Few businesses today can afford to let potential buyers slip through the cracks. Customer relationship management (CRM) software can help you build long-term relationships with those most likely to buy your products or services. But to maximize on the CRM benefits for business, you and your employees must have a realistic grasp on its purpose and functionality.

Putting It All Together

CRM software is designed to:

• Gather every bit and byte of data related to your customers.
• Organize that information in a clear and meaningful format.
• Integrate itself with other systems and platforms (including social media).

Every time a customer contacts your company, or you follow up with that customer, the CRM system can record that interaction. This input enables business owners to track leads, forecast and record sales, assess the effectiveness of marketing campaigns, and evaluate other important data. It also helps companies retain valuable customer contact information, preventing confusion following staff turnover or if someone happens to be out of the office.

Another one of the CRM benefits for business is the capability to set reminders. These reminders can be set for salespeople on when to make follow-up calls and prompt other employees to contact customers. For instance, an industrial cleaning company could set up its system to automatically transmit customer reminders regarding upcoming service dates.

Categorizing Your Contacts

Customers can be categorized by purchase history, future product or service interests, desired methods of contact, and other data points. This helps businesses reach out to customers at a good time, in the right way. A customer is more likely to avoid a company when they’re receiving too many impersonal calls or when there is a flood of direct mail pieces or e-mails.

Naturally, an important part of maintaining any CRM system is keeping customers’ contact data up to date. So, you’ll need to instruct sales or customer service staff to gently touch base on this issue at least once a year. To avoid appearing pushy, some businesses ask customers to fill out contact information cards (or request business cards). Doing so enters the customers into a drawing for a free product, service, or even just a free lunch!

Encouraging Buy-In

A properly implemented CRM system can improve sales, lower marketing spend and build customer loyalty. But, as mentioned, you’ll need to train employees how to use the software to get these benefits. And buy-in must occur throughout the organization — a “silo approach” to CRM that focuses only on one business area won’t optimize results.

Establish thorough use of the system as an annual performance objective for sales, marketing and customer service employees. Some business owners even offer monthly prizes or bonuses to employees who consistently enter data into their CRM systems.

Utilizing the CRM Benefits for Business: Making the Right Choice

There are many CRM solutions available today at a wide variety of price points. We can help you conduct a cost-benefit analysis of this type of software. We base our analysis on your company’s size, needs and budget. By doing so, we can help assist you in choosing whether to buy a product or, if you already have one, how best to upgrade it.