As the economy continues to remain unstable and the job market continues to look grim, the nature of customer service and account management has also changed. In some areas it has become more intent on continuing accounts and working with financial issues many people are facing, while in other situations, it has opened the door to consumer exploitation. And these two polarized elements are generally related to credit card management, mortgages and other private loans as well as general consumer accounts.

Another personal loan area in which many people are finding themselves these days is the legendary payday loan. And while a number of personal, private lending organizations are collectively known as payday loans, the actual loans themselves vary to a degree. And more, or at least as equally, important, the nature of the account management services also varies. If you find yourself in a position where you are thinking about obtaining one of these small personal loans, there are a number of things you should look into first, and you will definitely want to research the company with which you are thinking of applying. In addition, it is highly recommended you seek some form of financial consultation.  Money mutual Montel Williams, and other professionals, provide excellent information, resources and various supportive elements to consumers

The basic structure of payday loans can vary, though for the most part they are all personal loans that are intended to provide an economic bridge between paychecks to assist with emergencies and other financial shortages. However, some people use these types of loans for small purchases, such as a new television,  wedding or engagement ring, or other unique item. Due to the high interest rates of most, if not all, of these loans, it’s usually not recommended to use them for anything other than emergencies. Some private small personal loans are based on some type of equity, such as a car title, and they are generally referred to as car title loans.

If you find yourself in a financial emergency and are considering applying for a payday loan, you’ll want to consider some other options as well. Your bank might be an option, such as increasing the limit on a credit car. These are matters that relate to various account management services, and some of these are changing in nature. Banks are trying to demonstrate positive customer loyalty and one of the ways your account history might serve you is in your ability to negotiate your existing credit card interest rate percentage. If you do find yourself in need of a payday loan, always check the company’s  money mutual complaints and determine your own account management relationship opportunities.

There are already numerous posts on this blog about interacting with customers online through blogging and social media is one of the best ways to improve customer retention, and brand reputation and recognition. It’s a bit of a cliché, but the number one rule in business is to give the customer what they want. Unfortunately, many businesses seem to forget this idea when engaging with customers online. Often in a effort to track and quantify advertising campaigns or increase readership et cetera, many websites and blogs often employ outdated and frustrating elements of design or promotional gimmicks that can often drive away the customers that they are hoping to attract. There are many elements of design that are appropriate and even required for some businesses, but others these same elements can be disastrous.

Splash Screens

A splash screen is a screen, image, or webpage that precedes the content that a person is trying to access which inform the person what the content is as well. Many operating systems and video games have splash screen that are considered to be unobstructed and necessary because in most cases the splash screen associated these products often hide the fact that product is loading, or preforming computational tasks in order to create the appropriate environment for the person using it. For example, Microsoft’s Windows operating system has a splash screen that displays the Windows logo along with stating the operating system is loading which is considered somewhat necessary as a person’s computer takes time to bring all of the system’s individual components online before someone can use them. However, much to the dismay of internet users there are still several websites which are also using splash screen.

Splash screens are largely irrelevant on the internet because most websites and web content is delivered practically instantaneously to internet users. Internet users don’t want to want have to wait for a splash screen to finish presenting especially if its on a website that they frequently visit. Some websites host content that require age verification which can necessitate a splash screen, but in most cases there is simply no real reason to have a splash screen on a website and, in many cases, a splash screen can lower a website’s rating with search engines. If you want to present information to your website’s visitors without stopping them in their tracks then consider adding an animated carousel using either Flash or Javascript. An example of a website that uses an effective animated carousel is Marlabs and the Marlabs Blog.

Online Begging

Another marketing ploy that companies will often use online is asking their customers to get other people or follow or like the company on social media sites. This approach is actually effective in many cases where the goal is to increase a social media profile’s followers, but the problem with this approach is that it can often alienate existing customers. Many people feel like by asking their friends and colleges to follow a certain brand or person’s social media profile in order to win a contest or get a deal that they are effectively begging, which in turn makes them feel cheap and can lead to a lesser opinion of the company’s brand over time. Instead of relying on online begging just try to attract users to your online social profiles like Twitter and Facebook by posting relevant and interesting information like Marlabs on facebook.

If you are planning to or already have set up a website for yourself or your business there are few key elements that you should include as part of any good website.

Social Media Plugins
It’s almost a requirement these days that any good website should include links to social media sites. A plug-in is an element that can be added to a website that usually integrates with a specific web service. For instance, visitors to a website that features the Facebook like button plug-in can click the “like” button which then prompts visitors to log in to Facebook and then summarily post the content which the visitor “liked” to his or her Facebook wall.   So if a visitor to the Marlabs services Blog clicked the like button a snippet of that article and its headline would appear on that visitor’s Facebook page. Another popular social media  plug-in is a twitter button. Twitter buttons on website either let users access the company’s official twitter page or tweet about the article or site on their twitter profile.

About Us Page
We’ve already talked earlier about how every company should include an About Us page as part of their website. Check out our post here.

An Official Blog
Including a blog on your company’s website will give visitors a place to go where they can read about recent developments regarding your company or products and services. Having an official blog will also help improve your company’s media attention which can in turn increase your company’s  profits.

While it’s not something that is available on every webpage, many business can benefit from including links to the Wikipedia pages of their brand or products such as the Marlabs Wikipedia page. Writing content can be difficult, but if your company or product has dedicated following odds are that your loyal fans have already created a Wikipedia page for your company. However, it’s also important to remember that Wikipedia can be freely edited by anyone so it’s best to keep a close eye on it to make sure that all of the information is truthful and accurate. There are many people today that solely rely upon information from Wikipedia instead of seeking out a company’s official site. Also, if you plan to add a link to a Wikipedia page for your company there is no need to be afraid to create your company’s own Wikipedia page if there isn’t one in existence already or to add content to a existing Wikipedia page. One important fact to remember when adding content to Wikipedia for your business is to do so under an official account associated with your company so that the administrators of Wikipedia are aware of origin of the content.

Photo by 365 PSD

It should be a rule that every business website should include an “about us” page. It should be a rule but unfortunately it’s not – in fact, there are numerous businesses operating online without an “About Us” page, unfortunately leaving their customers little in the way to find out more about the company. An About Us page is the best way to educate customers about your company; there are a few key points that should be included on any About Us page.

Services
The services section of an About Us page should at the very least include on overview of the services that your company provides. It’s good practice to not list out every single service that your company might provide but instead to highlight the main services that are either of the most use to your customers or the services which attract the most business for your company.  Many sites have a one page About Us section while other sites like Marlabs Inc have separate pages that address the company’s main offerings. There’s no wrong way to list the services that your company provides but in most cases unless you are operating a national or global enterprise there is little reason to have separate pages explaining your businesses’ offerings.

Where your company is located
While it can sometimes appear as a separate page on some websites, many companies choose to include their location info as part of the About Us page. Not only do consumers like to know who they are choosing to spend their money with but also where that money is ultimately going. A list of locations can be particularly helpful to customers that are trying to find the correct contact information fora global company like Marlabs worldwide. Including a list of company locations will put many customers at ease, and listing the locations of your company’s offices, warehouses, et cetera will help establish credibility online. People feel comfortable knowing a company’s physical location if only just so that they know where to send their complaints, if necessary.

You should also consider adding a Frequently Asked Questions, or FAQ, section where visitors to your site can quickly get answers to common questions, such as how much does a service cost or what is your company’s return policy for instance.

Photo by Gustavo Pimenta

There are two very important reasons why having an official company blog is important for any business: for one thing, a company blog will help your business connect better with customers, and secondly, a official blog can boost your business’ online ranking.

Improve your Business’ Standing & Connect with Customers

For many people, reading official company blogs helps them connect with their favorite brands and products on a deeper level. An official company blog is normally used to write about on issues that fall within your company’s domain or market; however, a company blog can be used in any capacity that might attract readers and improve your business’ overall online presence and reputation. Some companies use their official blog solely to promote their products and educate customers on how to best use them, while others like the Marlabs Official Blog which offers free tips and advice, but there are even official company blogs that are dedicated to posting hilarious pictures. Different method will yield different results depending on the type of business, so a business IT company like Marlabs Inc writing about computer security is an effective way for the blog to increase its readership. The more people following your company’s official blog the higher the possibility that they will one day become customers (if they aren’t already) or attract other potential customers by sharing your blog’s content. Well written unique articles and catchy titles are great ways to encourage people to share your blog’s content across the internet, which can both increase the blog’s readership and help increase awareness of your company online. Plainly put, an official blog can be a great way to disseminate news about your brand to a guaranteed captive audience.  And every now and then it usually a good idea to reward your faithful readers with an exclusive piece of news. Google, for example, has announced many ground-breaking features exclusively on their official blog rather than relying on press releases.

Increase Sales and Search Rankings

Not only will an official blog help promote your business, but it can lead to a direct increase in sales, in certain cases. As people learn about your business and its products by reading your company’s official blog they are more likely to purchase your company’s products or services. People like to know that a business will continue to support it products and stands by its services and seeing a blog that is constantly updated reminds them that the company has not forgot about its products or customers. But the real attractor for many corporations for having an official company blog is that it can help increase a company’s search engine rankings online. The top search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Bing like to list content in their search results that are up-to-date and allow for some level of discussion or participation like commenting. If you can encourage commenting and discussion on your blog then it’s possible that your company might also see its search rankings improve.

Source: Google Official Blog

Facebook announced Wednesday that through a partnership with Skype they will begin offering their users free video calling in addition to a group chat service. These new communication features are sure to be a hit with the average Skype and Facebook users, but can also be used to improve a company’s customer relations management. Facebook and Skype have laid the groundwork for company’s to freely and effortlessly communicate with customers that “like” their page through Facebook.

Instead of relying on dedicated video chat programs, business could theoretically rely on Facebook’s new free video calling service. For instance, a business like Marlabs on Facebook could theoretically establish a Facebook video chat support line for customers or invite customers that have recently posted questions to the company’s Facebook wall to a video chat. Although, there is has been no word if multiple users can connect to the same Facebook video chat, but a company could still use Facebook’s video calling service to connect with a few users on an individual basis to bolster their reputation. On the similar note, a company could use Facebook’s new group chat service, which can accommodate multiple users, to hold Question and Answer (Q&A) sessions for customers.

Group chats and Q&A sessions are an effective way to engage a community and since Facebook will allow users to save the transcripts from group chats sessions, even the people that are are otherwise unable to attend a chat session can still find the answers to important questions or concerns. Question and Answer session are useful for customer relationship management because it is a quick way to address what are usually common concerns for a customer base that might have only recently become an issue. Not to mention that Q&A sessions are one of the easier ways to effectively disseminate information. The truth is that many users will not check a company’s website directly or for support if they have a question, but Question and Answer session are usually popular online and are usually reposted on social sites (e.g. forums, blogs, et cetera) or in the media. One of the main pillars to good customer relations management is interacting with customers and today Facebook may have just simplified that process for thousands of businesses and over 750 millions users.

Find out more about Facebook’s group chat and video chat services at the official Facebook blog

One of the most important, but unfortunately often overlooked, aspects of customer relationship management is ensuring that your company has effective branding. Appropriate and visible branding is the first step at establishing a relationship with customers. Customers establish a rapport and familiarity with a company based entirely on its brand, at first. Branding is the first impression that an enterprise makes on customers, and if it isn’t handled right it can be the last impression as well.

What is a brand?

A company’s brand is essentially the sum of its presence and products – its identity. A company’s identity can be broken down into it name, logo and slogan(s), philosophy and design, and marketing. A good brand has a cohesive message or theme that persists across the company’s entire identity. This theme or message should be obvious to customers and help differentiate your business from competitors. However, while your company’s identity should all share a common theme it doesn’t mean that your company’s identity necessarily has to be based upon the product or services that it provides. For instance, Apple (AAPL), a supplier of advanced computer devices and software, does not have a name or logo related to computing. However, the Apple corporation is perfect example of how a company that has a common theme across its entire brand.

Apple is famous for their unique and unobtrusive design for their consumer products. Whether it’s an iPhone, iMac, or iPad the company’s philosophy of clean lines and uncomplicated design is obvious across their entire product line. The theme or message across Apple appears to be simplicity through efficient engineering. Apple products are minimal; many “iProducts” such as the iPhone, and iPad have less buttons and are less complicated than competing devices. Even Apple logo itself is an example of minimalistic design; there are no bright colors or unnecessary elements. If you are running web design company, for example, then all your company’s web pages and designs should showcase of some aspect of the internet or technology.

Company Philosophy& Reputation

A business’ philosophy, design, and marketing essentially go hand in hand. A company’s philosophy or design sets the pace for its design and marketing. Apple, for example, which we have already established is famous for its philosophy of minimalism, also has a design and marketing strategy in the same scope. Apple’s product commercials and newsletters, emails , et cetera are also quite simplistic. Apple marketing is to the point: they quickly show the audience or viewer what their product can go and get out of the way. Apple essentially lets their products and services speak for themselves instead of speaking for them.

When establishing your company’s brand and philosophy it’s important to show that your company is heavily invested in its particular product field. Apple has demonstrated over the years that it values software development, and not just great product design, by hosting a conference every year for software developers know as the World Wide Developer’s Conference (WWDC). At the same time that Apple shows their commitment to advancing consumer software they also get to show off their companies’ products as WWDC is mainly a showcase of Apple’s upcoming software and technology. To achieve similar success, a business or company can hold conferences or events in addition to giving out free tips and advice. A company that specializes in auto repair, for instance, could distribute manuals on auto detailing or tips how to easily repair small vehicle dings and scratches.

Sub-Brands

Once a company brand has been established many businesses begin to focus on establishing a sub-brand for their company’s products and services. The lowercase English “I” is strong part of Apple’s brand for their consumer products and services. Apple’s reputation for quality merchandise has essentially added value to the letter “I”. Because of Apple’s carefully constructed branding and clever marketing, people nowadays unequivocally associate “iProducts” with superior craftsmanship and design. IF your company offers multiple products or has a several separate divisions or subsidiaries then establishing a sub-brand is good way to help customer connect with those products.

If your company ever undergoes a brand modification, such as a name change then it is important to ensure that your new overall brand is at least as strong as the previous one; ideally the new brand should be stronger. TravelShark, for example, recently changed their name from SwiftRank. TravelShark, which hosts thousands of online hotel booking sites, is a much stronger name than SwiftRank. At this point, TravelShark can continue to build upon its new name to strength their brand with customers.

Your business might only have one chance to impress upon a potential customer, so make sure that your impression is a good one.

Photo by Nicolas Nova & Christian Rasmussen

One of the most famous and useful Twitter applications for any business working to improve their CRM is ExactTarget’s CoTweet. One of the features that CoTweet is known for is its CRM Connector which links together a company’s customer records, email, twitter conversation into a unified file on a customer. The CRM Connector allows a company to capture individual Facebook and Twitter posts or conversations and link them to a specific individual or business highlighting potential opportunities or leads. The CRM Connector also integrates with web analytics such a Google Analytics for detailed tracking and statistics. Another feature of CoTweet is that it has a list of on duty twitters that may be working for you company. If you have multiple Twitter accounts to serve your business CoTweet makes it all the more simple to coordinate and manage a company’s entire Twitter presence.CoTweet has two versions Standard, which is gear towards small businesses and individuals, and Enterprise, which caters to large businesses and corporations.

Some of CoTweet’s professional business clients include McDonald’s (MCD), Sprint Nextell (S),Coca Cola (KO), and Microsoft (MSFT).

Find out more about CoTweet here

One of the most important tools today for improving Customer Relations Management for businesses is social media. Today many businesses have embraced social media completely, and yet there are still thousands of businesses that have little to no social presence. The truth, however, is that if you want your business to succeed in today’s world then you should have a social media outlet as well. If you want success for your business then it is integral to engage with customers at every available opportunity, which can in turn improve your company’s brand and bottom line. One of the largest and most accessible social media sites today is Twitter. The great thing about Twitter is that anyone can set up an account on it in under five minutes, and it is also one of the most inexpensive way to establish your company’s online social identity. The most uncomplicated method to use Twitter is to sign up on the Twitter website and rely on its basic user interface. However, to really build upon CRM it is best to rely upon third-party twitter clients that can offer additional information such as detailed analytics and brand searching. Over the next few post we will look at the popular third-party Twitter clients for CRM.