Once exclusive to large businesses, CRM software tools have come a long way and are being used by small businesses. 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 would help if you decided after considering all the relevant factors. At the same time, it is also important that businesses adapt to the latest tools and technologies to survive in this highly competitive world.
You must be wondering whether it makes sense to invest in CRM for small businesses because 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 CRM. It will automate repetitive tasks like data entry so that you can say goodbye to manual processes. Your entire account team will also be incomplete 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 use CRM experienced a 41% increase in sales per sales salesperson, on average.
2. Leverage the Benefits of Cloud
Once upon a time, CRM was a heavy investment that only a few large enterprises could afford. Things have changed now, however.
Today, small businesses can use a CRM tool and not spend a lot of money. 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 software maintenance issues, including updates, backup, and almost all other expenses required when you opt for on-premise deployment.
And, if you are lucky, you will also find CRM software with a month-to-month subscription.
3. Better Collaboration Between Departments
All departments in business work in collaboration with each other. However, each department has some work of its own. While doing their day-to-day work, they tend to lose track of what the other departments are doing. This might affect customer interactions and provide a bad image to your clientele.
With customer relationship management (CRM) software, everyone in your organization will get to see your customers’ lifecycle and 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 using 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 behaviors, referred modes 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 CRM, you can offer personalized 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 time, this will help in maximizing 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 are our email designer tools, centralized database, accounting functionality, finance functionality, finance and account integration, workflow automation, and call center software. And, these are just the basics; 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. CRM will give your sales reps notification to follow-up leads and customers, as and when required. As all the information is available at a central location, your sales reps can pick it off when they left off with the leads.
These are only some of the reasons you need to invest in a small business CRM, and there are many more. You will get to see the changes right after their implementation.
