Do You Need a CRM? Best Answer

You’ve probably heard the term CRM system and wondered what it is and whether you need it. To put it simply, imagine a smart electronic assistant that assists business owners in keeping track of customers, sales, and interactions. Similar to a notebook or diary in which all necessary data is neatly recorded, but far more functional and convenient.

How Does a CRM System Work?

CRM, or Customer Relationship Management, is software that helps entrepreneurs simplify their lives. There is even a custom CRM development company that creates such software. So, how does CRM work? Let us look at a simple example:

Consider your household budget. You keep track of your income and expenses so you know exactly what you’re spending it on. Imagine you have more than one wallet. Accounting becomes more complex: you must keep track of the goods, their prices, who purchased what and when, who owes how much, and so on. A CRM system is intended to maintain these records. It enables entrepreneurs to avoid getting lost in the flow of information, to respond to customer requests quickly, to analyze purchases, and, ultimately, to increase sales while holding all of the cards.

Or suppose a customer leaves his contact information in your store so that he can receive a discount the next time he visits. You store this information in the CRM. Next, the system will remind you of this customer’s birthday, and you can send them a congratulatory message along with a special offer. The customer feels cared for and valued, and you strengthen your relationship with them while increasing their loyalty to your company. But that is not all. CRM allows you to analyze which products are in demand and which are on the shelves. This means that you can plan your purchases and promotions more strategically. Furthermore, the system maintains a complete history of relationships with each client, allowing you to create personalized offers and thus increase sales. This is only a small part of what the CRM program can do. Here are some other features:

• Transaction and requisition accounting;
• Task and project management;
• Displayable reports;
• Setting and monitoring KPIs;
• Customer enrollment for services;
• Document Designer;
• Calculator of the cost of services;
• Financial management;
• Integration with telephony, mail, and other services;
• Automation of processes.

Automation is last on the list, but that doesn’t mean it’s the least important. On the contrary, it is exactly what aids in putting sales on automatic mode, ensuring that everything runs smoothly and clearly, with minimal human error. CRM handles all of the routine: it generates documents based on a template, assigns tasks to managers at each stage of the transaction, sends SMS to clients, generates online reports on all indicators, calculates service costs using the built-in calculator, and keeps track of important dates.

How Do You Determine Whether You Need a CRM?

CRM is for you if you have a sales team and your client interactions are primarily through phone calls, letters, and meetings. To consistently attract new leads and build long-term relationships with them, you must keep your communication history in one place. For example, a CRM system with integrated telephony is ideal for online stores or wholesalers.

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To demonstrate how CRM works in a specific company, consider the following example. You run a company that installs wooden windows. Previously, there were few clients, and everything was straightforward: everyone had to take an order, go to the measurements, agree on a price, be paid, and install the windows. However, the number of clients increased to 33 rather than 3. One client failed to return a call, another did not show up for measurements, a third did not receive a cost estimate, and so on. Customers began to leave for competitors, and the cost of hiring new employees became unsustainable. You didn’t have time to monitor every action of your employees and realized it was time to change something. You’ve implemented a CRM system, and now interactions with each customer follow a single standard:

• When a customer submits a request via the website, a transaction card appears in the CRM, indicating the stage of the sales funnel: “First call”. CRM assigns the manager the task of “calling the customer back within 15 minutes”. If a task is overdue, CRM will notify the manager;

• The manager calls the client directly from the CRM, enters the results of the negotiations into the transaction card, and moves it to the “Measurements” stage. CRM automatically assigns a task to the measuring specialist: Go to measure the transaction [date, time];

• After the visit, the measuring specialist attaches a document containing the dimensions and TOR to the transaction card and moves the transaction to the “Approval” stage;

• The task is given to the responsible manager: “Calculate the cost and call the client within 2 hours”. He corrects the calculations in CRM and calls;

• When the transaction reaches the “Payment” stage, CRM automatically generates a document based on the template, into which he enters the name, address, service name, amount, and payment information. It is up to the manager to send the document to the client, receive payment, and move the deal to the final stage, “Installation”;

• The installation specialist receives automatic notifications that he must install the windows on the deal by a specific deadline.

Meanwhile, the manager monitors online reports, such as how many deals are closed, how many calls each manager makes, the amount and number of deals, the application conversion rate, which sources bring in the most customers, and so on.

Conclusion

CRM systems are a tool that, in today’s information age, has evolved into more than just a convenient assistant, but an essential component of any successful business. It saves the most valuable resource – time – by automating many routine processes and allowing entrepreneurs to focus on the growth and development of their businesses. So, if you are in business, think about getting yourself such an “electronic assistant”.