Business owners know that the key to company success is a loyal consumer base. Finding ways to meaningfully engage with customers, access new leads, and guide consumers through the sales funnel are challenges every business must fight to overcome. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software helps businesses do exactly that.
But how do you know which CRM is right for your business? And how do you know investing in such software will be worth the spend? Understanding why your business needs a CRM solution and knowing what to look for during your search for the best software will help you determine which solution is best for your business.
Why use a CRM?
In the old days, Rolodexes were used to keep track of clients with hard-copy notes scribbled down on small cards for later reference. Thankfully, the digital age has brought easier methods for keeping track of customer relationships.
With CRM software, you can keep digital files on your clients, attaching notes to each for easy reference. The right CRM will allow you to share this information across departments so all team members can access it from anywhere at any time. This allows multiple employees to have a relationship with the same customer, minimizing the risk of losing clients should an employee leave your company. Store customer information, track conversations and identify opportunities to improve your sales cycle, and so much more with this simple software solution.
What should a CRM do?
When looking for a CRM for your company, you need to ensure its features meet your business’s specific needs. The right CRM doesn’t just organize your contacts; it should also offer multiple tools to help you improve sales cycles and build more effective marketing campaigns. Consider the following features when looking for your CRM:
- Lead generation and sales: Good CRMs automatically generate leads from social media, website traffic, incoming calls, newsletter sign-ups, and other methods of customer acquisition. After the initial lead, use your CRM to follow up and guide users through the sales pipeline.
- Marketing opportunities: Understanding your target market allows you to create more meaningful marketing campaigns. Build email templates, email marketing campaigns, and SMS/text messaging communications all with your CRM.
- Reporting and analytics: Most CRM software has a dashboard for team members to easily access and gain valuable insight into their sales performance and relationship management. More robust platforms offer real-time updates to avoid repeat communications and keep employees up-to-date on sales cycles for optimal performance.
- Project management: High-end CRM software offers project management capabilities to create clearer workflows and identify tasks based on customer interactions.
- Ecommerce: CRM can include ecommerce capabilities either through built-in functionality, third-party integration, or API access.
Using this powerful tool, you can be more strategic with marketing campaigns so your communications better resonate with your consumer base. Since all of the information is automatically recorded in the platform in real time, you can easily avoid repeat interactions, communicate tasks with employees, and keep up-to-date records of your clients.
Which CRM should you choose?
Choosing a CRM is easy: Kerridge Commercial Systems (KCS) offers one of the most robust software solutions for managing your consumer relationships. When you select KCS as your CRM software provider, your consumer contacts will be automatically stored for easy cross-departmental access within your organization. Analytics reporting allows you to create more meaningful marketing campaigns, and our eCommerce offerings can be seamlessly integrated for an even more engaging experience.
Improve your customer relationships and boost your sales and profitability by contacting KCS for your free demo today!
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