I just got back from hearing Bill Gates speak in person at Pomona College about the work he is doing with his Foundation. The event, sponsored by The Annenberg Leadership & Management Speakers series at Harvey Mudd College & The Distinguished Lecture Series at Pomona College, was a hit with over 2,000 in attendance! The event was held at the Bridges Auditorium at Pomona College and was quite an experience. It sure was something to be in the presence of a man who is currently worth over 58 Billion dollars and who is currently the world’s 2nd richest person!

Interviewed by Maria Klawe, president of Harvey Mudd College, Bill spoke on a variety of topics on his current philanthropy work. Some of the topics covered were his focus on vaccines, particularly the polio vaccine and about his work on HIV/AIDS, malaria, agriculture, and education. It truly was a privilege to hear Bill speak with such proximity; my seat being less than 50 feet away from the stage. More importantly, it was amazing to hear about the great work being done by Bill and his foundation.

It was quite amazing to see Bill so close in person. This event inspired me and I know it inspired others who attended. I look forward to seeing Bill again in the future….perhaps next time I’ll be able to get a photo with his signature? Now that would be legit.

About Bill Gates

Bill Gates is founder and former CEO of Microsoft. The tech visionary and business entrepreneur’s leadership–fueled by his long-held dream that millions might realize their potential through software–made Microsoft a personal computing powerhouse and household name.

In summer of 2008, Gates left his day-to-day role with Microsoft to focus on philanthropy. Maintaining that all lives have equal value no matter where they are lived, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation donates to expand opportunity to the world’s most disadvantaged people. Collaborating with grantees and partners, the Foundation is focused on programs in global health and education, HIV/AIDS, libraries and agriculture research.

Below Are Photos I Took Of The Event

Focus is the concentration of attention or energy on something. And being focused is absolutely critical in doing business. The secret of success is to focus on doing fewer things very well. The more I work with successful people, the more I realize they have certain things in common – they are selective about the projects they undertake, they continually evaluate how they use their time, and they don’t allow themselves to be distracted by anything that takes them away from their stated goals or makes them less than productive. They choose their goals and projects wisely, write them down, and stay focused on them. A great book to read on focus, is a book called “Focus: The Future of Your Company Depends on it!” by Al Ries.

Of all the issues that can sabotage your success, lack of focus is near the top of the list. Most people try to do too many things less than perfectly, and go in too many different directions at once, resulting in dissipated energy, loss of time and, sometimes, loss of money. The reality is this: you can’t do everything. It’s impossible. And, you can only really do one thing at a time.

The 80:20 Rule

The ’80:20 Rule’, also called the ‘Pareto Principle‘, states that typically 80% of unfocussed effort generates only 20% of results. The remaining 80% of results are achieved with only 20% of the effort. You can make this principle work for you by spending time only on those few things that will bring you 80% of the results or outcomes you want.

Part of the problem is that we actually have too many choices available to us. So you have to figure out what will count the most. Decide what efforts will make the biggest difference, and then bring your attention in that direction. Yes, that means you’ll have to say no, and perhaps sacrifice some things that you’re currently doing.

Instead of responding freely to the things that show up every day, decide what really counts. And put your focus there. Say NO to everything else – including any unplanned or unscheduled diversions. Remove the items from your to-do list that take you away from getting the results you want to achieve and have nothing to do with taking you where you really want to go. The things that sap your energy, waste your time, and clutter your desk.

Focus will enable you to complete projects well and on time with less energy, and give you the freedom to have some well deserved down time. It will bring your effort, energy, time and creativity to those projects that really count. Focus on only the few things you are really interested in that will move you forward and truly make a difference, do them very, very well, and you can’t go wrong!

Take Massive  Action!

As Anthony Robbins says, “Take Massive Action!” In order to be really successful, you have to take massive action! Here are some tips to get you started:

• List your most important projects. What are two or three things that will make a big difference for you if you bring your full attention to them over the next three months?
• This week, refocus your priorities and choose to bring your attention to your top three. List all your to-do’s, and eliminate any items that detract you from your goals. Narrow your priorities to a much shorter list.
• Throughout your day and week, take short periods to reevaluate your priorities. Ask yourself: What’s the best use of my time right now?
• Start each day with your number one priority. This is one of the most powerful ways to focus your attention. Choose a project that hasn’t been moving along as quickly as you would like, and decide to make it your number one priority until it is completed.
• Look at where in your life you’re overcommitted. Resolve to either delegate or drop 25% of your commitments.
• Act every day as if you were going on vacation the next day in order to build the muscle of making decisions quickly. You know how things get handled very quickly the day before you leave for your vacation? How much time could you free up by being that decisive every day?

Smart entrepreneurs know that strategic partnerships are the foundation for small business success. This article shows you how to create strategic alliances that will help your business beat the competition through access to partner resources, including markets, technologies, capital and people. Successful small business owners are realizing that if they are going to make it, they are going to need help, and one of the places they are finding help is through the formation of small business alliances.

What is a strategic alliance?

A strategic alliance is a cooperative agreement with another company to combine resources in a way that is beneficial to both parties. Unlike a merger, both companies maintain their individual identities, goals, mission, etc. The purpose of the alliance is simply to create opportunities for the two companies to work together to achieve a specified goal – promotion, purchasing, product manufacturing, or something else entirely.

Understandably, many small business owners are hesitant to partner with other businesses, particularly businesses that operate in the same industry. After all, what good could possibly come from helping the competition?

But suppose you own a pizza parlor and a competitor approached you about joining forces to place a combined order that would reduce the cost of your tomato sauce by 35%. Sure, your competitor would reduce his expenses, but so would you. More importantly, it would give both of your companies a competitive advantage over all the other pizza parlors in the area.

That’s the power of a strategic alliance. Both companies benefit and realize a marketplace advantage they would not have been able to achieve independently. It is about producing synergy. Where the whole is greater than the sum of the individual parts and is represented as being: 2 + 2 = 5

Where can I find alliance partners?

The marketplace is full with potential partners for strategic alliances. Potential partners can be competitors, although they are more often found in businesses that provide complementary goods and services. Even so, don’t be afraid to look outside your industry for alliance partners. Sometimes very successful partnerships can be created between companies that have seemingly little in common.

Customers provide another source for strategic partners, particularly if you specialize in a business-to-business industry. Since a relationship already exists between the two companies, you should already have a level of trust and mutual respect for one another. If the alliance is successful, you’ve also given the customer an added incentive to continue to do business with your company.

How do I set-up a strategic alliance?

Strategic alliances can be as informal or formal as you like. Some alliances involve long-term written agreements while others operate on a largely informal basis. The important thing is to make sure that both partners are aware of what they are expected to do and what they can expect to receive as a result of the alliance. [1]

Regardless of how you decide to structure the alliance, it’s important for both partners to share the risks and the benefits. If your company is left to carry all the risk for half the benefit, then you’re probably being taken advantage of and need to look elsewhere for a new alliance partner.

Personally, I like the L7 events because the people are down to earth and the events are always held at aesthetically-pleasing venues. I’ve made great personal and business connections and I plan to continue to make more. Definitely worth checking out!

History of The L7 Scene

L7 began in September 2003 as a way for young professionals from a cross-section of industries to meet socially or for business networking opportunities. Each month L7 hosts between five and ten events including cocktail networking, dinner/ holiday parties, wine tasting, cooking classes, recreational events and restaurant launch parties. They also partner with museums, theaters, the philharmonic and other businesses to bring concerts, special events and sporting events.

“Many have told us our simple concept is exactly what they’re looking for. A wise L7 member was once quoted saying, “L7 brings together people, culture, aesthetics, music, restaurants and style without the usual LA attitude.” -Kathrin Nolan, Founders of L7

About Kathrin

Kathrin Nolan is a native to So. Cal., serial entrepreneur and grunion hunter. Talking one day about the LA social scene, she and a friend took matters into their own hands and started organizing events to build a much needed sense of community in our beautiful city. How’s it going you ask? Come and see for yourself![1]

About Deepak Chopra

Deepak Chopra is a world-renowned authority in the field of mind-body healing, a best-selling author, and the founder of the Chopra Center for Wellbeing. Heralded by Time Magazine as the “poet-prophet of alternative medicine,” he is also the host of the popular weekly Wellness Radio program on Sirius/XM Stars.

A global force in the field of human empowerment, Dr. Chopra is the prolific author of more than fifty-five books, including fourteen bestsellers on mind-body health, quantum mechanics, spirituality, and peace. Dr. Chopra’s books have been published in more than eighty-five languages. His New York Times bestseller Peace Is the Way won a prestigious Quill Award, and The Book of Secrets was awarded the grand prize at the 2005 Nautilus Book Awards; his bestselling novel, Jesus: A Story of Enlightenment, was released in 2008. He is a columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle and Washington Post On Faith and contributes regularly to Intent.com and the Huffington Post.

The path outlined in The Soul of Leadership: Unlocking Your Potential For Greatness applies to any business, but the same principles are relevant in every community and area of life, from family and home to school, place of worship, and neighborhood. Awareness of ones own and others’ needs and a deeper understanding of ones leadership potential can make a profound change in the way one leads. Chopra combines spiritual wisdom with modern dynamic psychology with insights into group dynamics, loyalty, creativity, vision, security, and achievement. He utilizes examples of great leaders and a clear, concise breakdown of the virtues that a great leader must possess, plus the stories of ordinary people who have become successful visionaries. Watch a video of Deepak speaking about leadership lessons.

Chopra addresses the following:

1. Synchronicity: The ability to create good luck and find invisible support that carries one beyond predicted outcomes to a higher plane.
2. Emotional bonding: Clearing away toxic emotions so you can clearly understand your own specific needs, and those of others.
3. Awareness: A leader must continually ask the tough questions that underlie every challenge, such as Who am I? What do I want What does the situation demand?
4. Action oriented: This requires persistence and tenacity, but also the ability to view any situation with flexibility and humor
5. Responsibility: Responsible leadership includes choosing considered risks rather than reckless ones, walking the talk, having integrity and living up to your inner values.

Chopra contends an organization’s leader is its symbolic soul. He carried that theme through his hour-long Drucker Business Forum talk, emphasizing that good leaders (and happy people in general) are introspective and guided in their actions by a higher purpose.[1]

Speaker/Professor/Lecturer

Deepak Chopra’s popularity as an international presenter and keynote speaker is exemplified by an impressive list of honorariums. For more than a decade, he has participated as a lecturer at the Update in Internal Medicine event sponsored by Harvard Medical School’s Department of Continuing Education and the Department of Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Dr. Chopra is a fellow of the American College of Physicians, a member of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists, an adjunct professor at Kellogg School of Management, and a senior scientist with the Gallup Organization.

About Drucker Business Forum:

The Drucker Business Forum is produced by The Peter F. Drucker and Masatoshi Ito Graduate School of Management at Claremont Graduate University. The Drucker Business Forum is a dynamic breakfast-hour series featuring leading business thinkers, distinguished executives and business journalists that focus on Business Leadership, Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Values.

The Drucker Business Forum was launched in 2009 as part of The Drucker Centennial, marking the 100th birthday of Peter F. Drucker, the father of modern management; author of 39 books on organizational behavior, innovation, economy, and society; and winner of the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

These forums are an opportunity for the Los Angeles area business community to connect and hear the insights and experiences of great speakers. For those not in Los Angeles, the Drucker Business Forum makes the videos of all their forums available relatively soon after the events. Drucker Business Forums take place in downtown Los Angeles, Pasadena and soon in Beverly Hills. Take a look at upcoming event here. Be sure to register to get updates of upcoming events and stay connected by joining them on Facebook, Twitter and their video Blog.[2]

Toastmasters Club at the Drucker School

In addition to attending the sponsored events by the Drucker Business Forum, be sure to also check out Toastmasters Club 2250 that meets at the Drucker School of Management every friday morning as well!

[2]“The Soul of Leadership: Unlocking Your Potential for Greatness Deepak Chopra in conversation with Lisa Napol.” Drucker School of Business and Management (2011): n. pag. Web. 22 Jan 2011. .

For individuals and organizations, effectiveness is no longer merely an option — survival requires it. But to thrive, excel and lead as a Knowledge Worker, we must move beyond effectiveness to greatness, which includes fulfillment, passionate execution and significant contribution. Accessing a higher level of human genius and motivation requires a change in thinking – it requires an additional habit to those featured in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. But the real challenge is to find our own voice and to inspire others to find theirs.

This is The 8th Habit. The 8th Habit shows you how to tap the value-creation promise of Peter Drucker’s Knowledge Worker. It shows you how to solve the major contradictions inherent in organizational life — most of which are a carryover from the Industrial Age. This book will transform the way you think about yourself, your purpose in life, your organization and your view towards people. It explains how to add more value to others and how to move from effectiveness to greatness.

Covey’s book consists of 5 major themes. They are as follows:

1. The Power of Win-Win Thinking

When you’re willing to suspend your own interests long enough to understand what the other person wants most, you can collaborate on a new, creative solution. This is also the focus of Roger Fisher and William Ury’s brilliant negotiation book, “Getting To Yes,” where both parties work in creating a mutually-agreeable, mutually-beneficial solution that fits the underlying interests of both parties. I believe their is always a win-win situation among two parties. There is no question on whether you can add more value to your customers or business relationships – you can always add more value! The question is how hard will you work to find the underlying interests of the other party and being creative in adding massive value. Find the underlying interests, add massive value, think win-win, and perform brilliantly. Do these things consistently and you will lead with greatness.

2. How to Increase Your Influence

Find out how to work on these three dimensions of yourself:

Ethos: Your ethical nature, personal credibility, and the trust others have in your integrity.
Pathos: Your empathy. knowing how others feel and how they see things.
Logos: The power and persuasion of your own presentation and thinking.

3. Connection Between Leadership Philosophy and Success

The very top people in truly great organizations are “Servant Leaders.” They are the most humble, the most reverent, the most open, the most teachable, the most respectful and the most caring. Servant Leaders want to serve first. They are sharply different from the one who aspire to be a leader first, perhaps because of the need to assuage an unusual power drive or to acquire material possessions. The Servant Leader shares an extreme type of belief system on leadership that identifies key moral behaviors. Servant Leaders model moral authority through service, humility and contribution. They desire to serve first among all things.

The “best test” on measuring servant leadership is one which Robert K. Greenleaf created in 2002 in his work, “Servant leadership: A journey into the nature of legitimate power and greatness.” It includes the following:

“Do those served grow as persons? Do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants? And, what is the effect on the least privileged in society? Will they benefit or at least not be further deprived?”

These are questions which concern the servant leader. The servant leader philosophy is a lifelong journey that includes discovery of one’s self, a desire to serve others, and a commitment to lead. When practiced, it is a leadership philosophy which will bring success in many forms and bring leaders from effectiveness to greatness.

4. The importance of The Balanced Scorecard

“Balanced Scorecard” means different things to different people. At one extreme, a measurement-based balanced scorecard is simply a performance measurement framework for grouping existing measures into categories, and displaying the measures graphically, usually as a dashboard. The measures in these systems are usually operational, not strategic, and are used primarily to track production, program operations and service delivery (input, output, and process measures).

At the other extreme, the balanced scorecard is a robust organization-wide strategic planning, management and communications system. These are strategy-based systems that align the work people do with organizational vision and strategy. They communicate strategic intent throughout the organization and to external stakeholders and provide a basis for better aligning strategic objectives with resources.

Developing a balanced scorecard system is like putting a puzzle together, where different pieces come together to form a complete mosaic. In the balanced scorecard, the “pieces” are strategic components that are built individually, checked for “fit” against other strategic components, and assembled into a complete system. The major components of a balanced scorecard system are shown below:

Leading with greatness is concerned not only with the traditional bottom line, but also with the quality of the organization’s relationships with all its key stakeholders. It is about bettering the quality of your working relationships with people. When properly practiced, these are predictors of outstanding future results.

5. How to Create The 8th Habit leadership

The 8th Habit leader has the mindset and the skill set to constantly look for the potential in people. This kind of leadership communicates to people their own worth so clearly that they come to see it in themselves. The bulk of the book details how, after finding your own voice, you can inspire others to create a workplace of synergy and engagement. This includes establishing trust, searching for third alternatives (not a compromise between your way and my way, but a third and better way) and developing a shared vision.

This book is easy going. There is less business jargon and more practical examples that allow for a more exciting and more helpful experience. As you apply the 8th Habit to find your own voice — and inspire others to find theirs — you will increase your own power to solve your greatest challenges and more importantly, to serve human needs.

“Our basic nature is to act, and not be acted upon.” – Steven Covey

Throughout this week, I’ve had some really good discussions with some friends about business philosophy and business psychology. In my opinion, being an entrepreneur is not hard. It just takes mastery of a few golden principles that create a paradigm shift in ones thinking. And a book that explains it better than most is Steven Covey’s ”The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.” This book is a business book classic with having sold over 15 million copies in over 38 languages since its first publication in 1989. The principles in this book are timeless and true. I’d like to share its value with you so that you may learn to master any area of your life.

Overview

The following is a synopsis of Steven Covey’s book “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change.” Noted as one of the most influential and innovative writers on personal development in the later half of 21 st century, Steven Covey presents a beautifully interconnected and synergistic approach to living a successful, interdependent life. Successful application of this book will provide the tools to having evolutionary growth in the areas of self-mastery, interpersonal relationships and healthy living. A holistic understanding of Covey’s work requires investigation on the most essential aspects of his management philosophy.

Covey provides a wonderful model of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. The Habits start with dependance and move to independence.  Covey illustrates that the ultimate goal of attaining success is by harvesting a culture of interdependancy in one’s relationships. I break this book into three main components: (I) Paradigms and principles (II) Response to stimuli and (III) the process of change.

I. Paradigms and Principles

In order to conquer our problems and provide lasting value to our person, we must first realize the importance of having a principled centered paradigm shift in our way of thinking and living. The original concept of a paradigm shift came from the Greeks who believed it was a unique “model, perception or frame of reference” however, the actual term “Paradigm shift” was widely introduced by Thomas Kohn in 1962 through his work in “The Structure of Scientific Revolutions.” The goal is to have our values internalized into habits. By mastering the self, Covey reveals that we will be better equipped with the necessary tools to form enduring physical, emotional and most importantly, personal synergy. Just as a doctor takes a diagnosis for his patient, so we must also take an accurate diagnosis of our self. Growth is multi-dimensional and multi-various; it consists of learning and re-building on learned material.

II. Response to Stimuli

Most people in the world today take an outside-in approach where an environmental stimulus dominates choice and response. Covey presents a more effective application. In fact, Covey categorizes our response to stimuli into two areas: (1) Re-active focus and (2) Pro-active focus.

A. Re-Active Focus

Re-active focus is the response that is concerned with external things. It is when stimulus controls and dictates choice. Re-active focus is concerned with weaknesses based on circumstance. It is when people worry on things to which they have no control. “Re-active people” focus their efforts on feelings (outside stimulus). The consequences in behavior lead to increased feelings of inadequacy, helplessness and dependence on others. They also include things such as blaming, accusing attitudes, reactive language and increased feeling of victimization. By being “re-active” to stimulus, you decrease your circle of influence and increase your circle of concern.

B. Pro-active Focus

Pro-active focus is positive energy accompanied by an enlarging Circle of Influence. By nature, “pro-active focus” is concerned with principle valued centeredness. It brings empowerment, confidence and self-independence. The behavior of a pro-active person includes being value-driven and character driven. It is the ability to read reality accurately and know what is required to build positive resonance.

The Proactive Model above shows a visual picture of the pro-active, inside-out approach to personal development. A person mastered in pro-active focus will increase their Circle of Influence with confidence. Pro-activity in its clearest manifestation is the ability to keep promises and commitments to ourselves, to others and to our integrity. However small they may be, fulfilled commitments and promises are the essence of growth. When we do choose to utilize our imagination and independent will in fulfilling our promises and commitments, we then act on these underlying “subconscious” motives which in tern, build confidence and strength of character. With each successfully honored promise or commitment we make and fulfill, as small as they may be, the more we begin to establish and keep an inner integrity that gives us the self-control, the courage, the strength and the self-awareness in becoming more effective in everything we do.

III. Process of Change

The Upward Spiral to the right shows a simple 3-step process for conscious change. This process of growth consists of a 3-step process: mastering commitment, learning and doing.

A. Direct Control: Private Victories

We can make change in our person and within our relationships with others by giving ourselves “private victories.” These private victories will allow us to break through any dependency we have towards others and allow for full interdependency within our lives. This process of growth is found by working on Habits 1-3

• Habit 1 – Being Proactive
• Habit 2 – Begin with the end in mind
• Habit 3 – Put first things first

B. Indirect Control: Public Victories

After mastering ourselves though private victories, we can then and only then move onto achieving “public victories.” Public victories are solved by changing our methods of influence. It includes creating harmony and synergy in our relationships with others. This process of growth is formed by working on habits four through six. They include:

• Habit 4 – Think win/win
• Habit 5 – Seek first to understand … Then to be understood
• Habit 6 – Synergize

B. No Control

Some things in life require us to overcome life’s obstacles by taking the responsibility to live in faith and to accept our problems and live with them happily. One is able to do this through the application of all the habits combined including habit 7 which is “sharpening the saw.

• Habit 7 – Sharpening The Saw

We must continually practice and build upon these habits within our lives for optimal growth and success in all forms.

So how do you master your public speaking skills?

Answer – Toastmasters International.

What is Toastmasters International?

Toastmasters International (TI) is a nonprofit educational organization that operates clubs worldwide for the purpose of helping members improve their communication, public speaking and leadership skills. Through its thousands of member clubs, Toastmasters International offers a program of communication and leadership projects designed to help men and women learn the arts of speaking, listening, and thinking. With more than 250,000 members and over 12,500 clubs located across the United States, Canada and in 104 other countries, Toastmasters International has been the trusted choice for those looking to improve and master their public speaking skills.

Four months ago, I personally joined a local Toastmasters club for the purpose of mastering the art and skill of public speaking. Before joining Toastmasters, I always thought of myself as being a decent communicator and public speaker. I mean, I took public speaking classes in college, was heavily involved in organizations on and off campus, and even hosted events for non-profits. But it wasn’t until I joined my local toastmasters club that I realized how much I was really missing. Since joining just four months ago, I and my fellow toastmaster club members have noticed a huge improvement in my ability to express certain ideas to a large audience of people. And just a few weeks ago, I was elected the Vice President of Public Relations.

Membership is extremely affordable. There is a $20 membership fee and $27 that is due every 6 months. It is a great investment and encourage everyone to join!

Claremont Club Information

We have an awesome club. We are officially “Club 2250 – University Toastmasters” and we meet in the “The Peter F. Drucker and Masatoshi Ito Graduate School of Management” in Claremont, CA every Friday at 7:11 am. Everyone is very welcoming and very friendly and If you are in the area, I highly encourage you to come and join us:

Club 2250 - University Toastmasters
The Peter F. Drucker & Masatoshi Ito Graduate School of Management
1021 North Dartmouth Avenue, Room #20
Claremont, CA 91711

Meeting Time: Every Friday at 7:11-8:15 AM

Membership is open to all people ages 18 and above wishing to improve their communications skills. To learn more about Toastmasters International or where to find your local toastmasters group, visit the Toastmasters international website to learn more.

This month, Rio will be deploying a new company-wide Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool. We thought we’d share our process with you, and in this post we will uncover the different types of CRM solutions available out there.

What is a CRM?

A Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solution is a set of tools for managing and nurturing your interactions with customers and prospective customers.¹ It includes tools that help automate business processes, like tracking sales interactions, monitoring marketing campaigns and providing comprehensive customer support. The overall goal is to find, attract, and win new clients or nurture and retain those your company already has.

Open Source CRM Solutions

Who said great software has to cost an arm and a leg? Open source software allows you to study, change and improve on the software because the code is released publicly. Due to the free-spirited nature of open source software, large communities are often formed around open source projects allowing the code to develop over time for the greater good of the community.

You can download, install, and customize open source software to suit your needs as your business grows. You get greater flexibility, but are required to keep up with your own maintenance, bugfixes and upgrades. These are the top three open source CRM solutions we reviewed:

SugarCRM

SugarCRM was founded in 2004 as an open source project on Sourceforge. It was an instant success and has grown to house over 150 employees with $46 million from investors. SugarCRM comes in 4 editions which all share the same code tree. This means that while you have to pay for the enterprise edition, you can download and run the community edition for free. Talk about a bargain! Community edition contains roughly 85% of the core functionality of the enterprise edition, yet you are not required to pay a dime! Sugar runs on the LAMP stack (Linux, Apache, mySQL and PHP) as well as other platforms that support PHP. It features all the functionality you would expect from a robust CRM, and since it is backed by the enterprise edition and a great open-source community, SugarCRM can rival the many paid CRM solutions out there.

Fat Free CRM

I first heard about Fat Free CRM in an article Nick forwarded to me from Inc Magazine. It is an open source Ruby on Rails based CRM platform that features out-of-the-box group collaboration, campaign/lead management, contact lists, opportunity tracking and more. Just as the name implies, the goal of Fat Free is to focus on simplicity. The easy-to-use interface lets you track leads generated by your advertising campaigns on Facebook, Google, Craigslist, etc. Anything that you can’t do out-of-the-box can be easily extended by a developer and you can also run it on your internal server for added security. One word of caution: Installing Fat Free is a bit tricky, especially if you’re not comfortable looking at software code, but once the application is installed, you definitely don’t have to be a developer to use it.²

openCRX

openCRX is a professional open source CRM system featuring rich functionality in sales force automation, customer service and support, marketing automation and analytics. It also delivers a rich set of groupware features like e-mail, calendaring, and even a full-blown wiki. openCRX is easy to customize via its XML-based customization system and can be extended by writing your own workflows or developing your own extensions. The true power of openCRX shines when you unleash its ability to track and improve your complete business process. Connect it to your external systems, like ecommerce and order handling systems. However, be sure to read the instructions carefully, as it can quickly become overwhelming. Not to worry, the extensive documentation provided is a great resource to help you through.

Paid CRM Solutions

The name says it all: with paid CRM solutions, well, you gotta pay! These CRM services usually charge either an upfront fee for desktop based software (take a look at ACT), or the ever popular web based software applications who charge a monthly subscription fee for their service. With a paid web-based CRM, the software is updated and maintained for you, so you never have to worry about installation, upgrades or server management. However, you are trusting a third-party with your data and your downtime, but this type of solution is still great for small companies without an internal IT department since it is maintenance free.

Salesforce

Salesforce is a subscription based CRM founded in 1999. It is available in 16 different languages and caters to over 55,400 customers around the world.³ The Salesforce CRM can be broken down into multiple modules that cater toward all aspects of your business, like sales, service/support, partner relationship management, marketing, content, ideas and analytics. Salesforce is primarily a web based service accessed through your web browser, but also includes a SOAP Web Service API to interface with your other applications, adding great flexibility and automation possibilities. The Salesforce AppExchange allows third party developers to build additional add-ons to Salesforce and currently features over 800 applications that are waiting to help you run your business more efficiently. Be sure to check the current pricing, as at the time of this writing the prices are pretty steep.

Highrise

Highrise lets you track your leads, contacts, and deals providing you with a smarter way to keep track of the people you do business with. Know who you talked to, what was said, and when to follow-up next. Get business done. Highrise is the answer to the avalanche: so many people, phone calls, emails, notes, follow-ups, and tasks. Who is this person again? When did we last speak? What did we talk about? Has anyone else in my company talked to this person? What’s supposed to happen next? Highrise keeps track of it all. Monitor pending sales leads, proposals, wins & losses. Manage email better by easily forwarding or BCCing your emails right into Highrise. Easy import & export of Outlook, Excel, CSV, vCard, ACT! and Basecamp contacts.

Tactile CRM

Tactile CRM can track conversations, sales and contact history. With Tactile CRM you can keep track of the people and companies you do business with, opportunities in the pipeline, communications with them, and what needs to be done next. Tactile CRM lets you easily record every email, telephone call, note, activity and meeting, so that you and your colleagues can quickly see every interaction. Easily search contacts – organizations, people and recently viewed. Set up activities to remind you of outstanding actions against each organization, such as calling them back. Assign organizations and activities to other users with optional email notification. Share information on clients and contacts with others in your organization by using our simple access control, or let everybody see everything. Categorize your contacts by status, source, classification, rating, industry. Import and Export data from csv files, vCards, Google, Microsoft Outlook and more. Download into Excel at the click of a button. Create mailing lists to send mail-merged letters or emails using the powerful tagging system. Work with the email client of your choice with its easy-to-use email integration – including Outlook, Mail.app and GMail.

Marketing Expert Seth Godin

Build a profitable relationship with your most valuable asset, your customer.

It’s hard to believe how little value is given to the customer these days. Emails are ignored, support is outsourced to call centers, salespeople mislead just to close a deal. If you consider the use of the Internet in today’s business, you might just say that customers have become, “a dime a dozen!”

Very wrong! Marketing expert Seth Godin recently pointed out just how much the lifetime value of a customer can be. “Few businesses understand (really understand) just how much a customer is worth,” Seth says. “Add to this the additional profit you get from a delighted customer spreading the word–it can easily double or triple the lifetime value.”¹

It’s not about how much you win with one sale, or how much you lose with one lost deal, but each customer actually has the potential to increase in value 100 fold over a lifetime.

Outstanding Service

I’ve never called in to Godaddy and waited more than three minutes on hold. When I am greeted, I am treated like a star. They truly value me as a customer. They provide me with outstanding service, and in turn, I have directed every one of my friends to their service.

For instance, Tony Hsieh’s e-commerce giant Zappos.com (which was purchased by Amazon for nearly $1 billion last July 2009) values their customer as their most valuable asset. They focus on customer service, something often overlooked in the last decade, and while sales reached $840M in 2007, they continue to maintain the culture and feel of a small company.

So if Tony can do it, so can you! You just have to understand the true value of your customers.

Listen to your Customer

A big mistake I’ve made in the past is ignoring my customers. What could they possibly know better than I? It was not until I started listening to my customers that I really connected with them, learned their desires and improved the quality of what I had to offer them. I can now say that I get plenty of referrals for my work now, and have built many solid, lifelong relationships with great people.

Be Passionate or Get Out

If you’re not passionate about what you’re doing, then you should probably be doing something else. When you’re passionate about your work, your customer will see this and want to do business with you. I know that I wouldn’t get into the hamburger business with the local McDonalds clerk, because i can tell that he’s not passionate about what he does. If you are passionate, you will attract more customers and more people who want to be around you and witness your success.

How do you show your customers their true value? Comment below.