“Do what you do so well they will want to see it again, and bring their friends”, said Walt Disney.

From product-centric to customer-centric mindset, whether your business is in traditional fields such as energy exploitation and agriculture production or in newly emerging fields such as e-commerce and ride-hailing, customer service has more and more been proven to be the key of a business’ longevity. The unwritten secret to success is to treat all customers as if your world revolves around them.

Staff members who have the privilege to meet customers face-to-face in your company such as market researchers, salespeople and PR executives could spend thousands of hours approaching, connecting and maintaining a relationship with your business’ customers.

Each file of a customer, including basic information their name, age, gender, education, career choice, likes and dislikes, geographic location and past encounters with your company, adds up to a gigantic database that is more valuable to your business strategy than anything else. You cannot understand your customers any better without your hard-earned database.

As a result, the organization of your database – how you manage to store and gain access to such data – is the hinge of your business understanding towards your dear customers. How to efficiently and effectively manage your customer database and customer relationship? The answer lies in CRM.

What is CRM

CRM stands for customer relationship management. CRM is a software system solution that gives business owners the freedom of managing and processing customer data so as to maintain your relationship with a large number of customers and to fetch customer insights that would further improve customer service.

Majority of market leaders chose to have their own CRM system customized for their company based on their unique demand instead of choosing a pre-built CRM platform since each business possesses different issues and organizational structures.

A CRM system built per request is beneficial to a business due to security reasons since it is a must to protect the confidentiality of customer data. A well-respected business is a business who pays great attention to customer private information and commits to not revealing such discreet information for profit reasons.

Unilever: The market leader had their own CRM system tailored named SAP CRM, which allows them to improve call center’s quick response and problem-solving.

”It enables faster response time to queries and needs raised by consumers, provides for effective maintenance of customer database, and gives easy access to customer information for analysis and strategy development”, Efren Samonte Commercial Director, Unilever Philippines asserted.

Zara: The ‘hotshot’ Europe-based fast fashion brand utilized their custom-made CRM to track customer preferences and sales. Each customer who ever made a transaction with Zara would have a profile including their birthday, phone number and past purchases. This makes maintaining a close relationship with customers’ super smooth for Zara since fashion buying is about understanding customers’ needs as if you – a business owner – is their close friend.

Zara’s CRM system was developed with a new feature called digital assistants or DAs which store customer input and allow designers to map out next season’s style and rebuy existing orders based on customers’ request.

Amazon: The e-commerce giant selected an Oracle-provided CRM system that specialises in customising the micromanaging data of each customer, setting up automated personalised marketing newsletters to each customer with recommended purchases, expanding purchase panel with more items that might be of customers’ interests, saving cache so that customers could avoid the hassle of re-logging personal information at every check out and customizing the interface of customer feedback segment.

How to choose the right CRM system for your business?

No matter what scale your business is, bear in mind what the best is for your business’ operations and progress tracking on a daily basis. We would like to give you some pointers in choosing the right CRM platform for your business.

Easy to use

Let’s be real. The ideal situation is all of your staff members come from the same or similar educational background and possess similar work performance, showing the same adaptability to new systems. Training time to get used a management system is also counted as the amount of investment you spend on a new project. So the less training time the better as long as your employees are fully ready and thoroughly understand the new system.

Mobile accessibility

A study on the difference between the usage in mobile applications and other smart devices in 2016 and 2017 featured on Harvard Business Review on May 1st, 2008 revealed a remarkable increase in visits from mobile devices (57% to 63%) and time on site from mobile devices (40% to 49%) over the course of a single year.

In addition, traffic from mobile devices reported rising swiftly from 2016 to 2018, respectively from 40% in 2016, 51% in 2017 and a full two-thirds of all traffic by the end of 2018.

Mobile access makes it easier to carry work tasks on the go and minimize the time of task response and problem-solving duration from the minute a complaint from a customer is filed till the problem is completely solved with the service satisfaction achieved.

Analytics

Nobody should invest a large amount of budget on a platform that only stores data and keeps it safe. Microsoft Excel can help you with that thanks to its thousands of convenient calculating features.

An efficient CRM system must be able to carry out more than that. It must possess the ability to cleverly gather, consolidate, analyze and extract analytical reports that can help you unveil helpful customer insights, trends, patterns and help you predict the outcome of your upcoming campaigns or suggest you take up a new marketing trend that suits your customers’ preferences.

Real-time data tracking

A mantra to chant every day as a business owner – Time management in business management is financial management. Managing time effectively is the smartest way of budget allocation. An instant report on the current performance of your campaigns on two separate niche markets can be generated on the spot if you adopt a custom-made CRM system.

The majority of e-commerce start-ups that are based in Ho Chi Minh City has acquired the real-time tracking feature, showing the performance of your campaigns and real-time interaction with the users, e.g: through visits, clicks, hyperlink clicks, likes, comments, time spent on site, etc… No better way to keep your customers close and your competitors even closer than keep tracking of the operation at any second.

Customization

“Walking on water and developing software from a specification are easy if both are frozen” – Edward V. Berard.

Each business entity functions as a whole person, therefore the business personality has to be flaunted in a suitable way that helps the system users relatable to the platform they will use on a daily basis.

Customization lies not only in sleek and chic interface design of the new CRM system but also in the entire user experience. The best service for your customers must come from a team of people who have the best “user experience” themselves. You need to have a taste of your own services in order to provide one for others.

How to build your CRM? Pre-built platforms vs. Custom-built system

Had a special idea for your own CRM system in your mind but not sure how to pull it off? Here are top 5 suggestions of CRM building tools.

Subscription fee of CRM systems

While bouncing off decisions whether to choose a pre-built or a custom-developed CRM system, bear in mind that not every pre-built CRM tool suits your requirements for a new system such as real-time data tracking, overall statistics reports and internal communication among company employees.

Especially if you are planning to have a new CRM system fully equipped for the complexity of workflow in a medium- and large-scale company, it is strongly advised you seek professional help from a software development company and work closely alongside a team of designers and developers until the final product is born.

That being the case, you can totally negotiate the pricing plan with a software development company since your desired CRM tool would only require specific features.

This, in turn, would be more economical than you might think, considering the fact pre-developed CRM tools can lure users into their 30-day free trial following a surprisingly low-budgeted pricing strategy providing abundant features that are not in your interest.
Adopting a new CRM system could be overwhelming if you have no clear objective set beforehand and a budget plan for this type of investment. Having observed the current marketing trends and consumer behavior, people at Designveloper offers insights into the upcoming trends in CRM.

I know it sounds ridiculous but more people in this world own smartphones than toothbrushes. They have became a vital part of our life.

But, have you ever wondered why they’re so popular like that? The real heroes standing behind such success are the many exciting apps smartphones provide us. These apps seems to be everything surrounding us from doing business, checking email, shopping or even playing game.

Related: 5 Benefits Of Custom Application Development For Your Business

Nonetheless, creating a rock star application is not an easy task. In fact, it can takes weeks or even months to build an app, but just a little feature can still make or break that app.

Therefore, in today’s post, I’m going to bring to you a list of some common mistakes when designing an application which prevent your advance. Those simple stupid mistakes and overlooked components can be a huge detriment to your application and can send your users to your competitors’ app. Be vigilant!

You got it all wrong in the first place

 You never get a second chance to make a first impression

How many times do I need to repeat that saying?

Usually users don’t really know what they will experience in the first moment they open an app. That time will determine whether they should trust you application or not, or if they’ll fall in love and stick with it. That’s why a fantastic app should make a good first impression.

Not only should the app load quickly and easy to understand, but also it should remind users of the reason they downloaded the app. If you don’t wow users with the first run experience, chances are they won’t interact with it again.

You forgot about fat fingers!

I don’t know about you but nothing drives me crazy more than putting so much effort into just tapping a small touch button. That doesn’t necessarily mean I have fat fingers, it’s just because I (and most people in the world) generally use the pads of the fingers to touch a button and not the fingertips.

You don’t have to design a very big touch button to avoiding this issue, just ensure that there is plenty of space around each button and make it tappable. What I mean is wherever you hit in that tappable area, it can still take you to the same location. This totally makes the app more user-friendly.

You put too much things on the screen

Sometimes, less is more. With mobile application, everything should be made as simple as possible for the users. Since apps are designed to work on small screens, there’s not so much room for you to clutter up anyway.

Also, you shouldn’t pack too many features into an app. Each app is downloaded to serve a certain purpose. If you try to stuff tons of content and other design elements, the app becomes overwhelming and too distracting to the users. Moreover, honest to say, in the world that people seem to be bombarded with too much content, they tend to be attracted by the simplicity.

Related: Design Trends Will Take Over In 2017

Users are not able to decipher the app

People always want to be heard, seen or listened to. So, there is no doubt that if you design an app that is not easy to interact with, they won’t spend much time per their visit.

Your app should be intuitive by including some visual clues so that the users can understand exactly what actions you want them to take or where to touch, what will happen next.

Lack of consistency

Let’s picture a little scenario: Your application has different color, typography and navigation patterns for each page. You think this will make your app stand out. I’m sorry to burst your bubble but just one word can describe such app – Confusing!. Another word? – Chaos!

Everything within a single app that aren’t consistent often yields frustrated users and can be the main reason driving even the most promising products to failure. Also, it’s not just about consistency. It must be a wise consistency which does more than looking the same.
Related: The Most Useful Tools For Designers

Build once, run forever

Really? This is the killer!

Many people have this silly assumption! They think that once their app is built, it never need to be touched again and their job is done. Remember, time flies fast. Things change. People changes. No matter how awesome your app is, no one is going to be interested in it forever if it’s still the same with the passing of time.

To avoid looking outdated and old-fashioned, your app needs to be updated regularly. Additionally, updated content encourage people to return to check out something new. So don’t be a conservative one that get left behind by not changing.

Do you have anything else to add?

These are just a few common mistakes of ton of misconceptions out there in the application design industry. Do you have anything else to add? I would love to know what kind of misconceptions you have met in your creative journey.

And if you are serious in getting an application for your business, you will need to consider engaging a professional agency. It will save your valuable time which you can use to improve your business processes and your products.

By now, you have already known why having a strong website is important for your business. It isn’t just for fun anymore. Just one glance at your site, prospects can decide whether or not they should work with you. Or website is simply a place where customers are able to find you online.

However, many people misunderstood that a strong website is just a pretty one. Oh honey, you don’t need a BEAUTIFUL website, you need an EFFECTIVE one. The one that you can actually put to work.

How to put your website to work

1. Step one is do the thing I tell you to do nearly every article I write….wait for it…THINK ABOUT YOURSELF. This is the most important thing to be considered. If can’t be sure what purpose that your website should serve, you can not create an effective one. To do that, you are going to need to take some time to think about who you are, and what the core values of your business are. How could you change your business by changing your website? How can your website make you business easier to run and for your clients or prospects to engage with you?
2. Then, FIND OUT YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE. Along with you business goal, you need to determine your target market. Who will visit your site? What do they want to get from your site? What would make it easier for them to do business with you?
3. JUST DO IT. I know it’s not easy to sit down, asking yourself something that are rather vague. But, just try to do it anyway. It may be the thing that makes your business great.

Next, I’m going to tell you some elements that your need to improve to make your website work for you

Call to action (CTA)

What exactly is it that you would like your potential customers to do when they browse your website? Do you want more newsletter subscribers, make a sale, provide information or gather contact information?

Then include buttons which should be of a contrasting color and say exactly what you want them to do: Call Me, Shop Now, Contact Us, Let’s Chat, Sign Up, Buy Now.

Take this stunning website which is one of our successful products as an example, its CTA is very obvious and strong. See full website at: luminpdf.com
A successful website must have ability to convert visitors quickly into customers. So make your CTA as clear and as easy for potential clients as possible to take the next step.

About us

Where to sell your story? Yes, no place else but the “About us” page. The thing is many people seems not to be aware of its importance. The “About Us” page is usually their second thought. But let me unveil a secret, that page is one of the most visited pages on a successful website!

Therefore, it’s time for you to put some effort into making the “About us” page less boring. Do not write long essay, just keep the page simple; give users just enough information. And remember it should be personal, compelling, and definitely up to date.

Contact Information

I don’t know about you, but nothing drives me nuts more than a website that makes me revisit their pages so many times to find out how to contact to them. Hey, I found your site, I like it enough to stay and I want to do business with you, but guess what? I can not find your contact information. Are you serious?

So, please display your contact information on every page if possible. It should be RIGHT-THERE. You should also offer various options for potential customers to get in touch with you such as: your email, your phone number or a contact form. A good way to do this is add contact information to all static headers and footers.

Responsive design

There is no doubt that it’s the age of mobile devices now. Mobile seems to become everything surrounding us from doing business, checking email, shopping or even playing game. Because of that insanely increase of mobile devices, it’s a must for any kind of business to have a website that is responsive.

When I make the browser thinner and wider, the layout magically adjusts itself to fit any sizes of the browser. That is how responsive websites work!

Check out: 5 Compelling Reasons Your Website Should Be Responsive

A website which isn’t optimized to be viewed onto a mobile means the page won’t be adjusted or fit onto the small screen. So, your visitors have to zoom in and out, up and down, left and right on smaller device to read content. That’s obviously the last thing a customer wants when they are on the move and need to find out about your business.

Simple navigation

If you want to stand out from the crowd, a good navigation is the key factor you need to take care of. Navigation isn’t necessary to be complicated. It should be easy to identify and easy to use.

Remember, people want convenience, not a challenge. The easier it is for people to use and navigate throughout your site, the longer they are likely to interact with it.

Fast loading page

According to Hosting Facts, “A single second delay in your website loading time can result in a 7% loss in conversion, and 40% of web users will abandon a website if it takes longer than 3 seconds to load”.

Here are other Reasons Why Visitors Leave Your Website In 10 Seconds

Slow loading pages may be a major reason why your visitors hit the “Back” button without regret. Nobody likes waiting for so long! There are tons of other options available out there, why would they waste their time waiting for your page to load?

Relevant content

A good website is the one that not only work effectively, but also provide relevant content that your audience want. Content have to cater to the needs of the users. It should answers questions that have been posed by your audience. Once your customers have found what they have looked for, they are likely to return your site to find answers for any further problems.

Last but not least, make sure all content is SEO optimized using relevant keywords so your targeted audience can find your site.

Final thoughts

I’m sure by now you’re getting the picture. A website that works for you will not only save you time, but also make you money.

It takes time and practice to produce a “be-you” website which attains the quality online presence your brand deserves, not just a rushed creation from a dull template.

 While your website essentially represents your business’s face, why don’t you take time to make it shine! Want help getting your website to sparkle? Talk to our team to see just what we can do for you!

If you want to create a bad-ass website, navigation will be without question one of the most important aspects you should consider first.

Why do people search something on the internet? Why do they access your website? Simply, they want to get information. Navigation exists to help people find content. Navigation not only affects your conversion rate, but also your traffic and search engine rankings.

However, unfortunately, many people just take it for granted. Tons of websites out there have navigation that are poorly designed.

To step your game up a little bit, here I’ve pulled together some tips for a perfect web navigation.

Give it a shot. Why not?
Related: 7 Key Elements Of A Modern Successful Website

Make it prominent and clear

I do not know about you, but nothing drives me nuts more than accessing a website that I cannot know what to expect clicking a link, or how to easily find what I am looking for.

So please do your visitors a favor. Make your website’s navigation prominent and legible for them to easily understand from the first moment they arrives at your website.

At a glance, visitors should know they are at the right place and how to get to where they want to be. For instance, the main menu should be designed to contrast against everything else so that your visitor’s eyes can be easily drawn to it.

Keep it consistent

Your navigation should be consistent throughout the site.

Consistency makes sites easier to use, because visitors don’t have to learn new tricks as they move around. If your navigation is constantly changing from page to page, visitors will lose their on-site bearings and it will reduce quality of the user experience.

Keep it concise

I bet you’ve seen this before: that website with hundreds of links on the home page. Terrible.

Based on a study by George Miller on short term memory, designers came up with the rule that a website’s navigation should have between five and seven items. Even eight may be too many.

Having fewer items to choose from, your visitors’ eyes are less likely may scan past important items. Every time you remove a menu item, the remaining items become more prominent. Challenge yourself to limit your navigation to five items. If you are not sure which items are most important to your customers, take a look at your analytics and see which pages of your website get the most traffic.

Moreover, concise navigation is also crucial for SEO.
Related: Is Your Web Design Lowering Your Conversion Rate?

Be descriptive

Making your website navigation descriptive will save visitors the click and yes, help reduce your bounce rate for sure.

Changing the text of your menu items can prove helpful. With all the distractions on the web, it’s best to have visitors think as little as possible. They should know right away where a link will take them.

Remember, people want convenience, not a challenge. The easier it is for people to use and navigate throughout your site, the longer they are likely to interact with it.

Conclusion

Imagine what will happen if you walk for hours in the forest without a compass or a map? It feel daunting, doesn’t it? The same can be said as a website without navigation. The fact is that you cannot afford to neglect navigation if you are looking for increased traffic. So hopefully this blog post has inspired you to create more interesting navigation in your future projects.

Your turn! Do you have any tips on designing the perfect site navigation? It would be great to get your input. Feel free to share in the comments below!