The customer is king

It may be trite, but it's true. If you don't get new customers and hang on to your existing ones you're not going to be around for long. Back in the old days, when sales and marketing used to view each other as a necessary evil, the term ‘Customer Relationship Management' (CRM) was often a dirty word - to sales - because it was seen as a barrier to making the sale. We're a lot wiser now and today's CRM applications can be customised to work the way you want them to, fitting in with how your business operates. A company that knows its customers, know what they've bought in the past, and what and when they might need something in the future is a very impressive one. (Laithwaites wine merchants are particularly good at this..)

If you're looking for a solution to help you drive more sales, target your marketing and provide a better service to your customers, take a look at Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 Small Business Edition.

You can sign up for a Microsoft Dynamics 60-day free trial today - find out more here.