Sage (UK) Limited has included social media integration in its small business CRM software, ACT! by Sage and is issuing a free guide to help small businesses benefit from social media.

Only 8% of small businesses are using social media to learn more about their customers according to a survey conducted by business software and services company Sage.

A monthly survey of over 4000 Sage UK customers discovered that only 8.4% of its small business customers were making the most of the opportunities presented by social media to connect with their customers.   

With more people using social media for business and pleasure the opportunities for small businesses to have a better understanding of their customers are greater than ever.

To address this growing opportunity Sage has included social media integration into its customer relationship software, ACT! by Sage 2010.

To help make the most of this information, ACT! by Sage 2010 integrates with social media sites, such as LinkedIn®, Facebook, Google Maps™,  to build a richer picture of your customers and prospects.  ACT! by Sage 2010 helps  to develop long-lasting, profitable relationships so existing customers keep coming back and new customer referrals keep coming in.

Sage have also released a free guide “Connecting with your customers; A guide to social media” which includes:

•   Using social media to gain insight to improve customer relations
•   Managing your reputation online
•   Driving traffic and improving Google rankings
•   Social Media and CRM software

Other benefits of using ACT! by Sage 2010 include:

•   All contacts and appointments easy to access.
•   Customer details, notes and history easily accessed and shared
Sales opportunities tracking
•   Accurate forecast of where sales are coming from, helps to plan more effectively.
•   Simple to create, send and track emails to and from contacts, and access the ready-made templates.
•   Integrates with Microsoft Outlook, Gmail & online social networks