As I am sure you are more than aware, that we, as a nation are currently experiencing a ridiculous run of competitive sporting events this summer. It’s non-stop sport-tastic isn’t it? What with the European championships (sorry for reminding you about the terrible ending to yet another awful penalty shoot-out…) and with Wimbledon now in full swing this week (see you on Murray Mount!) and of course the big one, the event we’ve been waiting for since it was announced that the capital had won its bid in 2005, the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics. I don’t know about you, but this, to me, is exciting!
Now even as a naturally competitive kind of gal, I can’t imagine the level of pressure Olympic athletes are under. It must be incredibly hard to maintain such a high level of focus and determination day in day out, dedicating a lifetime of training for an event that could be over in as short as ten seconds of time. Those ten seconds that could essentially make or break your life’s work.
The competitive edge that is often associated with sportsmen and women can also be relevant to you and your business. With increasing demand from customers using social media to rate, share views and communicate with your business, it’s now more important than ever that SMEs are ahead of the CRM game and keep up with their market competitors.
One way in which this is apparent, is how your customers are using social media at all times of the day. There are no such things as set working hours, no restricted contact set via a phone line anymore (can you imagine the instruction “please contact us Monday to Friday from 9am until 5pm” being acceptable to your online customer base today? No, me neither…). Businesses need to respond quickly and smartly to the immediacy of today’s technology and its savvy users.
One of the most effective ways of adapting your CRM to today’s new standards is through cloud computing. By migrating your email to exchange hosting with the Cloud, mobile push notifications will reach you and your staff immediately. Shared networks in the Cloud mean that you don’t have to wait for someone else to action a decision or send you the relevant documentation, you have instant, joint access.
Hosted exchange is a secure, fast and great value solution to providing excellent customer service for you and your company. It will not only boost your productivity, it will also give you the competitive edge over your rivals that means you can deliver your product, faster and better than anyone else. By embracing social media and the changes it means to your customer relationships, you stand in better stead to future-proof your business. And that, to me, definitely deserves a medal.
Tags: 2012, Cloud, collaboration, computing, CRM, customer relationship management, Exchange, Hosted, Hosting, olympics
