Small company, great ambitions
The market of CRM systems is highly saturated. Manufacturers are outdoing each other in terms of improvements, which are not only to help organize everyday activities but, above all, have a real impact on business development.
The report prepared by Salesforce shows that without CRM solutions implemented in the company as much as 79% of acquired leads do not result in closing the sale. Most small businesses still use scattered and outdated tools and methods of customer data management (e-mail – 44%, spreadsheets – 41%).
Running a small business is definitely more than just filling in more tables. It’s all about building relationships and experiences between the customer and your brand. It is common to say that a product is as good as the service that goes hand in hand with it, both before and after the sale.
According to Defaqto Research, up to 55% of consumers are ready to pay more for better Customer Experience. This is a great opportunity and challenge at the same time, especially for companies from the SME segment (Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises).
Properly selected and adapted CRM tools will bring a lot of measurable benefits, thanks to which you can effectively develop customer experience. In the case of Salesforce, the key is that you can collect the necessary data from all the departments working with your customers, such as sales, marketing and customer service on a single platform. You have access to the data on all your devices, including mobile ones, from anywhere on Earth. It’s a pure automation solution that increases efficiency and saves you a lot of time.
Analyze and draw conclusions
Before considering the implementation of any specific CRM product, it is important to organize the knowledge about your business in an orderly manner. The answers to the questions below will provide you with some fresh insights and help you choose the best option:
- How do you acquire customers? Does your company build long-term relationships with them?
- How do you contact customers? Do you have a communication strategy in place? Do you use the full potential of all the communication channels?
- What information is important to you and how do you collect it? Does your company have one or more customer databases? Or maybe each employee has his own base?
- Do you have key customers? Does the current method of data collection make it possible to determine which customers are the most important?
- What information is important to you and how do you want to collect it?
- What sales processes are there in your company? How do you collect and archive data related to them?
- Do you conduct a review of the adopted strategy of the company’s functioning based on the collected information? Are all the co-workers aware of customer needs?
- How is the CRM system supposed to help you?
- What results do you expect?
Think carefully about all the issues and the answers. The conclusions you arrive at will imply concrete actions that will really determine the future of your company.
What to pay attention to
The development of CRM technology in recent years has reached an unprecedented level. The vast choice may cause you immense headache, so we will tell you exactly what to look for when you decide to implement CRM. What characteristics does it need to have? What opportunities should it offer?
AUTOMATION. Monotonous repetition of the same actions is one of the biggest enemies of development. An optimally implemented CRM system should ensure the automation of most activities and processes. The time saved in this way can be used to build even more intimate customer relationships.
COOPERATION. Designing and implementing an effective customer path requires the collaboration of many people. In order to achieve the desired effect, they have to work with the same, always up-to-date data. This is the only way your company will be able to meet consumer requirements.
FLEXIBILITY. Every industry is specific. Every company has a different history, a different business model, different ways of communicating and different daily needs. Seamless management of individual areas, depending on the adopted strategies, is the foundation. The best CRM platforms offer the possibility of adding new functionalities in a way that does not require the involvement of programmers or external companies, and also provide regular updates that do not affect the level of their personalization.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE. At present, data requiring constant analysis are everywhere. They must also be used as the foundation for predicting future actions. CRM tools, which are supported by AI, will uncover priority information, predict the outcomes and suggest the next steps in the sales path. As many as 61% of small business owners are still not ready to implement AI solutions, and more than half of them believe that they are too complex for their current level of organization development and current needs. Is this really so? Read our articles about how easy it is to use the invaluable help of Salesforce Einstein artificial intelligence.
COMPREHENSIVE INTEGRATION. In order to achieve the best results, you need to take advantage of all the possibilities of modern business tools. Marketing automation, software for customer service and management, live chats, Internet and social media monitoring – these are just some of them. The combination of all tools with CRM will help you to effectively acquire leads, manage the sales funnel and personalize communication.
MOBILE. It’s been a long time since customer service and sales teams have been constrained by eight hours of desk time. It should be a standard practice that all the employees have access to the collected data at any time and any place. Also through mobile devices, without which it is difficult to imagine running a business.
CLOUD. We encourage you to read the article on security and benefits of CRM in the cloud.
Summary
CRM Salesforce meets all the above-mentioned requirements and, for years now, it has been recognized, for instance, by Gartner as the leader in the industry of customer relationship management.
The figures speak for themselves. Owners of small companies who have implemented CRM have noticed a 25% increase in revenues, 26% more agreements concluded, and the time of purchasing decisions was reduced by as much as 38%. Impressive, isn’t it?
Author
- Product Marketing Manager
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She has been involved in the IT industry and Salesforce for three years. At the moment, she works on business development, generating leads, organizing business events and widely understood product marketing. She supports Craftware’s sales team reaching new customers and building long-term relationships with them. A certified Pardot specialist, a tool for automation of B2B Salesforce marketing.
