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Craig Klein

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CEO, SalesNexus.com

197 points

VP of Sales in several Energy Service companies.

Founded SalesNexus.com in 2002. Provider of Online CRM, Web Based Contact Management and Email Marketing solution

WEB: Sell, Sell, Sell Blo

Craig Klein asked a question at this roundtable

Sept. 6, 2011

CRM Idol: In Search of the Best CRMish Programs You've Never Heard Of [9/6 @ 1 pm]

Where there any surprising features or capabilities that changed your view of the future of CRM?

Customer Service

Information Technology

Craig Klein and 4 other people answered this question

July 22, 2011

What are the best alternatives of SalesForce CRM?

George,
Take a look at SalesNexus.com. For a web design business, it could be a good fit. Includes unlimited email marketing so that all leads from your website can go directly on an on-going drip email marketing campaign.
Craig more

Craig Klein is now following Michael Krigsman and 1 other person

July 19, 2011

Craig Klein and 1 other person answered this question

July 18, 2011

Do sales people still use Act! and why?

You bet they do Craig!
My company specializes in helping ACT users migrate to the cloud and we're very busy!
In a lot of common scenarios, ACT just fits the bill to a T and there is no need to change. We encounter businesses still using versions ... more

Craig Klein and 8 other people answered this question

Jan. 31, 2011

Other than revenue, what metrics would you recommend to measure sales?

I like Joanne and John's comments above.
Revenue is not actionable information. You and your team do not have direct control over what customers spend with your company, the customer does.
You should measure and manage the things you CAN control.
Number of prospecting calls, prospects identified, presentations ... more

Sales Alignment

Lorelei Garnes selected a best answer for

Jan. 21, 2011

When a consumer chooses to buy

When a consumer chooses to buy, do they base their decision on meeting a specific need with specific requirements? Or are there other components to the sale? Thoughts? more

Consumer Behavior

Craig Klein and 11 other people answered this question

Jan. 21, 2011

Why the clients don't reply?

Great points from all the contributors here!
My two cents is to create a form on your site that allows the customer to provide the minimum information that you must have to respond with something concrete. You'll get fewer inquiries but, the ones you get will ... more

Craig Klein and 1 other person answered this question

Oct. 16, 2010

What are today's top priorities for a CRM manager?

Melissa has hit the big ones dead on.
I think one important way to ensure data quality is strong and user adoption of the online CRM solution is strong is to tightly tailor the CRM to the unique business processes of a given business. more

Customer Service

Craig Klein answered this question

Oct. 16, 2010

SFA Trends: What are the key trends in the sales force automation (SFA) market?

At SalesNexus.com, we see convergence of sales force automation or CRM solutions with marketing solutions such as email marketing automation.
Enabling the sales person to leverage email marketing automation within the sales force automation solution for improved 1 to 1 communication with prospects while they're in ... more

Sales Force Automation

Sales Force Management

Craig Klein and 12 other people answered this question

Oct. 14, 2010

Which kind of sales leader is more valuable to a company? A rainmaker or a meteorologist?

You're always going to need both. Its rare to find both qualities in one person but, they are out there.
I've seen a VP of Sales and CFO team up to make a good combination of forward looking realism and go get 'em selling in the ... more

Craig Klein and 20 other people answered this question

Oct. 14, 2010

Would you rather have a VP of Sales who was a great tactician or sales strategist?

Great question and great discussion!
As with most of the responses, there are many unknowns... For a small start up, a great sales tactician may be most useful in getting some revenue flowing in the early months. Obviously, in the early days and on-going a good ... more

Craig Klein and 9 other people answered this question

Oct. 8, 2010

What is the biggest mistake that sales reps make in their presentations?

Candyce nailed it! The biggest mistake sales people make is making a presentation to a group of people assuming they already know their needs and that they want to hear what they're saying.
Ideally, the sales person should interview the specific customer thoroughly so that the ... more

Sales Representatives

Craig Klein and 2 other people answered this question

Sept. 30, 2010

What are examples of email marketing applications?

Charles,
You're right, most email marketing solutions will either have an escalating charge based on the size of your list or limits on the number of emails you can send in a month with higher prices for higher limits.
SalesNexus.com is the only solution I know of ... more

Bulk Email Promotions

Email Marketing

Email Marketing Applications

Craig Klein and 10 other people answered this question

Sept. 21, 2010

Should SMBs use different CRM systems than corporations?

Great question Courtney!
A small business will typically need basic data sharing capabilities, email marketing and some basic process automation.
A large corporation will often be more concerned about data integration between 2 or more platforms - CRM, Accounting, ERP, etc.
Assuming that your small business doesn't need ... more

Craig Klein and 12 other people answered this question

Jan. 20, 2010

Does anyone have any comments on Salesforce.com CRM product?

Bill,
Good questions!
Yes, there are software products for data migration but, they cost money and are not for the faint of heart. Each system has very different table structures and there always ends up being some portion of some of those tables that don't make the ... more

Information Technology

Cloud Computing

Craig Klein and 3 other people commented on a brief

Jan. 4, 2010

Put Your Marketing Budget on a Diet in 2010

Great stuff Matt! These are all things that should be fundamental principals of any marketing strategy. more

Marketing Automation

Craig Klein and 4 other people commented on a brief

Dec. 28, 2009

What Are the Costs of ‘Free’ CRM Solutions?

Great article Chris!
Your comments are dead on!
A few other things to watch out for -
Can you get your data back and in what format?
Who owns the data once its uploaded to a free service? Often, the hosting company gets the right to resell your data...
Here's ... more

Customer Service

Information Technology

Craig Klein and 2 other people commented on a brief

Dec. 21, 2009

What is a CRM System and Do I Need One?

Great article Jonathan!
Some great points here.

Customer Service

Contact Management

Craig Klein and 2 other people commented on a brief

Dec. 10, 2009

Selecting the Best CRM Solution and Vendor for Your Business

Melissa,
Great post!
You points about defining the requirements are dead on. Well done!
Craig

Process Management

Craig Klein did something about

Dec. 1, 2009

I could not agree more Michael!
Especially regarding customization... No two companies are alike. Even in the same industry, each company interacts with customers differently and in fact that is often where their unique competitive advantages come from or are enforced. To believe that you can ... more

Craig Klein did something about

Dec. 1, 2009

Great article Michael!
You've hit on a key challenge in achieving real business value from a CRM... its all just too vague. Most businesses fail to define their requirements in terms of the business processes to be improved, managed and facilitated. At best its a list ... more

Craig Klein and 10 other people answered this question

Nov. 24, 2009

Is there a clear picture of all B2B technologies required to support successful marketing/CRM?

Great question Christopher!
We're currently introducing a series of webinars on this very subject. It depends a lot on your chosen marketing methods. One way or another, you need a single place to track all "leads", nurture them, sell to them and measure how things are ... more

Information Technology

Craig Klein and 2 other people commented on a brief

Nov. 23, 2009

Introductory Appointments: Your Goal is Meeting Number Two

I like to think of introductory meetings or calls as an opportunity for me to interview a potential prospect. I'm going to take charge and ask the prospect questions to see if they fit the profile of a prospect for me. If not, then I ... more

Appointment Setting

Craig Klein and 2 other people commented on a brief

Nov. 23, 2009

Small Business CRM: 5 Considerations

Great article James! You've done a great job of mapping out the importance of CRM for every business and how to get started effectively.
I would add that for startups, the founders should implement their own CRM or at least a step by step sales process ... more

James E. Gaskin

Small Business CRM

Craig Klein commented on a brief

Nov. 16, 2009

The Future of Sales

Great points Sharon!
You've hit on a very important aspect of selling in a complex environment.
Honestly, I think most companies are still in the phase of enlightening their sales team to ask questions and understand the prospects needs. Taking that to a new level and also ... more

Craig Klein and 3 other people commented on a brief

Nov. 9, 2009

Incorporate 10 Elements for Nurturing Programs that Shorten Time to Revenues

Great article Ardath!
You've done a great job of boiling the crucial elements of lead nurturing down to simple steps! Thanks! more

Craig Klein commented on a brief

Nov. 2, 2009

Keeping Sales Demand High During the Holiday Months

These are all great tips Matt! Well done!
Depending on the industry your in and the size of the purchase, at least a few of these tactics can be leveraged by anyone.
One addition - if you rely on repeat business from existing customers, then the holiday ... more

Following 3 Topics

Sales Management

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