Knowledge Base

Writing press releases is not as easy as you might think, especially if you want to do it while following the Associated Press (AP) guidelines. There are lots of things to be aware of, from punctuation to the text formatting and creating a short “about you” paragraph (boilerplate). You also need to think about your audience - not only journalists and editors but also people interested in your company’s services or products. Therefore, before you even start writing the news about your company, be sure to know how to do it properly. We are here to help you write a press release format in AP style, but before we do that, here’s a short introduction to the AP writing style.  What is AP Style Writing? AP style is a writing style for journalists, magazines, and news set by the Associated Press news agency. Although some magazines (like New York Times) have their own publishing styles, AP style is considered an essential guide for journalists and editors or anyone else who wants to publish news. Like other style guidelines, AP style ensures that articles are formatted uniformly, regardless of who writes them. AP style writing rules are published in the AP stylebook. In this book, you can see the standards for text presentation, including news and press releases.  A press release using AP style includes numerous rules, and we are going to explain the most important ones here:  Serial Comma  Unlike Oxford style, AP style doesn’t allow the use of the serial comma. That means that the comma in AP style doesn't go after the last item in a list. The usage of commas is often a matter of style, but if you write magazine articles and news, AP style requires you to follow this rule.  Punctuation Don’t use a double space after a period if you write following the Associated Press writing style. The style requires a one-space rule after a period.  Numbers It might be easy to forget, so always check how you write numbers in articles formatted using the AP style. According to the Associated Press style guide, numbers between one and nine must be spelled, and you can use numerals past the number ten (10). By following the AP style, time should be written in numbers instead of words. For example, you should write “3 p.m.” instead of “three o’clock in the afternoon.” Dates When it comes to dates, there are a few rules to memorize. Firstly, you should use numbers to write dates. Secondly, the abbreviation applies only for months that are more than five letters long.  Fonts We know that there are a lot of attractive fonts to use but stick to standard ones. Editors will not be impressed with this type of experiment, especially if they follow standard AP style rules. Times New Roman is the standard font that you should use. AP style press release format sets the rules for font size too. The font size is also standardized and can be one point apart in size. If your headline is 14, the subheadings should be 13. The body of your text would then be size 12. Perspective Never use a first-person perspective in your article; you are a journalist, not a bard. AP style requires news and articles written in third-person only.  Capitalization AP style headline capitalization means that all headlines and subheadings have to be written in the title case.  How to write an AP style press release Before starting to write a press release, make sure that you know five W’s or five questions all journalists must be able to answer. These questions are the core of any news piece, and if you know how to ask and answer them, you may rest assured that you are providing adequate information to your audience. The answers to these questions summarize what your piece is about, and you should answer them in the first paragraph of the text. After that, you can add details to flesh out your press release.  These are the questions to answer:  Who is involved?  The answer should include information about the topic of the article. When writing news, writers should establish the subject (individual, company), and if it’s a press release, it should be about the company doing the press release. What happened? Explain what the piece is about briefly. For example, if your business is launching a new product, write about it.  When did it happen? AP press news should provide information about the timing of the event - when did the event you are writing about happen, or when will it happen? Where did it happen? As with time, readers should be told where the event that’s talked about is happening/has happened/will happen. Why did it happen? It is a straightforward question, but sometimes it can be challenging to answer. You need to explain why your news is important for your readers.  Answer these questions briefly but accurately so your audience will get all the necessary information in the first paragraph. It is important to be short and direct in this first paragraph because many readers won’t read the rest of the article.  Identify Your Audience  Another thing you need to do is identify who your AP press release readers are. Once you find out who your target audience is (that means not only editors and journalists but your customers or followers), you need to find a way to grab their attention. See what your readers are interested in, what their values are, what businesses they trust. You also need to research the demographic of your audience, including their age, gender, location, etc.  As you can see, creating a press release involves more than just getting the press release formatting right. For this reason, many businesses use press release distribution services. Aside from disseminating your news through the most popular media outlets, press release distribution companies will create and edit your press release, too. Provide Press Release Instructions  Your AP style news release should include the time and date when you want your news to be published. If your story is ready for publishing, type the words “FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE.” On the other hand, if you have an embargoed press release (a release that is not ready for immediate publishing),  write  “EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE UNTIL,” followed by the time and date when you want it published. Include Contact Information  When it comes to formatting a press release, don’t forget to include the contact details (name, phone number, email address) of the person who can provide more information about the press release content. Write your AP style press release dateline in the top left corner of the press release.  Write the Press Release Headline The next thing you need to do is to write a headline. The press release headline is positioned at the top center of the page, and it shouldn't be more than 80 characters long. It has to be eye-catchy to grab the readers’ attention. The subhead is located below the headline. It can be longer than the headline and may include up to 120 characters that explain the content in your headline. Both the AP headline and subhead should include keywords that boost the visibility of your press release. There are also other things that you can do when writing an Associated Press style press release headline. For example, you can search for a story already in the news and connect it with your piece somehow. This practice is also called “newsjacking.” Our advice is to use the present tense when you write the headline. It will attract your readers if the headline is exciting and catchy-sounding.    The Lead  The lead has to be short and to the point but still interesting. It’s the first paragraph of your press release, and it should be at least 60 characters long. You should also add the date when you want your press release to go live and the location your release originates from. This is an example of the date and location information for the press release (format AP):  Phoenix, Ariz. (October 20, 2021)  The date and location have to be bolded, and you need to use AP style for the state abbreviation.  The lead is the first thing journalists will read, so it has to summarize the most important things about the news you want to share. In this part of your press release, you need to answer the five W’s. Write Your Boilerplate The boilerplate or the “about” section is another important part of the standard press release format. It’s placed at the bottom of the statement and includes information about your business, such as your company history and values, awards, further plans, and anything else that is relevant for your audience. If you follow the AP format for the press release, this section shouldn’t be longer than 100 words. For example, if your business offers legal services, the boilerplate should talk about your company’s years in business, awards, and any of the company’s accomplishments.     Choose the Media Outlets That You Want to Send Your Press Release  After you finish your press release creation, you need to decide where you want to send it. You will be in a position to choose among hundreds of media outlets, and sometimes it can be really difficult to decide where to publish the press release in AP style. You should choose wisely because media outlets receive hundreds of press releases daily, and not all of them will publish yours. Also, pick those media outlets that target your audience. For example, if you’re opening a pet-friendly restaurant, send your press release to food and beverage and pet magazines.  Choose How You Want to Distribute Your Press Release  The distribution of your press releases is the next step after you format them in accordance with the AP style. There are several ways to spread the AP press release. For example, you can send the press release to journalists, bloggers, and influencers with whom you are already connected. Aside from the direct outreach, you can send the news to numerous media outlets to get wider media exposure. To do this, you will need to use press release distribution services. Alternatively, you can try to send your press release to journals and magazines on your own, but there’s no guarantee that they will publish it. It’s always a good idea to publish your press release on your website. This will increase the overall visibility of your company. Some website creators offer the option to add the press release page and publish the AP press release format with a few simple clicks. Also, don’t forget to share your media statement on social media channels so your followers can see it.

A good press release is essential to the press coverage your business needs. It is an open invitation for any journalist, blogger, or interested party to learn more about your business, and it helps send the message you’re trying to share with the world.  Even though this type of conversation with the media has been somewhat superseded with announcements on social media, a proper PR manager still needs to learn how to submit a press release. Your business could be launching a new product, opening a new store, announcing a new partnership, or a local event - all of these events warrant a good media release. The first step, of course, is writing a press release. Major companies will typically hire someone for the task. However, if you are running a small business and need to be careful with your budget, you should consider writing it yourself.   Writing Press Releases There is an art to writing a good press release, but we won’t be going into the finer details here. Let’s quickly go over some of the main points for a quick rundown on how to write a good one by yourself. Keep in mind that the piece you will submit as a press release is not an advertisement - if you’d like to advertise something, you should purchase an ad. It isn’t a news piece either. Instead, it’s dancing on the line between the two, and you need to find the perfect balance. Otherwise, your news release will likely be ignored and thrown away. Most importantly, media releases must provide relevant information to the readers. If you are opening a store, focusing on why the store is needed or how many jobs it will provide to the community is an excellent perspective to take in your writing. If your product is helping people, focus on why the help is needed. You want to submit a press release that editors will regard as valuable content that they want to publish.  Some general writing rules apply to the press releases as well. You have the attention of your potential customers during the first couple of sentences, so make those matter. Always mind the length of your press release. Of course, you also want to include your contact information if your editor has questions for you or wants to publish it.  Before you send press releases out, you will want to give it a double-check for any grammar mistakes or typos that will undoubtedly make you seem unprofessional if they slip past the editing stage. Sending it to a proofreader, or at least using one of the grammar checkers available online, is almost mandatory. Lastly, you’ll want to ensure you’ve included all the relevant and correct information. Now that we’ve gone through the refresher course for press release writing, it is time to discuss how to get the release submitted and published.  How to Submit a Press Release Now that you have your press release ready, it is time to submit and publish it. However, this process can be a bit difficult. Don’t fret; we’ll take you through it step by step. Step 1: Create a List of Publications Blindly sending the press release to anyone likely won’t give you the results you were hoping for, and it has a fair chance of getting you black-listed for spam. Make sure you send your press release to the relevant publications and the right press releases contact there. For example, if your release is industry-specific, you should consider sending it to editorial offices covering that particular industry. On the other hand, contacting a local editorial office is better if the press release submission revolves around a specific location, such as opening a company branch in a new city.  What Kind of Publication Types Should You Consider? Broadly speaking, the two main types of publications can be described as conventional and non-conventional.  By conventional, we mean newspapers, television channels, or radio stations which are an excellent solution for those who need local promotion.  On the other hand, non-conventional solutions, such as blogs, Facebook or LinkedIn groups, and other digital outlets, are a better choice if you want to reach a wider audience, even though they might be more informal than conventional publications. You should be able to find the person in charge of press release submissions by checking the publication’s website or LinkedIn page. Furthermore, you will likely find a comprehensive guide to submitting press releases for a particular outlet on its website or even an online submission form to help you out. It is a very time-consuming task, but once you get it over with, you will have a list of contacts you could reuse for your next press release. Noting the details down in a list or as a spreadsheet will save you a lot of time in the future.   Step 2: Craft the Emails Once you have your list ready, your next step is sending press releases to local media, blogs, or Facebook groups. For this, you need to prepare the accompanying submission email.  In it, you should indicate who you and your business are and inform the publication that you are submitting a press release, which you would like the editor to consider covering. You should also include why you think the announcement would be of interest to your audience and theirs. Giving them a good reason for covering the story in your email might tip the scales in your favor. If you are insecure about what you should include, you can always find a press release email template online and adapt it to fit your announcement.  It is also essential to include a date by which you would like your press release published. If your document is time-sensitive, it is crucial to submit it one or two weeks in advance - you want to give your editor the time to prepare it if they decide to run it.  Research has shown that the best time of day to try and land your press release in an editor's inbox is between 10 AM and 2 PM, preferably on a Thursday. It is advisable to send a press release within this timeframe, as you’ll have higher chances of getting your email opened, and the story covered. Step 3: Promote Your Press Release Once the press release gets published, it is up to you to use all the tools at your disposal to promote it. Advertising it in relevant groups on social media is advisable, as it is very likely where your customers are. However, use this type of content wisely - don’t bore your followers to death with irrelevant news. Instead, post the press releases in relevant groups, share them with people who are interested, or even repurpose the content into a new and social-media-suitable format.  Plan B: Outsourcing Press Release Submission Alternatively, if you want to outsource this task to someone else, many press release services and software are available online. These press release services will undoubtedly help you save a lot of time and effort and provide you with the type of reach that you are unlikely to reach by yourself. These tools will submit your press release to their well-established network of individuals and organizations to publish for a small price. You can also rely on these press release distribution services to further prepare and optimize a press release you’ve already created (in order to match different guidelines, for example). Outsourcing this part removes hours of additional manual work you’d typically have to do if you were to submit your press release all by yourself.  Some of the better distribution services will allow you to use their analytical tools and track the success of your press release after it has been published. These types of analytics should be one of the main things to look out for when choosing a press releases service. And there you have it, a quick step-by-step guide on how to send out a press release. Hopefully, with these guidelines, you’ll be able to get the media coverage your business needs as easily as possible.

Just like every US resident (with very few exceptions) must have a Social Security number to be identified and have their job and income tracked by the Government, a business must (usually) have an EIN. That’s the beginning of the answer to the question: “What is an EIN number?” In a nutshell, an EIN is like the SSN counterpart for your enterprise. It stands for Employer Identification Number, and it’s issued by the Internal Revenue Service to separate businesses from one another. It is also referenced as a FEIN, meaning Federal Employer Identification Number, or your business’ tax ID number. Whatever you call it, an EIN is a unique nine-digit number that serves to identify your business for tax purposes. Most business owners have one, as it’s required to open a business bank account, file business tax returns, and apply for licenses. Knowing the purpose of the EIN number is just the first step, too. Give our guide a read to learn more about the types of businesses that need it, ways of applying and obtaining one, and all the benefits you’ll enjoy once you get it. Who Needs an EIN? Depending on your business type, and the IRS’ criteria, you’ll be able to determine whether you need an EIN: The first thing to determine is whether your business has employees. If it does, you’ll most definitely need to apply for a business EIN number. Having a partnership or multi-member LLCs means that the LLC must file a partnership return together with K-1s to all the members, so an EIN is a must. If your business is a C corporation, it’s regarded as a separate entity, and you’ll have to apply for an EIN to report taxes. The same goes for an S corporation - you’ll need your employer identification number to operate legally. If your business files excise taxes or withholds them for nonwage income paid to a non-resident alien, you’ll also be required to get an EIN. For non-profit business structures, an EIN is also required for tax reporting purposes. You only need an EIN number for businesses structured as single-member LLCs if you have employees or excise tax liability. The same goes for sole proprietorships - if they don’t have employees nor file excise or pension-plan tax returns, they’re not required to apply for an employer identification number. How to Apply for an EIN Number Now that you’ve figured out whether your business entity needs an EIN, let’s walk you through the process of obtaining one. Applying for an employer ID number is straightforward, but if you’re not well-versed in admin, your registered agent can deal with the EIN application instead. As soon as your business is officially formed - i.e., you got your formation date and legal business name approved by your state - you can start the EIN application process. Don’t forget to check if you have a valid Taxpayer Identification Number (SSN, ITIN, another EIN) before starting. The easiest way to apply is through the IRS EIN Assistant page. Just follow the listed steps by adding the required information to your IRS EIN form; just make sure to do it in one sitting, as the session will expire after 15 minutes of inactivity. You can also file your application by fax or mail.  If your business isn’t incorporated in the United States, you can’t apply for an EIN. On the other hand, if it is, but you’re the one who doesn’t have a legal residence in the US, you can apply for a free EIN via telephone, fax, or mail. Who Doesn’t Need a Federal Identification Number? The technical requirements for having a FEIN might not include you: You might be an independent contractor, freelancer, or sole operator. However, while it is correct that you don’t need to have one, you might want to get it anyway. It would be unwise to dismiss the benefits you would be getting with getting an EIN out of hand. Why Should I Get an EIN Number? Now that you know the long and short answer to the “What is an EIN number?” question, we can explain why having one brings many benefits even if you don’t need it. First of all, most banks require an EIN to open a business banking account for you. Having one will make the whole process of tracking and managing your business expenses much more accessible. Not to mention that you’ll be able to build your credit and therefore become eligible for more loans. Secondly, if you’re planning on hiring part- or full-time employees, you’ll have to apply for a tax identification number. What is an EIN number’s benefit in this case, then? First of all, you’ll need an EIN to set up a payroll, so the IRS can track your taxes for it. Secondly, your employees will need to file their taxes separately under the LLC’s 1040 form, and they’ll need your EIN for that too. Those with an LLC should outsource its formation to an LLC service, and it will apply for an EIN in your stead. This helps you maintain your “corporate veil,” i.e., protect yourself from personal accountability for possible business debts. Since it’s essential to do this right, hiring an online legal service to cover that would be a great move. Even as a solo entrepreneur, you will need to provide clients with either a Social Security number or FEIN to pay an invoice or for contract purposes. Having a FEIN adds to the credibility of your business, and shows that you are not doing your work as a gig; instead, you would be perceived as a dedicated professional. Furthermore, an employer FEIN denotes you as an independent contractor, rather than an employee and reduces the legal responsibilities of the company that hires you, which, in turn, might make it more likely to do so. New entrepreneurs quickly realize that it’s challenging to handle all aspects of the business by themselves. They must rely on suppliers, vendors, and general cooperation from other companies. While nothing will ever guarantee good relationships, having a business with a FEIN makes it more likely for third parties to work with you. Some of them will check your business credit before agreeing to a contract with you; a FEIN shows them you are a reliable entity. Non-US citizens without a Social Security Number will find it easier to establish a business in the United States with an EIN. This opens up the possibility of getting a business credit card or bank account for their business before getting a Social Security number as a citizen.  Finally, when you get an EIN for tax reporting purposes, your privacy will be protected, too. An EIN boosts the confidentiality of your Social Security number (SSN), as you can now offer that instead of your personal ID number as a form of identification. Keeping your business and private finances separate will add an extra shield against malicious perpetrators. We hope all these good points help you decide to get an EIN as soon as possible - provided you have a company, of course.

If you’re thinking about launching a new marketing campaign, the first thing you need to do is check whether it’ll benefit your company or not. To measure how much revenue a certain campaign will generate, marketers check its ROI. ROI is an acronym for return on investment. It’s a common concept in the business world. To give a straightforward answer to the question from the title of this article - “What is ROI in marketing?” - we can say it’s a strategy that helps determine how much money you spend on a marketing project vs. the amount of revenue you gain from it. As this is one of the vital calculations in marketing, we’ll focus on its purpose and explain how you can analyze the marketing ROI for your company. The Importance of ROI in Marketing Marketing professionals and business owners, in general, rely on data-driven evaluations to help them decide how to assign their marketing budgets. And that is where ROI steps in, as it allows marketers to develop a more successful strategy by using their resources more effectively. Now let’s see what the key functions and the true purpose of ROI in marketing are. Prioritizing Projects By calculating the ROI of multiple marketing campaigns, you’ll be able to see which one of them brings you the most value, and that can help you correctly prioritize campaigns to boost your company’s revenue growth. ROI will also shed light on which projects aren’t bringing enough revenue and possibly hurt your business. Once you measure the ROI of each campaign, you’ll be able to decide whether to reevaluate your marketing strategy or end some of those projects.  Selecting Future Projects Once you learn how to prioritize your current projects, it’ll be easier to find a pattern to successfully target your audience in the future. Measuring ROI in marketing will help you learn from experience and develop new strategies when choosing your future projects. Understanding Your Audience One of the greatest advantages of knowing your ROI in marketing is that it allows you to better understand your audience and its behavior. It doesn’t just give you an insight into the numbers coming from various projects; it also shows which strategies have the best impact on your audience. Once you know that, it gets much easier to decide which type of advertising to go with to draw in new clients.  To fully answer the question “Why is marketing ROI important?” we shouldn’t overlook client satisfaction. If you work in a marketing agency and your clients are other businesses, one of the most important things to keep in mind when creating a new marketing strategy is how you’ll present it to your existing and potential clients. Apart from reliable CRM, which has already become a common practice among real estate companies, brokerages, and many other businesses, incorporating the predicted ROI of your campaign into the presentation is also something that can boost your clients’ trust. Understanding Competition Knowing how to define your ROI in marketing and measure it correctly can take you a long way. However, many experienced marketers go one step further and compare their marketing ROI with that of their competitors. This helps them determine how their marketing campaigns relate to others in the industry in terms of efficiency. Studying the business strategies of your competitors who have a higher ROI percentage can give you an idea how to improve your own business. Better Budget Allocation The ultimate goal of understanding ROI in marketing is better budget allocation. Marketing budgets are always lower than you’d like them to be, so learning how to use the funds you do have at your disposal wisely is essential. To achieve better results, you need to know which projects require less investment but bring more revenue. How To Calculate ROI in Marketing The easiest way to determine your marketing ROI is to compare your revenue to your marketing expenses.  One of the simplest equations for calculating ROI is: (Revenue − Investment) / Investment If, for example, you invest $10,000 in a particular project, and generate $20,000 from it, your ROI formula will look like this:  ($20,000 − $10,000) / $10,000 ＝ 1 To calculate your marketing ROI percentage, you should multiply this final number by 100. In this case, your marketing ROI would be 100%.  There are a few things to keep in mind when calculating your marketing ROI. Here, we’ll go over each in more detail. Set a Time Frame One of the crucial things when determining your marketing ROI is to set an appropriate time frame for data gathering. If you wish to see if your latest marketing campaign was a success, you need to allow enough time for it to reach your clients before looking for a return on your investments. Also, be consistent and use data from the same business cycle. Measure the Marketing Cost and Sales Growth Now that you know the meaning of ROI in marketing and its importance, your next step should be to collect all the relevant financial data about your marketing project. If you need to calculate an ROI and have a large amount of data to process, seek help from the bookkeepers and accountants. Consider keeping a marketing record where you could enter all your ROI calculations to gain insight into which factors influence your marketing ROI the most. What Is a Good Marketing ROI?  Marketing ROIs are usually expressed in ratios. What is a good ROI ratio in marketing? You should aim for a 5:1 ratio at least. Anything below a 2:1 ratio is considered unprofitable; anything below 1:1 is negative ROI, while an ROI ratio above 5:1 is deemed to be strong for most businesses.  When calculating your ROI, you should factor in all the marketing costs your campaign will incur, including: Pay-per-click spend Media spend Content production costs Outside marketing and advertising agency fees Make sure you don’t overlook anything because understating your costs will result in an incorrectly calculated and unrealistic ROI.  Marketing ROI Examples and Strategies Now that you’re familiar with some basic reference values, let’s go through a couple of practical examples.  Pay-per-Click Campaigns PPC is an advertising model in which you pay a certain provider to promote your ad based on the number of user clicks on your ad, whether or not it leads to a sale. The ROI formula can help you track your ad performance and manage your PPC campaigns. For example, according to some PPC stats, Google search ads have an average ROI of 200% - for each dollar invested, marketers gain $2. Video Marketing For what else is ROI in marketing used for? For assessing the profitability of video marketing campaigns. Although video marketing can be pretty expensive and time-consuming, video marketing statistics indicate that 88% of marketers are satisfied with their social media video marketing ROI. Email Marketing Even though many think sending emails is outdated, it’s still one of the key marketing tools. Recent statistics show that email marketing is the most effective way to promote your business. This type of marketing brings $40 back for every $1 spent, so it comes as no surprise that many marketers see it as their number-one tool for revenue generation. Paid Social Media Promotions  We already know the importance and numerous benefits of ROI in marketing. Now let’s see what it can tell you about the effectiveness of your social media promotions. Suppose your company targets an audience that regularly uses social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter. In that case, you might think about boosting your posts to get promoted on the newsfeeds of your targeted audience. Tracking the ROI of your campaign can help you see if this strategy works for you and determine the types of posts that lead to the revenue increase. If you look at social media marketing stats, you’ll notice that 94% of marketers use Facebook in their marketing campaigns. This isn’t surprising as Facebook is the biggest social media platform, with about 2.89 billion monthly active users. The Bottom Line Understanding ROI in marketing is a vital part of any marketing campaign. And even though calculating it might get complicated, it comes with great benefits. It enables you to gain a better insight into your marketing strategies, how they need to be tweaked, and determine your future marketing goals. Your marketing decisions and marketing budget should be based on fresh, verified, and detailed data - only then will you be able to calculate your ROI properly, adjust your business strategy, and ultimately, improve revenue growth.

If you’re into sales or run a small-business company, you already know how difficult it might be to keep track of everything. Most small-business companies are using some form of CRM to help them keep on top of things and increase sales, but there are also some tactics that you can start implementing on your own. Cross-selling and upselling are the key strategies that can help grow your revenue by boosting the average order value. We will start this article by explaining what each of these terms actually means before discussing how cross-selling vs. upselling works.  Cross-selling definition and purpose Cross-selling is the strategy of offering customers additional items related to their initial purchase. By implementing this strategy, companies encourage customers to spend more money by purchasing additional items that complement their original purchase. In most cases, cross-selling includes products that users would buy anyway. As people sometimes tend to forget those items, it is beneficial for both sides to point them in the right direction. They will get all they need, and you will get your sales boosted. What is upselling? Upselling encourages customers to spend more money by purchasing a more expensive or upgraded version of their initial purchase. To apply the upsell, a salesperson needs to suggest an upgrade or persuade a customer to purchase add-ons. Upselling increases the average order value and helps customers get even more satisfied with their purchase.  The difference between cross-selling and upselling Now that we know what both of these terms stand for let's summarize their differences. Here is one of the upselling vs. cross-selling examples we have all experienced. When you’re at your local fast food buying a cheeseburger, the salesperson will always offer to add some fries with that. That is a clear example of a cross-sell, and it’s a win-win situation cause who would say no to fries? If they offer to supersize your meal instead, and you agree, you have just become a “victim” of an upsell.  How to successfully cross-sell and upsell There are a few things you should know if you wish to master the art of cross-selling and upselling. Learn all about your product. The most important thing to do before you start implementing cross-selling and upselling strategies is to get familiar with the product you’re offering. Make sure to look into all of your products and all of their features well to know how those products fit together. By combining two wrong products, you can turn the customer off instead of convincing them to purchase more.  Get to know your audience. Try to collect as much information about your customers as you can. Real estate companies use CRM to easily keep track of amenities a property might have to ensure they’re presenting the customer with the best option possible. Collecting demographic and psychographic information about your customers and paying close attention to their feedback will make place for the new cross-selling and upselling opportunities. In the long run, these tactics can help you enhance customer satisfaction, which is crucial for running any successful business. Keep things simple. Offering too many products might be overwhelming for the customers, and it can create unnecessary confusion. You should always strive to build a long-term relationship with the customers and target a few items that would provide a clear benefit for them. Offer loyalty perks. Based on your business model, you should try to establish a loyalty scheme for regular customers. Customers who buy more should enjoy some loyalty offerings and get rewarded for their commitment to your store. Do follow-ups. Although there is a clear distinction between upselling vs. cross-selling, you can find the opportunity to implement both of these selling techniques after the customer has already made their purchase. You can achieve this by doing a follow-up after each successful sale to ensure they are happy with the purchase, and if they are, you can easily suggest appropriate upsell or cross-sell products. Cross-selling and upselling in eCommerce eCommerce is probably the best environment for cross-selling and upselling. According to eCommerce stats, online retail shops generated 14.34 billion visits in March 2020. These numbers show how the shopping trends have changed over the years. Learning how to make the best out of the new trends is vital, as there are multiple benefits of cross-selling and upselling to consider. eCommerce gives you a great opportunity for cross-selling and upselling because you have access to customer data and their shopping history, which can help you come up with the targeted offers. It’s also great as you can insert different cross-sell and upsell products throughout the shopping process or in the post-purchase confirmation email.

Both demand generation and lead generation are highly valuable marketing strategies that businesses need to employ in order to generate new leads and boost their customer base. In other words, a lead generation effort cannot be effective without a demand generation component.   As such, the demand generation vs. lead generation comparison can sometimes get a little confusing. But even though these two strategies work towards the same goal, they are fundamentally different. In a nutshell, demand generation involves activities that build awareness about your service or product, whereas its counterpart is tasked with turning that interest into leads.  In an effort to dispel some of the confusion, our guide delves deeper into the main characteristics of both strategies.   What Is Demand Generation? Demand generation or demand gen is the process of getting the public interested in your company’s products and/or services. The idea is to develop a targeted marketing program that drives awareness of what your business is offering and draws visitors to your website. Most people think that this comes down solely to improving the visibility of your content on different social media channels. However, a big part of demand generation is helping your target audience identify problems and then offering your service as the solution. For example, a demand generation strategy targeting small business owners who are uncomfortable with the idea of being their own bookkeeper will highlight the importance of focusing on growing one’s business while passing off this ‘confusing’ and ‘overwhelming’ task to bookkeeping service providers.   Demand generation, or rather awareness, is on top of every sales funnel, followed by lead generation strategies. Think about it as the starting point of a consumer’s journey through the sales funnel. Demand generation content comes in a variety of forms, including influencer posts that show how effective your services are or sharing free tools and articles. It’s important to note that B2B demand generation content is non-gated, meaning that your audience doesn’t need to provide personal information in order to engage with it.   What Is Lead Generation?  Unlike demand gen, which focuses on calling attention to the need for your product/service,  lead generation activities seek to convert your audience into leads. If implemented properly, the combination of lead generation and demand generation will bring in new clients and boost your consumer base.  Lead generation is built on demand gen marketing strategies. If your company has a successful demand generation program, the big pool of potential prospects is then directed to the lead generation team that will nurture them into leads. Lead generation relies on strategies that include collecting names and contact details from the audience that show some interest in the company’s services.  The contact creation process in the case of lead generation marketing involves free webinars and tutorials, product guides, whitepapers, ebooks, free trials, and other content that visitors can get access to if they disclose their personal details.  The Difference Between Demand Gen vs. Lead Gen  A B2B marketing strategy that blends demand gen and lead gen components enables the company’s sales team to convert more leads into prospective buyers and thus increase revenue. But if your business uses both strategies without knowing the purpose of each, you’ll probably end up with a poor audience pool. Even though demand gen and lead gen are similar processes and work hand in hand, businesses must acknowledge the clear distinction between the two in order to implement a successful funnel strategy.   In the lead generation vs demand generation comparison, the key difference comes down to the content being used. When it comes to demand generation, the purpose of the content is to generate brand awareness and capture an audience interested in the company’s products and services. The content created for lead generation is lead-oriented, and its purpose is to turn the audience into leads.  Simply put, demand generation produces content that is focused on demand, while lead generation produces content that’s focused on collecting information about leads.  Another key difference between demand generation vs lead generation is the marketing funnel and the way targeting is used in both cases. The most important thing to identify is the distinction between people who don’t know about your products or services and those familiar with your brand.   Demand generation is not about creating content that will reach as many people as possible but creating brand awareness and reaching those who actually might be interested in your products and services, and thus, most likely to become leads.  In the demand creation vs lead generation comparison, content promotion is also different. Demand generation programs don’t pay for sharing content with people who are familiar with the brand. Once you have a base of people who know about your products and services, lead generation programs enter the fray.  Bottom Line  If you want to run a successful marketing campaign, both demand gen and lead gen strategies must be incorporated. It’s pointless to drive the right traffic to your site if you don’t have the necessary tools for lead conversions and following up with prospective clients. And although these two components work towards the same objective, it’s important to remember that they play uniquely distinct roles in the sales process.

In an era where information sources are abundant, and competition is extreme, it’s becoming complicated for companies in any field to reach, track, and engage with potential clients. Traditional email blasts used to be enough to attract customers a decade or two ago. Nowadays, however, businesses need to implement smart lead generation strategies to attract potential customers. But what is lead generation, and how effective is it really? As a marketing technique that focuses on stimulating and capturing interest in a product or service with the aim of developing a sales pipeline, lead generation allows companies to nurture contacts until they’re ready to make a purchase. No matter if you run a B2B company or a B2C company, you’ll find lead generation beneficial. It helps increase brand awareness, build relationships, and ultimately close important business deals.  Lead generation marketing is important for real estate, eCommerce, and many other businesses, and email marketing is still one of the most effective digital marketing channels. Gathering potential customers’ contact info allows the company to market to them later, even if they do not make a purchase immediately. In online marketing, acquiring leads typically involves collecting a site visitor’s contact information (called a “lead”) via a web form. Before we dive deeper into explaining the benefits of implementing lead gen strategies and describing the process itself, let’s start by defining what a lead is and talking about different types of leads. What Is a Lead? In the context of sales and marketing, a person who indicates interest in a company's product or service is considered a lead. From customer referrals to digital marketing efforts, there’s a wide variety of sources that leads can come from. Whether they come through offline or online lead generation channels, leads usually learn about a business or organization after opening communication by themselves instead of receiving a random cold call from someone who purchased their contact information. This is generally done by submitting personal details while looking for a quote, trial, or subscription to a product or service. Still, given that people have different preferences and needs, not every contact is a lead. Many businesses make the mistake of marketing their products and services to a broad audience when they should instead focus on those individuals who have already shown interest in what the company has to offer.  Finding a New Business Lead Let's say an individual takes an online survey to learn about accounting and bookkeeping for a small business. A few days later, they receive an email from the accounting software provider who created the survey to generate leads. The information the accounting software company gathers about the prospective customers helps it personalize that opening communication to address their specific problems and challenges - and not waste time calling individuals who aren't interested in this type of business service. This process is a lot less intrusive than it would be if the accounting software company just got in touch with you out of the blue with no knowledge of whether you even run a business.   Leads are part of the lifecycle that consumers follow when they move on from the visitor to the customer stage. Still, not all leads are created equal. One of the most crucial lead generation tips we can give you is to determine whether your leads are “qualified”. So, what are qualified leads, you may wonder. Also referred to as quality leads, these are contacts who have taken a step showing they are considering a purchase. While some leads may be ready to do so right away, others may be taking a little more time to research their options.  Assuring the quality of leads you find using lead gen tools is essential. Sending the wrong message at the wrong time can waste your time and resources while ruining the relationship with a prospective customer. Here’s an overview of several different types of qualified leads: Marketing qualified leads: A marketing qualified lead, or MQL for short, is a contact who’s engaged with the efforts of a company’s marketing team but still isn’t ready for a sales call. Marketing leads are contacts who, for example, have stumbled upon your landing page and filled out a form to receive a downloadable guide.  Sales qualified leads: Contacts who have taken actions that show immediate interest in becoming paying customers are referred to as sales qualified leads or SQLs. A contact that fills out a form inquiring about a product or a service is an example of a SQL.  Product qualified leads: A product qualified lead (PQL) is a contact who has tested out a free or a limited version of your product. After signing up for a free trial, PQLs get in touch with your sales team to learn more about the features which are only available to paying customers. Service qualified leads: Lastly, service qualified leads have an active interest in your offerings as they already use the products or services and pay for them. These types of leads are customers who get in touch with a service representative with a request to upgrade their current subscription. Lead Generation and Inbound Marketing So, what is inbound marketing, and how is lead generation related to it? Inbound marketing is a type of marketing strategy that aims to attract customers by creating valuable content tailored to them, thus encouraging individuals to engage with the company’s brand actively. In contrast with outbound marketing which interrupts the audience with content they may or may not be interested in, inbound marketing offers solutions to problems your prospective customers already have. Implementing an inbound marketing strategy typically involves creating digital resources or content marketing materials such as newsletters, ebooks, blog posts, and social media posts that offer value to potential customers. Most inbound marketing efforts aim to raise awareness, build trust, and manage the relationship between customers and your brand. Although closely related, lead generation techniques and inbound marketing aren’t the same. In fact, lead generation is a part of a broader marketing strategy. While the process of creating leads helps bring more interested people to your company, inbound marketing efforts aim to nurture those prospective clients and turn them into paying customers that will eventually come back for more. In short, a synchronized implementation of the two practices ensures a sustainable approach to digital marketing. The Importance of Lead Generation Strategies When an individual shows interest in your company’s offerings without getting contacted first, the steps they take towards making a purchase seem more natural to them. After all, you’ve just helped them fulfill a need or solve a problem. On the other hand, if people show no interest in the products or services you provide yet you still try to convert them into customers, they may feel like they are being forced to spend their money on something they don’t need. This could ultimately hurt your brand’s reputation, which is far worse than losing a couple of leads. Using inbound lead generation techniques to find your target audience helps ensure that your brand is matched with the right customers in the right markets. Here’s an overview of some additional lead generation benefits : Increased awareness: Lead generation can be beneficial when it comes to building brand awareness and reputation.  Collecting prospect information: Another advantage of this practice is that it can gather vital marketing information from prospects. Being aware of your customers’ needs, wants, and preferences can prove invaluable when it comes to adjusting your product or service to suit your audience. Brand loyalty: A strong lead generation strategy can assist you in building larger communities of like-minded customers, thus improving overall customer loyalty. The Process of Lead Generation  Now that we’ve pointed out the importance of lead generation and explained how it fits into a company’s inbound marketing strategy, it’s time to walk through the actual process of generating leads online: First, a visitor discovers your business through your website, blog, social media page, or another social media channel.  In the next step of the lead generation process, the potential customer clicks on your call-to-action (CTA), which can be in the form of an image, button, or message that encourages website visitors to engage with your brand. After that, the visitor will be taken to a landing page - a web page designed to capture lead information in exchange for an offer (an ebook, a course, etc.) that visitors must perceive as valuable enough to submit their personal information in exchange. Once on the landing page, your prospective client takes the final step of filling out a form in exchange for the offer. That’s it - as long as you’re following the lead-capture form best practices, you should have a new lead in your CRM system. The process of generating leads is quite straightforward. Still, if you want to make sure that your efforts are rewarded with guaranteed success, here are a few more pieces of advice we suggest you follow:  Know your target audience: You won’t be able to target and market your product effectively unless you make sure to define your audience first. Skip this step, and you’ll find it much more difficult to engage with potential customers.  Provide value to users: As a part of an inbound marketing strategy, business lead generation is all about attracting potential clients to your company. To achieve that, you must be able to offer something valuable and helpful to them - free of charge. Depending on your target audience, options may include everything from free trials to freemium subscriptions, blog posts, and white papers. Define your lead magnet: Take some time to figure out what types of content or free products resonate the most with your target audience. Conduct A/B testing and make sure to experiment as much as you can with different lead magnets. Don’t forget to ask for feedback. After gathering all the needed information, focus on developing content that appeals to your target audience the most to improve your lead generation campaign. Develop relationships using newsletters: Once potential customers decide to share their contact information with you, remember to use that data wisely. Use email marketing to keep prospective customers aware of your brand and entice them to convert to paying clients. It is also an excellent tool for nurturing existing customer relationships. Be present on social media: Similarly to email marketing, you can use social media marketing strategies to your advantage. Not only will your presence on social media make it more difficult for a potential customer to forget about your brand, but it will also allow you to connect and engage with your target audience in real-time.  Common Problems Lead Generating Practices Can Solve By now, you’re probably aware that a simple batch and blast approach to advertising doesn’t appeal to most customers. However, having a solid lead generation system in place can help you navigate the complexities of finding prospective clients in today’s crowded market. Let’s take a look at a few common problems the concept of lead generation can help solve. Problem: You need to generate a high volume of leads.  Solution: What is lead generation good for? Generating lots of leads, of course. The great thing about it is that you can use this practice just as effectively if you’re just starting out or an experienced marketer with a thriving business. If you’re at the beginning, a lead generation program can result in increased brand awareness, improved relationships with your audience, higher quality leads, and, ultimately, more sales. If you’re looking to optimize an existing inbound marketing strategy, we suggest reevaluating your audience profiles, buyer journey roadmap, marketing tactics, and communication channels.  When developing a lead generation network, make sure to keep your goals, challenges, and customer concerns in mind at all times. That way, you’ll be able to create and deliver content that solves your target audience’s problems. Problem: You don’t know how to generate higher-quality leads.  Solution: There are several ways to explain why your sales team is struggling to convert leads into customers. Your sales and marketing teams should work together on planning lead generation strategies and agree on what constitutes a qualified lead. If the sales team approaches prospective clients too soon, they may feel put off. When it comes to sales lead generation, lead quality is of utmost importance, so we advise patience. Problem: You’ve figured out how to bring in leads but don’t know what to do next.  Solution: The act of generating customer leads is just one part of lead generation. Once you bring these contacts in, you must use lead scoring and nurturing to qualify leads before your sales team can step in and do their job. In other words, the best way to generate leads is to let your prospective buyers gather some information about your products or services on their own first.  Problem: Your lead generation program isn’t bringing results anymore.  Solution: If your lead generation efforts have yet to catch up to the age of the self-directed buyer, it’s time to rethink the whole strategy. Statistics reveal that companies using CRM successfully improve their sales by 29%. Why are we mentioning this? Let’s say you’re a real estate agent who uses a CRM software solution to collect and track buyer and seller data. Did you know that your CRM tool can be very useful as a sales lead generator? The insights these programs provide can help you choose the most effective way to nurture your leads. Focus on increasing the brand visibility of your brokerage but also look to capture leads’ interest with informational content. You can focus on topics such as home staging, applying for a mortgage, relocating to a different part of the county, and more.

To run a successful business and transform leads into customers, you’ll really need to be taking advantage of your sales pipeline. So what is a sales pipeline? In short, this is a visual snapshot of every stage in the sales process that tells you at a glance whether you’re going to reach your goals. If used properly, it can have a positive impact on your growth. Our guide dives into more details, outlining the different stages, benefits, and ways to create and manage a pipeline.  A Rundown The sales process involves many different stages, including identifying potential customers, contacting them, pitching the product or service, negotiating, and, of course, closing. The ultimate goal is to gain and retain loyal customers. Having a visual representation of this journey can help you make revenue forecasts, get insight into buyers’ trends, and keep track of sales prospects. So what does a pipeline mean in sales? Simply put, this is a breakdown of the whole sales process into smaller and trackable pieces.  Pipeline analysis enables you to track the evolution of sales opportunities into shopping orders as they move through several stages. The entire process is backed by recording and storing relevant data and activities. The pipeline helps you gain better insight into your deals and shows you the possible trajectory of your business. If you’re running a small business, using reliable CRM software that can generate a fully customizable pipeline can boost your profits.  The Shapes of Success: Pipeline and Funnel Many people make the mistake of confusing a sales pipeline with a funnel. But these are two entirely different things. While the sales pipeline is a representation of the actual sales process or closing the deal, the sales funnel is all about leads and the process they undergo to become regular customers. In other words, the sales pipeline is brand-focused and outlines steps that your marketing and sales team need to go through in order to gain and retain customers. On the other hand, a funnel is customer-focused and offers a representation of the buyers’ journey, starting from brand awareness to buying a product and staying with the company.  This clear distinction also expands on our original question: what is a sales pipeline? In short, the pipeline showcases the seller’s actions throughout the sales process, whereas the funnel tells you about the percentage of leads that advanced through each stage of the pipeline.  Benefits of Sales Pipeline Having deciphered the sales pipeline, it’s time to look at some of the perks of using this strategic tool.  Insight into deals: For starters, using a pipeline to track your sales process gives you insight into your teams’ progress and helps you identify areas for improvement. A sales pipeline, by definition, keeps track of your business’s financial metrics, so you’ll know which deals you’re most likely to close and which processes are ineffective and need to be removed. Sales pipeline analysis quickly exposes the weaknesses with certain deals and helps you plot a course of action to boost sales.  Measure team performance: Selling a product or a service requires teamwork, and if one link in the chain performs poorly, the whole process will suffer. Optimizing the sales pipeline allows you to monitor sales representatives and if they’re hitting their targets. Thanks to sales pipeline reporting, you’ll be able to identify the weak links and improve the number of leads transitioning into sales. Predict profits: Crunching the data tells you where each sales representative stands in the sales process and how close they are to inking the deal. By seeing the number and percentage of deals that are likely to be closed and their value, you can easily make accurate forecasts regarding revenue. Help increase sales and profit: Building a sales pipeline won’t only assist you with monitoring and organizing your sales team. It’s also a useful tool for making projections by identifying the number of deals that your business needs to close in order to meet the targets and increase profits. Moreover, it helps you zero in on the steps that speed up the deal-making process and thus increase profits. Step by Step: Pipeline Stages Just like every industry and every individual business, sales pipelines are unique. Instead of simply copying one of the many templates, try to invest some time and effort into building pipelines with well-defined sales pipeline stages and adjusting them to fit your company’s needs. Consider employing CRM software to generate a pipeline, as statistics show that using it increases customer retention and satisfaction rates by 47%. When setting up your own pipeline management system, think about sales targets, prospects, and the number of steps in the process. Make sure to have somewhere between five to eight stages that hinge on identifying prospects, evaluating their needs, convincing them to buy your product, closing the deal, and retaining them as customers through regular follow-ups.  Remember to tailor the different stages to the relevant industry. For instance, real estate’s customer relationship management strategy must include a house-viewing stage. In another sales pipeline example, a car salesman should probably include a test drive stage. Lead generation. Prospecting new leads interested in your product is the very start of every sales process. Raising brand awareness and reaching out to potential customers can come in different shapes. Some companies might use downloadable content, phone, emails, and ads on social networks. Others might go on the hunt for cold leads, and some might even hire lead generation companies to do the leg work. Whatever your chosen method, make sure to consolidate all new leads and follow them throughout the process.  Lead qualification: To define a sales pipeline strategy, the next step should focus on identifying the potential buyers by researching their shopping preferences. Skipping this vital step can lead to sales reps losing a lot of time on cold leads. Sorting them from hot ones might be a game-changer and lead to successful closures.From the moment they enter the sales pipeline, contacts need to be researched. Conducting a phone survey or another questionnaire can help you determine whether the lead has the budget to afford the product if they need it and whether they’re ready to purchase it. If you’re wondering, what is a healthy sales pipeline, the answer is simple: it’s the one with hot leads. If the answer to the aforementioned questions is “no”, the lead should go down the drain; otherwise, it might clog your pipeline. Initiate contact: Those who make it through the sieve should immediately be contacted by sales reps. Leads that reach these stages of the sales process are interested in closing a deal with your company. That’s why you can safely ask them if they are eager to buy your product and present all the perks of purchasing it. Make sure to engage with the lead by sending a series of emails that educate them about the product. Schedule meeting or demo: What is a sales pipeline without an actual pitch? This is the part where you make your proposal. It can be done in person, via phone, e-mail, or even social media. Make sure to track and record conversations because searching through old emails can be time-consuming. Also, be well-prepared for meetings and demos because these brief moments can transform prospects into clients. Negotiation: If the lead expresses interest in buying your product or service, it’s time to start more strategic discussions. This usually involves the unveiling of the price and the terms and conditions of the contract. If you’re wondering how to get to this stage and what is the best process for a sales pipeline, always remember to align sales and marketing. This is a great strategy for getting to the negotiations stage. Closing the deal: From the very moment a lead enters the sales pipeline, the only desirable outcome is closing the deal. Once negotiations are completed, you can sign the contract, and you officially have a new customer. If you never make it to this stage, you were either trying to sell to the wrong person, or the sales rep failed to create/build value. So what do you do if a deal is lost in the sales pipeline? In these situations, it’s important to keep the conversation going and reconnect with lost prospects. Of course, the customers you gained shouldn’t be neglected either. Provide them with a good service during the onboarding process, inform them about upgrades and fresh promotions, ask them for referrals, and make sure they’re satisfied with the product.   Sales Pipeline Management Understanding the pulse of the industry and adequately managing your sales pipeline is crucial for running a company in today’s digital world. Having access to a wealth of information and analyzing it enables you to use the numbers for strategic goals and boosting sales. That’s why we’ve answered the ultimate question: what is a sales pipeline, and how do you use it? Now it’s time to focus more closely on each stage of the process.  With careful sales pipeline management, you’ll be able to track and then evaluate all stages, identify bottlenecks, better understand the weaknesses and strengths of your deals, and thus predict and prepare for potential plunges or sudden growth.  The pipeline management process is made possible by six key characteristics: metrics, maintenance, optimization, sales team management, sales forecasting, and tool integration.  So, what is a good sales pipeline size? The truth is size doesn’t matter. You can add as many stages as you think are needed, but what matters the most is good pipeline management. So let’s dive deeper and explain the details.  Sales pipeline metrics: Analyzing the sales process wouldn’t be possible without a wide variety of metrics to show you where your business stands. Pay close attention to the number of deals in your sales pipeline, their average size, the average percentage of closed deals (deal close rate), and the average lifetime of a deal before it’s closed (sales velocity). A common question entrepreneurs ask is: what is a good conversion rate for my sales pipeline? In the beginning, the percentage of opportunities that turn into leads should be around 50% to 60%. However, as time goes by and you get a better insight into the flaws and merits of your sales process, a pipeline report should show a conversion rate of around 80% to 90%. Make sure to track the data on a weekly basis so that you can predict future sales trends. Unhealthy measurements monitoring: Pipeline health spot-checks can show you bottlenecks, such as dead leads or too many unresolved deals that cause stagnation. Improving these metrics is crucial for boosting your revenue. So, what is a quota in the sales pipeline competition? This is an essential question for every entrepreneur. Keeping an eye on target sales your reps have for a certain period can help you understand them better. According to MarketingProfs research, 67% of sales representatives do not meet their individual quotas. That’s why regularly checking up on your sales pipeline report and keeping it organized is crucial. These are the steps for unclogging your pipeline: - Pinpoint sluggish leads - Decide what to do with them - Get in touch and reevaluate their interest Update your sales pipeline stages: When trying to figure out how to build a sales pipeline, the first thing to consider is your individual business preferences. But over time, some of the steps that you thought were initially important may become inconsequential. Some cycles might become too lengthy and time-consuming, while some can be too cumbersome. Consider removing them because pipelines that are too long risk having prospects fall through the cracks or change their mind. The sales cycle length is an important factor, so keep it short and effective but do not cut out the critical stages to achieve that. While building a sales pipeline, keep in mind that including a follow-up stage is a must and that a precise prospecting stage means more closed deals. After all, what is a pipeline management strategy without adding extra stages? Keep an eye on new trends in the market and adapt to them accordingly by implementing additional steps in the sales process. Coach your sales team: By assisting the sales representatives and coaching them on pipeline management, you’ll empower them to get more control over their targets. Working with your team will help them better understand the amount of time that leads need to spend at each stage and use it to their own advantage. Another thing to pay attention to is teaching the sales reps how to clean pipelines effectively. Being a good pipelines manager also means knowing the answer to the question: what is a pipeline report? Instruct your sales reps to monitor sales pipeline metrics and generate reports on the gathered data to get the most from the numbers.  Bottom Line: Being a Good Plumber Knowing how to be a good plumber to your sales pipeline, how to unclog the bottlenecks, and regularly clean and maintain it is a skill worth mastering. A healthy sales pipeline is the beating heart of a business. It can show you and your team members where your company stands, how many deals are closed, how many prospects turned into customers, where the process is stagnating, and which elements need to be removed.  If you can answer the question: what is a pipeline in business, you’re probably all too familiar with the difference between closed deals and cold leads. The visual snapshot shows the trajectory of your prospects on their buying journey and can provide you with helpful insight into the metrics and boost your sales.

As technology evolves, our ways of working and running a business change rapidly in an everlasting push for more efficiency and productivity. When you apply that principle to customer relations - a key factor for most businesses - you get Customer Relationship Management tools. As your business grows, adding customer data manually to sheets, or worse, notepads, will inevitably become futile. That’s where CRM tools come in to save the day. Let’s Get Started: A CRM tutorial Not all CRM systems are the same, so having a clear picture of the different types of CRM can help you choose the best way of managing vital customer, prospect, and lead data. Congrats on deciding to use one in the first place! A good CRM can make a difference in your relationships with customers, boost your CLV (Customer Lifetime Value), and promote business growth. According to CRM statistics, companies that use such systems successfully have improved their sales by 29% on average. Employing such an ecosystem for customer data, along with a set of far-reaching solutions, brings a whole new dimension to company life. CRM approaches rely heavily on sales forecasting, lead management, and dashboard-based analytics. The best CRM tools for your small business can help you organize and grow your customer base. Their most important asset is that the software can turn data into valuable insights you can then translate into transformative actions for your business. Different CRM Software  One of the uses of a CRM is benchmarking your business against the best companies out there. Still, you don’t want to use the first option you come across, as there are many types of CRM software, and their benefits vary greatly. All customer relationship management programs fall into one of the five main buckets: Operational, analytical, collaborative, campaign management, and strategic CRMs. Let’s dive into the details of each: Operational Customer Relationship Management If you’re running a business and both you and your staff are overwhelmed with the administration, data entry, syncing, and updates, we feel you. Workflow automatization would be a game-changer for your company: Having all the information in one place would help avoid miscommunication, and facilitate marketing, sales, and service processes. This, in turn, would take much of the manual burden off your employees’ shoulders. The hero you need is an operational CRM.  To ensure that everything goes smoothly, such CRM systems leverage the following tools: Marketing automation Sales automation Service automation The automatization of manual tasks frees up valuable time for much more complex tasks your employees need to tackle. For example, coordinating email campaigns, reaching out to potential customers, and distributing content can all be easily streamlined using CRM software. Different sales processes that help bring consumers on board, as well as communication with customers via live chats, email, and other customer service tools can also be delegated (partially or in full) to the right software. Businesses that can benefit from these types of CRM products include those with more linear sales processes and those in need of help with sorting out and storing customer data. Real estate companies, in particular, can benefit from specialized operational CRM software to boost their productivity and profits. Analytical CRM If streamlining sales isn’t your top priority, but you’d rather focus on using customer data to understand your audience better - say, their shopping habits - then analytical CRM software might be just the thing. Gathering information about your customers can get you insight into their preferences, trends, and behavioral patterns. The crucial components are: Data warehousing Data mining OLAP tools Using analytical CRM tools enables businesses to store customer data in a single, easily reachable place and, more importantly, track and analyze it for patterns and trends. OLP stands for Online Analytical Processes and can help you realize when, how, and where your customers reach out to your company and its platform. This information can be further applied in marketing strategies that target specific customer categories. When choosing your fighter in an operational CRM vs. analytical CRM duel, keep in mind that the first focuses on facilitating relationship-building and maintaining tasks, whereas the latter attunes to the data you have on your customers to help you develop business strategies. Both types of CRM could benefit your company, but if you want to focus on pinpointing your audience’s needs, an analytical CRM is what you need. Collaborative Customer Relationship Management The third major CRM type deals with the gathered information in a different manner. Namely, this breed of CRM emphasizes collaboration and customer support services. It allows the various teams in your organization to share data and improve cooperation between departments such as marketing, sales, and support. This type of software use the following tools: Interaction management Channel management  Using collaborative CRM products will help your business better cater to its customers through different channels: live chat, e-mail, phone calls, or social networks. Determining the best communication channels isn’t the only thing this CRM type can help with: Tracking interactions between the company and its customers using logs gives all relevant departments insight into the minutiae of support processes.  Keeping in mind that 33% of Americans think about changing their provider for something after only one poor customer service experience, employing this type of CRM can be crucial for companies that are still in the process of establishing a loyal base. Campaign Management CRM One of the five important types of CRM, useful for strategies of all kinds and yet often overlooked, is a campaign management CRM. It mixes the functionalities of operational and analytical systems in the service of sales or marketing campaigns. Running campaigns wouldn’t be possible without gathering, organizing, and analyzing data to distribute the content to the right people, and these CRMs make that process much more streamlined. Strategic CRM By constantly learning about its customers and adjusting to meet their needs, businesses can boost their profits and establish themselves in a given market. To that end, the main goal of strategic CRM software is to use data for forming and implementing business strategies to foster long-term customer relationships. Instead of predicting customer needs, this type of CRM lets the customer inform the business strategy. Bottom Line Different types of CRM systems help businesses speed up operations, handle extensive data, share it among departments, and create and execute business strategies. They all serve the same purpose - helping your business grow and minimizing manual labor - but have different approaches to achieving that. In the ever-lasting competition between companies to win clients, choosing the right CRM software can be a game-changer.

Both the enterprise resource planning system and customer relationship management software are valuable business solutions that help increase profitability and productivity. And although these are complementary technologies, they have different core functionalities.      As part of our ERP vs. CRM showdown, we’ll tell you more about what those differences are. We’ll also delve deeper into some of their key characteristics, enabling you to decide which of these systems your business needs. What is ERP? ERP is a process that companies use to integrate and manage the most important parts of their daily business activities. As such, ERP software solutions are highly useful when it comes to the implementation of resource planning.  ERP serves as a shared database that employees with relevant job functions can access and use to complete their daily tasks. Nowadays, it’s used for everything from risk management and compliance to procurement and accounting. Perhaps the most accurate ERP definition would be to describe the system as the glue that holds together all the financial and operational data. This is also one of the main benefits of using the system, as all of the data can be retrieved from a single source, making it easier to compile ad hoc and static monthly reports. Moreover, it gives employees access to financial insights, speeding up the decision-making process.      It’s worth noting that ERP grew from the material requirements planning system. This probably helped immensely when it came to creating ERP as a software that can also handle inventory management and provide help with production and distribution.  Another one of the more commonly cited examples of how ERP systems benefit businesses relates to the software’s role in closing the books. That’s because companies no longer have to waste time on data entry and consulting different departments. The ERP system automates many of those tasks, reducing monthly close times to just a few days. It can also provide an additional level of security, as having role-based permission - one of the key features of every sound ERP system - reduces financial risk.  What is CRM? This is another system designed to streamline business operations. But unlike ERP, this software manages how customers interact with your company. Of course, this CRM software definition is somewhat broad.  In peeling back the layers, you’ll quickly learn that CRM can assist your marketing, sales, and support teams in ensuring your clients are as happy with your services as they can be. Just like ERP, it provides businesses with a central database. This one is used for customer data, tracking all customer interactions while providing the aforementioned teams with the necessary information. The teams then use the analytics part of the software to identify important metrics within the CRM database, meaning the sales team gets the details it needs to improve sales and customer support services.  Initially, this software was developed exclusively for sales departments and was known as sales force automation or SFA. Over time, other systems were designed and integrated into the original software to create an all-in-one solution for growing your business. Some CRM systems include sales performance management or sales incentive compensation. However, these add an additional level of complexity and are often sold separately.  Ultimately, the CRM system, by definition, is created to cover all areas of customer interaction, and CRM statistics show that it’s more than helpful to small businesses. Keeping customers happy with your services and products guarantees returning customers who are much more valuable to a business than new ones.  That’s not to say that CRM can’t help you find new clients - lead generation and identifying potential prospects is another feature of every CRM. From there, the system helps you lead the new customers through the sales process to close the deal - and then helps you bring back these customers for more.  What Does Your Business Need? The objective of this CRM vs. ERP  showdown isn’t to pick the better system. Identifying the key components of these business solutions is intended to help you decide what your company needs. In most cases, the answer is both.  The two typically go hand in hand and complement each other. In some instances, they even overlap - there are platforms that allow the easy integration of both systems.  Big corporations probably don’t think twice about using both. However, small and medium-sized businesses have to consider the cost. And this is where knowing the difference between ERP and CRM comes in handy. CRM systems start at $12 per user/month but can go as high as $300 per user/month. Meanwhile, the average ERP project costs $7,200, and depending on the number of employees, the total cost can be anywhere between $150,000 and $750,000 for a mid-sized business.  So if your business is yet to scale to the point where you can afford these services without batting an eyelash, you might have to settle for either one or the other. A thorough ERP vs. CRM comparison will help you decide which one is more suitable for your business model.  If your business revolves around your customer base and its success depends heavily on obtaining new and maintaining old customers, then investing in CRM and delaying the implementation of ERP is probably the best course of action. For example, real estate brokerages would undoubtedly benefit from a real estate CRM instead of dishing out a ton of cash for an ERP system. In this situation, having CRM software that can handle customers and spare you the cost of employing a lead generation company could prove invaluable.  Of course, you might already be asking: what does ERP stand for? If that’s the case, your company probably has a small number of customers but a complex financial system. In these instances, integrating an ERP system is a better solution than relying on QuickBooks or other accounting software designed for small businesses. But as your business grows, both systems will become equally valuable. Until then, choose the software that will elevate your business to the next level. All in All It’s no secret that every business benefits from having all the relevant data in one place that’s easily accessible to all those who need it. That’s why having this ERP vs CRM software debate is crucial in establishing whether the integration of one or both solutions is required to grow your business.  One can provide guidance for establishing relationships with customers, while the other helps you boost your finances and behind-the-scenes operations. While CRM manages interactions with your customers, you can rely on ERP to handle all your financial and operational data.

Maintaining good customer relationships is the pillar of any successful business. Still, a few decades ago, the process of collecting, tracking, and managing client data within a company was fragmented and a lot more time-consuming. Companies would keep details about their customers in spreadsheets, Rolodexes, and filing cabinets.  These methods were imperfect in so many ways - they involved a lot of manual work and often prevented proper information distribution across different departments. Many business opportunities were missed prior to the introduction of CRM.  What is CRM software?  Short for customer relationship management, a CRM system is a piece of software businesses use to store information about their customers, manage interactions, and automate a number of processes related to a client’s life cycle through the company’s marketing and sales funnels. Given that it helps nurture customer loyalty, turning it into revenue, a reliable CRM system is a vital tool for almost any company, regardless of what products or services it offers.  Used by marketing teams, sales representatives, and call center agents to maintain contact with clients and quickly respond to their needs, a CRM platform enhances a company's interaction with clients. What does a CRM Software Solution Do? The purpose of any CRM program is to allow salespeople and marketers to establish, manage, and analyze relationships with a business’s existing and prospective customers. It simplifies the process of tracking interactions and collecting information. Thanks to these functionalities, marketers and sales representatives always know who these customers are and their history with the company when they get in touch with customers. Not only does this information help personalize the communication, but it also strengthens customer trust and increases the chances of conversion.  CRM services allow businesses to track interactions between the company and its actual and potential customers through a number of channels such as emails, phone calls, social media networks, contact forms, and search engines.  Another great thing about these software solutions is that they can automate repetitive tasks, set reminders, and display alerts if certain matters require immediate attention. Furthermore, some CRM solutions come with analytical capabilities which you can use to track and evaluate the efficiency of different functions or identify sales patterns. For example, let's say you run a real estate brokerage. You can use your real estate customer relationship management system to track and manage your leads and listings while getting valuable market insights.  CRM statistics indicate that 91% of US businesses with more than ten employees use some kind of client relationship management software. This piece of information is hardly surprising given how powerful CRM solutions can be. Combined with marketing automation, they provide sales and marketing teams with valuable tools for end-to-end management of sales and marketing funnels, from lead generation and qualification to forecasting and deal closure. Features of CRM Programs Here’s an overview of functionalities typically provided through a CRM platform: Lead management: A CRM software as a service tracks the company’s lead generation efforts, allowing marketing team members to add new leads to the system, either manually or automatically, and to track and analyze data about them. Workflow automation: CRM platforms help companies focus on more creative tasks with higher importance levels by optimizing repetitive processes and streamlining mundane workloads. Marketing automation: Some client relationship management systems offer marketing automation functionalities for certain tedious tasks. For example, you can set up your CRM to automatically send customers marketing emails or publish social media posts at chosen times. The goal here is to make sure that sales leads are kept engaged so they can be converted to paying customers.  Sales automation: Similar to marketing automation features, most CRMs come with marketing automation capabilities. Business owners can use these to track client interactions and automate certain elements of the sales cycle that make it easier to follow leads and attract new customers. Analytics: Most CRM business solutions also offer built-in analytics tools that provide insights and help increase customer satisfaction rates. Marketing teams can put this data to good use while creating targeted campaigns. To top it off, analytics features help track attribution and offer valuable information about the overall quality of the customer experience. Personalized customer experiences: Another way to make the most of CRM data is to use it to create individualized and consistent experiences for your prospective customers across different marketing channels. Not only do personalized customer experiences help boost brand awareness, but they also increase conversions. Artificial intelligence: Certain CRM solutions come with built-in AI capabilities that automatically recognize patterns, which lead to successful sales. Ultimately, AI can help any business build more accurate and efficient strategies for future marketing campaigns. Benefits of CRM Software Solutions  There are multiple advantages of using CRM solutions, whether you run a small business or a large enterprise. The benefits of customer relationship programs are available to marketing teams, customer care specialists, and anyone in the company who comes in contact with clients.  Organization Perhaps the most significant advantage of a CRM tool is the organizational capability that it provides. A contact management software helps centralize your client data so that anyone who’s part of your company can find all the information they need in one place. As you transition to a CRM system, you’ll be able to enter basic contact information such as your clients’ phone numbers and addresses. Once your software solution is up and running, you’ll be able to follow, track, and analyze everything from basic information to advanced data about each customer.  In addition to your organization, your clients also benefit from a solid information management system because gaining a better understanding of customers enables you to offer a better service. Task Tracking Another reason why businesses of almost all types and sizes need CRM systems is the program’s ability to integrate with your company’s workflow. This saves lots of time you’d otherwise spend on daily tasks. Automation can significantly increase the overall customer engagement level as it provides consistency. In fact, consistency is one of the underdog benefits of a CRM tool - when clients (or prospective clients) get mixed messages, they can grow confused instead of excited about your offerings. Additional Sales Opportunities Why should you stop at 100 or 1,000 customers? Although business owners rarely have a finite number of customers as their goal, many companies often struggle to come up with good ways to generate leads and grow their customer base. A CRM program can help you with that. These software solutions track purchasing patterns and can provide valuable insight into market trends. By learning more about the people who are already your customers, you’ll have enough information to create micro-targeted strategies and encourage more conversions at specific times.  Sales Management By now, you’re probably aware that a customer tracking software solution can make the task of managing your client base a lot less complicated. But did you know that a good CRM program can also track sales progress across your whole organization? Once again, these advantages of CRM solutions are available for companies of all sizes and structure types.  If you run a one-person shop, you’ll get the assistance you need for lead tracking and follow-ups. If your company has a large sales team, all representatives will be assigned new sets of leads, and their journey will be tracked starting from that point. That way, not only will you receive insights on how and when to act on sales trends, but you’ll also get an opportunity to track the progress and performance of your entire sales team. Personalized Communication Finding a way to use your sales resources more efficiently with the help of CRM applications is an excellent way to make your business more successful. However, this isn’t where your efforts should stop. CRM tools also provide personalization features such as the ability to nurture campaigns based on industry or to address customers by their first name. In other words, all the information stored in your database can be put to good use to build more profound client relationships through personalized communication. Increased Retention Another way a customer relationship management software solution can increase sales is by helping you identify your highest revenue-generating and most engaged clients. For example, you use your CRM to determine a subset of customers who open all of their emails or attend webinars.  A CRM can also improve retention rates among your existing customers. Thanks to the program’s ability to aggregate customer behavior, you’ll have a chance to spot different patterns, such as when a client is about to churn. Collecting data and gaining insights about client behavior can prove invaluable when it comes to creating a strategy on how to retain at-risk customers.  On-Premise vs. Cloud-Based CRM Finally, let’s take a moment to discuss different types of CRM solutions. Depending on your organization’s objectives, you may find on-premise solutions more fitting or lean towards the advantages of cloud CRM deployment. The most apparent difference between the two options is where the information is stored. With the on-premise solution, the software is located on your company’s servers, so this is a better choice for organizations with very strict security policies. The downside of an on-premise CRM is that the implementation can take a long time. There’s also the requirement to invest in suitable IT infrastructure. On the other hand, if you go for the cloud solution, your data will be kept on the software provider’s remote servers. Accessible via an internet browser of your choice, the service doesn’t require any type of software installation. Additionally, if you decide to go with the in-house option, you’ll need to purchase a license beforehand and maintain the system on your own. Subscribing for a cloud-based solution, however, means choosing the pay-as-you-go approach and letting someone else take care of the CRM application’s flawless operation and data security. Cloud CRM software solutions are much more popular these days than their on-premise counterparts. There are several reasons that can explain this trend - a cloud-based option is a good choice for business owners who want to have their data accessible at all times and value the ability to scale the service up and down with ease. Furthermore, choosing a cloud CRM is a no-brainer for smaller-sized companies as it allows them to be productive and enjoy all the benefits of CRM technology without the need to strain their budget. 

Buying a house is one of the turning points in anyone’s life and certainly one of the biggest purchases they’ll ever make. And as much as it’s fulfilling, finding a perfect residential property can be extremely stressful, especially if you don’t know what your options are.  Selecting the right mortgage program is one of the crucial steps in this process, which is why we decided to let you know what types of mortgage loans exist, how they work, and what their key benefits are to help you make a smart decision. Different Types of Mortgage Loans The national mortgage debt keeps on pilling up, and since the pandemic, it has been on a constant rise. Statistics have shown that by April 2022, mortgage debt in the US had surpassed $11.18 trillion. These numbers prove that we must take things seriously and carefully explore all the possibilities. If you’re a first-time home buyer, you probably don’t even know where to start looking and what to expect. So, let’s dive right into it. These are the most common types of mortgage loans.  Conventional vs. Non-Conventional Loans All mortgage loans can be split into two main categories: conventional and non-conventional loans. Conventional Loans Non-Conventional loans Conforming conventional loans Non-conforming conventional loans Fixed-rate mortgages/ Adjustable-rate mortgages Portfolio loans FHA loans VA loans USDA loans HUD Section 184 loans A conventional loan is any mortgage that has been issued by a private mortgage lender and isn’t backed up by the federal government. These loans follow the guidelines based on the set of standards set by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the federally backed home mortgage companies created by the US Congress. A conventional loan is the most popular type of mortgage loan in the US for those borrowers who are able to qualify for it. Alternatively, non-conventional loan offers are tailored for borrowers with poor credit scores who can’t otherwise qualify for conventional loans. They also usually require private mortgage insurance, as they are considered riskier. Non-conventional loans are backed by government agencies and include loans supported by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), Veterans Administration (VA), and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).  Conventional Mortgage Loans Generally, conventional mortgage loans require a credit score of at least 620 and a 3% down payment. However, if a borrower makes a ​​down payment of 20%, they are not obligated to pay the private mortgage insurance, which is a big plus. Now that we know the basics, let’s check out the different types of conventional mortgage loans and how they work. Conforming Conventional Loans Conforming loans are those that fall under the loan limits set by the Federal Housing Finance Agency and meet additional loan standards set by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. These loans can not exceed a conforming loan limit determined by the FHFA, which is how they got the name in the first place. The limit changes yearly and is determined based on the House Price Index report that tracks the average increase in home values over the previous year. For 2022, the conforming loan limit is $647,200 for most parts of the US. Non-Conforming Conventional Loans Non-conforming loans, also known as jumbo loans, exceed the limit set by the FHFA or use standards different from those set by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Out of all types of conventional mortgage loans, these are the riskiest ones as they go over the maximum loan limit. That is why they usually have strict qualification requirements.  Fixed-Rate Mortgages Fixed-rate mortgages have the same interest rate throughout the life of the loan. And that’s their main advantage. You always know your rate, so there will be no surprises regardless of external economic conditions. However, there is one principal thing to keep in mind. If you choose to go for a fixed-rate mortgage with a longer repayment period, you will have a higher interest rate than you would if you opt for a short-term loan.  Adjustable-Rate Mortgages Adjustable-rate mortgages are the opposite of fixed-rate mortgages, and their interest rates can vary a fair bit over the span of the loan term. An adjustable-rate mortgage usually has an introductory period with a lower interest rate, after which the rate increases.  As much as that initial interest rate may seem tempting at first glance, you should know that it most certainly will go up as time goes on. With that in mind, you might want to read up on the fine print and calculate total potential costs or check what other types of mortgage loans are available. Portfolio Loans Portfolio loans are a type of mortgage originated by the portfolio lender. Instead of selling the mortgage to another company, the lender issues the loan and keeps it within their range of investment holdings. This way, the mortgage doesn’t have to meet the rules set by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, making it easier for borrowers to qualify.  Non-Conventional Mortgage Loans We have already noted that non-conventional mortgages are made for borrowers with low income or who wish to apply for a loan with a low down payment or none at all.  According to the recent housing statistics, the average down payment for a new home in 2020 was $59,880. That is far above the price range of many US citizens, who instead had to look for cheaper alternatives.  Non-conventional mortgages are usually used by borrowers who were denied conventional loans due to insufficient cash reserves, a history of bankruptcy, or because they are self-employed. So, let’s see what types of government mortgage loans there are. FHA Loans FHA loans are the ones insured by the Federal Housing Administration. This means that the FHA doesn’t issue them directly, but if you default on your mortgage, the agency will compensate the private lender. Since it is less risky for them, mortgage lenders usually offer more favorable terms here than with conventional mortgages. To qualify for the FHA loan, you should have a credit score of at least 500. If your score is between 500 and 579, you will likely have to make a down payment of 10%. But, if it is 580 or higher, your down payment can be as low as 3.5%. Note that all Federal Housing Administration loans require mortgage insurance, so you should also plan for that extra cost. VA Loans VA loans are backed up by the US Department of Veterans Affairs and are meant to help military service members, veterans, and their eligible family members find a home. Similar to getting an FHA loan, the federal government will compensate the lender if you default on your VA loan monthly payments. However, there are some differences.  If you’re after the types of mortgage loans with no down payment requirements, the VA loans might be an excellent choice, as they require no upfront cash and don’t have mortgage insurance. You are only required to cover the VA funding fee, which must be paid upfront.  USDA Loans If you’re considering purchasing a residential property in a rural area, a USDA loan might be just what you are looking for. The US Department of Agriculture offers these government-backed mortgage programs for people with low and middle incomes. The best thing about USDA loans is that they usually don’t require any down payment and have fixed interest rates.   To qualify for a USDA loan, the borrower needs to live in an area with up to 35,000 people and can’t make more than 115% of the area’s median income. If you meet all of these criteria, you can apply for the mortgage directly with the USDA Rural Development office. HUD Section 184 Loans Lastly, there’s another type of mortgage loan for those with bad credit, the HUD Section 184 mortgage. These mortgages are guaranteed by the HUD’s Office of Native American Programs. They are designed for American Indian and Alaskan Native families, Alaskan villages, tribes, or tribally designated housing entities struggling to purchase a home. The mortgages don’t have any requirements in terms of minimum credit score and usually come with a low down payment. However, there are some limitations borrowers should be aware of. HUD Section 184 loans are limited to single-family housing and fixed-rate loans of up to 30 years. Final Thoughts Now that you’re more familiar with all the mortgage types on offer, you should have a much easier time picking one. Just make sure to do your due diligence to find a property that suits your needs the best. Remember to read the fine print and make timely mortgage payments to avoid any surprises in the form of additional costs.