The appointment of Go Negosyo executive director Ramon Lopez has buoyed up the hopes of small and medium entrepreneurs to have a fighting chance against giant businessmen who could easily gobble them up. Lopez is known for advocating an entrepreneurial mindset, believing that Filipinos have the opportunity to rise out of poverty.
Realistically, however, SMEs—whose growth has been hyped-up with 99 percent of all registered businesses composed of these startups – cannot expect to become profitable in their first year of operation. However, success is not also impossible as these SMEs can float above the sea of competition if they learn the paradigm shifts necessary in building a strong foundation for their businesses.
One thing that newbie entrepreneurs should know is that to go beyond survival, they have to go beyond the traditional, be abreast of changes in an evolving and every dynamic market, and think of ways to maintain customer patronage and loyalty.
For one, they have to understand that selling is also science, not just art. Selling as an art means maximizing a team’s existing potentials and leveraging individual strengths. This involves emotional intelligence training, where a salesperson’s interpersonal skills, empathy and self-awareness are improved. Selling as a science means that increasing sales by growing the pool of “performers” with the use consistent processes such as sales technology training utilizing customer relationship management solutions and other sales enablement tools.
Next comes the realization that behavior triumphs over attitude. Why? Attitude is like words while behavior is action. Ergo, actions speak louder than words. A salesperson’s attitude should be complemented by his behavior. Talk must be supported by action. When a salesperson promises something to a customer, that promise should be matched with corresponding (immediate if possible) action.
The last paradigm shift shows why competency is more valuable than knowledge. Knowledge is all in the mind; it’s about what a businessman thinks about, while competency goes a step further and applies that knowledge. Competency is also about choosing the right solutions to achieve business goals. It focuses on how a business owner makes sense of what he knows. Ideas and plans should be translated into action and smartly applied to the customer’s operations. Maximizing the right knowledge to stay on top of the game will make all the difference.
Jennifer Ligones, president and chief executive of Third Pillar Business Applications Inc., shares that another factor that can help ensure that a business stays on a competitive level is through an effective customer CRM platform.
“The relationships you build with your customers are far more valuable when aiming for sustainable growth. This is why businesses that put a customer-centric approach at their core take a lead in the industry: They create scalable solutions for their customers not only to keep them coming back but also to boost sales,” Ligones says.
Third Pillar is known as an information technology consultancy company dedicated to providing best-in-class services and solutions. It is engaged in a strategic partnership with Salesforce to help provide best-in-class CRM solutions to its customers. “These paradigm shifts, when complemented with the right business solution like a CRM, can help build a stronger foundation for up-and-rising companies,” Ligones stresses.
Salesforce’s CRM platform is a smart strategy to maximize a company’s profitability by safeguarding its relationship with its customers. It is a cloud-based CRM solution that does away with expensive setup and maintenance costs. It may also be utilized using different devices like smartphones, tablets or laptops for added convenience. It also tracks all customer interactions, from calls, emails, meetings, presentations up to closing the deal.
“It lets you work on one platform where everything works systematically. With a unified customer view, a businessman can have access to all the data businesses need to optimize his company’s performance for better strategic planning to win more customers and partners and keep them,” Ligones says, adding that this can ultimately improve the way an entrepreneur runs his organization.
According to Ligones, Third Pillar always explores new ventures to help address the challenges that may come with success. This includes the partnership with Salesforce for CRM solutions. The company executive promises that they will continue to eye business development to help SMEs compete in the market, equipping stratups with the latest technologies that are at par with international standards. After all, every Filipino start-up business deserves this chance.
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