Up-to-date information available at any moment – how does it work in CRM?

Firstly, the cloud

A CRM system integrates the knowledge about a customer which is acquired during different stages of a customer journey. In the case of cloud systems, we can literally say that the data and access to it are global. It doesn’t matter whether the information is entered into the system by someone sitting at the desk next to you, in a neighboring room, or in a company branch in a different country or on a different continent. The data is put into the database from which it is accessible to any system user authorized to work with it. The users don’t have to install an application on their computers — they just need an Internet connection and a device with network access to work with the data here and now.

Secondly, mobility

A mobile CRM solution offers much more than just the possibility to access the system anytime and anywhere. Most of all, it offers identical experience for a mobile user who uses the same information that a desktop user can work with.

This is a key feature, especially for the sales people who contact customers directly. It allows them to keep continuous and regular communication with current customers, and not to miss new business opportunities at the same time.

Up-to-date data — what does it mean?

You need to be aware that even the most perfect CRM system does not guarantee that the information is 100 percent up to date. The system provides automatic updates and real-time processing of data. To make it possible, the data must be entered into the system, and — what is important — the data must be correct. Although CRM systems have functionalities that make data input and verification easier, still much depends on employees’ meticulousness.

Access at any time, but should it be for anyone?

To highlight the usefulness of CRM systems, the following expressions are often used when it comes to data availability: accessible anytime, and for any system user. Both reflect the system capabilities, but understanding the latter expression literally would be a major simplification. The expression refers to a potential capability offered by a CRM system rather than its real use — it comes down to granting authorized users permissions to access specific resources. To learn what building permissions is about, read our article.

Data analysis — the dashboard challenge

The abundance of data does not always translate into its valuable analysis. It happens that organizations don’t take advantage of the capabilities offered by CRM in this respect. This is caused by a lack of strategy for working with data: the inability to assess which data may have key impact on business decisions, especially the financial ones, and the unfamiliarity with tools which facilitate data analysis — mainly the dashboards. We will explain what benefits the dashboards bring with respect to data analysis, and how to work with this tool in one of our articles that will be published next.