The biggest users of CRMs are, naturally, those organizations with a customer base. A CRM is a sales team’s greatest asset, giving them access to all the data they need to generate leads and close deals, while ensuring that the customer experience is as positive as possible.
Although primarily focused on sales, CRMs are also incredibly useful for marketing and customer service purposes.
That said, a CRM can be used by many different departments and types of businesses; if there’s a relationship to manage, no matter who it’s with, a CRM can help. (Relationship management systems that aren’t especially customer-focused are often referred to as XRMs, with the X standing for any number of groups of people, such as employees, vendors, or partners.)
Just like businesses, CRMs come in many shapes and sizes, and many are designed specifically for businesses of particular sizes or in certain industries. The industries that tend to have the most use of CRM systems tend to be retail, business services, technology, banking, and finance.
We at Esmartia believe that the appeal of a CRM is universal. We have seen CRMs implemented in multi-million dollar companies and small one-person businesses. Regardless of the size of the company, the goal of setting up a CRM is to be more organized around customer activities and data, in order to increase productivity and revenue.
At one of the larger companies we work with, they were using Google Docs to bitcoin email address lists manage all of their clients and processes. This meant sharing Google Sheets with clients and different departments. This became unmanageable over time and a CRM was set up to house this data and processes. Now their sales team inputs information and the appropriate departments are automatically notified that there is new work to be done.
CRM also takes care of lead scoring and even marketing automation to reduce manual time spent emailing customers. For example, once a customer hasn’t placed an order in 3 months, CRM sends an email requesting to set up a call to discuss future business.
How can my company benefit from a CRM?
Using a CRM brings a wealth of benefits to your business. Having a complete picture of your customer, their purchasing habits, and their communications with your company is essential to building and maintaining a positive and profitable relationship with people.
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Storing all that data in one place also helps your sales team. With a centralized history of every interaction your company has with a customer, they won’t need to waste time trying to figure out when a customer was last contacted, what they last purchased, or whether their query was resolved. They can simply get on with what they do best – selling.
A CRM can also help foster cohesion and productivity in the workforce. With everyone working from the same solution, your team can have access to everything they need to do great work and stay on track, all without stepping on each other’s toes.
Imagine the scene
Imagine you have a large sales team. Several team members work on the same account, and “John” and “Mary” have been prospecting for new clients in a small town nearby. They both keep notes on their computer of who they’ve contacted, but they don’t have a centralized database of their interactions with potential clients.
Although they have weekly meetings to discuss potential new leads, it’s not uncommon for them to occasionally forget to note a phone call they’ve made. One day, John calls a company to tell them about the services your company offers, but unbeknownst to him, Mary already contacted them earlier that week. The prospect is irritated by the repeated sales calls and makes a mental note not to deal with the company in the future.
With a CRM, every customer and prospect has an assigned record and a detailed history of every interaction. John can see that Mary has already contacted this business and that the customer has requested a call back in a few months when they have worked out their quote. The CRM has also added a reminder to Mary’s calendar about the call and pulls information about all of her previous conversations with the business so that she is up to date the next time she speaks with them.
Better organization, better service
Customer expectations are high and turning a customer into a referrer is the best and most cost-effective way to generate new leads. CRMs allow you to provide better service. The more information you have access to, the better and more personalized your service can be.
Having a centralized platform also makes tracking and reporting much easier. No more endless Excel sheets that no one understands and everyone ends up ignoring.
CRMs are also scalable, meaning they are easily adaptable as your business grows. Think of your company as your child and a CRM as a magic pair of shoes that always fit, no matter how much your little one grows.
The right CRM can help in the area of customer retention and data by simplifying the way you capture data from your sales team or anyone else who comes into contact with customers on an ongoing basis.
Without a CRM in place, you may have to search through files from coworkers, sift through emails, spreadsheets, and handwritten notes just to get a sense of a client's history.
Who uses a CRM?
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