For most startups, especially in the e-commerce industry, achieving rapid revenue and sales growth in the first few years is a dream come true. The bigger and more powerful you get, the easier it will be to keep adding resources and expanding in the future, right? Maybe not.
Business intelligence company RJMetrics recently published its 2015 E-commerce Growth Benchmark report, which analyzed anonymous data from its e-commerce clients to uncover trends in growth, sales and revenue. The report found that the smallest companies — those with less than $1 million in annual revenue — grow at a rate of nearly 140 percent each year. This annual growth slows significantly when a company reaches each new revenue bracket, dropping to 40 percent at $1 million to $5 million, 25 percent at $5 million to $10 million, and about 10 percent at more than $10 million.
The report's authors wrote that it becomes harder to sustain rapid growth as a company gets bigger and that the business will eventually need to explore new ways to boost its revenue.
"The most successful e-commerce companies ... target a very specific niche of customers," said Jake Stein, chief operating officer of RJMetrics. "This hyperfocus allows them to acquire customers quickly and grow incredibly fast in the early days. But [as] they start to max out customers in that target niche ... growth often starts to slow. This forces them to expand their product line or distribution network so they can reach a bigger market. In order to maintain that rapid growth, a company needs to continue to excel at customer acquisition but still retain that core market."
Stein said that although it's tough to make that leap as a growing e-commerce company, it's doable with the right strategy and tools. Online retailers can start to achieve this balance of old and new business by building a product and brand experience people want to come back for.
"Our report found that product-market fit emerges early, within the first six months of sales," Stein told Business News Daily. "If you're not seeing these indicators of rapid adoption from the start, it's a sign you need to either change your product or how you're presenting it to the market, Stein said.
The report identified six factors driving fast e-commerce growth in today's market:
Increasingly tech-savvy consumers spend more money online than ever before.
Mobile purchases made via smartphones and tablets have increased by nearly 50 percent year over year.
Third-party and in-house warehouses and shipping services are becoming more efficient.
All-in-one logistics providers have made it easier to enter international markets.
Niche retailers are differentiating their product and brand experience to compete with larger companies like Amazon.
Brick-and-mortar retailers are expanding into online sales and adjusting their in-store strategies accordingly.
While these trends are indeed fueling e-commerce growth, a company's choice of tech tools remains one of the most important factors in maintaining sales growth. According to the RJMetrics report, e-commerce startups that were launched in 2013 saw a tremendous spike in monthly revenue growth in their first 18 to 24 months in business, reaching an average of more than $2 million. Businesses founded in 2010, 2011 and 2012, on the other hand, grew more slowly, barely reaching $1.5 million by the 36-month mark. Stein believes this is because companies getting started today have access to technology that older e-commerce companies could only dream of.
"Major shopping-cart platforms offer beautiful, mobile-optimized sites," he said. "Facebook has made it easier than ever for very new companies to do brand advertising. SaaS [software as a service] products make it easy for brand-new retailers to send great emails, run A/B tests and make sense of the data they have at their fingertips. All of these products make it easier for new retailers to grow quickly from day one."
When it comes to branding, social media is giving small businesses the chance to compete with the big guys, new research finds.
The rise in social media's popularity has changed the way consumers learn about businesses and products, by giving them the opportunity to discover more from one another, according to a study published recently in the journal Business Horizons.
In the past, large businesses were able to flex their branding muscle by pouring money into advertising designed to increase customer awareness and build a positive reputation. Today, however, social media has increased consumers' power, allowing them to interact with one another and skip the established marketing channels, thus diminishing large businesses' stronghold on the market.
"Social media has the potential to upend traditional branding," the study's authors wrote.
The researchers said that reviews on e-commerce sites like Amazon are now a major tool for discovering new products, and conversations on social media sites like Twitter and Facebook allow businesses, regardless of size, to reach a much larger audience.
"Consumers now rely more on information from their peers; this limits the power of advertising, making it difficult for companies to justify large upfront investments in it," the study's authors wrote. "Social media also makes buyers more demanding and discriminating; power has clearly shifted in their favor."
The study's authors believe that, with more power in customers' hands, bigger corporations risk losing control of their branding efforts and face increased competition from smaller businesses that are capitalizing on online word-of-mouth and low-cost social media campaigns to build awareness.
In order for marketers, both big and small, to compete in this new landscape, it's critical they adopt a mobile strategy, the study's authors said.
"In a world where there are more mobile phones than toothbrushes, consumers are likely to leverage their power in social media to be more demanding of marketers," the study's authors wrote. "Social media can strengthen or kill a brand; the key to success lies in how quickly companies can change their mind-set and adopt new strategies in response to consumer preferences."
The study was authored by Rajneesh Suri, a professor at Drexel University; Chiranjeev Kohli, a professor at California State University, Fullerton; and Anuj Kapoor, a graduate assistant at the University of Utah.
While you might think you're losing a customer when an item is returned, the opposite could actually be happening depending on how easy the process is, new research finds.
Creating positive return experiences can result in valuable long-term customers whose contributions far outweigh the costs associated with those initial returns, according to a new study in the Journal of Marketing Research.
"Product returns are no small part of the firm-customer exchange process, currently costing firms about $100 billion annually," the study's authors wrote. "However, these same returns create long-term value because customers who feel there is little risk in making the wrong purchase keep coming back."
To help determine the extent to which product returns benefit businesses, researchers conducted a large-scale experiment with 26,000 customers over six months from an online retailer.
For the experiment, customers were divided into several groups that had the return process marketed to them differently. The control group received no marketing effort, several groups received traditional marketing approaches to product-returning customers, and a model group had a marketing tactic that factored in both the consumer's positive attitude toward returns, as well as the cost to the company of those returns.
The results showed that marketing efforts toward the model group achieved the highest profits. Researchers discovered that when managers took into consideration not only the cost of the return process but the positive effect of returns on customers, and targeted marketing accordingly, they brought in $1.8 million, compared with the control group's $1.22 million.
The study's authors said that by paying attention to product returns, instead of ignoring them or simply accepting them as a necessary cost, businesses were better able to strategize ways to reduce the cost of the return process overall.
"Retailers who do not consider product returns in their measure of customer value (even simply as a cost that needs to be managed) are missing out on profits they could be obtaining by understanding and allocating resources to product-returning customers," the researchers wrote. "Paying attention to these customers pays off."
The study was authored by Andrew Petersen, an assistant professor of marketing at the University of North Carolina, and V. Kumar, the Richard and Susan Lenny Distinguished Chair Professor in Marketing at Georgia State University.
If you want better returns on your email marketing efforts, pay close attention to your subject lines.
"Clickbait" subject lines that try to shock you into reading a message and those that promote prices and discounts are among the least effective, according to new research from data solutions provider Return Path.
While clickbait subject lines like "you won’t believe this shocking secret" are very successful at garnering Web traffic, they don't provide the same results via email. Specifically, the use of the phrase "secret of" in a subject line results in an 8.69 percent decrease in read rates compared with messages containing similar content sent with different subject lines. Additionally, the use of the word "shocking" had a 1.22 percent decrease in read rates.
The research also revealed that value-based subject lines that highlight prices and discounts don't perform as well as many might expect. Subject lines containing the keywords "discount," "save," "sales," "clearance" and "free," as well as those with dollar signs and percentages, yielded lower read rates than comparable messages with alternate subject lines.
Better options are to use subject lines that are benefit or urgency-based. The study discovered that those featuring superlatives like "fastest" generate 5.3 percent higher read rates than similar messages with different subject lines.
In addition, urgency-based subject lines that use words like "limited time," "last chance" and "expiring" also had increased read rates.
While subject line word choice can have a big impact on an email marketing campaign's success, subject line length can make slight difference. The research found that although subject lines longer than 100 characters had the lowest read rates, those just slightly shorter, between 91 and 100 characters, were among the best-performing.
For the study, Return Path analyzed more than 9 million subject lines received by more than 2 million subscribers.
If your business is using online advertisements that are targeted to consumers based on their Internet browsing history and personal information, you may want to reconsider that marketing tactic, new research finds.
According to a new study from Ithaca College, many online users find tailored ads to be "creepy," and thus are less likely to buy the products and services being promoted.
"My experience was that consumers' reactions to it were not good," Lisa Barnard, the study's author and an assistant professor of integrated marketing communications at Ithaca College, said in a statement. "They found it to be really creepy."
The study's authors defined "creepiness" by the feeling consumers get when they sense an ad is too personal because it uses data the consumer did not agree to provide, such as online-search and browsing history. Consumers are even more creeped out by this because they don't know how and where that information will be used.
For the study, researchers conducted experiments on a group of more than 200 college students. To begin, the researchers showed the students a page from a mock shopping site that featured ads promoting a USB flash drive or acne cream. The USB drive was considered neutral, while the acne medication was selected because it was something a college student might not want marketers to know about them.
Then, the researchers had the students view a Facebook news feed. Some participants saw an ad on this page for the item they had previously seen, while others were served an ad for a totally different product. In addition, some of the ads mentioned a special promotion for students at the college they were attending, while others mentioned the promotion but not that it was for students at that college.
The participants were asked questions about the ad that ranked their perceptions of creepiness, their feelings about seeing the ad, the likelihood they would purchase the advertised product and whether they felt manipulated by having seen the ad they were shown.
The study's authors discovered that, although there were some positive feelings towards the ads, there was also a negative effect based on the "creepiness factor" that comes from being targeted individually. These negative feelings accounted for a 5 percent drop in their intent to purchase an advertised product.
While targeted ads are not new, they are now much more customized than in years past, Barnard said. Previously, targeted ads were based on larger demographic descriptions, such as age or hobbies. But now, with personal information scattered across databases, marketers are able to create more specific consumer profiles.
That's what consumers find creepy and what marketers are failing to consider, Barnard said. Even millennials, most of whom are digital natives, are bothered by this extreme customization, she added.
"They know they're being marketed to, and they don't like that," Barnard said.
Based on these findings, online marketers should recognize that consumers feel violated when ads are tailored too specifically, Barnard said.
"Marketers have been making blanket assumptions that, the more data we have, the more we should use," she said. "But my argument is that, just because we have all of that data, doesn't mean you should just go ahead and use it all the time in all cases."
Barnard will present her findings at the 2015 International Communication Association Conference this May.
After conducting extensive research and analysis of reputation management services, we recommend BrandYourself as the best reputation management service for individuals.
Ready to choose a reputation management service? Here's a breakdown of our complete coverage:
Choosing a Reputation Management Service: 2015 Buyer's Guide
Best Reputation Management Services Roundup
Best Reputation Management Service for Business
Why BrandYourself?
Ease of use
While narrowing down online reputation management services for individuals, we found that many companies have websites that are difficult to navigate, and that most of them are not very transparent about what they do and what their services cost. As with our top choice for reputation management services for businesses, we were looking for a company that was open about its methodology, services and prices. BrandYourself's website does a great job of explaining exactly what the company does and how it does it, and pricing information is listed clearly.
BrandYourself has an entire page dedicated to how the reputation management process works, and all the details are laid out step by step in a way anyone can understand them. There is also a Web page that explains why reputation management is important (whether you do it yourself, or you use a service). This page includes statistics and a breakdown of what different search results could mean to a potential employer, for example. The company also maintains a very active blog with helpful information about reputation management, social media, careers and personal branding, along with additional information about BrandYourself's services. All of this information is categorized, so it's even easier to find what you want to read.
Control
Arguably the best thing BrandYourself has to offer is the ability to manage your reputation yourself (with guidance from the company, so you know you're doing it right). Other reputation management services did not offer this feature. BrandYourself calls this service its "Do-It-Yourself Product," and it comes in two subscription levels: free and premium.
BrandYourself's free DIY service doesn't give users very many features, but it is a good option for people who haven't had to deal with any reputation disasters and just want to put their best foot forward online — for example, job seekers, professionals, bloggers or anyone who wants to get his or her name out there but wants a little bit more control over what people see first.
Signing up is simple, and the feature is easy to use. Just enter your email address, type in a password and click "Create My Account." From there, BrandYourself will prompt you to enter the name you want to control in Google. (This would be your full name, stylized the way you prefer and the way people would be most likely to search for you. If you typically include your middle initial, for example, include it here, too.)
Once you've confirmed the name you want to control, you'll be taken to a page that shows you the first 10 search results that Google finds. (You can use the arrow buttons at the top to go to the next page of results, and so on.) Next to each link, you'll see three buttons to label these results — "Positive," "Negative" and "Not Me" — as well as a link that says "Not sure?" (This explains how to label a result if you're unsure where it fits best.)
Once you label each result, you'll be given a grade by BrandYourself. When you've completed these steps, the tool will show you what to do to improve your results and optimize the links you want at the top.
The premium DIY subscription works exactly the same way as the free service, except instead of being limited to optimizing up to three links, there are no limits to how many links you can optimize. This makes it ideal for people who want even more control over their search results, or for individuals who want to hide any negative or irrelevant search results.
Additionally, with either subscription level, you can publish a BrandYourself profile. This is a free feature that gives you a landing page where you can link to relevant social networks, as well as add contact information, a picture and a bio. The company offers several themes and color schemes to choose from, so you can customize your profile to your liking. And the best perk that comes with creating a BrandYourself profile is that once you do, you can see information about who is searching for you on Google.
Options
If you don't want to do it all yourself, BrandYourself has other options that give you varying levels of control over your reputation management campaigns. In addition to the free and premium subscriptions to BrandYourself's Do-It-Yourself product, the company offers two other services: HeadStart and Concierge.
The HeadStart service is the middle ground between managing your reputation yourself and having BrandYourself do it for you. With HeadStart, BrandYourself's team builds up your online presence for you for 30 days, and then turns it over to you to manage yourself. To get started, you'll have a strategy phone call with reputation management experts to map out your goals. These experts will then create one to two custom websites, along with eight to 12 social media and professional profiles, all of which will be filled with accurate and relevant information that is optimized for search engines. After 30 days, BrandYourself's experts will give you a personalized action plan and turn over all of your login information, and you'll automatically be given a premium subscription to the DIY service so that you can manage your online reputation from there. This is a great option if you need help getting off to a good start but want more control in the long run.
BrandYourself's Concierge service is the best option for you if you want to take a more hands-off approach, or if you're already dealing with a reputation management crisis. With Concierge, you get all of the same features as you would with HeadStart — you start with a strategy call, and then reputation management experts build up your online presence with one to two customized websites and eight to 12 social media and professional profiles. However, instead of turning over the reins to you after 30 days, BrandYourself will continue to update and optimize your content and manage your reputation and online presence for you.
When you sign up for the Concierge service, the company's content team will also manage your personal Wikipedia page (if you have one) and will work to get you mentioned in major publications in your industry, position you as a leader in your field and add more positive search results to push down the negative ones. Concierge subscribers also get a comprehensive monthly report that explains what the service did for you each month, and what the team's goals are for you for the following month.
BrandYourself also offers reputation management services for businesses; you can read more about those services on the company's website.
Customer service
On its website, BrandYourself has an impressive live-chat feature that makes it easy to connect with a representative right away. To access it, just click the blue Live Chat bar on the bottom right of your screen. A window will pop up to indicate that you're "now chatting." Simply type in your question, and a representative will respond to you right away. We tested this feature out by asking some basic questions about where to find information on the website. Each time we chatted with a representative, there was virtually no wait time before we received an answer.
When we tested out BrandYourself's free DIY subscription, we were also impressed by the company's quick response. Within a few minutes of signing up, we received an email with contact information for our personal representative. A few moments later, we also received a thank-you email from the company's CEO. While this appears to be an automated email, we thought it was a nice touch that showed the company's openness and transparency.
Another customer-service feature that stands out is the option to schedule a call on the website. If you're interested in BrandYourself's Concierge service and you'd prefer that a company representative reach out to you to discuss the services in depth, you can scroll to the bottom of this page and click Schedule a Call to fill out a form with your contact information and the best time to reach you for a free consultation.
Customer service over the phone had both strengths and weaknesses. What we really like about BrandYourself's phone service is that there's no guesswork. Rather than calling and listening to a virtual menu, pressing numbers until you get to the person you need to speak to, BrandYourself's phone service automatically tells you how many people are ahead of you and asks you to stay on the line to be connected with a representative. The only downside was that we weren't always able to get through to a representative. At times, it was easy to connect with a person, and other times, we were directed to voicemail after a minute or two of wait time on hold. While this is an issue, given how stellar the company's customer service is online, we didn't find this to be all that problematic.
Pricing
We found BrandYourself's pricing to be very reasonable compared to that of other reputation management companies, and above all, we like that the company offers a free product for individuals who don't need to do damage control but want more say in what comes up in their search results. Here's a breakdown of BrandYourself's prices, per service.
Do-It-Yourself service: BrandYourself's basic DIY service comes in two different options with different prices: free and premium. As previously mentioned, with the free service, you can optimize up to three different links about yourself. With the premium package, you can optimize an unlimited number of links about yourself for $99 per year.
HeadStart service: The HeadStart service, in which BrandYourself builds up your online presence for you and then turns it over to you after 30 days, costs $798 (this is broken down into two payments of $399) plus an additional $20 per month to cover Web hosting and domain-name renewal.
Concierge service: BrandYourself's Concierge service, in which the company manages your reputation for you, starts at $399 per month.
We chose BrandYourself from a pool of dozens of reputation management services. To learn more about our full methodology and for a more comprehensive list of reputation management services, visit our best picks page here.
After conducting extensive research and analysis of reputation management services, we recommend Reputation.com as the best reputation management service for businesses.
Why Reputation.com?
Ease of use
Some of the qualities that were very important to us when narrowing down reputation management services were the simplicity of navigating each company's website, and the transparency about the capabilities and prices of the services offered. We found that most companies don't explain their methodology or list any of their pricing information, and when they do, it's difficult to find.
Reputation.com, on the other hand, is incredibly easy to navigate. There is a wealth of information about the company's reputation management process available on the website, and everything is laid out in a clear and streamlined manner. The company offers a learning center that explains what reputation management is and why it's important, along with webinars and a free download of its business reputation "success guide."
The only problem we had with Reputation.com was that not all of the pricing information was clearly outlined. However, most of this information was available, and the company was quick to give us detailed information about its pricing when we called. Weighed against the rest of the website's pros and our experience with other companies, we did not consider this to be a major downside. For more on choosing a reputation management service, see our 2015 Buyer's Guide.
Services offered
Reputation.com offers two different services for businesses: a general reputation management platform, and ReputationDefender, a service that focuses mainly on fixing negative search results. Both options have different features and different prices.
If you are already dealing with a reputation disaster, ReputationDefender is the service you need. This service helps suppress negative search results, including newspaper articles, images and videos, private legal or financial information, blog posts and other website content. With ReputationDefender, you'll work with a reputation adviser to strategize and map out your goals. You will discuss and agree on a content strategy, which Reputation.com will then develop, publish and optimize with your approval. Over time, the addition and optimization of positive content should push down the negative content, making it less visible to people searching for information about your business. The amount of content required to effectively hide your negative search results depends on the severity of the problem, and pricing adjusts accordingly.
For new businesses or those looking to build up their reputation and prevent a crisis, Reputation.com's overall reputation management platform is the way to go. This service covers all of the major reputation management tactics, including online-review management, SEO and social media management. Reputation.com uses SEO to make sure your accurate business information is available on all of the top business listing sites and even scores your reputation against that of your local competitors, so you can see how you compare. You're given access to a dashboard where all of your online reviews and top social media profiles (Facebook, Twitter, and Google+) are available, and you'll get customizable email alerts when new reviews are posted or if anything changes.
With the reputation management platform, Reputation.com also offers fully managed campaigns for reviews and social media that includes responding to reviews, reaching out to customers to gain more reviews, optimizing and posting to social media, and responding to users on social media. Everything in the platform is cloud-based, so you can access your information from anywhere. The platform also has a mobile app for even easier access on the go.
It's also worth noting that Reputation.com also offers reputation management services for individuals; you can read more about those services on the company's website.
Unique features
Along with all of the typical reputation management services listed above, Reputation.com has solutions tailored to different business industries. Although the core features offered are the same, your reputation advisers will work to make sure your business's specific niche needs are met. The industries covered include automotive, dental, health care, hospitality, property management, restaurants and retail, but the company's services will work for any business. These tailored services were hard to find at most other reputation management companies.
One unique aspect of Reputation.com is its review "kiosk" feature. When using the reputation management service, clients are given a customized tablet kiosk to use on-site at their business. The tablets help businesses collect reviews from customers before they leave the business, as opposed to waiting for customers to potentially post to Yelp or other review sites at a later time. The interface is easy to use — it's one simple screen that asks for a rating, review and some basic information about the customer. If a customer enters a negative review, it's sent to your Reputation.com management team, and if the customer enters a positive review, the customer is prompted to post it online. Reviews entered into the kiosk can also be posted on your website, Facebook page and other sites. This is a great way to quickly boost your online reviews and ratings, and yet another stand-out feature that we couldn't find anywhere else.
Customer service
We were impressed by Reputation.com's customer service — both online and over the phone. Reputation.com has a great live-chat feature on its website that you can open by clicking the link under the phone number on the top-right corner of any page. This is the perfect way to ask basic questions about the website (for example, if you can't find the information you're looking for) or the services offered, without making a phone call. If the agent you're chatting with can't help you directly, he or she will direct you to someone who can help you over the phone. When we tested out the live-chat feature, the response time was quick, and the wait time was less than a minute.
Alternatively, you can call to speak to an agent directly, and getting through to a representative is fairly simple. The phone-system menu is short, with only a few options, and thus is easy to navigate. When we called, it took only a minute or two to be connected with a representative. Initially, we spoke to a representative who asked us what we were looking for, and then we were connected with another representative who was better suited to answer our questions. The second representative we spoke with was thoughtful and thorough in answering questions about how the reputation management process works, and gave detailed explanations of the company's services, pricing and more. What impressed us most was that, at the end of the call, the representative offered to send over an email summary of everything we discussed, and the information was in our inbox by the time we got off the call.
Pricing
Compared to other online review management companies, Reputation.com's pricing was reasonable, with its base package starting at $2,500 for one year. Pricing depends on which service you use (ReputationDefender or the company's reputation management platform) and the severity of any reputation issues you may be facing. All prices are annual, with the exception of the review kiosk fee. Here's a breakdown of Reputation.com's pricing:
ReputationDefender
With ReputationDefender, there are five different prices, ranging from $3,000 to $15,000 per year, depending on the plan you select:
Defender 3000: For moderately high severity, this comes with 30 commercial website postings, four customized websites and 10 content refreshes. Cost: $3,000 per year.
Defender 5000: For issues with high severity, this level comes with 40 commercial website postings, six customized websites and 20 content refreshes. Cost: $5,000 per year.
Defender 7500: For very high severity, this package comes with 40 commercial website postings, eight customized websites and 20 content refreshes. Cost: $7,500 per year.
Defender 10000: For extremely high severity, this includes 50 commercial website postings, 10 customized websites and 30 content refreshes. Cost: $10,000 per year.
Defender 15000: Also for extremely high severity, this package comes with 60 commercial website postings, 12 customized websites and 30 content refreshes. Cost: $15,000 per year.
Each service comes with a tailored content strategy, a dedicated reputation advisory team and regular progress reporting.
Reputation management platform
For Reputation.com's reputation management platform, there are two subscription levels: Gold and Platinum. The Gold level costs $2,500 per year, and Platinum costs $4,500 per year. Both offer essentially the same major features and services, but there are some major differences between the two packages.
With the Gold package, Reputation.com won't respond to negative reviews on your behalf, and the company won't post or build up your social media presence for you or respond to social posts on your behalf. (You will still be able to access and manage your social media accounts from the dashboard.) With the Platinum package, all of these tasks are covered. In addition, clients that use the Gold package will have their business info populated in 10 different online business listings, whereas the Platinum package includes 20 listings.
For both packages, there is also a onetime setup fee of $199 for use of the review kiosks, in addition to the annual costs.
Other things to consider
While researching Reputation.com, we did come across some negative reviews about the company on various websites, like Ripoff Report and the Better Business Bureau. However, many of these negative reviews are a few years old, and several of them did not make substantial claims about what went wrong. Some clients seemed to complain of minor billing issues, while others didn't like that not all of their negative search results were effectively hidden or removed, or that it would take more time or cost more to effectively solve this problem. In these cases, it is important to note that each reputation management situation is different, and companies that use legal, white-hat tactics cannot always hide or remove negative search results. This is a risk that any client using an online reputation management service takes.
Finding negative reviews was concerning, and it is something that potential customers should be aware of. However, we still recommend Reputation.com as the best online reputation management service for businesses, due to the nature of the reviews, as well as all of the good features it offers, including its great customer service, reasonable prices and unique services, like customized review kiosks.
Runner-up: Reputation X
If you're looking for an option that starts at a lower price*, we recommend Reputation X. The company offers many of the same services as Reputation.com to help you build and grow your brand online while also preventing (or handling the aftermath of) reputation management disasters. Reputation X's website is easy to navigate, clearly spells out the company's methodology and ethics concerns, and lists prices for each service it offers and how difficult your situation is to manage. We also like that Reputation X offers a free analysis tool on its website. Prospective clients can sign up for this service — no credit card required — to score their online reputation. We tested this tool, and it's quick to set up and easy to use.
However, although Reputation X offers many of the same great features as Reputation.com and more, it may not be the best choice if customer service is of high importance to you. We tried several times to get a representative on the phone but were directed to voicemail each time.
*It's important to note that Reputation X is not necessarily less expensive than Reputation.com, as it depends on the type of service you require. Prices range from a onetime fee of $499 for the most basic plan (much less expensive than Reputation.com's most basic business plan) to monthly fees of more than $10,000 per month for the most challenging cases (much more expensive than Reputation.com's price-range estimates).
Looking for a better way to manage and grow your small business? Customer relationship management (CRM) software can make all the difference. Whether you're looking for a robust CRM software solution, a simple one designed for very small businesses or a free version to fit your budget, there's a CRM software choice for you. Our staff researched and reviewed an extensive collection of CRM software products and picked out what we believe are the best for different types of small businesses.
Here is a roundup of our best picks and how we chose them.
Ready to choose a CRM software? Here's a breakdown of our complete coverage:
CRM Software Buyer's Guide
REVIEW: Best CRM Software for Small Business
REVIEW: Best CRM Software for Very Small Business
REVIEW: Best Free CRM Software
Best CRM Software for Small Business: Salesforce
Salesforce is an all-in-one, cloud-based solution that has everything you need in a CRM software. Although this software is typically associated with larger businesses and enterprises, Salesforce's small business edition lets you take advantage of the product's robust set of CRM tools and resources at an affordable, small-business-friendly price. Part of Salesforce Small Business Solutions, the platform is very easy to use and includes key features like lead generation, contact and opportunity management, sales forecasting, workflow automation, and much more.
Best CRM Software for Very Small Business: Insightly
Insightly is a simple, but feature-rich CRM software fits the bill for microbusinesses. It has all the basic capabilities that really small businesses need in a CRM software, but is also highly scalable as your business grows. Additionally, Insightly is one of the most affordable CRM solutions available; there's a free version to help you get started, and paid plans start at a fraction of the price of comparable CRM software.
Best Free CRM Software: Zoho CRM
Zoho CRM is powerful CRM software that doesn't compromise on capabilities just because you're not paying for it. Unlike other free CRM, Zoho CRM offers all the core functionalities of CRM software and lets you onboard up to 10 users at no extra cost. You'll also have access to your data anytime, anywhere using Zoho CRM's mobile app, without having to purchase a plan.
Our methodology
To find the best CRM software for small business, we started by asking small business owners what CRM software they used, what their likes and dislikes were, and what they think makes the "perfect" CRM software.
Next, we looked at CRM software that appeared on review sites, business websites and other reputable online sources. We also considered popular CRM software that we were familiar with or have heard about.
The last steps of our research involved testing our top picks ourselves. This process included signing up for business accounts, trying out software demos, downloading mobile apps, watching videos and contacting vendors with questions as business owners.
In total, we ended up with more than 50 CRM software products. Our top picks are Salesforce, Insightly and Zoho CRM. Those that made it to our short list include Infusionsoft, SugarCRM, Microsoft Dynamics, Nutshell, NetSuite, Act!, TeamWox and Highrise.
Here are the criteria we used to evaluate each software:
Cost
Ease of use
Contact-management features
Lead-generation tools
Sales and marketing tools
Employee-tracking capabilities
Customization options
Automation capabilities
Third-party integration
Reporting and analytics
Mobile access
Service limitations
Customer service
Here is a full list of CRM software and a summary of what each company claims to offer. This alphabetical list also includes our best picks.
Act! Cloud— Act! Cloud, by Swiftpage, marries contact management with e-marketing to help you get organized, convert new customers and get more from existing customers. The software takes the guesswork out of choosing where to focus time and resources by offering you intelligent, prioritized recommendations based on the level of engagement of customers and prospects. cloud.act.com
AllProWebTools— If you're looking for a simpler way to acquire leads and maintain customer relationships, AllProWebTools' CRM software is a unique integrated solution. This CRM tool is part of a business suite that also includes email, Web and e-commerce hosting, marketing, task management, and timecards. Having all these tools available from one dashboard keeps you organized and saves you time. AllProWebTools.com
Apptivo CRM — Apptivo CRM combines contact and lead management with project management and marketing software to help your business connect better with customers. Apptivo CRM is part of Apptivo's suite of business solutions. apptivo.com/crm
Avidian/Prophet — Use Outlook as your CRM software with Avidian. The company's own Prophet CRM turns your inbox into a full-featured, mobile-friendly CRM solution. From contacts to emails, tasks, notes, appointments and meetings, Avidian also syncs all your data in a familiar platform you likely already use every day. avidian.com
Base — Called an "intelligent productivity platform," Base is all about using data to help your business make wiser, more informed sales decisions. It closely monitors your sales pipeline, sales rep activities, goals and quotas to make sure your team is productive and succeeding. getbase.com
Bluenose — Bluenose combines big data analytics with powerful technology for customer-success management. Known as a "Customer Success" platform, the software empowers software-as-a-service (SaaS) businesses to proactively manage and engage their customers through its insight-driven toolkit, built-in playbooks and more. bluenose.com
BoomTown! — Do you own a real estate business? BoomTown's predictive CRM software is designed specifically for agents, teams, brokerage firms and other real estate professionals. Services include lead generation, a website builder, success management and the ability to manage multiple offices. boomtownroi.com
bpm'online — Get end-to-end process management, from lead generation to ordering to customer service. More than your traditional CRM software, bmp'online combines sales, marketing and help desk functions so you can be there for customers every step of the sales journey. bpmonline.com/crm
Bullhorn — Own a service-oriented business? Bullhorn CRM is specifically built to help service providers strengthen relationships with customers while improving sales productivity and driving growth. There are also dedicated CRM software offerings for niche businesses, such as staffing and recruitment firms and PR agencies. bullhorn.com/products/crm/
CampaignerCRM — Campaigner offers two types of CRM software. One is for businesses that deal with shorter, simpler sales processes, and the other combines CRM with sales-process management to help companies with longer, more complex sales processes. The latter option offers more advanced functionalities, such as reporting, customization, a sales process API and more. campaignercrm.com
Capsule — Capsule aims to make CRM as simple as possible by offering six core capabilities to help you run your business: managing relationships, managing the sales pipeline, organizing emails, saving contact histories, performing task management and completing customization. capsulecrm.com
Commence — Specifically designed for small to midsize businesses, Commence is a Web-based CRM software that's both powerful and affordable. It's also designed for fast deployment, meaning it's easy to implement and you can get started right away. commence.com
Contactually — Contactually is all about getting the most out of your CRM investment. It is built to help businesses convert existing leads into closed sales, build relationships for long sales cycles, stay on top of revenue opportunities and get more prospects down the sales funnel. contactually.com
GoldMine — Need a premise-based CRM software? Unlike cloud-based CRM software, GoldMine is installed on your own servers and infrastructure to give you more control over your software. In addition to its many CRM features, the company also offers one of the best customer support systems, so you can get help right when you need it. goldmine.com
GreenRope — GreenRope combines the best of CRM with robust marketing automation to help you save time and dedicate more resources to closing sales. Additional features include project management, collaboration tools, e-commerce, event management and more. greenrope.com
Hatchbuck — One of our runner-ups, Hatchbuck is all-in-one sales and marketing tool built with small businesses in mind. It focuses on simplicity, ease of use and affordability, while giving you all the tools you need to organize data and automate marketing processes. hatchbuck.com
Highrise — Also a top contender on our list of best CRM software, Highrise focuses on helping you manage three key areas of your business: contacts, tasks and communications. You can maintain and share contacts with your team, create tasks and set reminders, and keep track of emails, notes and other forms of correspondence. highrisehq.com
Hubspot CRM — A popular inbound marketing and sales platform, Hubspot's CRM software streamlines your sales process across multiple channels in your organization. It works in the background to save you from wasting time manually performing repetitive sales and marketing tasks. The software also specializes in automatically logging and syncing data from different sources of communication, such as your website, phone calls, emails, social media and more. hubspot.com/products/crm
Infusionsoft — Infusionsoft is a favorite amongst small business owners we talked to, because of its ease of use and because it offers a comprehensive set of CRM tools at a small-business-friendly price. Users particularly liked its automation features, ability to nurture leads all the way to closing the sales and extras like email marketing, billing and project management. infusionsoft.com
*Insightly — Our pick for the best CRM software for very small businesses, Insightly is a simple, scalable solution that grows with your business. It offers both basic and advanced capabilities, so you can start with a free or super-affordable standard plan, then upgrade as your business expands. Read our full review here.
iSEEit — Focus on sales. iSEEit offers an intuitive way for sales people to manage all their daily sales activities. This iPad and Web-based CRM solution makes it easy to focus on the right steps to move deals through your pipeline by letting you better qualify leads, tasks, and opportunities; manage deals via milestones and qualifiers; and coordinate and collaborate with customers and colleagues, all from a single, consistent source. now.iseeit.com
LeadMaster — If you're looking for a simple way to gather, manage and convert leads, LeadMaster can help. First, the software aims to save you hours spent looking for high-quality leads by automating your marketing system. Next, its sales lead-management tools helps you turn those leads into sales by making it easy to track, analyze and communicate with those prospects. leadmastercrm.com
Maximizer — Need more flexibility in your CRM software? Maximizer is an all-in-one CRM solution that is completely customizable to cater to your business's unique needs. In addition to offering three robust CRM tools — sales management, marketing automation and customer service — the software also gives you a choice of using the cloud-based version of the software or an on-premise version hosted on your own servers. maximizer.com
Method:CRM — Do you use QuickBooks as your accounting software? Intuit-approved Method works with QuickBooks to integrate your customer data with your financial data. This software links and syncs everything from contact information to invoices, purchase histories and much more to give you a complete view of customers in one, easily accessible place. method.me
Microsoft Dynamics CRM — Microsoft Dynamics CRM takes a different approach to CRM. The software uses social insights, business intelligence and campaign management to help your business strengthen relationships with customers, improve marketing campaigns and, ultimately, boost sales. It is available in the cloud, on premise or a combination of both, and you can integrate the software with Office 365 for even more productivity. microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics/crm.aspx
NetSuite CRM — NetSuite CRM lets you track leads through each step of the customer lifecycle, from lead generation to prospect nurturing, sales ordering, fulfilment and support. It also shows you opportunities for up- and cross-selling, as well as renewals to boost sales and maintain customer loyalty. Other features include order management, commission management, sales forecasting and e-commerce. netsuite.com/portal/products/netsuite/crm.shtml
Nimble — Does your business rely heavily on social media marketing? Known as an Intelligent Relationship Platform, Nimble automatically syncs all types of contact data across multiple channels, including social media. It uses "social listening" to filter contacts and prospects on sites like Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and LinkedIn to help you find and close high-value opportunities. The software also syncs emails, direct messages and @mentions, making them easily accessible straight from your dashboard. nimble.com
Nutshell — Specially built for small businesses, Nutshell helps you close sales fast. In addition to standard CRM features like contact and lead management, Nutshell also offers collaboration tools, custom reporting and third-party integrations. You're also in luck if you use Google Apps; the software automatically imports Gmail messages and events and meetings into Google Calendar. It promises fast deployment, too, so you can get started in no time. nutshell.com
Odoo — Odoo is an open-source software that focuses on tracking leads, closing opportunities and generating accurate forecasts. And because it's open source, it lets you customize the software to your exact needs and add on a wide range of apps. Supported apps include marketing, project management, e-commerce, Website building, billing, accounting and even human resources. Odoo is a little on the pricier side, however. It requires a monthly per-user fee in addition to a monthly per-app fee, though you get two free users to start. You can also use the software on multiple companies for an additional fee. odoo.com/page/crm
OnContact — OnContact combines CRM with marketing automation, giving you a complete sales and marketing solution in one. Unlike many CRM solutions, however, OnContact comes with powerful customer-service features, such as contact center capabilities and incident tracking, so you can be there for your customers whenever they need you. OnContact is available as a cloud-based or on-premise software. oncontact.com
Pipedrive — Small business owners like Pipedrive because it is simple and easy to use. It's also a highly visual platform, making it easy to quickly navigate the dashboard and get the data you need at a glance. There is also no training required, and setup takes less than two minutes, so you and your team can get started right away. pipedrive.com
PipelineDeals — PipelineDeals doesn't just help you boost sales; it also helps you and your staff be more productive. What makes it stand out from other CRM software is that it goes the extra mile. For instance, it can send snapshots of your pipeline to your inbox every morning so you know exactly how your business is doing before you even open the software. Plans also come with premium support, so you can reach a real, live PipelineDeals representative any time to help resolve any issues. pipelinedeals.com
Pipeliner — If you're a visual person, you'll like Pipeliner. This CRM software presents all your data in an intuitive, visual way, so you don't have to go through multiple steps to get the data you need. For instance, when you go to the Pipeline section of the software, you'll be greeted with charts showing you who is in which stage of your pipeline. This way, you don't have to open each stage or contact separately to get this information. Pipeliner also offers an all-inclusive pricing model, so you get all the features for just one monthly price. pipelinersales.com
Podio — Podio aims to cut through the noise of CRM and deliver a clutter-free CRM solution. It is a very lightweight software that lets you customize features, so you get all the capabilities you need without all the fuss. With this product's simple interface, you can easily get where you need to go without getting lost in extra steps navigating the software. podio.com/site/use-cases/crm
Sage CRM — Sage CRM is an all-in-one solution that lets you do more with your CRM. In addition to contact and lead management, Sage CRM offers targeted marketing, email marketing, social CRM and more. It also comes with a built-in customer-service portal to help you deliver excellent customer support. And if you use Sage ERP, Sage CRM integrates seamlessly for even better sales acceleration. sagecrm.com
*Salesforce — Our top pick for the best CRM software for small business, Salesforce has everything you need in a cloud-based CRM software. It's affordable and easy to use, and offers a ton of features at a small business price point. It also comes with top-notch customer support, so you can get help any time you need it. Read our full review here.
Salesnet — Salesnet takes CRM to the next level by pairing it with Microsoft Office. Besides Salesnet's native CRM features, the software integrates with Outlook to automatically sync contacts, meetings and tasks; Excel to view and edit reports; and Word to merge data and attach files to the software. salesnet.com
SalesNexus — SalesNexus isn't just another CRM software; it combines CRM with email marketing to help you better target leads, connect with them and convert them to loyal customers. You won't even need a separate email-marketing solution to get the job done. SalesNexus' lead-generation tool also lets you find leads using a wide range of specific categories, such as by industry, title, company revenue, location, social media profiles and more. Each plan comes with 500 leads and 25,000 emails per month. salesnexus.com
Snapforce — If you want a truly comprehensive CRM solution, check out Snapforce. This CRM software eliminates the need to use multiple tools to manage your business. In addition to core CRM features, Snapforce offers cloud-based file storage, calendars and event management, email syncing with your email client, and case management via a ticket system. It also comes with a complete call center software, so customers can reach you with a simple phone call. snapforce.com
SugarCRM — Another favorite amongst small business owners, SugarCRM is powerful CRM software that integrates sales, marketing and employee tracking. The base plan comes with a robust set of features, such as sales automation and forecasting, lead management, call-center automation, reporting, unlimited customizations and unlimited online support. SugarCRM is available as a cloud-based or on-premise software. sugarcrm.com
TeamWox — Need a more advanced CRM software? More of an enterprise management system, TeamWox brings big business tools to small businesses. In addition to CRM, it also helps you manage teams, tasks, service desks and other areas of your business. But if you're looking for a ready-to-use, cloud-based solution, look elsewhere — you'll need to download TeamWox, then install it in your own systems. TeamWox is also on the pricy side. It's free for up to five users, but it will set you back several hundred dollars if you need more than that. teamwox.com
Vtiger — Vtiger is a one-stop shop for all your sales, marketing and customer-support needs. It features a bevy of built-in CRM solutions, including email marketing, project management, calendar and task management, reporting, document management, and more. It also has a customer portal where customers can access their accounts and submit help tickets. vtiger.com
Workbooks — Known for its high level of customer satisfaction, Workbooks is one of our runner-ups for the best CRM software for small business. It focus on four core areas of CRM: sales to boost your business's growth, highly targeted marketing to help you get the most ROI, order fulfilment to streamline your sales processing and customer support to keep your customers happy. A free version is available for up to two users; it also comes with free online support. workbooks.com
*Zoho CRM — Our top pick for the best free CRM software, Zoho CRM is packed with features, despite its free price tag. Unlike other free CRM software, Zoho CRM offers a ton of premium capabilities and lets you add up to 10 users at no extra cost. Read our full review here.
Are you a CRM software provider who would like to be added to this list and possibly considered for our next round of reviews? Please feel free to contact Sara Angeles at sangeles@purch.com.
In business, your reputation is everything. Thanks to social media and review sites like Yelp, you can build a great online reputation fast. There's just one problem: The Internet moves fast, and with a few missteps, you can hit rock bottom just as quickly as you rose to that coveted 5-star rating.
The same can be said for job seekers and professionals. Just as potential customers may be searching for your business on major search engines like Google, employers often search for information about job candidates. If your Web presence is questionable, it could cost you your dream job or even get you fired from your current position.
So what do you do when your online reputation is less than stellar? Online reputation management (ORM) services can help you stop, fix and prevent PR disasters, as well as protect and promote your brand.
"When someone wants to learn about anyone and anything, they turn to the Internet," said Patrick Ambron, CEO of reputation management company BrandYourself.com.
"Reputation management services can help both businesses and individuals build and maintain a positive online presence, so when they are looked up online, people find positive and relevant info about them," Ambron added.
These services can have a huge impact on your personal success and that of your business, an impact that goes beyond improving your search results.
"It adds value to your brand, contributes longevity and visibility to your career or organization, and helps prevent your identity from being appropriated and misused by others," said Shannon Wilkinson, CEO of ORM company Reputation Communications.
Whether you're a business or an individual, it's important to understand how reputation management services can help you, and to make sure you know what ORM companies can and can't do and what makes a service trustworthy and effective.
What do online reputation management services do?
To break it down, these are the actions reputation management companies will take to analyze, build, protect and restore your brand's online presence, and the main features you should look for when choosing an ORM service:
Search engine optimization and management: Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of making your online content rank higher in popular search engines like Google. Reputation management firms will do this for your content so that Internet users searching for you, your business or topics that relate to your business will find you. Moreover, they will find honest, relevant information about you in the process. If there is negative information about you in your search results, your ORM provider can strategize ways to use truthful, positive content to detract from any negative content by pushing it back farther into the list of search results. This way, people who search for you or your business won't be immediately greeted by negative results.
Content development and management: This goes hand in hand with SEO, because in order to rank well in search engines and to build up a good reputation, you need to have good-quality content. This means making your website and blog organized, unique and well written. It also means creating quality press releases to spread the word about your business the right way. Most reputation management services will help you improve your existing content and create new material so that Internet users will not only find positive results about you or your business right away, they'll also see that the content you share is real, relevant and worth reading. This adds even more credibility to your brand and your reputation.
Social media management: You're likely already on several social media networks, be it for personal use or for your business. While platforms like Twitter, Facebook and Instagram can all help you grow your business or personal brand, it only takes one inappropriate picture or comment to cause a PR nightmare. Most ORM services can help you clean up your social networks to make sure they're appropriate, and ORM services can monitor how your social media profiles affect your reputation, too.
Third-party website monitoring: Even if your website and social media presence are up to speed, outsiders can still easily damage your reputation. This includes former employees and displeased customers. Not only are there a wealth of review websites, like Yelp and Glassdoor, where anyone can sign up and post a review of your business, it is also incredibly easy to create a new website or blog, where people can write whatever they please. For example, if you were to fire an employee, or one of your employees were to leave on bad terms, there's nothing stopping them from writing malicious blog posts or putting false information in reviews about you all over the Web. Reputation management services will monitor the Internet for this kind of content to see what people are saying about you.
All of these steps contribute to a successful reputation management campaign; however, choosing the right ORM provider isn't always easy.
Do you need one?
Overall, online reputation management services can help individuals and businesses accomplish several goals. Eric Schiffer, chairman of ORM company Reputation Management Consultants, said there are three main things one can do with a reputation management service:
New and young businesses can use it to gain exposure.
Businesses that don't have the time or the resources to build their brands online can turn to ORMs to create detailed and proactive brand strategies, Schiffer said.
It protects business and individuals against attacks.
Schiffer noted that it just takes the words of one customer to make or break your online reputation. ORM services can help you strategize to protect against any potential negative situations.
"One scathing review, consumer complaint or [adverse] blog article can cause irreparable damage to an individual or business's bottom line within months, or even weeks," Schiffer said. "Reputation management firms can assist with establishing a zone of authentic, positive media that can help protect and mitigate damage done by negative customer feedback."
It can restore your reputation in the event that your online presence has already been damaged.
While, ideally, you would use a reputation management company to prevent negative situations, ORM services can also help restore your good name when things go wrong. The right firm can use positive content to overhaul your reputation and drive down negative information, Schiffer said.
Are you already dealing with a crisis?
If you're already in the midst of a crisis and you're trying to do damage control for your business or personal brand, your process for choosing a reputation management company may differ from the process of choosing an ORM service to build and/or protect your brand. In this type of situation, you'll need to focus on the problem at hand while still finding a provider that is trustworthy and will come up with a tailored strategy that meets your needs.
"The reality is, if you look at a reputation or crisis management plan, you need to have it customized to meet your needs and you need to understand the depth of your problems," said Ken Wisnefski, founder and CEO of ORM provider WebiMax.
"A lot of times, people think something's a big deal when it's really not that difficult to fix, while some clients may spend thousands of dollars to fix something," he added.
To ensure that you get the best reputation management service while still acting fast, Wisnefski advised customers to have their potential providers provide them with some sort of analysis related to their current online sentiment. Then, he said, "really dig into how they plan on addressing that problem — if they've got a scripted approach, it's probably not going to be what you need."
Wisnefski also noted that it's sometimes easier to handle a crisis situation if you've already been working with a reputation management service, since it means you can monitor your online reputation and act fast when the situation arises.
How to choose the right one?
While the majority of ORM providers offer the same basic services, every company is different. It's important that you choose the best one for you and your business.
And handling a reputation management issue quickly and tactfully may be more important than you realize.
"People sometimes say they're not really concerned with what's being said about them online, that it's not something that really impacts them, but we find the reality is often that your online sentiment can really be costing you a lot of business," Wisnefski said.
Figure out your needs and goals
Before you contact any ORM companies, consider your goals in using such a service: Are you looking to monitor and improve your presence on online review websites? Do you want to clean up your social networks? What about search results? It goes without saying that your goals will vary based on whether you're using a reputation management service as an individual or a business, as well as on what kind of business you run.
"If you are a recent college graduate, you will be best served by a company experienced in removing inappropriate or outdated photographs and information on social media platforms," Wilkinson said. "Doctors, dentists and attorneys, as well as storefront businesses like restaurants, find online reviews to be their biggest challenge. They might obtain best results using a review management firm."
And "if you are a high-profile industry leader, VIP or have a rising presence in business, you face different issues and will want a firm that specializes in that sector," Wilkinson added.
Think about customer service
It's also important to be sure that the ORM company you choose is there for you.
"While the process of building and maintaining a positive online presence is time-consuming, for the most part, it is not a complicated one," Ambron said. "Don't let a reputation company confuse you or mystify the process."
Not only should your provider be clear and open about your reputation management campaigns at all times, but the company should also make you feel like it cares about your specific needs and concerns as a client. Your ORM provider should never make you feel like you're just another number.
"Every single reputation management campaign is unique and requires a customized approach to your brand strategy. So if you get the feeling that you're receiving canned responses or standardized strategies, you may not be getting the type of comprehensive and personalized platform that you need for your campaign to be effective," Schiffer said.
You should be comfortable knowing that your reputation management campaign is in good hands.
"You should feel as though your campaign receives the necessary attention to detail that your particular objectives require," Schiffer said.
Do your research
Once you've established your goals and considered customer service, it's time to look for ORM companies that cater to your needs. But don't just check to see that they avoid black hat practices and cover what you're looking for; also make sure the company has a good reputation. After all, a reputation management company that can't protect its own reputation probably won't be of much help to you. (See the last section of this story for more on black hat practices and how to avoid them.)
So how can you tell if a company is reputable?
"A credible vendor will have photographs and biographies of their founder and/or top executives on their websites, not just a phone number to call," Wilkinson said.
"Often they are recognized experts, featured in mainstream media platforms. Or they are active in their communities, chairing Internet-related organizations or helping educate the public about digital issues," she added.
Wilkinson also noted that you can find out a lot about a reputation management service by reading the content it shares on its website.
"You can gain a lot of insight into a provider's process and point of view by reading their blogs and articles. That can help you evaluate the best service for your needs," she said.
And don't be afraid to meet with representatives from the ORM companies or talk to other clients who use the companies you're considering.
"Look at their track record. Talk to their clients. Meet with the team," Schiffer said. He also suggested asking yourself these questions about a potential ORM company:
Does it have unique technological methodologies that can prove a track record of success with the toughest cases?
Does it have empathy?
Does it have integrity?
Are individuals at the ORM experts at strategic media relations?
It's also important that the company you choose have experience with many different types of cases, so that you know you're in good hands if something goes wrong.
"Look for someone with broad credentials," said Alexis Moore, author of "Cyber Self-Defense" (Lyons Press, October 2014). Having "diverse backgrounds in cybercrime, risk management, consulting and investigative [fields] is best."
Finding a trustworthy reputation management service
A good reputation management service will tell you if it uses white hat or black hat tactics, Reputation Communications’ Wilkinson said. You'll want to go with a provider that uses white hat tactics, as these are the acceptable techniques that adhere to Google's best practices. White hat tactics, like those listed above, are completely transparent and rely on having quality content and using proper SEO techniques. Other white hat practices include taking the time to respond proactively to any negative situations and getting reputable websites to write about or feature you or your business. A reputation management campaign that uses white hat tactics will take a lot of time, but will play it safe and provide you with long-term results.
Black hat techniques, on the other hand, may work quickly, but they are aggressive and risky. Search engines may even ban you if they catch on to your black hat tactics. If an ORM service you're considering uses any of the following techniques, take that company out of the running and go with one that doesn't use these methods.
'Astroturfing': In this practice, a company will create fake accounts on review websites and use them to write positive reviews, or it will pay users to do so in order to boost ratings and detract from other negative reviews.
Creating fake websites or content: This tactic is exactly what it sounds like; it involves launching fake websites and blogs to create more search results to cover up any negative results people may find when searching for you or your business.
Keyword stuffing: With this tactic, you pack as many keywords as possible into your website's metadata to increase your rankings in search.
Link spamming: This is another tactic that involves creating as many links as possible to positive content so that search engines rank that positive content highly.
Invisible text: Similar to keyword stuffing, this practice involves placing extra keywords on your website. In this case, they're written on the page itself, but are hidden by making the text the same color as the page's background.
Using spam bots: Some reputation management companies will use spam bots, denial-of-service attacks and hacking methods to target negative content and make it difficult or impossible for other users to access.
Quality, honesty and transparency are the keys to a good online reputation. Reputation management campaigns often use questionable black hat practices, but they fall into an ethical gray area and can ultimately do more harm to your brand than good. Make sure that the ORM service you choose avoids these tactics and is clear about what it can and cannot do for you.
"A trustworthy ORM provider will be able to explain in clear language how their ORM process works and what a client can expect to see in three weeks, three months and more after a campaign is undertaken," Wilkinson said.
"They will also tell you if they can help you attain your goals, and decline an assignment if they can't."
After much research and analysis of customer relationship management (CRM) software, we recommend as the best free CRM software for small business.
Ready to choose a CRM software? Here's a breakdown of our complete coverage:
CRM Software Buyer's Guide
Best CRM Software 2015
REVIEW: Best CRM Software for Small Business
REVIEW: Best CRM Software for Very Small Business
CRM software is a must for most small businesses. It helps you find leads, keep your contacts organized and manage opportunities, among other things, making it one of the most effective ways to drive sales and grow your company.
The problem, however, is that many CRM software products cost an arm and a leg. And most free CRM software is heavily limited in features, forcing you to purchase a costly per-month, per-user subscription plan. Moreover, you may not even think you need to such a product in the first place. This is where Zoho CRM can help.
Whether CRM software isn't feasible for your small business budget or you're looking for a cost-effective way to see what CRM can do for you, a full-featured free solution is the answer. Read on to find out what makes Zoho CRM our top pick for the best free CRM software for small business.
Why Zoho CRM?
A feature-rich, Web-based CRM software for small business
Despite being free, Zoho CRM offers a ton of features for small businesses. This comprehensive CRM software provides all the core functionalities you need in a CRM software — such as lead gathering, contact management and a robust set of tools to help you turn opportunities into sales — along with bevy of capabilities to help you grow your business. And as a Web-based service, you can access your data anytime, anywhere from a tablet or smartphone.
CRM features
While many free CRM software have limited features, the free version of Zoho CRM is packed with capabilities to help small businesses start, build and grow relationships with customers. It also goes beyond just simply managing contacts, gathering leads and viewing sales pipelines. Here are just some of the features the free version of Zoho CRM has to offer:
Multi-user. Whereas other free CRM software products allow only a few users before requiring you to pay, Zoho CRM lets you onboard up to 10 members of your team absolutely free.
360-view. Like its paid version, the free Zoho CRM stores and displays all the critical information you need to make wise business decisions. It delivers a 360-degree view of contacts, sales cycles and pipelines to help you drive sales, take care of customers, discover trends, identify opportunities and more.
Automation. From lead generation to managing contacts, opportunities and workflow, the software lets you manage and automate tasks so you can spend more time selling and less time performing mundane, repetitive tasks. Calendars and call logs can also be automated to help you save time and be more productive.
Collaboration. Zoho CRM can also function as a social media platform to help your staff collaborate and be better at their jobs. It includes a newsfeed where team members can post status updates and share files, as well as a direct messaging feature.
Social CRM. Zoho CRM integrates with Twitter and Facebook to automatically link contacts to their social media accounts. Doing so lets you connect with contacts and see their updates, as well as access the latest interactions they have had with you on social media, right from your dashboard.
Mobile CRM. Access customer data wherever you are with the Zoho CRM mobile app. You can view everything from leads and opportunities to accounts, contacts, tasks, events, messages, calls and more. An offline mode is also available if you find yourself without an Internet connection. The app is available for iOS and Android tablets and smartphones.
Third-party integration. Zoho CRM connects with a wide range of third-party apps and services to help you integrate your CRM data with the rest of your operations. For example, if you use Google Apps, Zoho CRM works seamlessly with Gmail, Google Calendar and Google tasks — the Zoho CRM gadget lets you save Gmail messages right into your software, as well as export events and tasks into their respective apps.
Analytics. Track sales and measure your business's and employees' performance with a wide range of reporting capabilities.
Security. Zoho CRM gives you control over who can do what with your software. In addition to creating individual profiles for users, you can also assign roles, control access and impose restrictions.
Other benefits
As a small business, you need a CRM solution that grows with your business. Zoho CRM fits the bill because it is super-affordable and readily expandable once your business needs more from the software.
If you find that your business has outgrown the free version of Zoho CRM, paid plans start at just $12 a user per month. This plan offers everything in the free version and includes other features such as sales forecasting, customizable reports, marketing campaigns, mass email capabilities and more.
Furthermore, you can easily upgrade from the free version to a paid version. When we reached out to Zoho, we were assured that the process was very simple and hassle-free: Just log in, then click on the Upgrade button. You'll be taken to the Subscription page, where you can choose your plan and complete the purchase.
The rep also pointed out that Zoho CRM uses a monthly or yearly pay-as-you-go model, meaning there are no contracts. While many CRM software products lock you down for the long-term by requiring a fixed service agreement, Zoho CRM gives you more freedom, making it easy to change your plan or switch to a different provider if it doesn't fulfill your needs.
In addition to expanding your CRM software, you can also add on other Zoho services to support your growing business. Zoho's suite of business solutions include project management app Projects, email marketing solution Campaigns, accounting software Books, collaboration tool Meeting, and many more. The biggest advantage of this is that Zoho CRM integrates seamlessly with other Zoho products, so you can automatically sync CRM-related data between solutions and efficiently manage your business from a single platform.
Customer service
Because Zoho CRM is just one Zoho's line of business solutions, you can take advantage of the company's comprehensive customer support resources. These include:
A helpdesk system and customer self-service portal where you can submit tickets by filling out a Web form.
Social media support by tweeting your issues to @zohocares.
Documentations like eBooks and a User Guide to help you get started, understand its features and learn how to make the most out of the software.
A searchable Knowledge Base with frequently asked questions and solutions for common problems.
A community forum where you can browse issues or reach out to Zoho CRM users and experts for help.
Weekly webinars and tutorial videos covering key features.
Zoho Blogs for the latest news, updates and changes to the software and the rest of the Zoho platform.
We were also informed by our sales rep that the Zoho team offers one-on-one live demos of the software. The entire session takes about an hour and is held via Web conference. You can request this demo by emailing sales@zohocorp.com.
Limitations
Although there are many ways to get help using Zoho CRM, you're out of luck if you want to speak to a real-live customer service representative ASAP. The software's biggest drawback is that the free version doesn't come with phone support. The company does have 24-hour (Monday to Friday) phone support via a toll-free number, but the feature is available only to users with a paid account.
Another limitation we came across is the software's interface. We tried the software ourselves and, like some small business owners told us, it felt clunky and not as intuitive as other software we considered. Our initial impression is that it takes too many steps to perform simple tasks, and navigating each section took some time to get used to.
Nonetheless, we still found the software to be relatively easy to use. There is a simple navigation bar at the top of the dashboard that contains a tab for each function, such as Leads, Accounts, Contacts and more. There is also a + button that lets you add new items in just one click, as well as a search bar to help you easily find content.
Finally, note that the free version of Zoho CRM doesn't come with a lot of customization options. So if you need to tailor the software to your business's unique needs — such as by adding custom reports, your own functions and additional modules — you'll need to purchase the most expensive plan, which costs $35 per user per month.
We chose Zoho CRM from a pool of the dozens of CRM software we considered. To read our full methodology and for a more comprehensive list of CRM software, visit our best picks page here.
