Think Globally, Act Locally – Our story begins in Japan in January 1921, the birth of Akio Morita, the man who went on to become one of Japan’s greatest post-war business executives, founded Sony and invented the Walkman. Why am I talking about Akio Morita? Well, he coined the phrase (Pay Wall) that has inspired, among other things, this article.
‘Think Globally, Act Locally.’ Typically, this is a thought process used by multinational corporations to build local roots, but as a small business, we use it a little bit differently.
How does Collier Pickard use this?
Our interpretation of this ‘Think Globally, Act Locally’ is – ‘behave like a big corporate but be sensitive to the local markets needs and requirements.’
So, how do we do this?
We have a tonne of best practice knowledge that we have built over the year working with corporations that we have then applied to work with smaller businesses. We take the lessons learned and use that knowledge to give small businesses an edge. We in effect become your mentor and guide as opposed to just your CRM supplier.
How does that help me?
You might be asking yourself – “I’m a small local business and I don’t want to expand globally, why should I care?” Now that is a very good question, why should any of this matter to you?
As a small business ourselves, we know where small businesses struggle, where they excel and how to make CRM support you in your business journey (we are doing it for ourselves every day). With our experience of working with corporations, we know what makes them tick and how those lessons can be best applied to small businesses.
Small businesses lack the resources and funding that larger corporations do. However, every major firm began small. Taking cues from the larger players can teach the rest of us a great deal.
So, what can we learn and how can CRM help?
Customer Service
Your clients are one of your most valuable assets so – treat them well. That includes being aware of issues and providing prompt remedies. With efficient use of your CRM, you can provide corporate level customer service for a fraction of the cost with a fraction of the employees.
Any CRM system worth its salt will have a customer service module, which can be used in a multitude of ways, such as tracking complaints, support requests or even training sessions.
Marketing, Marketing, Marketing
I may be a little biased, but marketing is a key part of any business. If people don’t know that your business exists, how will you sell to them?
Brand awareness doesn’t always require large marketing spend. Modern marketing techniques, such as social media or email campaigns, can provide a significant return on investment. Always employ a marketing strategy and regard it as a vital part of your company.
Want to send email campaigns to your client base? Well firstly, you need a tool to store and segment your client database and secondly, you need a way to send them email campaigns. Most CRMs will come with a campaign manager that allows you to send emails out in bulk.
Plan Strategically
In the same way that you would plan a long journey, you should be planning your business journey. In that plan, you should make use of one of the greatest advantages that every small business has – agility
Your product or service may have been built around one sector, but could equally apply to another, or due to changes in the market you may be forced to adapt and evolve. If you carefully plan, these changes can be an easy pivot.
Using CRM, you can see where your business is doing well and where it isn’t, you might think that Finance is your key sector, but with the data from your CRM, you could see that you do better in the Engineering sector.
Invest in Software
When thinking globally, corporations have a huge budget for software and they will have the team to make it work, but good software doesn’t have to break the bank. Another biased point coming from a CRM supplier, but CRM has allowed our small team to do the work of a much bigger team. By investing in the right software, you can make your team more efficient, effective, and make more money for less work.
Repetitive tasks are present in every business and very few people enjoy doing them, but they must be done. If the process is the same every time, why not automate it? Automating one or two tasks isn’t going to make a dramatic difference, but if you could automate your sales follow up process, your invoicing process, and your marketing, why wouldn’t you? CRM can help with all of this.
Become *THE* expert in your space
Using the CRM market and Collier Pickard as an example, there are 1000s of companies that you can go to for help with CRM, from small one-man bands to giant corporations, so how do we stand out? We know that you can buy CRM anywhere, but with Collier Pickard, you are also purchasing our experience.
Our founding team has been in the CRM industry for more than 30 years! The rest of our team has learned from the directors and our customers. So, we know our stuff and have over one hundred years of experience in the sector.
We have spent decades learning everything there is to know about our field and the sectors that we work with. You’re in the Finance industry and you want to know about CRM? We have someone for that. You’re in the Not-for-Profit sector and you need a CRM? We have someone else for that. Maybe, you are a supplier for the medical industry? Surprise, we also have someone for that.
In many cases, these companies will be using the same CRM system, but thanks to our understanding of each industry, how they do business and the processes that they use, we can make sure they get the most out of their CRMs even though they all need something different.
If you have a knowledge of your product or service that very few people have, then that is your secret weapon. So, make it not so secret.
If you are looking for a CRM system to grow your business, or if you’re just looking for advice on how think globally and act locally to get more out of your CRM, come and have a chat. We are happy to talk and will help you in any way that we can.
