In business, the importance of retaining existing customers while acquiring new customers and expanding business is paramount to success. Customer relationship management (CRM) helps businesses gain insight into customers behavior and use that information to modify their business operations to improve customer relations. The better you understand your customers, the more responsive you can be to their needs.
If your considering whether the time is right to invest in a CRM solution, consider the following challenges:
1. You struggle with poor efficiency and productivity
Manual working methods such as paper approvals and spreadsheets can greatly waste time. CRM software is a time-efficient way to perform such tasks. The right solution can help you automate data entry, reducing monotonous and redundant tasks while bringing all communication to do with customer accounts into a single interface. Introducing CRM software can improve the productivity of sales staff by 40 percent.
2. Your departments do not collaborate effectively
For organizations with various departments, it can be challenging for all departments to keep track of information relating to customers in other areas. Customer service is a main priority so your business can not afford to drop the ball. Giving your team access to customer information, enables them to better serve your customers so they are handed off from one department to the next.
When CRM software with features such as file sharing and team dashboards is utilized, it's possible to share information they collect from interactions with customers to further improve the quality of customer service and increase customer satisfaction.
3. It's difficult to place accountability
Sometimes in businesses, leads go uncontacted. With CRM software, all relevant information is easy to see, such as who calls clients, how often, how long ago the last call was, the purpose of the call and so on. With such details on record that can be easily accessed, employees rarely neglect to take care of clients.
4. There is inadequate data analysis
The less data you have access to, the less you know about what goes on in your business. CRM software helps with data analysis and reporting. These features make it possible to create pipeline, activity, open issue, sales demographics, customer analysis reports and more, giving you in depth insight to all areas of your business.
5. You can't contact customers the way they prefer
Customers have different preferences for how they are contacted. Some like social media, others like email and still others like the phone. It is usually difficult to keep track of these needs in conventional ways. With CRM software, it's possible to know about these preferences and make contact with customers in the ways they desire.
6. Missed Sales Opportunities
When you use manual methods, nurturing leads and converting them can be laborious. You won't realize it when you miss an opportunity. CRM software and marketing automation software empower businesses by making sure everyone is kept informed of when they need to make calls to leads.
Sometimes, businesses simply put off investing in CRM software for the simple reason that they aren't sure what solution would best fit their needs. Though a legitimate concern, not all solutions require a hefty investment. CRM solutions are available as software as a service models, with minimal investment and/or a monthly subscription charge.
So, if you are contemplating the implementation of a CRM solution, you can be confident that a CRM solution will provide a return on the investment. With proper implementation, there are many ways by which CRM platforms can help you increase communication, profitability, customer satisfaction and put your organization on the right track for continued growth.