What is a CRM?
A CRM, or Customer Relationship Management system, is an organizational software that assists businesses in the tracking and management of their customers.
How CRMs work
Some CRM systems are subscription-based, whereas others may be free or paid. In general, CRM systems streamline your business by curating information on all of your past, current and potential customers across various platforms and databases.
CRM software takes your customer data and offers you the means to communicate with them more efficiently. Generally, CRM software is a subscription service that provides access to both email and voice communication features.
They provide quick answers about pasts, present and projected business and customer information to assist in making decisions about the future of your company.
Here are reasons why my company need CRM
1. Social media reach
Social media is the perfect place for customers to vent about your brand. If handled poorly, a customer can go from happy to unhappy with a single post. Customer relationship management allows your business to track mentions on social media and comments about your brand so you can handle them in real time.
2. Data overload
Without a CRM, all of the data from sales, marketing and support would be off in separate silos, creating massive information overload for managers, who are too busy to take advantage of it anyway.
3. Customer service
CRMs often have tools built into them so you can track customer service issues easily and resolve problems in a timely manner.
4. New customer acquisition
Many CRMs come with a feature that allows you to quickly reach out to new customers to fill out a follow-up survey and make sure they are satisfied with their experience. This also helps remind people that you exist, keeping you front of mind in their busy lives.
5. Data privacy
Privacy is a paramount concern in the modern era of big data. A CRM will ensure your data stays private, as you are storing it on your own servers, as well as give you the ability to block third part apps from mining and selling off your customer information.
6. Data security
We live in a time where data breaches are rampant and business owners have to be aware of the sensitive nature of their data and the threat it faces on the Internet. A CRM provides a safe place for your business’s data with full monitoring capabilities.
7. Sales team productivity
A CRM allows you to monitor your sales team and their productivity so you can look into ways in which they can improve or learn new techniques to become more successful.
8. Reporting
Through the reporting feature of a CRM, you can see how well your work is doing, as well as how many of your customers are returning or online at any given time.
9. Customer churn rate
Many CRM systems allow you to track your most valuable customers and where the risk of churn lies. This allows you to see which customers are at risk of leaving and provide remedies in order to keep them around.
10. Data aggregation
Because a CRM pulls data from various sources, it creates a single source of truth for your company’s information. This makes it easier for everyone in the company to access what they need at any given point in time.
11. Quick, simple access to everything
A CRM collects data into a single centralized place that can be accessed by the whole company. This allows you to make quick, agile decisions on what data should be used in order to improve the success of your business.
12. Multi-channel
Many CRM systems offer the ability to message customers through various channels such as email, SMS, social media and voice in order to offer context of your services or create more opportunities for them.
13. Persistent contact
A CRM takes the information you have on your customers and creates a persistent contact between you and your customers to ensure that no matter what changes may happen in their lives, you will be there to provide them with what they need.
14. Customer segmentation
Many CRM systems offer the ability to divide up your customer base into various segments based on how likely they are to buy from you or how useful each one is. This allows you to allocate resources as needed in order to better serve them and increase sales.
15. Lead tracking
As you market to potential customers, a CRM will track leads and allow you to know exactly where your leads are in the sales funnel so you can follow up with them at the right time.
16. User-friendly service
CRM systems are designed to be user-friendly so that anyone on your staff can take advantage of all of their features. This allows for multiple people to be using the same information at any given time without confusion.
17. Simple setup and customization
A CRM comes in many forms, from fully customized to a simple, lightweight system that can be installed by anyone. This allows you to choose what is best for your business and quickly get up and running with it.
18. Better collaboration
With a CRM, your team will be able to communicate more easily through the various features of the software and work together more effectively on projects and tasks than they would by using separate tools.
19. Customer service
A CRM allows your customer service team to be more organized and follow up with customers on a more timely basis than they could using separate tools.
20. Analytics
With the simple data collected, you can look into how well each of your sales volumes are doing over time and how your various marketing pieces are performing in order to easily see what is working best for you.
Conclusion
As your business grows and evolves, you need a flexible and robust customer relationship management system. You will also find that CRMs can help you improve your business processes by providing visibility into what is happening within the company. The information collected will help you develop valuable insights into the areas of your business that are succeeding or failing. It can also help you attract new customers as well as provide tools for better customer service.
One final note, it is vital to choose the right CRM for your business based on its features, usability, cost and reputation. Use the suggestions above in order to guide you in selecting one that will be the most beneficial for your growing company.