Once, exclusive to the large businesses, CRM software tools have come a long way and are being used by small businesses as well. So, do you think it is time to invest in one? Read on to know more.
Changing and adapting to new tools is not easy. Also, it calls for a big financial investment. So, it is really important that you take the decision after considering all the relevant factors. At the same time, it is also important that businesses adapt to the latest tools and technologies in order to survive in this highly competitive world.
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You must be wondering whether it makes sense to invest in a CRM for small business, considering the fact that your business is not too big. Will investing in one will help improve sales and revenues? Well…the answer is yes,
regardless of how small your business is and here are the reasons behind it:
1. Improves Productivity and Efficiency
Relying on paper approvals and spreadsheets do not only require more time but there is also the scope of manual errors. And that is the reason why it has become a necessity to invest in a CRM. It will automate repetitive tasks like data entry so that you can say goodbye to manual processes. Also, your entire account team will be in complete sync as it will make use of a single shared interface.
This improves efficiency and increases sales success as well. It has been seen that businesses that make use of a CRM experienced a 41% increase in sales per sales salesperson, on an average.
2. Leverage the Benefits of Cloud
Once upon a time, CRM was a heavy investment which only a few large enterprises could afford. Things have changed now, however.
Today, small businesses too can make use of a CRM tool and not spend a lot of money for the same. You can choose for hosted or cloud software deployment. This means you do not have to have an in-house IT department. You also do not have to worry about any kind of software maintenance issues and that includes updates, backup, and almost all other expenses required when you opt for an on-premise deployment.
And, if you are lucky, you will also find a CRM software with a month-to-month subscription.
3. Better Collaboration Between Departments
All departments in a business work in collaboration with each other. However, each department has some work of their own. While doing their day-to-day work, they tend to lose track of what the other departments are doing. This might affect the customer interactions and provide a bad image to your clientele.
With a customer relationship management (CRM) software, everyone in your organisation will get to see the lifecycle of your customers and also know how to address their needs exactly. CRM software tools come with features like file sharing and dashboards that make this possible.
4. Better Data Analysis
You possibly think that you know everything about your clients and you are doing all you can, to serve them. However, the truth is that you do not know everything about them unless you are making use of analytics.
Data analysis and built-in reporting tools in CRM help you to understand and know your customers better. You can make use of this data to know about your customer’s buying habits, specific preferences, digital behaviours, referred mode of communication, and customer demographics as well.
5. Improved Customer Satisfaction
Customer satisfaction has become crucial to surviving in the industry, irrespective of what business you are in. If you have witnessed low customer satisfaction rates or if you are receiving a lot of customer complaints, then it is time that you invest in a CRM software tool.
With a CRM, you can offer personalised experiences to each of your customers. For example, a CRM will give the option to engage with customers using their preferred mode of channels. Most of the times, this will help in maximising your resources’ productivity.
Such systems are used regularly in high-performing businesses, with many built for specific industries. For example in real-estate, the best options including Follow Up Boss allow you to manage each stage of your customer lifecycle more effectively.
6. Features Galore
The options for a CRM software tool are many and with a little research who will be able to find one that will best suit your business. Modern-day CRM software programs are packed with a lot of features and productivity tools.
Some of the features that you need to be on the lookout for our email designer tools, centralised database, accounting functionality, finance functionality, finance and account integration, workflow automation, and call centre software. And, these are just the basic, you will get much more.
7. No Missed Sales Opportunities
Tracking sales leads manually does not yield the best results. It can lead to missing out on sure sales opportunities. A CRM will give your sales reps notification to follow-up leads and customers, as and when required. And also, as all the information is available at a central location, your sales reps can pick off when where they left off with the leads.
These are only some of the reasons why you need to invest in a small business CRM and there are many more. You will get to see the changes right after its implementation.
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