It’s finally here!
The new Batchbook Droid App is available for free in the Android Market. I’m personally a big fan of Android phones, and got to help out with some of the testing, which is good because I’m also one of the folks fielding customer support questions – so if you run into any problems or have questions about it you can email us at support@batchblue.com and we’ll help you out.
The app is similar to the iPhone app but does have one major difference. With the Droid app, you have the ability to sync records of a particular tag. You can find which contacts you would like to sync to the Droid, tag them, then sync with just that tag. The app has a limit of 3000 contacts which will sync to your phone, so if you do have a ton of records in your account it would be a good idea to tag the ones you need most when you are on the go. I’d suggest a “Record Last Updated” or “Record Communicated With” Advanced search to quickly grab the contacts you’ve been dealing with lately.
You have the ability to add/edit/delete new or existing Contacts, To-Dos, and Deals. The Communications aren’t on the app, but if you press the blue Batchbook icon from the View Contact screen displayed here you can quickly see all of your Communications on the full version of the site. Then just press the back arrow button on your phone, and you’ll go back to the app for that icon.
Here are a few tips that will hopefully help get you organizing your mobile contacts: (more…)
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We at BatchBlue have many friends. As a company we connect with many other providers, work with them on The Small Business Web, our BarCamp Tour, and other fun events. We love that Batchbook itself is just as social and getting more so as it frequently makes new friends with other services. Two recent announcements by some new great Batchbook friends are really exciting and we’re glad to announce them here.
TeamSupport: We love customer support and all the tools that make helping customers easier. We were super pleased to work with our friends over at TeamSupport as they built a really wonderful integration with Batchbook. TeamSupport is a full featured and quite robust Help Desk system and the integration with Batchbook lets you share your information between these two great systems.
TeamSupport’s customer support and help desk application offers native integration with BatchBlue’s Batchbook CRM. Company and contact information can by synced from Batchbook to TeamSupport. Conversely, ticket information can be sent back into Batchbook for easy and contextual viewing. Learn More about this integration and see how effortlessly you can share data between these systems.
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Tags: activecampaign, batchmakers, teamsupport
I was once told that when interviewing for a new job at any company, it is beneficial to ask any real questions you have to the person who has been working at the company for the least amount of time as they are likely to be the least loyal and thus have the least reason to lie.
At BatchBlue Software, technically that person would be me.
Bill Pasnau, nice to meet you. I’m a part of the Customer Experience team which means if you’ve got an issue that you’ve sent over to support@batchblue.com there is a pretty good chance we’ve already had some interaction! When asked if I would be willing to write a post for the company blog, the first topic that came to my mind was how amazingly different my new job is compared to any other position I’ve ever held. Why is it so different? The flexibility.
I was in a staff meeting this morning in our office in Providence, RI. Monday is the only day of the week that I come into the office. I come for the meeting, and stay for the pastries (let’s be real, you would stay too). Outside of Monday morning staff meetings though, driving into the office is about as optional as the last week of high school for the senior class. Why? BatchBlue is designed so I can effectively do my job from anywhere I have an internet connection and a laptop! I can answer support emails from my uncle’s house in western CT, or my sister’s horse farm, or my mother in law’s house a couple days before her second daughter’s wedding (all things I’ve gotten to do with this new position). I rarely have to ask for time off since I can check emails from almost anywhere.
A big part of the tele-commuting success though is the support I receive from my co-workers. My wife wondered if I was going to ever get anything done working from home, other than really getting some mileage out of my Netflix subscription. The thing is, I’m never “alone” while I’m working. We use Skype to chat with each other from RI to NY to IL, even WA! We video chat once a week as well, because just that little bit of virtual face time with your co-workers after a few days at home or working from coffee shops around town, really lifts the spirits. If that doesn’t work, the treats on Monday morning do!
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One of my more recently assumed responsibilities around here is to lead some of our Batchbook Webinars and to work with customers during their Onboarding sessions. I really enjoy both of these activities as they let me share my knowledge of Batchbook and show people how they can use it in real situations, and for real business.
There are a lot of theoreticals when you build a product or provide a service but ultimately it comes down to the people you work with. This emphasis on people is really one of the best things about working here at BatchBlue. We want you to know who you are working with when you contact us – we each have profiles on our About Page so you can get to know us. (here is mine) Every email you send is read and responded to by someone here who wants to help, who likes to help, and who understands that our response is read by another real person on the other side.
I think this is important because it gives us a framework to really understand who you are, who you really are. During Onboarding sessions I expect that kids will interrupt, you may be running a few minutes late because a nap didn’t start on time, a call ran late, life interrupted. In a call today my own cat walked across my table and stepped on the volume control for my headset, yesterday my doorbell rang. This happens, this is the way that we work and how business is done. To pretend otherwise is to ignore the reality of who you are, and who your customers are.
Batchbook has always been about people and relationships and the belief that a good CRM manages that process and all the rest is built on top of that. We hope that Batchbook is a good fit for you and that you can use it to remember the things you need to remember about the people you work with.
Tags: batchbook, customers
When is the last time you were truly delighted as a customer? We asked ourselves this question during a recent customer experience brainstorming session. One BatchBluer had been given a free cookie after she bought her daily lunch from our L’Artisan, our favorite local deli. Another had received a card from a store on his birthday. And the experience that stuck out for me was when I mentioned to the manager of clothing boutique Clad In that I had lost a necklace I recently purchased and she immediately gave me another one, free of charge.
In each of these examples, they were all little things, but they were all unexpected. The merchants at these various small businesses did something extra that resulted in a positive experience for their respective customers. So we started thinking – what are some other ways we could really wow our customers and show them how much they mean to us? We came up with a pretty good list, so as we would with a box of chocolate or other delicious snack, we thought we’d share.
1. Provide an experience, not just service. We call the folks who help our customers the Customer Experience team, not customer support or customer service. That’s because our team does more than answer questions: they play an active part in educating and empowering our customers on how to best use our product via webinars, providing 1-on-1 onboarding sesssions, writing blog posts and much more. You want your customers to have a good experience with your company so you should actively work to give them one.
2. Shout your customer love from the rooftops. We know our customers are awesome and we want others to know as well. When we see someone doing something exceptionally cool, we’ll reach out to them and ask if they’d like to be featured in a case study or a blog post. We have a whole website section called BatchMakers that’s devoted to people who are using our API. Think of ways you can shine the spotlight on your customers. Whether it’s on your website or a picture on a bulletin board in your shop, people love to be recognized for what they do.
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Tags: batchblue, Customer Service, freshbooks, mailchimp, small business, Social Media
