CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management. CRM refers to all those systems and tools that track and archive a company’s interactions with its customers, even if only potential ones.
All this information simplifies marketing activities and increases the chances of success by sales.
In this article, we will look in detail at what potential CRM has to offer and why to implement it in your company.
What is CRM?
Customer Relationship Management is the set of systems and processes that measure and optimize the way a company interacts with customers . The goal of CRM is the collection of valuable customer information and the optimal use of it in order to create a positive and profitable relationship with the customer.
CRM became common in the 2000s; prior to this time, customer data was distributed on Excel files, e-mail, or even handwritten notes. CRMs give value to the data collected by storing it in a single space that is easily accessible and updatable by all the players involved in the sales process: marketing, salespeople, customer service.
CRM automation features, moreover, make it possible to set up targeted campaigns by dividing customers into macro groups that share similar interests (geographic area, interest in a specific product shown in the past, and so on). CRM thus both saves time and maximizes efforts toward a clear goal: to turn a prospect contact into a customer, and to get that customer to retain loyalty to the company and stay in the customer experience loop.
Implementing a CRM in the enterprise: 4 advantages
1. Improving lead generation:
Lead management is the process by which marketing attracts, converts, prequalifies and nurtures contacts potentially interested in the product/service and serves them to the sales team. By lead generation we mean obtaining a contact identified and targeted as a customer akin to the characteristics of a company’s typical consumer.
An effective CRM helpsincrease the quality of lead generation by implementing effective marketing campaigns and tracking leads.
2. Targeted communication:
With the ability to target customers and divide them into affinity groups, marketers can proceed to create targeted campaigns such as ad hoc email marketing on specific products, invitations to events divided by geographic area, and more. The goal is to build and improve customer relationships as well as provide personalized attention to the most profitable or demanding customers.
3. Increase the efficiency of the sales team:
CRM improves close rates by helping sales prioritize the most interesting leads and eliminate unnecessary effort on people with low probability of purchase. With CRM, cross-selling and upselling can also be improved, giving salespeople all the tools to define which customers might be interested in additional products or whether it is the right time for a product upgrade.
4. Improving Customer Service:
Provide customer service with the information needed to understand customer wants and needs, solve problems, and increase customer satisfaction.
Choose the right CRM for your business
CRM systems are collaborative. These systems are used to collect data at all stages of the customer relationship. All departments, marketing, sales, and customer service, must commit to updating the CRM as timely and comprehensively as possible.
By creating a complete picture of the customer experience, customer relationship management systems enable management to make informed decisions on how to improve the customer experience and increase sales.
If we have convinced you with this post that implementing a CRM in your company is a winning solution, now you are probably wondering what are the best software on the market. F1 Consulting & Services will help you select the best system for your company’s needs: contact us.
