Do I need a CRM software in my business?
If you have asked yourself that question many times before, let us tell you this: Y-E-S!
At the very first place, running a small- or medium-scale business doesn’t mean that you cannot take advantage of the latest marketing tools that are widely-used in the industry today.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software, once unique to B2B companies, is one of the tools that you should not hesitate to use these days, not only because they have become more viable and affordable in the past recent years, but also with the fact that the changing dynamics of global market calls for it.
Also, isn’t getting more customers and retaining the loyalty of the existing ones through consistent interactions are one of the paramount goals of the business?
Unluckily not many businesses understand this, let alone do take necessary steps to make their customers important to their business.
In fact, statistics says that 68% of customers stop being customers because they feel ignored when interacting with a company!
So, if your goal is to optimise your relationship with your customers, cut cost and achieve more profits as well as remain on top of your competition, CRM software definitely should be included in your marketing arsenals.
Not convinced enough? Then check out our points below why even a small business should start using this powerful today:
1. See the Whole Picture of Your Sales Pipeline
One of the most valuable assets that a company can hold is its customer’s data. Their contact details, buying preferences and purchase history might not seem important at first, but cross-referencing this data to other relevant information such as the marketing efforts being focused on the geographical area where they live in can uncover insightful information about your customers and even unlock new business opportunities.
A CRM software integrated with digital analytics allows the key people in your organisation to track real-time trends as well as events that will help you gauge if you are meeting your revenue and profit KPIs.
For instance, you and the finance chief can use the CRM dashboard to monitor changes to lead generation, opportunity creation, or pipeline value to spot early indicators of potential problems that could affect the top-line in the future.
On the other hand, the sales head can use the CRM dashboard to manage the activities of the individual salespeople or teams and identify problems that may be affecting their performance such as regional coverage, prospecting activity, lead conversion rates and opportunity close rates.
The marketing head can monitor marketing activities and campaigns and adjust the strategy depending on the effectiveness of each effort. And the product development head can observe cases to understand product defect, support trends or feature requests that can further improve the products and service of your business.
2. Boost Business Growth
You might have already heard of the Pareto principle or 80/20 rule which says that 80% of your business comes from 20% of your customers. However, it’s a grave mistake if you don’t exert equal focus on ensuring that you also reach out to other 80%. By using a CRM system, you will be able to monitor all your clients and direct your salespeople to up-selling and cross-selling opportunities as they arise.
Aside from boosting your sales, CRM also helps manage your customer base to ensure that your customer turnover is always on the minimal level. Since it is 6-7 times more costly to acquire a new client, it is extremely crucial to retain the loyalty of the existing customers to keep the cost at the low side and maximise your business growth.
3. Improve Sales Process
It is a good thing to have some ideas in mind on how you will engage your target customers with your brand. And as a business owner, you also want to ensure that you are delivering an unswerving superior experience to your customers.
With a CRM system, you will be able to implement your best sales and customer service processes that will guide every sales people and sales team through every customer interaction. You can create templates that can be used to make complex and mundane processes simpler. Tedious activities can also be automated to ensure a smooth workflow and that the only the best practices are being followed. This results in more a more effective sales process and satisfied customers in the long run!
4. Maximise Productivity
For many small business owners that run with limited time resources, it is extremely important that every business opportunity that arises are maximised to fullest. Since your people already handles numerous tasks, opportunities, cases, communications and information, the productivity of your business can be jeopardised if they are not equipped with the right tools.
CRM software enables your sales team to focus on the right opportunities with the best potential and manage the sales pipeline more efficiently and effectively. These allow your people to move around the complexities of the sales process without losing their focus on your customers.
5. Operate With Less Risk of Loss
One of the common scenarios in many sales organisation, when a newly-hired sales representative goes onboard, is that there are tons of leads and customers who had never been contacted or followed up by the past sales rep.
This often results in dropped deals that cause missed sales quota and dissatisfied leads that may simply switch to other companies.
The onboarding process for new sales rep takes significant time due to knowledge transfer and task reassignment.
A CRM software has an audit trail feature that allows you to track all the opportunities that were handled by the previous account so it can be shifted to new sales reps during account turnovers.
This enables you to transfer responsibilities without losing control on sensitive customer information.
6. Create Tailored Customer Experiences
As a small business, your customer touchpoints may not be as wide-ranging as bigger brands, so you should make sure that each point is highly optimised. It is how you create a unique and satisfying experience for your customers that will define the growth of your business.
In fact, statistics says that 86% of buyers will pay more for a better customer experience, and customer experience will surpass price and product as the key brand differentiator by 2020. And with the influence of social media over the buying behaviors of consumers, it is very challenging for companies to take control of the overall sales dialogue with their target market these days.
With these challenges, it is only imperative to use technology to your advantage to remain on top of your competition. CRM can help you capture detailed information about your customers and their behaviors and subsequently activate targeted marketing, product development, and sales activities. With this level of information at hand, you can develop personalised customer experience that will leave an impression that you really value each of your target customers.
These are just some of the ways CRM can make your business more efficient and have better top-line. With CRM software onboard, you can manage your sales pipeline more effectively, create personalised campaigns and remain on top of your competition despite the challenges in the market these days.
