Tag: Sales

How to increase profits and sales using CRM

Many times business executives get caught up in the details and miss the big picture. How do I increase sales, profits, and productivity? The answer might be right on your computer. Using Dynamics CRM, many options are available to easily and quickly increase your company's bottom line. Catching the attention of the Executive or Business owners in how to achieve better sales and profits and make more money is sometimes easier said then done. CRM is a company wide tool using technology to support a business strategy to improve, analyze and automate company sales, customer services, and marketing by combining them to improve the sales and profits of the company.

December 4, 2015

Pumpkin Spice Lattes, Ugg Boots, Thick Sweaters, and … Falling Lead Numbers?

September marks the first month of Fall and man, do I love Fall. Pumpkin Spice Lattes, also known as PSLs, are available at the local coffee shops, Ugg Boots are acceptable to start wearing as the chilly weather comes in, and thick sweaters are being stocked in all the trendy clothing shops. We’ve made it through summer and the thick humidity and are now settled back in our offices from our last fling of summer vacations. Many marketing and sales representatives start to think that since summer and vacations are over, their lead generation will soon rise and the end of the year deal closings will be back at it. This isn’t the case though. Logically thinking, summer is the start to what I would consider a downward trend in the market.

October 26, 2015

Zero in on ZIP code risk

Internet and mobile sales continue to grow in popularity among shoppers and profitability for retailers. Last year, online sales in the U.S. topped $307 billion. The lucrative internet marketplace has also led to more online crime. Recent cyberattacks on U.S. businesses, which affected such titans of industry as Target, JPMorgan Chase, Home Depot and Premera, has Congress scrambling to craft laws to protect businesses and consumers against data breaches. And in 2014, businesses lost an estimated $3.5 trillion globally from retail fraud. Online sellers took the biggest hit, according to LexisNexis, primarily due to losses from card-not-present (CNP) transactions.

May 27, 2015

5 Reasons Your Rapid Company Growth Might be Increasing Your Sales Tax Liability

Nexus —the connection between a company and taxing jurisdictions that triggers a sales tax liability—gets thornier the faster your company grows. Surprisingly, more revenue can mean more complexity and potentially greater risk of sales tax audit (more money, more problems?).

Here are 5 areas of sales tax risk relating to business growth and what you can do to address them:

May 4, 2015

Microsoft Convergence 2015: Five Takeaways and a Brave New World

Microsoft Dynamics’s Convergence, a gathering of 12,000 customers, partners and Microsoft employees, was great this year. Almost transformative, and as an experienced Convergence attendee, here are my five takeaways that make me think this was a great Convergence:

1. The president of Microsoft, Satya Nadella, attended and was the keynote speaker. Ballmer was absent the last two years, which for me, was not an issue, as his messaging was stale and confirmed in my mind he did not understand business applications. See number five below for more detail about why the keynote was so transformative.

April 20, 2015

Marriage Counseling between Sales and Marketing

I was extremely fortunate to have KTL send me down to Atlanta, Georgia for one of Microsoft’s largest conferences, Convergence. Here I was able to really understand concepts involving both marketing and sales that pertained to us as partners using the solutions we not only implement and sell, but use in house as well. My knowledge grew with many of the sessions provided, but one stood out from others. Not because it was more technical or that I learned something specific that I have been wanting to learn more about; it was that this particular session put a retrospect on what KTL’s Director of Sales and I deal with on an everyday basis: the connection and dependence between our two departments.

April 8, 2015

5 overlooked activities that give online sellers a sales tax obligation

For many companies selling online, figuring out where to collect and remit sales tax requires the expertise and bandwidth of the Amazon legal department. Given that most companies don’t have access to those kinds of resources, this quick list will help determine whether you’re overlooking sales tax obligations.

1. Drop shipping

In some states, use of an in-state third-party shipper by an out of state retailer can trigger a sales tax obligation. In California, New York, Texas, and Florida for example, if a drop shipper delivers goods on your behalf, you could be obligated to collect tax.

March 27, 2015

5 Common Sales Tax Remittance and Filing Errors

Sales tax filing and reporting rules vary between jurisdictions in material ways. Each state has unique filing schedules, forms, payment thresholds and other administrative requirements that can trip you up. Here are some common filing and registration errors and what you can do about them.

March 9, 2015

Dynamics CRM: A Team Effort

I’d like to break down the difference between two types of teams found in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013. Most people who are familiar with teams in Dynamics CRM know about what are called, “Owner Teams.” These are the traditional teams that have been around since CRM 4. In Dynamics CRM 2013, Microsoft has introduced a new type of team called an, “Access Team.” The purpose of creating Access Teams appears to be for the benefit of working around and with some of Dynamics CRM’s security features.

December 19, 2014

3 Steps to See if You are Web Client Ready

If you are involved in the Microsoft Dynamics world, in any capacity, chances are you have heard the latest buzzword “web client” quite a bit as of late. However, there are three key factors everyone should know about the web client before you call your VAR and tell them you are ready.

November 5, 2014