A successful business-client relationship aims to have all methods, strategies, and processes focused on the customer. The goal is to create satisfactory and consistent experiences at all touchpoints, from the initial interaction to post-purchase, in order to attain customer satisfaction, loyalty, and recommendation
A CRM (Customer Relationship Management) is used precisely to achieve this goal. By centralizing and instantly providing all the information of each interaction with prospects and customers, it enables sales teams to offer personalized experiences that result in a 47% improvement in customer satisfaction, 45% more revenue, and 39% success in cross-selling and upselling strategies [1].
Reason 1 to have a CRM: to unify teams
Although a CRM system is commonly associated with sales teams, if you have a comprehensive CRM that also allows you to perform marketing operations, you can unify teams and manage leads, track customer interactions, or monitor the sales pipeline. In fact, they offer significant value and benefits for the entire organization. Perhaps other teams wonder what a CRM is, but with the right implementation, they can take advantage of it.
The Marketing team can use a CRM to plan and execute campaigns with specific lead segmentations, adapting messages and content to their characteristics or needs. For example, let’s consider an online university that wants to promote its master’s programs among graduates who haven’t pursued one. Thanks to the CRM, they can easily identify and segment this audience and run their campaign.
On the other hand, for the customer support team it is crucial to have access to the CRM to provide efficient and effective service. For instance, for a telecommunications company’s support team, it is vital to know about the services or products contracted/purchased and be aware of the interaction history with their department to have relevant information handy and personalize the potential solution to the customer’s problem more quickly. This is doubly important when we can connect the CRM with Service Desk or Contact Center solutions.
For operational teams, such as logistics or inventory control, they can also benefit from a CRM to ensure their supplies or deliveries by knowing the customer’s order history, their latest updates regarding their needs, or even making sales forecasts and projections based on previous orders.
Reason 2 to have a CRM: to have scalable features
No business or company is the same as another, and each one has specific needs. However, there are features or characteristics that are basic and practically adaptable and scalable for any industry or business model. Let’s see what they are:
Centralized database
A system acts as a repository where company and customer information is centralized. Instead of spreadsheets (or worse, physical folders), a CRM automatically consolidates data like contact details, purchase history, communication records, and support tickets into a single, organized database. This centralization eliminates the need to search through multiple sources or systems, simplifying the process of retrieving customer information.
It is important to mention that the CRM system should provide search and filtering capabilities, allowing users to quickly locate specific customer data. Whether searching by name, email, phone number, or other criteria, relevant information can be retrieved in a matter of seconds. This saves time and effort for sales teams, allowing them to focus on their strategies rather than technical issues.
Process optimization with automation
A CRM should optimize and automate key sales, marketing, and support processes. From lead management to sales pipeline tracking and targeted marketing campaigns, a CRM provides automated tools that optimize these critical functions.
For example, a sales team can prioritize potential customers with automated lead scoring or a marketing team can create automated email campaigns based on brand interaction criteria. By automating repetitive tasks and workflows, a CRM frees up valuable time for teams to focus on strategic initiatives or higher-value opportunities.
Data-driven decisions
Obtaining valuable customer data that can be translated into strategic actions should also be a must-have for a CRM system. Having dashboards, reports, and analyses provides visibility into key performance indicators, sales trends, and customer behavior to teams at critical moments. This data enables informed decision-making, setting achievable goals, efficient allocation of resources, and steering strategic initiatives towards success.
By understanding what works and what doesn’t, you can continuously improve strategies, optimize customer interactions, and stay ahead of the competition in a rapidly evolving market.
Reason 3 to have a CRM: to improve customer experience
It’s likely that you’ve already realized that as the number of leads and customers in your database increases, the complexity of their interactions grows. And like in any process of growth, there will be pains, and what will be highly impacted is the CX or Customer Experience.
Companies that don’t have a CRM often have to deal with multiple scattered systems or tools to manage customer-related tasks. This is not scalable as it doesn’t allow communication and integration between tools, hinders team collaboration, and ultimately undermines customer experience by offering poor and impersonalized messages.
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Best-in-Class CX Wins Through Total Experience”
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Best-in-Class CX Wins Through Total Experience”
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It is important to ensure that when contacting a client or prospect, you provide a quick and appropriate response with a consistent message. Failing to do so could result in missed sales or repeat purchase opportunities. Loyalty, brand reputation, and satisfaction can significantly improve through consistency, as customers will perceive the business as reliable when it is coherent.
Implementing a CRM system represents an investment that will revolutionize your sales, marketing, and service processes, so consider the specific needs of your teams before deciding on one. But whichever CRM you choose, make sure it is intuitive, operationally effective, strategic, analytical, and collaborative. Your customers and collaborators will appreciate it.
[1] Capterra, CRM User Research Infographic
