[slideshare id=69395888&doc=7crmsoftwarebenefitsforsmes-161122083830]
1 – organised lead management leads to more conversions
A basic feature of all CRMs is lead capture and management. And the more effectively you manage leads, the more frequently and more effective you become at converting those leads.
- Capture leads from all sources – website, phone calls, events, campaigns, etc.
- Capturing leads into a CRM is fast and easy.
- Report and analyse lead sources and the effectiveness of advertising.
- Standardised email templates for fast, standardised and professional correspondence.
- Route leads to the most appreciate sales team or department, and assign responsibility.
- Reminders and tasks ensure employees don’t forget to follow up a prospect.
- Quotations are just a few clicks away now that your lead is in the CRM.
- And since they’re in the CRM the lead is available for targeted campaigns and future marketing.
2 – more effective monitoring provides for more effective management
If it cannot be monitored, it cannot be managed. Since all activity conducted through a CRM is tracked, auditable and reportable, management can see what’s going on, who’s performing and what’s not getting done.
- Identify your star sales and support reps.
- See what’s been going on with a customer if there’s a complaint.
- Report and analyse sales trends and cycles.
- Identify and intervene early if customer support or enquiries are taking to long.
- Identify areas where employee training might be warranted.
3 – improved access to customer information improves customer service
CRMs are about customers and how employees engage with them. It should be easy for anyone to look up a customer’s history and see all the company’s interactions with them.
- Past service histories and knowledge bases result in faster response times.
- Communication trails and notes saves the customer having to repeat themselves.
- Automated emails keep customers informed and up-to-date.
- Self-support portals, and KBs can save both customers and employees time.
- Centralised customer data mean any employee can pickup a client enquiry.
- History and trails mean you can get an “efficiency expert” to analyse internal processes and workflows with the aim of improving them for even better customer service.
4 – centralised customer information lowers the learning curve for new employee
As a centralised and historic source of customer information, your CRM can be a great asset when training new employees.
- Access to history will allows new staff to know and understand any customer quicker.
- By reviewing previous customer interactions new staff are able to deal with customers quickly and efficiently.
- New staff will see other employees who have dealt previously with a customer, so they’ll know who to ask if they have customer specific questions.
- Standardised templates for email, quotes, enquiries and service will help a new employee deliver consistent and exceptional customer service immediately.
5 – improved process efficiencies improve customer service
Computerised CRMs equate to improved process efficiency, lower error rates, and reduce paper dependence.
- Customer information is available in real-time, from a centralised place and from anywhere.
- Doing away with paper forms and internal mail reduces information flow times exponentially.
- Data input validation reduces error rates and ensures vital information is captured.
- It’s hard to loose, forget or misplace information in an organised CRM. The same cannot be said for piles of paper sitting on desks. Automated workflow ensures processes progress.
- If there are bottle-necks or holdups you can identify where they are. We all know that reducing paper usage is a good thing!
6 – removing individual dependencies promotes seamless customer service
We’ve all witnessed this situation – An employee goes on leave, a customer calls and no one knows what to do. And I’m sure you’ve witnessed this continuation too – Someone then tells the customer they’ll need to wait until said employee returns! If only all those organisations had a decent CRM.
- Since all customer interactions are kept in your CRM, any employee can pick up a customer enquiry at any time.
- To the customer, your CRM helps you deliver a seamless customer experience.
- Data retention in a CRM means vital customer knowledge is not lost when an employee leaves.
- Employees don’t need to be bothered when on leave.
- Customers will not have to repeat themselves again and again if dealing with multiple employees.
- There’ll be no more wooden spoon awards for telling a customer they have to wait.
7 – an integrated CRM maximises your CRM investment
Every organisation has multiple sources of customer information. A CRM strategy often consists of integrating different data sources to provide a centralised and single view of the customer. It therefore follows that an un-integrated CRM is an under-utilised CRM.
- Simple integrations mean employees do not have to consult multiple programs or databases to find information.
- More advanced integrations reduce double data entry, thus saving time and reducing errors.
- Collating and centralising customer information into a central CRM allows you to analyse and report on customers in new and exciting ways.
- Email integration prevents important customer information and communication trails being stored in personal mailboxes.
“In today’s ultra-competitive market, organisations that utilise customer relationship management data will outperform those that don’t.”