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A Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system helps manage customer data. It supports sales management, delivers actionable insights, integrates with social media and facilitates team communication. Cloud-based CRM systems offer complete mobility and access to an ecosystem of bespoke apps.
A CRM system helps businesses keep customer contact details up to date, track every customer interaction, and manage customer accounts. It is designed to help businesses improve customer relationships and also Customer Lifetime Value (CLV). This is vital because of the vast amount of such data businesses generate daily.
The issue of customer data raises a challenge which CRM systems exist to address. Every time someone picks up the phone and talks to a customer, goes out to meet a new sales prospect, or follows up a promising lead, they learn something new and potentially valuable. Traditionally, all this data went into analogue or unconnected media such as notebooks or laptops, or even just stayed in people’s heads.
These methods make it all too easy for details to get lost or forgotten, or for a meeting or phone conversation not to be followed up on as promised. Choosing which leads or prospects to focus on can be a matter of guesswork rather than a rigorous exercise based on fact. Worse still, if an individual holding access to key customer information were to leave, then all their knowledge could walk out of the door with them.
A customer relationship management system aims to address challenges like these. It takes customer data and turns it into useful, actionable insight that can transform a business. It helps everyone in a business to easily update records and to get access to the latest information. If the system is cloud-based, they can do this wherever they are, on any connected device.
A CRM system essentially provides a central place where businesses can store customer and prospect data, track customer interactions, and share this information with colleagues. It allows businesses to manage relationships with customers, helping the business to grow.
With a CRM system in place, every question, every service request, every preference and every past contact detail about every customer is instantly available, which means that every new interaction with them should always be personalised, relevant and up to date.
As well as tracking every phone call, email sent, meeting held and presentation delivered, CRM systems can also be used to add notes, schedule follow-ups and organise the next steps that need to be taken. This ensures that opportunities to close deals or grow customer accounts won’t be missed.
Forecasting reports enable salespeople to get better visibility over their pipelines, qualify leads more accurately, and see how close they are to hitting their targets. Sales managers can use reports to motivate and manage their people.
Real-time instant messaging functionality makes it easier for coworkers to ask and answer each other’s queries, for instance in support of a live sales opp or service interaction. Managers can check in on staff in the field, and employees can ask for instant feedback or support as needed.
Syncing email clients instantly with the CRM system allows businesspeople to get a complete view of their customers and leads without having to log in and out of different systems. Calendars and contacts can be viewed across every device, and emails can be created and managed from within a single workflow.
Advanced cloud-based CRM platforms, like Salesforce, go much further than this basic functionality, integrating with marketing automation and customer service systems to provide a complete, cloud-based ecosystem for customer data.
When evaluating and comparing CRM systems, there are three types to consider: desktop, server, and cloud. A desktop system is really only for a single user who just needs an electronic version of a Rolodex for simple customer contact management, so for most businesses the key question to answer is: server or cloud?
Relies on an installed base of client PCs. Mobile use can be limited to laptops with necessary level of security and is limited by availability of secure VPN.
As technology evolves, the way in which we work and connect with customers evolves too. Advanced systems go beyond obvious CRM functionality to respond to developments such as remote working and artificial intelligence. Cloud-based CRM systems excel here as they can be updated as new technology becomes the standard.
Some CRM systems such as Salesforce now offer mobile CRM capabilities, which allow salespeople to access key information wherever they are, and update that information straight after a meeting while they are still in the field, so colleagues can follow up with the very latest information before the competition.
With mobile CRM it’s possible to run a whole business from a phone – closing deals, servicing customers and even delivering 1:1 marketing campaigns without being tied to a desk. This functionality can also support homeworking, and even allow organisations to reduce the amount of office space needed.
CRM platforms today can help businesses make the most of social media as a source of new leads, intelligence on prospects and information for customer service agents. All these new streams of social data are integrated with the rest of the available data about a customer, to deliver the fullest ever picture and a host of new actionable insights
Best CRM For Real EstateSome CRM systems can use artificial intelligence (AI) to learn from available data in order to make recommendations based on company processes. In this way, the system constantly and automatically improves, becoming smarter and more targeted to the needs of customers.
Salesforce offers the world’s leading cloud-based CRM software, offering a range of innovative and far-reaching CRM solutions that can be effectively customised to the requirements of businesses of all sizes, from global enterprises to start-up micro-enterprises. Key reasons for choosing Salesforce include:
Because Salesforce runs entirely in the cloud on its own sophisticated, secure infrastructure, there’s no need to spend precious time maintaining hardware and software. Plus, setup is fast and inexpensive.
With Salesforce, pricing is based on the number of users -- a business just pays for what it actually needs. Additional users and applications can be added as a business expands, so the CRM system grows with the organisation.
Salesforce is as easy to use as the websites we use every day. It’s easy to log in from anywhere, view and update customer data, and work with colleagues, at any time.
Businesses can use Salesforce to smartly manage and harmonise many key functions of their operation, including sales, marketing, customer service, supplier management, HR, ecommerce and more.
The Salesforce app is available for smartphones and tablets, and to add the exact functionality needed in a business, there are over 2,000 apps accessible from the Salesforce AppXchange ecosystem – plus, of course, the opportunity to write bespoke apps.
Why use a CRM system? Using a CRM system helps businesses become more efficient, improve relationships with their customers and boost their CLV (Customer Lifetime Value).
What’s the best place to start when evaluating CRM systems? When evaluating and comparing CRM systems, it’s important for an organisation to first decide what best fits their needs: a cloud-based CRM or client/server CRM.
How can CRM systems help keep up with a changing world? CRM systems are flexible and scalable. Businesses can leverage AI, integrate social media and go mobile – anywhere, and at any time.
Do you remember anyone’s phone number by heart, nowadays? I only know my own. Imagine having to not only manage phone numbers, but also email addresses, customer data, engagement histories, and business insights without the help of any sort of reliable system.
Although CRM may seem like a difficult concept to grasp, its goal is actually quite simple: to keep all your contacts unified and up to date. Because we typically work in silos, it’s sometimes difficult to know what exactly you and your team have already discussed with a given contact; this leads to double-work, annoying miscommunications, and potentially lost deals. A CRM ensures that everyone is on the same page for every opportunity by storing all interaction history and deal-related information in one place.
In this article, we’ll cover everything you need to know about how to use CRM, why you need one, and how to implement one for your business.
So, what’s a CRM system? It’s a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system that helps manage all of you and your team’s customer and contact data. It supports sales management, delivers actionable insights, integrates with social media, and facilitates team communication. Most CRMs are complete with mobile apps for iOS and Android, as well.
Nimble is a CRM software that integrates with over 200 apps to ensure that all of your contact data is always up to date. Sync your favorite business apps (such as QuickBooks and Mailchimp) to unify your contacts across all platforms. Amazing, huh?
Customer relationship management is what “CRM” stands for. However, this doesn’t tell the whole story. Without software designed to help stay on top of the details, business owners can run themselves ragged trying to keep up. This has firmly established CRMs like Nimble as a must-have for small business owners who want to improve relationships with their prospects, clients, and other contacts.
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