What is CRM and is it worth using it?

To achieve mentioned goals, you need the right tools. One of them is CRM system. In this article we explain what is CRM and if it is worth using it.

However, we are not interested in industry terms. Let’s focus on how these systems work and what benefits the company will gain from implementing one of them.

CRM in the company

In the CRM system, you store your clients’ data – their phone number, e-mail address, etc. – and keep records of contacts with them, from live meetings to correspondence. All in one place and available from the same platform for everyone involved in the sales process or employee customer service.

Depending on which particular CRM system you use (the issue of which one you should choose is for a separate text and soon we will publish something about it), you can also have access to a number of other functions, for example, the management of the sales funnel. However, even in the basic version, the CRM system offers a number of benefits.

In marketing activities, CRM can help select tools in specific campaigns more effectively and thus provide more leads or leads of better quality. In the sales department, you can improve the efficiency of conversion-oriented activities.

According to the research of Insight Technology Group, companies which successfully implemented CRM recorded a 42% increase in revenues, a 35% drop in sales costs, and a 25% reduction in the sales cycle.

It all boils down to the fact that the client is well-served, satisfied and positively oriented to cooperate with our company. As shown by the results of other studies that we will cite, this is not always as easy to achieve as it might seem.

Benefits of implementing the CRM system

More efficient customer service

Customers have needs and requirements. They expect an adequate reaction speed, helping the seller in making a decision or a problem-free post-purchase service. No more and no less.

The problem faced, for example, by sales representatives or Customer Service departments is the control over all such requests.

Meanwhile, based on the history of customer contacts and the analysis of data collected in CRM resources, we can improve the customer service process. If we understand him better, we can give him what he expects.

Remind him to express his opinion after the purchase. Contact a cold lead after a predetermined time. Run a scoring, or assess the level of engagement of the lead. Finally: propose another product or service.

Does it work? Yes! There are studies for this. The Capterra website commissioned interviews with 500 randomly selected CRM users. The results of the “CRM Industry User Research Report” stated that 39% of people confirmed the increase in the efficiency of bundling.

Acquiring new customers is one thread. The second, equally important, is the loyalty of those present.

Although it sounds trite, customers often leave a company because they feel ignored. This is the most frequently cited cause according to Right Now research: Could this situation be avoided? Yes, it could – just implement a CRM system in your company and appropriate customer service procedures.

Analysis of the effectiveness of employee activities

Collecting a large amount of information in one place, which thanks to tools and internal applications is easy to process, also allows you to effectively measure the team’s activities.

What type of data can we extract from CRM systems for analysis? Among other things, we are talking about:

• monitoring and analyzing the number of acquired, processed and lost leads
• closed and lost sales opportunities
• key arrangements and histories of contact with leads/clients

Analyzing these processes will be easier and more efficient thanks to CRM, but of course, it requires training employees to systematically and accurately work with data, as well as to draw appropriate conclusions.

If you can compare the path of your client from the first contact to purchase and compare it with situations in which the purchase did not take place, you will determine which stages were decisive. Thanks to this you are able to develop an effective sales funnel.

Analysis of sale

Analyzing data from CRM allows you to ask valuable questions. For example: “How many contacts on average does a lead require to convert?”. Because, as good traders say, when a customer says “No”, it usually means “Not today.”

Image – Analysis of leads in Salesforce

Better contact management

With the growing size of the organization, standardization of activities as well as procedures and processes is crucial for maintaining consistency and order of activities. Thanks to the CRM system, you store all key data in one place and manage them in the same way.

Translating this into a daily situation: it is important, for example, to clearly outline the path of customer service or determine the number of people who will be involved in the process. Who is to step in and at what stage?

If a potential customer receives an e-mail with an offer from several of your traders, he will be annoyed. The same goes if the service department contacts him several times on the same issue. A professional company must avoid such situations.

The transfer of information about the client and tasks can be done using CRM – it will allow you to control the chaos and/or avoid the delegation of tasks via e-mail or phone. Let’s face it – it’s not the best form because it’s easy to miss something. Surely you’ve had a situation like that before, right? Exactly.

Is it difficult to implement a CRM system?

CRM is a change. Changes require implementation and are often associated with difficulties. It does not have to be this way. Especially when the target is clearly defined and the team is aware of the benefits that it will bring to work with the new tool.

The aforementioned Capterra company has shown that as many as 71% of employees are satisfied with the introduction of the CRM system in the company, despite their initial objections. At the same time, it is a key tool if you want to scale your marketing and sales activities in a predictable way.