Running a business has numerous challenges. One of them is to keep a strong relationship with the current customers. You have to learn and be aware of their preferences, needs, and purchase pattern to provide them with the right kind of products and services at the right time.
It might sound like a time-consuming task but take the help of technology to accomplish it effortlessly. You might be wondering what kind of technology I am talking about.
In this article, we will introduce you to CRM (Customer Relationship Management). It will keep the record of all your customers’ data in one single place. It means you can maintain a track with your clients about all the deals. And again, that’s not all.
What does CRM do?
It is CRM which makes it easy for you to manage relationships with your clients. Alike a Facebook profile, all the information about a client is saved in CRM. You can reach each client individually when you have their profiles in your hands. These profiles hold the
interests, preferences, etc of the clients. For example, if you like to wear Nike shoes the CRM will gather information about your shoe choices, which brands you have checked, what did you like or dislike about them. It will also show your purchase history of shoes. The next time when you go for buying shoes your decision might be influenced by the automated processes of CRM.
For businesses, CRM is very helpful in increasing sales. CRM also aims to enhance customer experiences. It also enhances the automation of important parts of the sales cycle. Moreover, it also gives you the freedom to work as a team because everyone can share the same information and work on it.
Key Features of Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
Customer Relationship Management has got features that will make it an integral part of your business. Learn more about CRM and its benefits to use it properly.
Access Contact Information
You can access contact information about your clients. It includes email address, mailing address, phone number, social media accounts, and even websites.
Interaction tracking
CRM provides a strong feature to track online chats, phone calls, emails, and customer support tickets. It is possible to keep track of all the platforms and keep the records as interaction history for all the clients individually in an organized manner.
Purchase History
Alongside the communication history, you will find interesting data about customers’ purchase history. From it, you can know how the client has come to learn about your
business.
Contact Management
Many still use excel spreadsheets to keep all the information about their clients. However, in a spreadsheet, you cannot constantly update, analyze and sync the gathered data with your team. CRM is a better choice because you will be able not only to create new contacts
but also properly manage them. Start using CRM instead of Excel from today. Access data from a single location
Sometimes your valuable data might get lost. Again, information can be hidden in your employees’ inboxes. In this scenario, CRM can help you to store data in one centralized place and you can easily keep track of it.
Automation
Keeping records manually is not a common practice now. If you are still doing it, switch to CRM immediately and enjoy the benefits of automation. It is an advantage of the automation process which enables to automate repetitive tasks. Besides, you can send
follow-up reminders for tasks. As a result, the employees become more productive.
Ease of use
CRM is a cloud-based platform. You can access CRM from your mobile phones, laptops, tablets, or any other device.
Lead generation
In the past, the sales representatives of any company used to spend hours generating leads. Now they can take the help of Customer Relationship Management software to reduce the workload. The leads will be available for the representatives in an organized manner in CRM
software to access and use. You need to have a clear idea about how the representatives are generating the leads and the use of CRM to make things easy and more convenient.
Lead management
CRM can be an effective tool for lead management as well. It plays a vital role in converting prospects into potential customers. It is possible to connect with potential customers at the right time by following the leads.
Integration with different platforms:
CRM empowers you by showing your email campaigns, marketing tools, forms, landing pages, and advertisements – all from one place.
Predict Future Sales:
Based on the past and present data about the clients, you can make forecasts about future sales of any product and service. The predictions will be more accurate. It will also help to set goals for your future projects. You will have ideas about the future sales opportunities as well as the risks.
Pipeline management:
You can easily create an overview of your sales pipeline by using CRM.
Reporting and Analyzing
CRM works as an important tool for reporting and analyzing sales figures regularly. Moreover, you can also develop reports on the sales representative’s performance. Besides, you can also find out the company’s strengths and weaknesses. You can address the
problems and take steps to resolve them. It will increase your sales.
Benefits of using Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
Companies always want to do more in less time. Customer Relationship Management system helps to do that and more.
Connecting with customers
Right at the start of using CRM, you will see how it helps you to connect with clients. It is a good way to identify your potential clients and communicate with them about your products and services. Grab the attention of the potential customers easily. Since you have
already got an idea about their interests, it will be easier for you to pursue them. On the other hand, maintaining a strong relationship with your existing client’s CRM can be considered a blessing. You can always keep an eye on the interaction pattern of the
customers. You will not be afraid when your business is growing, rather you can maintain communication with your clients persistently.
Understanding your customers better
You will be able to understand your clients better. Naturally, you can anticipate their needs and address them timely. So there is a high chance that they will become your repeat customer. At the same time, you can solve their problems by reaching out to them when
they need you. Again, you have access to their previous purchase history and interactions. Even tracking the support tickets may prove helpful to solve any issue at a faster pace.
Collaboration with your team made easy
You can collaborate with your marketing team to develop useful content for both potential and existing clients. It enhances your selling efforts and marketing promotions to targeted audiences. It also helps the sales team in the successful execution of multiple deals. You can align the teams to grow efficiently.
Furthermore, CRM makes the inter-communication between departments smooth and effective.
Discover new insights
CRM helps to discover new insights from business data. You and your team will be able to see all the data from a single interface. As a result, timely informed decision-making is possible. You can plan, which will eliminate any guesswork. Rather you will tend to work
with facts.
Safeguarding business
You will have full control over both your customers and business information. At the time of any unexpected events, your data is protected and safe. There is no fear of losing them.
Do business without borders
You can access apps and web interfaces from any device. You and your team can get the job done from anywhere.
Real-time updates
You will get all the updates about the sales from time to time. You do not have to do any calculations. Rather all the reports will be updated automatically instead. You can check whether which marketing campaigns are effective and successful. Find out more about how
the customers are responding to particular marketing campaigns effortlessly.
Team evaluation
The sales manager of your company should use the Customer Relationship Management software to monitor and guide employees working with him. He or she can track the sales representative’s performance and make evaluation reports.
Improve the quality of products and services
As you can see what the customers are saying about your products and services, you can track the interactions and improve the quality of your services.
Cost-effective
CRM is a cost-effective tool. After setting it up, you will not require any other hardware to keep records.
As your business grows you have to work more efficiently to reach your clients. CRM helps to boost the process and you can say ‘no’ to many mundane tasks with full automation and authority.