability. There are two core elements of this customer-centric strategy:

  1. Presenting a unified face to the customer
  2. Providing a seamless customer experience

CRM software can help by synchronizing customer communications among business units. Sales, marketing and customer service can all get on the same page. It acts as a system of record for contacts and accounts throughout the customer lifecycle. With CRM tools companies can track, automate, analyze, and optimize customer interactions. At its core, a CRM is a database of contact information and interaction history for each individual contact.

Customer Relationship Management Software Features

In general, customer relationship management technology provides the following sets of capabilities:

Customer Data Management

CRM software collects and organizes customer data. This includes contact information and interactions via email, phone, web chat and social media.

Sales Acceleration and Enablement

CRM software helps streamline and automate certain sales-related duties. This helps enable sales reps to do their job better and also accelerates sales cycles through automation of repetitive tasks. These tasks may include:

  • Creation of quotes
  • Order processing
  • Updating contact information
  • Sending emails
  • Sales forecasting
  • Evaluating employee performance

…

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Software OverviewRead More »

Why Are Push Notifications The Trendiest Ad Format

Push, traffic /
Push notification was first introduced in the ad industry in 2018. Since then they have been a favorite choice to the advertisers. Push notification have made a clear path for itself and it is going to stay for a long time in the industry. 
Blackberry first introduced the push notification service for their mobile users to alert them about new incoming emails in 2003. Back in those days, you couldn’t have push notifications other than in a Blackberry mobile. But time has been since then and now push notification are today’s essential part in online platforms. Many research indicated that the average rate of opt-in push notification was nearly 55% in 2018. Push notification became a part of everyday life and in the media market, it is growing in no time. Every day people are using more money in advertising through push notification. 
Push Notification – Fulfilling an advertiser’s dream
Push notification is not like other ad formats. It is more showing without disturbing your visitor’s user experience. Because these ads are not placed in a place where people get disturbed while using your site. As a result, push notification achieved double CTR than other formats by getting 1.5% CTR for shopping ads on Google sits. 
Push notifications have been acknowledged by numerous advertisers for their capacity to not directly interrupt the user experience, whilst presenting adaptability and necessity to display targeted content at the right time. This is the reason they’ve become so useful for advertisers. When performed perfectly, these native notifications are presented directly to a user’s device. Thus, offering advertisers immediate access to target audiences without any mediators.
But the benefits of push notification does not stop here. The style that push notification follows has created high visibility and reach for every ad. According to research, the push notification has an outstanding 7.8% average reaction rate. Instantly grasping the concentration of users without being interfering, it allows advertisers a system of re-engaging audiences, producing higher engagement and improved click-through rates.
Push Notification – Improving Brand Appreciation
Push Notifications also play a notable role in improving user experiences with brands. Keeping users updated with time-sensitive, well-targeted data can be of excellent advantage considering the unintrusive nature of the tool. Through this the signals don’t feel like ads, rather they’re there to provide clients more data, or to let them know about future promotions or suggestions. Amidst the sea of marketing contest, a kind suggestion works in a great way.
Online ads, commonly, receive a large amount of flak in the modern world. Consumers often share the same experience of the pair of shoes that accompanies them around the internet, which appear to be both interfering and inappropriate as they make an impression on almost every site they enter. But, Push Notifications can oftentimes be of great benefit to users. Though advertisers have to be cautious not to bombard consumers with notifications, last-minute coupons, offers and deals can make a user feel admired by a brand – and can even extend to another touchpoint in a company’s marketing funnel as a result.
This could sound simple, but push notification can enhance a brand’s value and improve its customer’s UI.
Push Notification – A Great Opportunity for Publishers.
Publishers can also benefit from push notification alongside the advertisers. Push notification brings high eCPMs as well as they also offer a range of opportunities with the user-centric ad format. It offers a non-interfering ad experience to website users. Because they can be used adjacent to other ad formats, they also provide easy monetization for publishers. Allowing extra revenue without changing any other active ads.
As the user doesn’t have to be on the publishers’ sites when they are clicking, it increases the publisher’s visitor engagement. Push notification allows a publisher to earn through an alert system without physically placing an ad on the website. 
Push Notification – Absolute visibility
Advanced users are habitual to the abundance of advertising on the Internet. They have produced banner ignorance: subconsciously, they pay no thought to the ads.
The real advantage of push-notifications is they have 100% visibility to visitors. A push notification will pop up on the desktop or mobile screen, so it’ll be impossible for the visitor to ignore or disregard it.
Big companies and global brands are increasingly phasing out of general ads format in favor of push-notifications.
Push Notification – Audience Loyalty
Users have been subscribing to push notification service as they like it. This means they want to receive more alerts. Hence, push-notification is an ad format with a high CTR. Users can choose to stop getting notifications at any time. This privilege of choice enhances the loyalty of visitors.
Push Notification – Re-Engage visitors.
Websites and most apps are using push notification to en-engage with their old visitors. Visitors who turn on push notification always get an alert when there is something new on the website or app. 
It also increases conversion rate. People who visit from push notification do know about the content topic. So, most of the time they purchase something or subscribes, which gradually increases the conversion rate.
Future of push notification
With the growth of data violations, clients are more conscious than ever of problems with online security. There’s a purpose why multi-factor authentication (MFA) is getting a reputation. Websites assist MFAs after a user enters their password. This extra step serves as an extra user verification, typically by asking users to input some sort of symbol. Usually, it’s a one-time use password, facial recognition, thumbprint, or a physical dongle. This additional step blocks breaches and hacking from happening.
One brand-new process for MFA is within push notifications. Websites send a push notification to the mobile device to sync with the account for quick verification. This system doesn’t need code memorization or physical dongles to be safe.
This way visitors can be safe with their data. 

Best Customer Relationship Management Software 2021

Management /

Best CRM Software for Small Businesses in 2021

Customer relationship management (CRM) tools do just that, helping your sales team log communications, manage leads and even build marketing campaigns. In the past, CRMs were only available to large organizations, but the rise of cloud-based services has availed CRM platforms to businesses of all sizes.

This guide includes a comprehensive breakdown of what to look for in a CRM solution, as well as reviews of some of the leading products on the market today. It also includes our best picks of CRM software that stood out from the crowd.

To help you find the right CRM software, we researched and analyzed dozens of options. Here is a roundup of our 2021 best picks for CRM software and an explanation of how we chose them.

Editor’s note: Looking for the right Customer Relationship Management software for your business? Fill out the below questionnaire to have our vendor partners contact you about your needs.

Salesforce

Salesforce is an all-in-one, cloud-based solution that has everything you need in a CRM software. Although this software is typically associated with larger businesses and enterprises, Salesforce’s small business edition lets you take advantage of the product’s robust set of Customer Relationship Management tools and resources at an affordable, small-business-friendly price.

Part of Salesforce Small Business Solutions, the platform is very easy to use and includes key features like lead generation, contact and opportunity management, sales forecasting, workflow automation, and much more.

While small businesses can take advantage of the lower-priced tiers, the plans and features of the Salesforce system are suited for larger businesses.

Few things are as important to a business as maintaining a relationship with its customers. Whether you cater to consumers or other businesses, it’s important to stay up to date on evolving conversations with existing customers while also effectively managing new leads. Your customer satisfaction depends on your ability to offer attentive, personalized engagement with your clients, but your growth demands you continue seeking out new customers as well.

Freshsales

Freshsales, a customer relationship management software application by Freshworks, is designed for businesses of all sizes. With an easy-to-use user interface, Freshsales makes it simple for businesses to attract, manage, close and nurture their leads.

Freshsales CRM

The software includes several valuable features, including built-in phone and email service, artificial intelligence-based lead scoring, intelligent workflow automation, customized visual reports and dashboard, and a visual deal pipeline. In all, Freshsales provides businesses with a CRM that lets them manage all of their sales leads from one program.

Zoho CRM

Easy to implement, intuitive to use and inexpensive to adopt, Zoho CRM offers users lots of functionality at a competitive price point. While the customization options aren’t as extensive as some other CRMs we reviewed, there are still a lot of ways to tailor Zoho to meet your needs. Like Zoho’s other business apps, its Customer Relationship Management module feels modern, clean and immediately intuitive. Zoho also offers a bevy of click-to-install extensions through the Zoho Marketplace, and the easy adoption process make it possible for businesses to build out a customized CRM solution without a developer.

Zoho CRM is an extensive solution that’s ideal for just about every small business. It has a decent price point and provides good support to customers.

HubSpot CRM

HubSpot offers independent contractors and owners of tiny businesses an easy entry into the world of CRM solutions. The free version of HubSpot may offer enough functionality to improve processes and organization at zero cost. It offers users a wealth of training resources in its online library, including learning guides, invoice template generators, email signature generators, and marketing plan template generators. Motivated users have a great DIY buffet of options – without the need to spend money on development and training.

Of all the companies we reviewed, Hubspot has the best free option. This is ideal for very small businesses or other companies that have limited experience using CRM systems. Further, Hubspot has one of the most extensive online training libraries to pull from.

Keap

Keap is on a mission to simplify growth for millions of small businesses.

For 18 years, Keap has helped small businesses get organized so they can deliver great service and close more business. Keap’s award-winning CRM solution serves more than 200,000 users globally.

We’re in the business of helping you grow yours.

Step up to all-in-one sales and marketing software designed for growing service-based businesses, ranging from entrepreneurs and startups to larger teams. Keap’s platform organizes your customer information and daily work in one place, freeing you up from repetitive tasks so you have more time to focus on growing your business and delivering great service.

Less Annoying CRM

With just one subscription plan costing $10 per user, per month, Less Annoying Customer Relationship Management takes the complexity and expense out of adopting a customer relationship management solution. Less Annoying CRM doesn’t have the features competing CRMs have, but it simplifies the implementation process: You can expect to have the system up and running in hours. Anyone interested in Less Annoying CRM can check out a software demo online and view screenshots, without filling out a form or submitting a request.

It’s an approachable small business tool that can handle all of your needs from a sales and CRM standpoint, plus it’s easy to implement, whether you have experience in using CRM solutions or not.

Organizations use CRM solutions for a variety of reasons. Initially, though, the CRM industry was geared primarily toward sales and PR professionals, offering a convenient way to store information and track communication with customers. Today, CRM solutions straddle several areas of business customer relationship management, marketing, analytics, communication and even lightweight project management.

Some CRM systems even have built-in chatbot and calling capabilities, so reps can communicate with clients directly from the system.

Even small businesses can afford powerful CRM software, thanks in large part to the proliferation of affordable SaaS solutions, which deliver a lot of functionality without the fuss (or headaches) that come with a major software implementation project. Tiered pricing structures and lots of competition mean SMBs have their pick of easy-to-use CRMs that optimize the customer relationship management process.

Of course, when you have several options available to you, the choices can be overwhelming. Luckily, we’ve done the hard work of comparing and testing CRM products for you.

Here is a roundup of our best picks for Customer Relationship Management software and how we chose them. To help you find the right CRM for your business, read Choosing a CRM Software: A Buyer’s Guide, which answers your common questions and outlines the best approach for choosing and implementing a solution.

What to Expect in 2021

As CRMs have improved, they have become more sophisticated and integrated with a wider range of business operations. Social media and email integration, for example, have been hallmarks of the Customer Relationship Management evolution. And, with the emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, CRM functionality only continues to grow.

In fact, AI use cases in CRM are expected to increase by more than 250% over the next two years. The top expected use cases for AI include customer segmentation and data modeling, programmatic advertising, media buying and personalization for specific channel experience. Generally speaking, AI will continue to automate key CRM functions, reducing the need for manual reentry of data and the potential for human error that comes along with it.

In 2021, look for more automation and integration to streamline CRM usage, boost productivity and widen the scope of business operations that CRM tools impact. The developers that tap into these trends in a way that maintains or enhances user experience will be poised for success in the new decade.

Customer Relationship Management Pricing

For our review of CRM systems, we payed careful attention to pricing. Most customer relationship management software is priced on a per-person, per-month basis, but companies typically opt for annual billing to simplify the payment process. With that in mind, these are the general pricing tiers you can expect.

  • $10 to $15: Inexpensive CRM products are a great option for tiny businesses with modest needs, and there are many services that charge $10 to $15 per user, per month. Affordable systems like these typically have very quick implementation times and don’t usually require much in-house tech support to get things up and running. If you want a fast solution with minimal hassle, this price range is a great place to start – just make sure the storage options are robust enough to meet your needs; low-cost CRMs usually cap the number of records they can store.
  • $20 to $40: For additional features and a broader range of integrations with third-party systems, a CRM priced in the $20 to $40 range will likely meet your needs. The majority of CRM software we reviewed falls into this price range, because it’s designed to meet the needs of the SMB set. As you peruse options in this price range, check for limitations on the number of users supported and storage caps that could force you to upgrade to higher-priced plans.
  • $50 to $75: CRM software that falls in the $50 to $75 range per user is typically intended primarily for enterprise use. Such systems often include options to integrate with legacy systems and allow for greater customization than other CRMs. As powerful as they are, systems like these are not necessary for most small businesses.
  • $250 or more: The highest-end CRM systems often include extensive training, customization and implementation services with the software. An additional reason behind the steep cost of these solutions is that they are not cloud services; instead, they can be hosted locally, which is a boon for organizations with unique security needs.

Most CRM services offer free trial periods for new customers, so you can test-drive the system of your choice without the risk of sinking a lot of money into a product that ultimately doesn’t work for you.

Frequently Asked Questions About CRM

Q: What are some examples of CRM Software? 

A: Customer relationship management (CRM) software refers to any tech solution that helps businesses manage communication with current and potential clients. Some examples of leaders in the CRM software industry include Salesforce, Zoho, HubSpot and Sugar CRM.

Q: What makes a CRM software “open source”? 

A: When a software claims to be open source, it typically means that some or all of the source code is available to users for review and modification. Developers and programmers that want the ability to highly customize their CRM software often opt for open-source solutions.

Q: What are the differences between ERP and customer relationship management (CRM) software? 

A: Enterprise resource planning (ERP) software has some overlap with customer relationship management (CRM) software, so it’s understandable that there’s frequent confusion regarding the difference between ERPs and CRMs.

ERP software is intended to manage nearly every aspect of a business’s operations, including accounting, human resources, inventory, and analytics, and, as such, CRM capabilities are often built into ERP software. CRM software focuses specifically on managing customer information, logging interactions with clients and storing sales-related lead details.
Author: Matt D’angelo

The most common methodology for evolving a good CRM system

The keys to develop a successful CRM are very simple. First the organization needs to make its strategy which is customer focused.

Then the CRM itself should be broken down into manageable parts so that its effective performance might be assured. The solution which is proposed by the CRM system should be beneficial to both the organization and the customers. If an organization achieves these features through a CRM then one can surely call it a successful CRM.

The main goals of any CRM in an organization are to provide services and products in a way which is desired by the customers, offer good and better customer services afterwards.

Effective selling of product in relevant areas, helping the employee in getting better and more profitable deals and in the end keeping the already made customers and inviting the new ones with a strong potential of serving them with the best.

Multipurpose usage of CRM information database

The communication that exists among the customers and an organization play an important in its good development. It must be through, friendly and information delivering.

Later on when the CRM is successfully implemented, the data used for statistical analysis should not be wasted as it will help in further development of good CRM in organization if it plans to expand its business.

What makes a CRM system ineffective in organization?

Poor use of technology and bad customer communication handling may turn the direction of a good CRM into a bad one. This will not only collapse the whole CRM system but the organization will also have to go through a lot of financial loss. So while investing in CRM such things should be made sure.

Invest in CRM, as it gives remarkably good results in form of increased organizational work progress.

Implementation of customer relationship management system explained

CRM handles all the aspect related to the interaction between any organization and its customers. It is being practiced in almost every company of world as its effective use has proved to be very fruitful.

IDIC Model for organization’s CRM system

There are a number of principles which are defined regarding problem solving and ease of customers. Among these, one is known as the IDIC model. This model shows how a good CRM can be developed using a step by step procedure in an organization.

Remember, the image of any organization now a day is impossible to think without CRM implementation. An empire which falls in few days of its establishment is of no use to the inhabitants. Same goes in the business when it comes to development and initiative of a business.

Compare crm for small business

Netsuite CRM+

If you have a budget that looks a little bit better, perhaps you will afford to pay the monthly fee of $129. You will get plenty of features for that money.

For instance, it is a cloud system, offering real-time data about your customers, from all points of view. It has quite a complex dashboard, which may seem a bit challenging for people that never dealt with CRM before, but it offers features like showing quotes, order statuses, even forecasts of your sales.

Capsule CRM

It has a clean interface, being user-friendly, so it is an excellent tool for people that never had any contact with CRM systems before. It has only five icons, which can be used for the main tasks of CRM.

It covers incoming tasks, adding contacts, special sales feature, cases that are open and unsolved, and the possibility to keep a calendar. The system even has a free basic plan to get started with. But even if you choose the professional plan, you won’t pay more than $12 every month.