About a month ago, I wrote about the decreasing level of American innovation. My theory was if we are to change our worrisome course of diminishing creativity, we should put our full attention toward the mobile market and “own it” so to speak.

Just last week, Henry Blodget, CEO of Business Insider, presented “The Future of Mobile” at a conference in San Francisco. Here’s a little about the presentation:

“To kick off the conference, our BI Intelligence team—Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry, Alex Cocotas, and I—put together a deck on the current trends in mobile. We looked closely at the growth of smartphones and tablets, the platform wars, and how consumers are actually using their devices.”

The slide deck is packed with graphs and data cohesively illustrating what we all know … mobile is here, it’s here to stay and it’s going to be bigger than we can even imagine. If you don’t think this is an exploding market with huge growth potential, look at the graph below.

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I recently read an interesting article that discussed how our local school district was considering the purchase of 11,000 iPad devices so each and every student could enhance their learning with a mobile textbook. I happen to be the parent of two five-year-olds who will be starting school next year, so naturally I was very excited by this development.

My kids like to use our family’s iPad to watch videos on YouTube, or to visit PBSKids.org for all sorts of fun. It’s neat to watch them sit together at the kitchen counter and play with this exciting mobile technology ‘toy.’ My kids are growing up as “digital natives” right before my eyes!

This digital native generation will arrive in schools or the workplace expecting access to all information at any time and from anywhere. Times have definitely changed. I still remember writing reports by hand and correcting my school papers on the typewriter with whiteout!

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Same Great Support in an Easier-To-Use Package

While RJS may be best known for its software and excellent customer service, we’re also pretty good at support, too. And that great support is only going to get better with the launch of our new Support Center in January.

If you’ve never used our old support Wiki, a bit of explanation is in order. For several years, our support Wiki has served as the primary repository for all product documentation, including manuals, install and licensing information, troubleshooting articles and revision histories.

Customers have used it to enhance their product knowledge, get answers to vexing support issues, and to upgrade or install software. The site served its purpose but was messy and difficult for customers to use. It was equally difficult for us to manage and maintain. Additionally, we couldn’t extend the site to include future features like a partner portal or integrate with our support ticket software and CRM application.



The new Support Center

The first thing you’ll notice about our new support site is how great it looks. It was built to compliment our main RJS website and provide a consistent user experience across both sites.

Gone from the old support Wiki is the confusing navigation and content layout, and the poor search functionality that made using the site a lot more difficult than it should have been.

Thanks to a lot of analysis and customer feedback, we were able to simplify the site’s content and navigation and, most importantly, make it easy for you – the customer and primary user – to find the information you need.

Key Features

A support site is pretty useless if you can’t quickly find answers to your questions. That’s why we’ve bolstered our search functionality to ensure all content, including web pages, PDFs and other document types, is searched and results are logically displayed in ways that help you find what you need.

We’ve also completely revised our product pages to include tabs for install and license information, documentation, troubleshooting articles and more. Certain key products will have tutorial videos, and all products will include links to related pages so you can see the big picture of how everything works together. The new Support Center homepage will also have a prominent rotating carousel that we’ll use to notify you of important updates, product features and other issues. You’ll also be able to submit support ticket requests directly from our Support Center, so that any concern you may have is addressed as quickly as possible.

Ultimately, we hope the new Support Center helps distinguish us from our competition by giving our customers a world-class site where they can get the tools and training they need to be successful with our software. Keep your eyes peeled for an official launch announcement in the near future.

You’d have to be living under a rock the past year to have missed the buzz surrounding one of the hottest trends in information technology – “cloud computing.” Offering software and services via the “cloud” is no longer a futuristic concept, but a rapidly maturing business model that consumers and software providers have widely embraced.

What is Cloud Computing?

Cloud computing generally refers to a web-based software and services delivery model that allows users to access applications and data from anywhere they have an internet connection. Think of free applications like Gmail and Google Docs or subscription-based applications like salesforce CRM or Constant Contact.

These cloud-based programs don’t need to be installed on your PC or server. In fact, there are virtually no hardware or infrastructure costs normally associated with on-premise solutions. Users typically pay monthly or yearly subscription fees for the software instead of a large, up-front purchase price. Other benefits include ease of use, rapid deployment, and less reliance on limited IT resources for implementation and maintenance.

Big whoop or big deal?

Despite lingering concerns about data security and storing sensitive information remotely, the trends are clear: developers and customers are going the way of the “cloud” and the money is following.

According to Gartner, worldwide software as a service (Saas) revenue will reach $12.1 billion by the end of 2011 – a 21% increase over last year’s revenue of $10 billion – and $21.3 billion by 2015. Gartner estimates that 75% of current Saas delivery could be regarded as “cloud services,” and that number could exceed 90% by 2015 as cloud service models mature.

RJS and the cloud

We’re fully aware that we’ve got to have our head in the “clouds” or we’ll end up with our head in the sand. With that in mind, we currently offer a hosted version of our WebDocs document management software. In fact, we’ve provided a cloud-based version of the software for nearly a decade, but just recently began promoting it.

In addition, we are also developing hosted versions of WebForms, Enterprise Workflow and inContact so that current and future customers can choose from hosted or on-premise versions of those applications. Stay tuned for more information and release dates in the coming months.

Each month we host a webinar about one of our RJS software product offerings. These webinars are generally 20-minute “X Product: 101″ overviews with a quick product demo included as well. If you want to familiarize yourself with one of our popular products, we highly suggest attending one of our future webinars.

If you prefer to watch a webinar in your spare time, however, we’ve compiled our favorite software webcasts onto an On-Demand Webinars page at RJSSoftware.com. Here are the webinars we are currently hosting on-demand:

- Automate Data Collection and Streamline Workflow with WebForms
- Digital Signature Capture Delivers Real Savings
- Improve AP Workflow and your Bottom Line
- Save Time, Money and Trees with iForms
- Automate Report Distribution with DeliverNow!
- Remove Barriers with Seamless Integration between RPG, Excel and SQL
- 5 Ways CRM can Generate Leads and Improve Customer Service
- Optimum User Group Webinar: Going Paperless in HR

Feel free to watch any of these webinars at your leisure and give us call if you have questions or see something you like!

From industry insight to product tips, our monthly e-newsletter keeps you up-to-date with RJS news. In this edition, we unveil the 6 ways you can become an IT Superhero in 2011, offer a timely alert on safe emailing, present 5 ways CRM can generate leads and improve customer service and share our favorite April Fool’s gags.

Don’t forget to check out our calendar of upcoming webinars and tradeshows, too!

Check out the RJS April E-Newsletter.

Last Wednesday, we introduced and discussed part one of the “5 Ways CRM can Generate Leads and Improve Customer Service.” Today, we’ll finish off the topic with the final three CRM benefits.

3.  Improved Customer Service

CRM systems can be used to give customer service and help desk teams the tools to rapidly respond to customer issues and inquiries, and accurately track and manage problems from the time they are reported until they are resolved.

CRM systems can also transform these departments from cost centers into profit centers by empowering staff to actively participate in up-sell and cross-sell programs.

4.  Increased Business Intelligence

Advanced reporting and business intelligence are key components of most CRM systems. The insight these features provide allows companies to maximize the value of their customer data by using it to make better, more informed decisions.

Reports, performance management dashboards, and analytics provide users at all levels with complete visibility into customer-related activities within and across multiple departments. That insight allows you to better understand customer needs, preferences, and behaviors. It also allows you to identify emerging trends and opportunities and uncover problems or areas that need improvement.

5.  Enhanced Collaboration

Effective customer acquisition and retention requires synchronized, well-executed efforts across multiple customer-facing departments. CRM systems provide features that enable sales, marketing, service, and support staff to share information, coordinate activities and eliminate overlapping functions. As a result, they can work together to deliver a superior experience and build strong, long-lasting customer relationships.

Regardless or your company’s size, CRM software can help you better manage customer information, improve sales and increase knowledge sharing across your business. To learn more about what kind of CRM system is right for you, contact us at sales@rjssoftware.com, 1-888-RJS-SOFT or visit us online at www.rjssoftware.com.

Acquiring new customers and keeping existing customers happy is critically important to the success of any business. After all, your customers are your lifeblood. That’s why it’s essential to have an effective way to track and manage all sales, marketing and support activities.

Believe it or not, many businesses still manage customer information the old fashioned way – by using spreadsheets, notepads or a Rolodex. Without an organized method of managing this information, account data can be lost, leads can dry up, and support issues can fester until customers simply give up and find a new vendor.

Fortunately, there is an easy way to track and manage all that information using Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software.  CRM software comes in all shapes and sizes. There are server-based and hosted versions, and packages tailored for smaller or larger businesses.

Regardless of the system, a CRM application should include features that help sales professionals identify opportunities, win new deals and more effectively manage existing accounts. It should give marketing professionals the tools they need to track and manage databases, and analyze campaign results. Finally, it should allow you to manage customer service concerns and improve overall communication within your organization.

With a CRM system in place, you can begin to improve sales performance, account management and customer service in the following ways:

1.  Sales Force Automation

CRM systems make it easier for sales professionals to identify potential opportunities and win new deals. Representatives can more effectively manage their contacts, accounts, pipelines, and related activities. Additionally, sales directors can generate accurate and timely forecasts, and manage quota performance across teams and territories.

Many CRM systems also offer mobile capabilities to provide remote sales staff with anytime, anywhere access to customer data via laptops, smart phones and other handheld devices.

2.  Marketing Automation

With CRM systems, companies have the insight they need to put more successful lead generation strategies into place.

CRM systems enable marketing professionals to effectively track and manage prospect databases, organize and launch initiatives across multiple communication channels, and conduct in-depth analysis of campaign results. This allows them to increase response rates and boost conversions while reducing cost-per-lead.

We’ll return on Monday with the second part of 5 Ways CRM can Generate Leads and Improve Customer Service.