Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software is one of the most important tools you need to master as a business owner. Here are 7 ways a CRM can take your business to the next level.
From letting businesses manage their customers’ information better…
To help marketing teams find new leads and close more deals faster…
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solutions have definitely elevated the way businesses have always operated.
The numbers confirm as much. Studies reveal that:
- Businesses get a 245% return on investment (ROI) from a properly implemented CRM
- CRM leads to a 26% increase in customer retention
- 74% of businesses that use CRM solutions report better customer relationships
Just looking at these statistics tells us that it’s a no-brainer to integrate CRM software into any business’s operations.
And yet, studies also show that 22% of small business owners still have no idea what a CRM is. Not to mention how effective it can be in helping their businesses get better results. At the same time, 40% of salespeople are still stuck using informal and outdated ways of storing customer information, like spreadsheets and email programs.
This has to change.
So, if you’re one of those business owners, coaches, or consultants who have yet to benefit from using CRM… Keep reading.
In this article, you’ll learn about seven of the best uses of CRM in your business or practice.
The 7 Uses
Use #1. CRM creates and manages a centralised database for your business
During your first few weeks in business, you may have gotten by with jotting all sorts of customer information down on sticky notes, spreadsheets, or internal emails.
But as you position yourself for growth, you won’t be able to get away with being disorganised about your data for much longer.
Luckily, one of the most common and basic uses for CRM is creating a centralised database for your customer data.
With a CRM, you could store full, accurate records of your clients and leads in a centralised location that’s easily accessible to every member of your team who might need it. You could also log every single interaction or conversation you have with your leads to guide your future marketing efforts and sales pitches.
No more parsing through your archives and paper trail. Just a few clicks and you could see what products or services a certain customer has bought before, what they’re looking for, and how they could be reached.
This boosts your team’s ability to make better-informed decisions quickly, may it be with regard to sales, marketing, or otherwise.
Use #2. CRM increases your sales
It’s clear that having a centralised database for all your customer information can help boost your lead conversion and sales figures. By itself, this indirect boost in your sales is already a pretty good reason why you should give CRM a try.
But that’s not the only way CRM software can increase your sales.
See, your CRM is not just a place where you could dump all customer-related data. It’s also a tool that you could use to build your sales pipeline, analyse your sales data, and automate key tasks that are related to your sales process.
If you’ve ever directly worked on sales before, you know very well how that process can be gruelling and intensely detail-oriented. Having a CRM to support your sales team—and yourself—can make it all a bit less daunting and a lot more manageable.
For starters, your CRM software would allow every member of your sales team to update about their progress with a certain lead whether they’re in or out of the office. This lets you in on everything that’s going on in your business sales-wise so you could step in and act immediately as needed to convert the lead and close the sale.
Use #3. CRM provides more accurate sales forecasting
A powerful CRM software doesn’t just give you an overview of your current sales. It also provides you with a more accurate forecast of your future sales.
How?
One of the shining features of a good CRM is sales report automation. The software takes into account previous trends in your sales pipeline to give you an idea of what to expect in terms of your future sales performance.
Having such accurate sales forecasts will help you allocate your resources and adjust your metrics so you could still meet your targets.
Additionally, if you’ll need to take out a bank loan or bring in an investor as you scale your business, they’ll definitely want to take a look at your sales forecasts. This is so they could gauge how strong you are financially and if you’re qualified for the financing you’re applying for.
Without CRM, you’d be left to prepare those financial documents on your own, which could be pretty tough. But with CRM, all it takes is one click to generate an automated sales forecast for your business.
Use #4. CRM improves customer segmentation and retention
Having lots of leads flowing into your business is mostly a happy problem. But if you’re unable to manage those leads properly, it will turn into a big issue that’ll ultimately slow down the growth of your business.
And that’s another reason why you should seriously consider investing in CRM solutions.
After all, one of the best uses for CRM is identifying and categorising your leads. All you have to do is select criteria that will allow the software to automatically segment your leads based on metrics like location, gender, age, or even how far along they are in the buyer’s life cycle.
What this does is allow you to streamline your communication and marketing efforts.
Instead of manually choosing which leads get what emails, your CRM software can automate it all for you. This data-driven understanding of your customers truly cuts down on the time and effort it usually takes to segment your customers and deliver the right messages or offers to them.
At the same time, your CRM can help you retain the leads you’ve already converted into customers. Since the software keeps a centralised record of every interaction your team has had with a specific client, it can give you all the information you need to deliver quick and personalised support to your customers whenever they need it.
In other words, CRM allows you to provide better lead and customer support.
Use #5. CRM boosts your productivity and efficiency
Have you ever dropped the ball for a lead or a client because the person who’s supposed to be taking care of them had an emergency and suddenly went MIA?
Has anyone in your team ever missed a crucial work email that derailed something important in your business?
Or has anyone missed a deadline because of a case of miscommunication?
If you’ve ever experienced those things, the right CRM can help you avoid having those mishaps again. After all, one of the best uses for CRM is optimised internal communication and teamwork among your team members.
Since your CRM would contain all relevant information regarding your leads, clients, and projects, it can also function as a worksheet or manual that’ll let anyone in your team take over a task or a project—whether or not they’re actually familiar with it.
So, if one team member has an emergency, they won’t even have to do a formal turnover of their tasks to someone else. Another team member can just refer to the CRM to determine what’s already been done, what still needs to be done, and how to do it.
Additionally, your CRM can take the place of your work email and messaging apps in terms of communicating everything you need to communicate with the rest of your team. This helps you avoid instances when important work emails or messages are missed or kept unread.
As such, having centralised CRM boosts your team’s productivity and efficiency to levels you’ve probably never seen before.
Use #6. CRM improves your customer lifetime value (CLV)
We’ve discussed in great detail how CRM can be used to convert more leads and close more sales. But one thing you have to know is that CRM can also be used to increase your customer’s lifetime value.
By now, you already know that CRM can help you understand your customers better. This allows you to upsell and cross-sell to them better, which, in turn, gives you a great opportunity to win new business from existing customers.
This is great for business since loyal customers won’t just spend more on your business. They’ll also become raving fans who would refer more clients to your business whenever the opportunity to do so arises.
Use #7. CRM reduces your business costs
After reading through this list of things you could use a CRM platform for, you might be thinking such a powerful tool would cost a fortune you can’t afford. But what you have to realise is that CRM can be very cost-effective and easy to implement.
A cloud-based system, in particular, requires no special hardware or lengthy installation processes. This means your IT costs would remain low… and so would your stress levels.
And if you think about all the benefits and uses CRM can provide for the growth of your business… Wouldn’t you agree that what little investment you’d be making to set it up would be well worth it?
Just think of all the costs you’d be saving in terms of your physical archiving, messaging app subscriptions, and lost productivity if you just make the investment now in CRM that boosts your sales figures, productivity levels, and business efficiency.
Start Using a CRM For Your Business Today
The list we have here is in no way an exhaustive enumeration of all the great things you could do in your business with the help of well-implemented CRM.
There are countless other ways a CRM could catapult your business to further growth and long-term success. And while it does come with a bit of an investment that may be considered hefty, particularly for small businesses, its benefits far outweigh its costs.
If you’re interested in setting up a CRM for your business so you could speed up your growth journey, get in touch with our Automation Agency Heroes. Our experts can help you set up the right CRM software and provide you with support in maximising its uses for your business.
