CRM (Customer Relationship Management) is not only for large companies, sales teams composed of a handful of employees can also use it to improve their efficiency and productivity, because a CRM can better manage customer interactions, centralize customer data, communicate better and improve customer satisfaction.
Those who already have a clear idea of the usefulness of this software can skip this part of the article, for the others a brief presentation of the functions that this type of software offers is necessary:
-> A CRM software allows to store all the customer data in a unique database. The CRM allows you to centralize the management of the different contact vectors with the customers, by compiling all the customer interactions in the same place and by notifying the follow-up actions or prospecting to be carried out, it improves the productivity and the reactivity.
-> A CRM helps to better understand the needs of customers and to offer them adapted solutions. A CRM allows you to analyze the behavior of your customers with respect to your offers and to initiate appropriate actions or targeting if you notice that sales are more difficult to achieve or that prospects have difficulty understanding your offers.
-> CRM software can help you automate certain tasks. If you notice that repetitive tasks (managing customer follow-ups, email marketing, social media posts…) take up a lot of your time, adopting a CRM will allow you to delegate and automate certain tasks and focus on those with higher added value.
-> A CRM software helps you analyze customer data, understand customer behaviors and make more informed decisions. If you are struggling to track your business performance and make decisions to align your marketing objectives with your sales actions.
In short, the purpose of a CRM is to centralize the information needed by the sales, marketing and customer service functions (or departments). There are many CRMs, each with their own particularities. The purpose of this article is not to compare them, but as its title indicates, to identify the 5 signs that indicate that your company is ready to use this technology.
In the course of their activity, your employees will use different tools: support system, e-mail, chat-bot, telephone, social networks… to prospect or manage the relationship with customers and prospects.
However, as the company grows, the management of the information they collect in a database management software (File Maker type), or worse an Excel spreadsheet, can become difficult to manage because the compilation of information, their exploitation and their update will have to be done manually and continuously. After a certain number of contacts, this can become very problematic and lead to a decrease in efficiency.
A CRM software is designed to store all the contact data of a company’s customers and prospects in a single centralized database. This makes it possible to agglomerate all customer data (contact information, email addresses, social accounts, websites, sales cycles, socio-demographic or behavioral information…) in a single tool, to standardize it as much as possible, to update it more easily and to keep track of all interactions.
If you're not using #CRM data to target your #audience, you're missing out on many potential opportunities. #marketing #gif #mondaythoughts pic.twitter.com/fYCqSAGnCF
— Lead Gen Hype (@LeadHype) April 8, 2019
If your employees have to constantly juggle between different tools; email boxes, social networks, support system, Excel file to communicate with your customers or prospects, it might be time to invest in a CRM.
Why? Because by centralizing the management of all contact data, a CRM allows you to manage your emails, social networks and even instant messages from a single interface. You no longer need to navigate between different applications, nor connect to multiple tools to manage your customer relationships. CRM allows you to manage all your customer interactions in one place, increasing your productivity, responsiveness and customer satisfaction.
In addition, the CRM allows you to archive all customer interactions (email exchanges, messages on social networks, chatbot conversations, phone calls) by recording them and archiving them in contact records. You can thus know for each prospect or customer when the last contact took place, who managed the exchange in your company, what type of exchange it was, what was the content and the reason for the interaction, etc.
Every company manager knows how important it is to keep track of your prospects and customers. If you are having trouble managing your relationship with your prospects or customers, if you forget to answer messages or to call back certain prospects, this is the confirmation that a CRM software would be useful.
When the volume of activity of a company grows and your contact base expands, it becomes increasingly difficult to remember everything. That’s where CRM comes in. All CRM solutions allow you to set up task reminders to be alerted, via notifications, when it is necessary to follow up on a prospect, re-engage a contact or call a customer. This ensures that you don’t forget an important deadline.
The more a company’s organization chart grows, the more difficult it becomes to organize communication between employees and teams. Face-to-face exchanges are no longer sufficient to ensure fluid communication between the members of the company (which teleworking has amplified). The use of a CRM facilitates communication between employees and between different departments by allowing them to access the same information on a common interface.
Thanks to CRM, employees can exchange e-mails, contacts, activities, tasks, leads, etc. Managers can more easily manage teams, transmit decisions, initiate actions, distribute tasks and monitor employee productivity.
In addition, CRM software offers the possibility of fine-tuning access rights, allowing employees to access only the information that concerns them.
At the heart of any business are the customers, who are the pillar of the company’s success or failure. Everything a CRM can do is ultimately aimed at improving the customer experience. The use of a CRM allows to improve the management of the customer relationship, and therefore the quality of the services offered. Properly used, a CRM can improve customer satisfaction, loyalty and, consequently, optimize the asset they represent for your company.
Conclusion
If you are faced with many of the issues discussed in this article, it indicates that you should seriously consider the selection and implementation of a CRM software. If you have any questions or doubts, don’t hesitate to contact us. CRM is our business and we can assist you in formulating your needs, as well as in the selection and implementation of your CRM system.
