#237 Ian Francis – Ethical IT Joint Ventures

Ethical IT Joint Ventures with Ian Francis Today we have a guest from the deep South, all the way from Derby. He has ended up doing software development. And so, he's come to chat about ethical IT joint ventures. The reason he says 'ended up' is because he sold a business 20 years ago - a finance business. As he sold it, this thing called Google popped up! Francis got involved in Google advertising and experienced various courses that helped him learn to build a comprehensive advertising campaign. Essentially, what we now know as a CRM -  a customer relationship manager. Ethical joint IT ventures and CRM Some think a CRM is a fancy piece of software that only big businesses use. However, it is something all small businesses will learn to use in the near future. In fact, it will be incredibly necessary. http://thenext100days.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/CRM-and-small-businesses.mp4 Companies like Ian's are making owning a CRM much more affordable. As technology becomes more widespread, they become more affordable. CRM's save time and can increase sales. If you want a good system that does the job rather than sit as an address book, £150-£200 a month would be the payment range you could go for. Setting up a CRM is like writing a book. You do it once and then it's done. The real essence of CRM now is to help you focus on the right people who are interested, not the ones that are not interested. You don't need much to make a big difference in what you're doing in your business. Deal with the right people, at the right time using a CRM makes successful sales. The focus of CRM With all CRMs, you have an activity record to keep the journey of your customers or prospects. The one thing Ian always says to small companies is that you never lose somebody's records. Tickity boo Tickity boo is Ian's business. It's similar to things like SalesForce and HubSpot. It targets businesses who want a little website and covers the CRM basics in a very simple way. http://thenext100days.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/CRM-or-Adwords.mp4 Google has made their money by offering their customers the best possible search results. That is why they 'took over' the online world of marketing. Ian follows traditional routes of advertising and also puts out more content so people can do more things for themselves. As a result, when people get to him, they are already warm. It's a much more amicable conversation because they want to know more about his services. LinkedIn for prospecting LinkedIn has become a good platform for prospecting. They did have a lot of restraints on what you could do. But, Premium has allowed a large income stream that means LinkedIn has allowed a wider use. What drives you? This is pleasure and work all wrapped into one for Ian. He has been very luck that he's been able to continue working through lockdown, providing a system that his clients can get a real use out of. Why ethical? Ian was never that ethical. But as he has grown older he has realised we are making a bit of a mess of the world. Going green as far as hosting services has helped him go ethical and change that. http://thenext100days.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Going-ethical-as-a-business.mp4 If somebody isn't in this market, how would go about helping them? If someone hasn't got a system at the moment, a simplistic CRM system is enough. The trick of the CRM is not missing a call. Just by doing that, Ian estimates you'll get 20-30% uplift on your business. If you want to get in touch because you're interested in what he offers, send a message via his site here. If you want to get in contact Graham, you can messagings him via his website www.finelyfettled.com. And, if you want to get to know what Kevin's up to, follow the link here.