VTiger Blog – News, Common Errors & Helpful Tips
Outlook And VTiger Data Synchronization
January 3, 2017
Article
The current business environment is very much dependent on technological advancements, with every new morning a new tool is offered to the business community to enhance their operations and the only factor behind these discoveries is the rapid growth of the technological sector. One such tool offered by the technological advancements is electronic mail a.k.a. e-mails. It is equally beneficial for personal and organizational use. When we look at organizations email has evolved from a communication tool to management tool. As in the past, the only purpose of the email was to communicate, but now firms use it in different innovative methods as a managing tool. Now question is that how important emails are to us? To answer this question, I would like to state some facts i.e. If you want to create an account on a social network you need an email, if you want to register for any
Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
December 31, 2016
Article
The most important issue for companies is how best to analyze and use individual customer data. Most companies are flooded with information about their customers. In fact, smart companies collect information at each possible consumer touch point. These touch points consist of customer purchase, sales, services and support calls, website visits, customers’ satisfaction survey, payment interactions, market research studies- every contact between the customer and the company. The dilemma is that information is usually scattered widely across the organization. It is hidden in the separate records and databases of different departments of company. Now many companies are turning to CRM (customer relationship management) to resolve these kinds of problems, to manage detailed information regarding individual customers and to maintain customers touch points very carefully in order to maximize customer loyalty. Customer relationship management is an overall practice of building and maintaining the beneficial customer’s relationships by delivering superior customer value
Importance Of Electronic Signing And Integration Of DocuSign And VTiger
December 30, 2016
Article
Sometimes only because you forgot signatures, huge opportunities are missed. For example, you need a signature from the client at three different spots, but he or she missed one spot or the signature made by the client is not according to the standards, etc. Imagine your firm is forming a partnership with another organization and you are acting as a representative of your firm. If you need a document to be signed by the other firm’s representative the normal procedures involve that you will send that document to your partner via traditional mail and get it signed or another option is to send him a fax and get a manual sign on the document. All these traditional methods take too much time, which can be invested in some other organizational building activities. The solution to this problem is Electronic signing, this is a much-needed state of the art high-tech solution
Role And Impact Of Public Relations (PR) On Business
December 29, 2016
Article
PR is a major mass-promotional tool. It builds good relations with a company’s various contacts by obtaining positive publicity, building up strong co-operate image, and handling & heading off unfavorable stories, events, and rumors. Public relations department may execute any or all of the following tasks: Press relations or press agency: It is all about creating and placing interesting information in the news media to draw attention to a person, goods, or services. Product publicity: Product publicity is for publicizing the detailed products and publicity can be positive or negative both. Public affairs: In public affairs, a company has to build and maintain local and national community relations. Lobbying: It is all about to build & maintain cooperative relations with the government officials and legislators to persuade legislation and regulation. Investor relations: To maintain excellent relationship with shareholders, investors and others in financial community who invest their money
Reports In VTiger
December 29, 2016
Article
With the change in the business environment, the process of developing and presenting reports is also advancing at a rapid speed. About two and a half decades ago, hand written reports were used to communicate with the stakeholders of the business firms about the progress of a company. Now reports are developed and presented using assistance from the modern day technology and Microsoft word usage is one of the biggest examples of integrating computers in report developing. Another aspect in which the progression regarding the reports can be witnessed, is their transparency and speed of delivery. Every single business firm working in current business culture is pressed to show significant improvements in their reporting systems. The reason behind giving so much priority to business documents and reports is that they show the face of the firm to the concerned people and through them, specific information about the organization is exposed.
Importance Of MailChimp And VTiger Integration
December 29, 2016
Article
Emails are essential for business firms as they fulfill a range of different purposes. Traditionally, companies used emails only as a communication medium and incorporate in in their business as a means of sending and receiving reports. But from last three decades organizations are using it for performing different functions and one of the most popular activities for which emails are being used currently is to market products and services. Some people argue that usage of social media for marketing purposes will take over the email marketing. But, most of the business professionals deny this opinion and show their support towards email marketing. No matter how old it gets, Email marketing will still be relevant – Paras Arora Using emails to market your product and services comes with a long list of advantages like extended reach to target audience, low-cost mode of communication etc. Just to give you a
Uses Of VTiger Project Management App
December 22, 2016
Article
“First, have a definite, clear practical ideal; a goal, an objective. Second, have the necessary means to achieve your ends; wisdom, money, materials, and methods. Third, adjust all your means to that end.” – Aristotle The above mentioned is a famous saying of one of the most influential people in the history. If we consider this saying from the spectrum of modern business practices, it is not hard to notice that modern project management shows a glimpse of it. Planned activities always show more accuracy and enhanced result as compared to random and unplanned business operations. Project management is a concept which from its emergence up to now is showing a constant increase in popularity. More and more business firms are making use of it to improve and enhance their operations. So the question arises what is project management? In business terms, it is the art of managing projects and
Marketing strategy In Digital Era
December 22, 2016
Article
World has become a global village. Conducting business in the new digital era will call for a new model for marketing strategy and practice. The internet is revolutionizing how companies create value for their customers and try to build strong relationships with them. This digital age has fundamentally changed customers’ philosophy of convenience, speed, price, product knowledge, and service. Thus, today’s marketing demands introduce new thinking and action-plans. Companies need to retain most of the skills and practices that have worked in the past. But they will have to add essential new competencies and practices if they want to compete, rise, and prosper in this new digital environment. E-Business E-business involves the use of electronic platforms as intranets, extranets, and the Internet to conduct a company’s business. Almost every company has set up a website to inform about and to promote its goods and services. Others use websites simply to
Introduction To VTiger Proposal And Document Designer
December 21, 2016
Article
Documents are important part of business culture, the benefits they yield are countless. The nature of business documents is different from ordinary documents. Business documents are not just a mere piece of writing, in fact they gave a glimpse of the business firm. These documents tell the story of business, where it comes from, what are its future intentions and how determined the firm is in attaining its goals. Contracts which you form with other parties are not just mere documents actually, they are opportunity windows which act as a gateway through which you can expand operations of your firm to a whole next level. So, do you want to design these contracts like ordinary documents? Obviously, your answer will be NO! Most of the communication you do with your customers, suppliers, logistics etc. involves more documentation as compared to the physical interaction. So these stakeholders judge your professionalism by
Developing The Sales Promotion Program
December 21, 2016
Article
The marketers must make several other decisions in order to define the full sales promotion program. First, the marketers must decide on the size of the incentives. If the promotion is to succeed, a certain minimum incentive is necessary. A large incentive will generate more sales response. Marketers also must set conditions for participation. Incentives might be offered to everyone or only to selected groups. Then marketers must decide how to promote and distribute the promotion plan itself. A 50-cents-off coupon could be given out in a package, at a store, by mail, or in an advertisement. Each distribution process involves a different level of cost and reach. Increasingly, marketers are combination of several media into a total campaign concept. The length of the promotion is also very important. If the time period of sales promotion is too short, many prospects (who may not be buying during that time) will
Advantages Of VTiger & Thunderbird Integration
December 20, 2016
Article
Emails are an important part of business operations and no one can question their significance. They are equally famous among individuals and businesses. Personally, we use emails for communicating with others. With the passage of time significant evolution can be seen in emails. Like when it started, you could only send a written message using email. Now email is equipped with features like CC, attachment and filtering etc. Due to such development in emails. Same is the case with the purpose of emails, initially the only reason of sending emails was to communicate with individuals, but now firms are using it as one of the most effective marketing tools. Following are some facts related to email to make you aware of its significance: There are 4.6 billion email accounts created worldwide Daily 212 billion emails are sent and received related to business purposes Business-related emails sent and received by a
Socially Responsible Target Marketing
December 20, 2016
Article
Socially responsible target marketing is to target those market segments which will be beneficial for social welfare. Smart targeting helps companies to be more effective and efficient by focusing on segments that they can satisfy best and most profitably. Targeting also provides benefits for consumers. Companies reach specific groups of consumers with various offers carefully altered to satisfy their needs. However, sometimes target marketing generates concern and controversy. The major issues usually engage the targeting of vulnerable or deprived consumers with controversial or potentially harmful goods and services. For example, over the years, a cereal industry has been criticized heavily for its marketing attempts directed towards kids. Critics concern that premium offers on products and high-powered advertising appeals presented and the presence of kids’ favorite and lovable animated characters will overwhelm their defenses. The marketers of toys and other children’s stuffs have been similarly shabby, often with good justification. Other
Consumer Behavior Across International Border
December 17, 2016
Article
The subject of whether to adapt or standardize the marketing mix across international markets has shaped a lively debate in recent years. Understanding consumer behavior is difficult enough for companies marketing within the boarder of a single country. For companies operating in many countries, however, understanding and serving the needs of consumers can be intimidating. Although, consumers in different countries may have something in common, their attitudes, values, and behaviors often vary greatly. International marketers must understand such differences and amend their products and marketing plans accordingly. Sometimes differences are very obvious in them, for example, in the United States of America, where most people eat cereals regularly in their breakfast. Kellogg focuses on persuading consumers to select Kellogg brand rather than a competitor’s brand in its marketing plan. In France, however, where most people prefer croissants and coffee or no breakfast at all. Kellogg simply tries to convince people
Major Influences On Business Buyers
December 16, 2016
Article
Business buyers are subject to many influences when they make their buying decisions. Economy is one of the major influences in some marketers’ perception. They think buyers will favor the supplier who offers the lowest price rate or the best product or the most service. They focus on offering strong economic benefits to buyers. However, business buyers actually respond to both economic and personal factors. Today, most B-to-B marketers recognize that emotions play a vital role in business buying decisions. For example, you might expect that an advertisement promoting large trucks to corporate fleet buyers would stress objective performance, technical, and economic factors. Though, an ad for Volvo heavy-duty trucks shows two drivers arm-wrestling and claims, “it solves all your fleet problems, except who gets to drive.” There are many factors which actually influence on business buyers: Environmental Factors Business buyers are influenced heavily by factors in the current and
“My Preferences” Section In VTiger
December 16, 2016
Article
Capturing new customers and retaining old once is one of the biggest hurdles faced by business firms in the current business environment. Firms are becoming more and more competitive and they use the element of innovation to distinguish their products from their rivals. Companies are using a diverse range of innovative strategies to market their products one of such strategy is to allow customization as per the client’s preferences. The first and foremost benefit of allowing customization according to customers or users preferences are to create a sense of care. Secondly, it creates a sense of involvement among customers and employees of the firm. When they are allowed to change and alter things in accordance to their will they feel that firms do not treat them as an employee only, in fact, they feel like a family where their opinions are given preference. When we look at customization from customer’s
Email Data Syncing Extensions For VTiger
December 14, 2016
Article
Communication is the soul of the current business environment, firms which excel in communication can interact with stakeholders more efficiently, thus they enjoy greater profits as compared to the firms whose communication process is ineffective. With the passage of time companies are introduced to more and more new tools which assist in making the process of communication effective. The list of such tools contains chatrooms, instant messages, discussion forums, blogs, video conferencing etc. But, the tool which has a most impact both in terms of professions purposes and personal purposes is electronic mail. Due to its adaptability to the situations emails are equally famous among business organizations and individuals. When we look at the business culture emails are used by the executives like CEO of the company to the clerical staff also make use of them for communication purposes. No matter a staff member is working for the organization from
An Introduction To Micromarketing
December 14, 2016
Article
Micromarketing is based on individualized marketing. Although, differentiated and concentrated marketers alter their products, offers, and marketing plan to meet the needs of different market segments and niches. At the same moment though, marketers do not customize their offers to each individual customer. Micromarketing is a practice of altering products and marketing plans to suit the choices of specific individuals and locations. Micromarketers see individual in every customer rather than seeing customer in every individual. Micromarketing consists of local marketing and individual marketing. Local Marketing Local marketing involves altering brands and promotions according to the needs and wants of local customer groups, like neighborhoods, cities and specific stores. For example, Citibank provides various mixes of banking services in all of its branches, depending on neighborhood demographics. Kraft helps many supermarkets chains to identify the specific cheese variety and shelf positioning that will help to optimize cheese sales in low-income, middle-income
Features And Benefits Of VTiger’s Subscription Module
December 13, 2016
Article
When we ask about what are the most important elements of a business firm from market experts, Product, promotion and marketing are the most common answers you will hear. Today I will like to highlight another very important element of a business firm which is billing. If your customers are not happy with billing facilities and terms of payment, then eventually they will switch to your competitors. Usually, criteria which customers use to evaluate the billing procedures of a company contains fairness of billing, checking the history of payments and ease of making payments. If these elements are missing from your billing methodologies then expect a poor customer response both in terms of your product usage and feedback. We live in a digital world; business firms are customizing their operations in order to cater their customers in more effective manner. Same is the case with billing plans, some customers want
The Buyer’s Decision Process
December 13, 2016
Article
There are some influences that affect buyers and their decisions for buying products. This buying process starts long before actual purchases and continues long after. So marketers need to focus on the complete buying process instead of purchase decision only. Buyer decision process consists of five stages: Need Recognition This is the first stage of the process, in which the consumer recognizes a need or problem. Need is generated by internal stimuli when one person’s normal need rises to high level to become drive. A need can also be generated by external stimuli. For example, a discussion with your friend or an advertisement might get you thinking about purchasing a new car. Information Search At this stage, consumer starts to search more information about the product which he is interested to buy. If consumer’s drive is strong and he can satisfy his needs, he will buy. Otherwise he keeps it
Requirements For Market Segmentation
December 13, 2016
Article
Market consists of buyers, and the buyers are different to each other in one or more ways. They may vary in their needs, locations, resources, buying practices and buying attitude. Market segmentation is to divide a market into smaller groups of buyers according to their different needs, behaviors or characteristics. Through market segmentation, companies divide large and heterogeneous markets into small segments. With these smaller segmentations, products and services can be reached more efficiently and effectively to the target market. There are many ways to segment the market but all ways are not effective. For example, consumers of table salt could be divided into blonde and dark hair customers. But, hair color does not influence the purchase of table salt. Effective market segments must have some requirements to make the segmentation more efficient. These are: Measurable Segments should be easily measurable after targeting. The size, profiles and purchasing power of
VTiger And Twilio Integration Explained
December 12, 2016
Article
The mobile phone is an invention which changed the face of communication process, it became an integral part of routine life and it is used by millions of people for interacting with each other around the globe. Mobile phones eliminate the concept of location and distance from the communication process. The invention of Smartphones completely changed the face of the game, the features smartphones offer very diverse yet very effective. You can check and reply to the emails using smartphones, you can even attach files and send them. You can also use applications like WhatsApp Viber to send files and photographs. In short, the usage of the mobile phone became very extensive with the emergence of smartphones. The efficiency of mobile phones is not limited to the casual use only, it is one of the most potent tools when it comes to its usage in the business environment. When we
VTiger 7 Alpha Released. New Layout, Functionality & More!
December 8, 2016
Article
VTiger 7 Alpha is now available! VTiger has just pushed the code for VTiger 7 open source to their git repository. From what we know, this development is in early stage and should NOT be used for production. This is a developers release and has not yet been published on vtiger.com. To download and install VTiger 7 open source – you will need to be familiar with cpanel/ssh. The files are available below: GIT Repo for VTiger 7: http://code.vtiger.com/vtiger/vtigercrm/tree/7.0.0 Download the zip, extract and install it on your server. Please note, this is NOT production version. VTiger 7 Highlights We don’t have an official feature list, but from what we’ve seen it’s going to be similar to the below: PHP 7 compatibility New and improved Layout (Responsive?) Redesigned Field Editor Round Robin More intuitive workflow interface Colored picklist values Redesigned & configurable Menu Editor Opportunity to Project
Synchronizing Google Contacts And Calendars With VTiger
December 8, 2016
Article
One very common practice that we can find in every successful business is that they carry out their tasks in a timely manner. No matter the tasks involve delivery of products on schedule or meet the product manufacturing deadlines, if it is done on time then it will definitely increase the value of your business. Punctuality of time is very important, but at the same time, saving hours is also of one of the utmost priorities of the people who want to succeed in their lives. Managing your schedule is one of the most difficult tasks, especially if you are handling business related tasks. If you show an exceptional performance in regard to time management, surely it will contribute in your business dealings as a positive aspect. “Timely service, like timely gifts, is doubled in value” – George MacDonalds So, make sure to realize the potential of tasks
The Impact Of Culture On Marketing Strategy
December 8, 2016
Article
Every country has its own norms, taboos and folkways. Companies must understand all these things when they design global marketing strategies that how culture affects consumers’ buying and reactions in different countries of same product. In fact, they must also understand how these marketing strategies influence on local cultures as well. Before developing a marketing plan, every seller should examine the ways that buyers in different countries use and think about certain products. There are often surprises. For example, the Germans and the French eat more branded and packaged pasta than Italians do. Italian kids like to eat chocolate bars between slices of bread like snack. Women in Tanzania do not their kids eggs for fear of bald. Companies that pay no heed to such differences can make really some costly and embarrassing mistakes. Business behaviors and norms also vary country to country. All business executives need to be briefed
Benefits of Integrating Tally With VTiger
December 7, 2016
Article
Making sales is not the only task to be accomplished while running a business. One of the most important back-end operation is keeping the books updated. Bookkeeping is practiced from ancient times and with the passage of time it has witnessed a great deal of development. The purpose of bookkeeping is to make sure finances of a firm are maintained. In the past, manual data entry systems were used for the purpose of bookkeeping. But, as workplace operations witnessed advancements, the process of bookkeeping is also automated using software. Manual Bookkeeping is one of the most difficult businesses related operations and encounters far greater errors as compared to any other business-oriented operation. “It would be a bookkeeping nightmare to do this on paper and pencil every month” – Jason Sorenson VTiger 7 CRM Understanding your Problems VTiger 7’s mission is to facilitate its valued customers in the best