February 6th, 2012
You may have noticed our new look this week. We have a new logo and a new color palette representing the Infusionsoft brand. We’re excited to have a fresh new face representing our brand identity. Here’s a look at our process and thinking behind the logo and brand image change.
The previous Infusionsoft logo served us well for the last five years. The red, black and gray showed our serious side and gave some credibility to a fast-growing little startup that made innovative web-based software to help small businesses automate their sales and marketing.
This is the Infusionsoft logo we used for the past five years:
(2007 - 2012)
We’re still growing fast, but Infusionsoft isn’t a little startup any more. Now we’re growing into a bigger industry leader with our popular all-in-one sales and marketing software. Our products, services, partner community are all maturing quickly. A far cry from five guys in a small office, we now have over 200 employees and we serve an increasingly diverse market of small businesses from around the world.
Our brand image needed to reflect these changes and better represent who we are and where we are going.
Several months ago when we decided to make the logo change, we didn’t just jump in by exploring new design ideas and trying out colors. The visual change was the last part of a strategic process where we clarified our market positioning focus, brand personality and our business vision, including our purpose, core values and mission. This was not an easy or quick process, but it has been absolutely key to our own success and continued growth.
What remains unchanged is our focus on helping small businesses succeed as they grow up to our all-in-one sales and marketing system, from the hodgepodge of individual tools they’re currently using to manage their marketing, sales and ecommerce. We’re redefining small business CRM with a unified approach to sales in marketing software that helps small businesses get more customers, grow their sales and save time.
Once we had the strategic foundation, we worked with an experienced design agency to express our strategy, personality and vision in a logo mark and brand identity. This is always a fun process and it took a while to find the right logo mark, color scheme and overall brand look that fit us the best.
I’m proud to introduce the new Infusionsoft logo:
The new logo mark is simple, strong and modern. We have created some separation between “Infusion” and “soft” to make it easier to understand and digest, since our name is a longer word with a mouthful of letters and can sometimes be difficult to take in at first glance.
The new green color reflects the growth and energy that our solution brings to our customers. It’s a distinctive color in our industry that will help set us apart and create a unique, recognizable visual brand. Compared to our black, red and gray colors resembling old, we love the new bright green color and new palette of complementary colors reflecting new.
We hope you like it, too. If you used our old logo previously, you can download our updated brand kit here so you can use the latest version of our logo.
We didn’t only update the logo and colors, we have a revised corporate vision including our strategic mission, core values and more. Our CEO and Co-founder, Clate Mask, shares that update in his blog post.
Categories: CRM Software, CRM and social media, Infusionsoft CRM, Web Based CRM, Web Based Email Software, social crm
Tags: Brand, CRM, Customer Relationship Management, infusionsoft, Infusionsoft CRM, Logo, small business
February 6th, 2012
If you’ve followed Infusionsoft for any period of time, you know we’re huge proponents of culture. Our culture is an incredible competitive advantage for us, enabling us to hire the best people who make a great impact on our customers and the company. We have been named one of the best companies to work for in Arizona for six straight years. And last year, we were named #15 on the list of Best Companies to Work for in America.
I am frequently asked what we do to create such an incredible culture. In fact, I just got off the phone with a reporter doing a story on us. Her main question: “How have you created such a great place to work?”
The answer: it’s all about our Vision.
I capitalize the word Vision because it means something specific to us here at Infusionsoft. Our Vision is comprised of our Purpose, our Core Values and our Mission. We hire to the Vision and we fire to the Vision. Our Vision is the linchpin of our company, and once we created the Vision over five years ago, the company began to excel.
Today, we are refining our Vision. Are we changing the Vision? Absolutely not! We are simplifying the Vision and re-articulating it in words that are easier for everyone to understand, whether you’re inside or outside of Infusionsoft. I want to take a minute and explain the refinement and the reasoning for it.
Until now, we’ve had a Dream, Vision, Purpose and Mission. Each of those components was a long sentence that required some explaining. But the essence of the “DVPM,” as we call it, is our Purpose (why we exist) and our Mission (what we’re up to). All of our employees memorize our DVPM. And we had to do a lot of explaining to people outside the building (“why are there four different sentences?” and “can you boil it all down for me?”).
So, this refinement is about simplifying the Purpose and Mission and getting to the very heart of why we do what we do. Our newly stated Purpose is:
“To Help Small Businesses Succeed.”
Simple as that. It’s what we’re born to do. It’s why we exist. It’s what we’ll be doing at Infusionsoft for the next 100 years or so. 
Our new Mission is:
“To create and dominate the market of all-in-one sales and marketing software for small businesses, with 100,000 customers worldwide.”
We’ve got close to 9,000 customers today. Over the next few years, we’ll be working hard to take our amazing software to 100,000 customers.
Our Core Values, as formerly articulated, are Entrepreneurship, Authenticity, Integrity, Passion, Compassion and No Ego, No Fear. These Core Values dictate the way we operate as we passionately pursue our Purpose and Mission. But we found that we were always saying the same phrases when we explained what we mean by these Core Values. So, we decided to re-articulate our Core Values, shifting them from one-word Values to short phrases. Our newly stated Core Values are:
We empower entrepreneurs.
We listen, we care, we serve.
We do what we say we’ll do.
We practice open, real communication.
We face challenges with optimism.
We check our egos at the door.
We innovate and constantly improve.
We do the right thing.
We believe in people and their dreams.
I am thrilled with our revised Vision. The Purpose is why we do what we do. The Mission is what we’re up to for the next few years. And the Core Values are how we do what we do. Combined, the Purpose, Mission and Core Values make up a powerful Vision that guides our company, attracts the best talent and creates a culture that is a distinct competitive advantage.
Read more about Infusionsoft’s new look from our Chief Marketing Officer, Greg Head.
Categories: CRM Software, CRM and social media, Infusionsoft CRM, Web Based CRM, Web Based Email Software, social crm
Tags: Core Values, Customer Relationship Management, infusionsoft, Infusionsoft CRM, Mission, small business
February 4th, 2012
Career experts often advise job seekers or networkers to “tell your story.” But what does that mean? Should you share how you won the school science fair in third grade or how you once locked your keys in the car with the engine still running? It’s difficult to know exactly what story to tell at the right time – and how to make it interesting enough that eyes don’t start to glaze over or someone pulls the fire alarm just to get away from you. There is a skill to telling the right kind of stories at the right time so that you not only gain the interest of an employer or contact, but also will enable the person to recall you more vividly later. One important key: Make sure emotion is evoked. Telling the story of winning the science fair might work if it conveys a sense of joy gained through hard work. Even locking your keys in the car can become a funny tale that underlines the sense of satisfaction gained by overcoming an obstacle. Dan McAdams, a Northwestern University psychology professor who has studied storytelling for more than 10 years, told a publication for the American Psychological Association that stories “help us smooth out some of the decisions we have made and create something that is meaningful and sensible out of the chaos of our lives.” That means someone who doesn’t know you well will gain a deeper understanding through your stories of who you are and what makes you tick. Bragging about how you developed a new product can turn some people off, but telling a story of how a mistake you made actually helped you find a better answer can be much more appealing and convey the same message. Here are some tips for telling memorable and appropriate stories:
1. It has to be true.
It’s too easy to verify facts these days through the Internet or social networking sites, so don’t fib to a boss or potential employer.
2. Don’t be long-winded.
Great stories are those that can retold to others. If it’s too lengthy, others will have trouble remembering key points.
3. Determine a message.
What do you want others to walk away with after hearing your story? Don’t tell a tale that shows how you want to win at all costs when you’re trying to get a job with a team-based company. Try to talk about skills that will appeal to a particular company or contact.
4. Align your values.
People are most drawn to those like them. If your research has shown a job interviewer spends time coaching youth baseball, tell the story of one memorable youth sport that helped hone your sense of self.
5. Flesh out your resume.
It can be hard to convey your personality in a piece of paper, so use stories to add punch to important skills. Think about a story that conveys, for example, your ability to be organized, flexible and cool in a crisis.
6. Practice.
Not everyone can be Chris Rock or Tina Fey, so don’t try to imitate someone else. You want to tell an authentic story that’s about two minutes long, sprinkled with enough detail to keep it interesting and relevant. Often, stories about how you persevered through adversity or how you turned a frustrating experience into a positive one are the most appealing.
7. Look in the mirror.
While you don’t want to tell a story as if you were performing in children’s theater, facial expressions and hand gestures can be used to underscore key parts of the story. Raising your eyebrows, for example, can be used to convey surprise and gain more interest from your listener. Remember that telling someone you’re a “people person” doesn’t really reveal who you are or why they should want to get to know you better. Dump the trite phrases and instead offer a deeper connection through the stories you share and you’ll develop the kind of connections that will lead to happily ever after in your career.
Related posts:
- 10 Ways Managers Botch Performance Evaluations
- Should You Test Potential Hires?
- 4 Ways Current Labor Trends Impact Your Career
Categories: Intuit QuickBase
Tags: Intuit QuickBase, online crm, QuickBase, QuickBase Marketing, QuickBase Project Management, QuickBase Sales Management
February 3rd, 2012
By now, you’ve probably heard of Crystal Cox, the blogger who was sued for libel by Obsidian Financial Group after Cox wrote that some of their business practices were illegal. Cox is now required to pay $2.5 million because a judge ruled she was not a journalist and therefore not entitled to protect anonymous sources.
This is a scary story because one definitely gets the sense that Cox thought she was doing the right thing and had no intention of getting into hot water over it. And I suspect that millions of casual social media consumers are in a similar boat right this minute.
Self-Censorship is Key
My rule of thumb for staying out of trouble online is not to post anything – anywhere – that you wouldn’t be comfortable seeing on the home page of Google, or that you wouldn’t want read by your grandmother or religious officiant. This (usually) means no posts or images involving sex, drugs, or radical politics.
It’s Not Always Obvious
When you are employed with an organization, what you can and cannot post online takes on a whole new dimension. In general, you should always think before you post, because there are the obvious no nos (such as not writing that you hate your company or that you are looking for a new job) and the not-so-obvious no nos (such as posting a company announcement on Facebook or giving a colleague a reference on LinkedIn).
Privacy Controls Are Not Everything
You are not excused from careful consideration if you make use of privacy controls on your social media networks, or if you don’t think you are “friends” with anyone who could disapprove. This approach is by no means full proof. As an example, a young professional I know in Chicago got fired after she called in sick but sent a live tweet to her friends from a Cubs game the same day. One of her friends re-tweeted the remark, which eventually found its way back to the young professional’s boss.
Know the Rules
It is also critical that you understand that company’s policy when it comes to social media. Hopefully, this is written down somewhere. If you can’t find it, ask a contact in HR. Otherwise, you could end up posting something that will cost you your job. Even if you were completely in the dark and your intentions were totally innocent, at-will employment laws in most states mean that an organization doesn’t need a serious reason or in depth process to let you go. And worse, if word gets around why you were fired, it may be difficult to secure another position because other organizations will be leery of your lack of discretion.
Thou Shall Not Resume-Blast or Defame
Staying out of trouble online involves more than just social media too. When you’re job hunting, be aware that when you post your resume in a public place, you risk your boss or HR department discovering it while sourcing candidates. And, in light of the example at the top of this post, please do not defame anyone on a website. It may seem like a good way to let off some steam, but your comments could come back to haunt you – if not legally, then personally or professionally.
If you’re a bit freaked out by this advice, that’s good, because it means you will be more vigilant. Remember: if in doubt about a piece of information, keep it to yourself.
Related posts:
- Use Social Media for Your Career
- Social Media & Your Career: Lead or Follow
- WikiLeaks Have You Spooked? Implement a Sensible Social Media Policy
Categories: Intuit QuickBase, Social Media
Tags: Intuit QuickBase, online crm, QuickBase, QuickBase Marketing, QuickBase Project Management, QuickBase Sales Management
February 2nd, 2012
I’m proud to share an update about a recent advancement to our email infrastructure. We now adopt a new technology called DMARC, which stands for “Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance.” It is a new and emerging email authentication protocol which helps both email senders and receivers prevent against domain spoofing and phishing.
DMARC provides a method for receivers to identify and take action against spoofing attempts, by utilizing the already widely-adopted authentication protocols of DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) and SPF (Sender Policy Framework). Since this new DMARC protocol does not require any new technologies (just requires DNS record updates) it makes this a promising tool to become widely adopted by both email senders and receivers.
Essentially, DMARC performs a check against both the SPF record as well as the DKIM of the sending domain and gives the recipient MTA (Message Transport Agent) the information it needs to perform action against a spoofed domain. Coupling these two authentication protocols makes it virtually impossible for a malicious sender to spoof a sender’s domain. While not completely bullet-proof on preventing against all kinds of spoofing, it does provide a reliable method against domain-specific phishing attacks. Infusionsoft has been utilizing both DKIM and SPF for many years, so adding DMARC was an easy decision as we continue to evolve and strengthen our email systems.
DMARC is useful to both senders and receivers because it safeguards against domain fraud as well as end-recipient consumer privacy protection. Meaning, large and popular senders can protect against domain and brand spoofing, while the large recipients (AOL, Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, et cetera) also benefit from ensuring their users are not receiving maliciously spoofed emails claiming to be from legitimate organizations in order to capture email addresses and other private and personal information. This technology has already received wide support from brands you trust including Google, Bank of America, PayPal, LinkedIn, Fidelity, Facebook and more.
DMARC is implemented by making an addition to the DNS (Domain Name System) TXT-type record for the given domain. Once a DNS has had time to propagate throughout the Internet, the receiving-side will pick up on this new DMARC addition and begin sending reports on potential spoofing attempts. This helps in identifying any abusive senders who would attempt to imitate your brand in order to compromise recipient privacy, which would only hurt your company branding and reputation.
Earlier this week, I had my team implement DMARC here at Infusionsoft. We are monitoring and testing this new technology. As the leading sales and marketing software for small businesses, Infusionsoft sends a lot of permission-based email on behalf of our customers. As an ESP (Email Service Provider), we will now better identify if and when our domain is being spoofed, and report such abusive practices accordingly. In short, DMARC is another tool in our email systems toolbox to help Infusionsoft’s email reputation and email deliverability stay strong.
P.S. Infusionsoft’s partner, Return Path has built a DMARC record creation tool which is available on their website. Additionally, by sending an email to checkmyauth@auth.returnpath.net, Return Path will send you a report back so you can see whether or not your email is authenticating with SPF/DKIM as well as whether or not your domain is ready to start using DMARC.
Categories: CRM Software, CRM and social media, Infusionsoft CRM, Web Based CRM, Web Based Email Software, social crm
Tags: Customer Relationship Management, DMARC, email marketing, Email Security, infusionsoft, Infusionsoft CRM, Safety, Security, Technology
February 2nd, 2012
![Post image for Why Pam Slim Chooses Infusionsoft [Customer Highlight]](http://www.infusionblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/pam-slim.jpg)
As a new feature on our blog, we’ll highlight our best, brightest and coolest business owners and entrepreneurs who choose Infusionsoft for their sales and marketing software. Pam Slim is one such entrepreneur who benefits from choosing Infusionsoft so she can scale her business, get ‘out of the weeds’ and leverage automation to provide personalized experiences for her current and prospective clients.
We recently visited Pam’s office to discuss how we helped her business. Pam is a respected business coach, author and public speaker. She operates a premium membership program, hits the road with speaking gigs (including InfusionCon 2012) and puts on training courses that complement hit book, Escape from Cubicle Nation.
In the video below, you can listen to Pam explain how Infusionsoft helped her scale various parts of her business and provide personalized experiences for her clients.
We are proud to have customers like Pam using Infusionsoft to run her business efficiently and confidently. To see Infusionsoft in action and to pick up helpful advice for thriving entrepreneurs, sign up for her free newsletter.
Would you like to be featured for accomplishing amazing feats with Infusionsoft? Tell us your story about how we have helped your business and you could be featured on the blog next!
Categories: CRM, CRM Software, CRM and social media, Infusionsoft CRM, Web Based CRM, Web Based Email Software, social crm
Tags: Customer Highlight, Customer Relationship Management, Infusionsoft CRM, marketing automation, Raving Fan, small business
February 2nd, 2012
Businesses that have a human to human sales interaction with other business customers can be somewhat traditional in their marketing approaches. Many B2B sales teams live and die by old school sales strategies – cold calling, networking and relationship building.
Those sales teams that choose to dive into the world of technology to improve their results usually start with a contact management system or Sales CRM, dabble with LinkedIn, Twitter, etc. and perhaps even try some modest email marketing.
The email marketing tends to be limited to something like a quarterly newsletter. The e-newsletter is a sort of toe in the water. It can be quite valuable for nurturing customers and prospects in industries where the universe of potential customers is limited and businesses rely on repeat business from the same customers over the years. However, a newsletter is not likely to generate tangible opportunity f
or sales people very often.
We just released an ebook called “Grow Sales with Emails, 7 Ways Sales Teams Win with Email Marketing” that provides some simple examples of how to start leveraging email marketing to grow sales, simply and affordably.
What’s worse, those bold enough to jump into the email marketing pool quickly learn that the $20/month email marketing service they signed up for gets very expensive when they start to send a lot of emails.
In the age of freemium, unlimited Internet access and cloud computing, it’s amazing to discover that almost all email marketing systems available today come with limitations that come as a surprise to the buyer and a serious hindrance to use in the real world.
How Many Emails Can You Send?
If a business has 1,000 customers they may want to send an email to them once a month. Plus, they typically have 250 prospects in their sales pipeline at any given time. After a few months, they may have built up a list of potential customers that’s easily 1,000 or more contacts and prospects typically get emailed more frequently so, within 3 months the overall email volume desired could be 3,000 to more than 10,000 emails.
And surprise! This type of volume puts your squarely into the premium category of most email marketing providers’ pricing structures. A business that starts off with the entry level package from Constant Contact, Swift Page, iContact, or Vertical Response will be face with upgrading to much more expensive packages.
Who Is In Charge of Email Marketing?
Plus, most of these systems are limited to one user. That means only one person on the staff can take advantage of the service. Adding access for another user can sometimes double the cost.
So, all of a sudden, if you’re going to make it work, there’s someone on the staff spending hours per week moving in information from the sales team, creating campaigns and managing them. For a sales driven business, there is still a great challenge in simply keeping the email marketing system lists up to date based on changes in client and prospect status and new leads as the come in.
The cost of the time invested is of course far greater than the email marketing system subscription.
Online Lead Generation Takes It to a New Level
For the growing number of businesses spending money to increase the visibility of their website online and in search engines and capture leads from the website, the challenges and limitations mushroom.
Constant Contact, Swift Page, Vertical Response, iContact and virtually all email marketing providers can capture leads from your website but, additional charges apply. In addition, most businesses investing in online lead generation quickly learn the value of on-going lead nurturing campaigns. Some of the vendors mentioned above have “auto-responder” capabilities but, there are additional charges and limitations apply.
Even far more expensive services such as Infusionsoft and Hubspot limit the number of emails in total that can be sent and the number of emails in an auto-responder sequence.
The message here is buyer beware. Know what your requirements will be 6 months or 2 years down the road and find a system that will meet those needs.
Opting Out of Your Email Marketing Service is NOT Easy
Selecting an email marketing (Read more...)
Categories: CRM, CRM Free Trial, CRM Sales Software, Marketing, SalesNexus CRM, Sell, Web Based CRM
Tags: account strategy, blog, CRM, crm email, CRM Software, email blasts, email limitations, email marketing, email service, lead management, lead nurturing, prospecting, sales emails, sales software, SalesNexus CRM, SMB, Web Based CRM
February 1st, 2012
Harvey Mackay says his best friend outside his own family is legendary former Notre Dame Coach Lou Holtz. Holtz was also the head coach at the University of Minnesota and says that when he arrived in the Twin Cities (where Mackay makes his home), the “wind chill factor was about fifty degrees below zero,” and “Harvey sold me six refrigerators.”
All jokes aside, Mackay is considered a sales and business guru who has shared his selling secrets with millions of people through his bestselling books, including his latest, “The Mackay MBA of Selling in the Real World.” He has also chronicled how job seekers can use his networking and selling strategies to find a job with “Use Your Head to Get Your Foot in the Door.”
In the second part of this interview with Anita Bruzzese, Mackay offers his advice to newbies in the business world.
AB: There seems to be growing optimism about the economy. In your opinion, how should people best position themselves in their business or their career as things start to improve?
HM: I would answer this question the same way I would for the last 25 years, no matter what was happening: You must go to school for all your life.
What I mean by this is that you would hate to have major surgery with a surgeon who graduated in 2002 and didn’t keep up on the latest technology. You must continually enhance your skills throughout your career. Go to night school to enhance your computer skills. Go to Toastmaster’s International to enhance your presentation skills. You’ve got to keep enhancing your skills.
AB: Employers are being cautious about hiring. What words of advice would you have for the job seeker who may have been looking for work for a year or more?
HM: I think there are some things these jobs seekers can do to make themselves more successful.
First, they need to really know the market and territory. Even though they’re using LinkedIn to network, 50 percent to 75 percent of jobs still come through personal contacts. So, you’ve got to really get out there and meet people in your area or industry.
Second, I would immediately volunteer. Do something you’re passionate about. The biggest problems for nonprofits are money, money and money. So go knock on doors and make sales calls for these organizations. Not only will you start to feel better about yourself because you’re out there meeting people, but you’re also building a network.
Third, there are more people willing to help you than you think. Never say no for another person. Let them be the one to say no. The dumbest question is the one you never asked. I’ve mentored over 500 people, so don’t be afraid to ask someone to help you.
Fourth, get all the advice you can from career counselors or self-help books on the mistakes other people made in trying to get a job. Learn what you should be doing.
If they (job seekers) do all those things, their probability of getting a job goes dramatically up.
AB: Can you talk about some of the challenges faced by older job seekers?
HM: I think the age group of 45 to 65 has been hardest hit. It may sound corny, but unequivocally, they have to reinvent themselves.
You cannot solve a problem unless you first admit you have one, and about a third of them won’t even admit they have a problem. They still think just because their company closed up they can stay in the same industry, go across town to a competitor and get a job. That’s not going to happen.
So what can they do? They know one skill basically. They’ve got to go back to school. They may have to get an MBA, go to a career counselor, network – do all the things we’ve been talking about.
AB: A lot of career advice surrounds the idea that you’ve got to have a personal brand and promote yourself more to others. But a lot of people don’t have the chutzpah to do this. What would you say to them?
HM: They don’t teach chutzpah in school, so you’ve got to invest (Read more...)
Categories: Intuit QuickBase
Tags: Intuit QuickBase, online crm, QuickBase, QuickBase Marketing, QuickBase Project Management, QuickBase Sales Management
January 31st, 2012
When I tell people Infusionsoft’s purpose is to help small businesses succeed, I generally get approving nods from the audience. Whether I’m talking to an individual or a group, there is a sense of agreement, a feeling that as we talk about “small businesses,” we are speaking the same language.
Our conversation feels so warm and fuzzy: baseball, small business, apple pie and America. But as the conversation progresses, red flags of miscommunication start to go up.
“So, who else is serving SMBs in your market?”
“Would I recognize the names of any of your customers?”
“I have a friend who works for IBM selling into small businesses.”
My responses are:
“I never said anything about mid-sized businesses or SMBs; almost certainly not; and IBM doesn’t know squat about small businesses.”
Okay, maybe I’m not so blunt about it, but it’s clear to me that my counterpart(s) and I are not thinking alike when we talk about small businesses.
And yet, the fact remains that Infusionsoft is in existence to help small businesses succeed.
So, what’s a small business?
Is it IBM’s definition of “companies with under 1000 employees and/or less than $500 million in annual revenue?”
Is a “small business” a company with under 500 employees, as the Small Business Administration defines it?
Or is it a company with under 15 employees, as Australia defines it?
Ask 10 people to define “small business” and you’ll get 10 answers. To some people, this may not be a big deal. But to us at Infusionsoft, it’s a huge deal. Why? Because our purpose is to help small businesses succeed. If you’re a one-man shop, you have different needs and challenges than a business with 10 employees. And you have widely different needs and challenges than a 100-person company. If a vendor says they serve small businesses (or worse, “SMBs”) and what they mean by that is “companies with under 500 employees,” then the family business with five employees is going to feel totally under-served by that vendor.
Surprisingly, nobody has taken the time to really define for the world what small business means. Until now.
For the past 10 years, we’ve been serving small businesses. We have studied hundreds of thousands of small businesses. We’ve written books on small business, studied the success of small business and pointed out the inconsistencies of vendors claiming to serve small business. In particular, I’ve spent hundreds of hours studying the US Census Bureau’s data regarding small businesses. I became fascinated with the Census Bureau data a few years ago when Scott and I wrote Conquer the Chaos. I’m actually slightly embarrassed by the spreadsheets I’ve developed and the time I’ve spent studying this data.
All of our research has led to the frustrating conclusion that there are so many classifications of small business, it’s almost impossible to make sense of it all.
Well, it’s time to make sense of it all. It’s time to create a language around small business that serves small businesses so they can get the products and services they need, instead of the products and services vendors want to sell.
That last part of the prior sentence is important… and controversial. See, the unfortunate truth is, if a vendor sells a product that is built and priced for companies with 100 employees, when they call it a “small business solution” they know they’ll bring in a bunch of businesses with under 20 employees. After all, that’s where the numbers are: over 98% of US businesses have under 20 employees.
In other words, vendors who want to sell stuff to small businesses are all too happy to stay vague about who they serve, hoping they’ll pick up a bunch of customers their product wasn’t meant to serve.
Am I being too harsh toward vendors? Maybe. But the sad truth is that most small businesses are totally under-served with over-built solutions that are designed for “SMBs.” As we like to say at Infusionsoft, “SMB” really means “smaller mid-sized businesses.”
At Infusionsoft, we aren’t interested in smaller mid-sized businesses. We are interested in small businesses–SBs. We’re not just interested in them, we’re passionately fanatical about helping them succeed. That’s our purpose. (Read more...)
Categories: CRM Software, CRM and social media, Infusionsoft CRM, Web Based CRM, Web Based Email Software, social crm
Tags: Customer Relationship Management, infusionsoft, Infusionsoft CRM, small business, SMB, software, Trends
January 31st, 2012
Some jobs come with a role description and the duties you perform do not change much from day to day. In such a position, you know exactly what is expected of you and what to do in order to do well. However, most jobs are a bit more ambiguous and the path to success a little less prescribed. Nobody is there holding your hand through the steps or handing you a cheat sheet and in many cases one doesn’t exist.
First, a quick distinction between the behaviors and the outcomes as it is related to job performance. Behaviors are what you do while outcomes are what get done. Behaviors are the only component of job performance that are within 100% of your own control. So this is where I will focus.
Outcomes, while good and necessary, differ depending on what work you do. They are the result your actions, but they are also very much influenced by factors outside of your control. For example, meeting a certain dollar amount for a sales target is an outcome. Whether you are a good salesperson or not, the market demands and product quality exert an influence on what is possible and how easy or difficult it is to achieve.
Actively seeking to become a better performer, then, involves behavior. For almost any job out there, there are eight universal categories of behavior that influence the outcome of your work:
Basic Skills
Job-specific competence – the level of technical knowledge required for the position and how well you complete tasks related to the major aspects of the job. How well you do exactly what you were hired to do. For example, writing code if you are a programmer.
General work competence – how well you do other related tasks. This is the type of work that everyone is responsible for in your organization, your work unit, or your profession. For example, customer service or proficiency in Microsoft Office.
Managing Yourself
Personal effort – demonstrating effort on a frequent, consistent, and substantive basis. This includes both effort in doing and thinking. For example, when overloaded with work, you expend extra effort rather than automatically passing it on to others. Alternatively, when confronted with a difficult problem, you proactively seek solutions before giving up and asking for help. Related: see #3 and #6 on this list.
Personal discipline – keeping a schedule and organized work day. This can range from such basics as coming to work on time and avoiding personal altercations to more advanced techniques such as respecting deadlines and managing time effectively.
Working with Others
Communication – written communication such as writing clear and concise emails; oral communication such as making a point at the weekly meeting; formal communication such as presenting the results of a survey to a board; or informal communication such as discussing a project with your boss.
Teamwork – performance that is a result of a group effort rather than simply your individual effort; activities requiring collaboration or cooperation with others. Specific behaviors could include keeping a group focused, encouraging participation, acting as a good role model, and offering assistance.
Taking Action
Management – typical management duties are setting goals to support a strategy, planning projects, organizing, delegating work, adhering to a budget, meeting deadlines, training employees, and keeping everyone informed and on the same page.
Leadership – in practice, this one can get confused with management sometimes and might be neglected if you are not naturally great in this area. Examples of leadership are striving for innovation, influencing others, motivating others, acting as a role model and serving as a coach.
Take a look at the above list and determine where you can make changes. But… if this list is at all intimidating, remember this: “only the mediocre are always at their best.”
Related posts:
- Assembling a High-Performance Team
- Team and Management Communication is a Two-Way Street
- Three Habits of Bad Bosses: Are You Guilty?
Categories: Intuit QuickBase
Tags: Intuit QuickBase, online crm, QuickBase, QuickBase Marketing, QuickBase Project Management, QuickBase Sales Management
