Spring Cleaning Your Software

Spring has sprung and the time for the cleaning to commence. In the more traditional sense, this comes in the form of vacuuming, dusting and cleaning out that cupboard, which is our go-to place for household items that don’t have a home. In this blog, we take time to look at Spring cleaning within your business and, more specifically, your Digital presence. Sprucing up your software, whether this is your Customer Relationship Management system (CRM), Content Management System (CMS), Emails or Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), (even folders containing your fire memes may be in need of an update). The notion of completing a Spring clean is to remove all that unwanted waste (digital or otherwise), to update the content that has been ignored for a while and, ultimately, to feel refreshed. 

CRM Cleaning

CRM systems are an incredibly useful tool, used to collect and manage data on current or prospect clients; using a CRM (in the right way) can be time and cost efficient for an organisation. When looking at the management of a CRM, it does depend on what industry you are in; for example, if you are in a sales-driven environment, the individual Sales executives are generally tasked with uploading their content into the system, whereas other organisations may choose a specific sector (such as Marketing) to update and monitor their CRM. Whichever option works best for your business, it is vital that someone is keeping on top of it.  

The saying ‘it’s quality not quantity’ really does apply to the CRM systems – a number of systems that I have come across, is full of old, useless information; updates of the CRM are vital to ensure that the information that is being used within your organisation is current and relevant.

From personal experience in Sales, I know how easy it is to create a task in the CRM with good intentions but, before you know it, 125 days have gone by and the task remains in the system ignored and incomplete. Interval cleaning up of tasks can contribute towards a more organised and, in turn, a more efficient CRM.

CMS Cleaning

CMSs are the backbone of an expertly-driven website; it acts as a foundation for all the content you create, whether it be for your own website or for online/email campaigns and, much like the CRM, the CMS can often be neglected for long periods of time – you do not want to let this happen. It may seem timely or a wasted labour but, interval updates will be beneficial for your organisation – small, regular edits are a lot easier than yearly renovations.

Overlooking your CMS updates can result in a decline in inbound leads or enquiries. A recent shift in website management appears to be on the rise; delegating the organisation of the CMS to your Marketing team can be advantageous as it means someone has overall responsibility of maintaining a high standard of CMS.

They’re many software applications available to you now, that are able to scan your website and identify numerous errors that may have been by-passed; from broken links to poor page speed. Software programmes can be useful when embarking on a more in-depth analysis of your website functionality, but having someone frequently checking and updating errors will improve your SEO.
A few simple tasks to set you underway with your CMS Spring cleaning:

• Updating Media Files (Video, Images)
•  Adding/changing new versions of products
•  Combining similar pages
•  Removing unnecessary pages or information
•  Fixing links

Improving these will more than likely lead to increased conversion on your website, which will have a direct correlation to sales. User journey and experience is critical for any website; from a user point of view, would you be more likely to use or buy from a site that has correct and relevant information that is constantly being updated, or a site that was old, out-of-date and confusing? It should go without saying.

All Software?

We have briefly touched based on why cleaning and updated your CRM, CMS and other website-related programmes and how you can do this; when undergoing any Spring cleaning process, it requires hard work and dedication but you will, undoubtedly, feel rejuvenated and ready to progress. The tips suggested in this article can, generally, be implemented throughout your business and with most software programmes. - the overarching theory behind this stays the same as well as the general methodology for completing it.

Things to remember:

•  Waste happens on everything and it needs to be cleaned
•  Efficiency can directly lead to increased sales
•  Team work to make the dream work – if all of your colleagues are involved in some area of Spring cleaning, this will be     beneficial to your business
•  Cleaning doesn’t just identify waste but also areas of improvement
•  BACK UP your data before embarking on a cleaning expedition