If you are a business with more than one customer, there is a need for customer relationship management (CRM). With a properly set up CRM, a business will be able to manage a company’s interactions with current and prospective customers easily and efficiently.
Good customer relationship = backbone of a successful business
CRM isn’t just for big businesses. CRM is an integral part of a small business that is looking to grow. A properly executed CRM keeps track of customer interactions – tracking is everything. CRM software helps to keep track of calls, emails, meetings, presentations delivered, quotes, next steps needed, etc. CRM is one place to store all info – every existing customer, past customers, every lead, all requests for service, etc…
Many CRM software allow the ability to work from anywhere on any device, meaning your sales team can update the CRM while they are out in the field instead of having to either remember when they get back to the office or transfer written data into the CRM. Less information will be lost or missed because everything is entered into the CRM during the meeting. And their past notes about an existing client will be right at their fingertips before and during the meeting, so every client experience becomes more than a sales call – rather every meeting becomes a personal interaction. Do you think your customers would rather be considered a sale or a person? (That’s rhetorical; of course they want to be considered a person… unless they are a robot, in which case, you have to ask yourself, do you want to have a robot for a client?)
CRM will organize your customer and prospective customer data in order to:
- automate workflow and sales systems
- synchronize sales
- offer better service to your customers
- track and manage your leads efficiently
- communicate within the company efficiently
- follow-up with any customer service or technical requests quickly
- help with territory management
- better estimate sales forecasting
- provide case management
- provide field service management
- automate the call center
- automate the help desk
- share files and content
- email integration
- provide analytics (Metric-driven marketing)
Basically, CRM will allow your business to learn more about customers’ needs and behaviors and meet those needs in order to develop stronger relationships with them. BUT, proper execution of CRM is key to having a CRM work for you vs become a burden. You can’t expect to dump all of your existing information into the program and expect results… think about how you want your CRM to help you and what you hope to get out of it.
Which CRM is best for me?
There are a variety of CRM available with different options for your business. It can seem overwhelming if you are trying to figure out the best one for your business on your own. And it’s frustrating to go through the setup of a CRM only to find out that it’s really not the best fit for your company. Full Circle SEM has experience with many CRMs out there and it’s our job to help find the best fit for your needs and then to assist in the implementation of it so that it works for YOUR business. It’s no good to have a fancy CRM if you, or your employees, cannot utilize it to its fullest potential.
