CRM software

Customer Relationship Management for Small Businesses: The Benefits of a CRM

What is CRM and why do you need it? CRM is a customer database to help you keep track of customer interactions with your business so you can serve them better. CRM stands for "customer relationship management" CRM helps you follow up with potential customers. The lack of follow up is one of the biggest reasons...

Fix Yourself to Fix Your Business

He Improved His Mindset To Improve His Business

Joseph Gillingham is a tree surgery, tree planting and tree removal, specialist.  He's the owner of Heritage Tree Care in Toronto, Canada, and won a $20,000 grant from Jobber . Jobber is software that helps service businesses with estimating, quoting, invoice and getting paid. In this discussion with Ramon Ray, small business expert and founder...

Strategic Technology

Why Strategic IT Should be at the Top of Every Executive’s Priority List

By Julia Deien, Microsoft Certified Professional and Jason Gotway, VSP5, VMTSP, VCP550 In 2020, 70% of United States employees worked remotely, teams and customers relied on virtual tools to communicate, and a dispersed workforce led to additional concerns about cybersecurity. The result has been not only an increased use of technology, but also a heightened awareness...

Technology investments

5 Worthy Tech Investments for Your Businesses

by Catherine Mitchell, VP of Product Development & Management at Cox Business Many small businesses’ efforts to adopt cutting-edge technology were on a slow trickle until the pandemic hit in first quarter 2020. However, COVID-19 opened the floodgates for companies adopting technological solutions that would help them survive tough times and set them up for...

CRM for sales team

A Unique CRM for Sales Teams and Best Practices to Boost Sales

Boosting sales can be done by using CRM for sales teams. But Raj Sabhlok also says it can be achieved by salespeople implementing three clear-cut best practices. The new Pipedrive chief executive shares his experience with Ramon Ray in an interview for Smart Hustle. In their discussion, the pair talk about: Raj’s decades of experience...

thriving business

Thriving Small Businesses Often Have This Trait, Says NetSuite Leader

What’s one trait that thriving small businesses often have? Ranga Bodla says that from interactions with countless businesses, the successful ones often have one characteristic that stands out. Ranga heads industry marketing at Oracle NetSuite. The technology giant’s arm makes a host of applications for small- and medium-sized enterprises. As such, the leader has been...

technology adaption

Zoho One Cements Place in Business Technology Industry with Shiny New Features

Customer experience has been a business buzzword this year. But, when it comes to using technology to facilitate the best user and customer experience, businesses oftentimes face challenges. Multiple logins, systems that don’t communicate, important customer information lost in translation, and overall more work for you. Since Zoho One launched in 2017, its goal...

Melissa Shepard Ramon Ray Smart Hustle

CRM: Your Small Biz Can’t Live Without It

Ramon Ray caught up with Melissa Shepard, Chief Architect, President and CEO at Lizzard Tech Consulting, a Salesforce silver consulting partner based in the USA at the Dell Women's Entrepreneur Network in Singapore. Melissa is a CRM and Salesforce expert with over 20 years of experience in CRM improvements and innovations. Melissa is passionate...