How does a CRM fit in with my new online startup?
A few years ago, customer relationship management solutions were not an option for small businesses and startups. They were either too expensive or too complex to install and manage. But a lot has since changed and most CRMs are now affordable, sleek, and feature usable interfaces. What’s more, a good number of them can be customized to suit a startup’s needs and support growth.
Not sure if CRM is necessary for your new business? Here are five reasons you should implement one as soon as possible.
Manage your leads and customers more easily
When you’re starting a new business, you’ll likely use multiple channels to generate your sales leads. A few feasible ones include a website, social media, email campaigns, and paid advertising. Unfortunately, with leads coming from so many avenues, it can prove challenging to track data when you want to gauge their performance. This is where CRM tools come in handy.
For starters, these solutions help you to track lead history, including showing you the source of your leads, the actions they take when visiting your online business properties, etc. Additionally, most CRMs integrate seamlessly with other business tools, including email autoresponders and analytics tools. This is invaluable when you want to automate your marketing campaigns and track your outreach results.
Spot trends early enough
It’s often said that by the time opportunities are visible to people, it’s probably already too late to profit from them. Most modern smb CRM software come packed with artificial intelligence and analytical functions to help you spot trends before your competition does.
For example, they can help you identify a section of your leads that are closest to converting based on their recent actions. This allows you to focus your attention on them so you can close them before anyone else does. CRM solutions also show you the changing customer behavior patterns to enable you align your marketing processes accordingly for increased sales.
Improve your collaboration
When it comes to sales, the concept of the ‘lone wolf’ hardly ever yields ideal results. You need to collaborate with others to cater to the increasingly impatient customers who want to be served now and not when the assigned salesperson is back from their vacation.
With a CRM tool, all relevant information about your business process is pooled in a central place where anyone with access can view and act on it. This means an urgent matter, such as a potential lead asking for pricing details, is dealt with as quickly as possible by whoever sees it first. Customer support teams can also benefit immensely from CRM use. For example, a team member can successfully pick up a conversation from where their counterpart left off. All they need is to read through the previous chats to understand what to say going forward while ensuring that the customer’s needs are met in the best possible manner.
Increased collaboration also means processes are more transparent and staff members are accountable for their actions. This is key to boosting the overall productivity of the company.
Staff can work from anywhere
One of the more popular trends in the workplace space over the past decade has been remote working. And now with the Coronavirus pandemic wreaking havoc, the practice of working from home is being recommended more to facilitate social distancing.
At the heart of most remote workplaces lies CRM tools. Whether one of your team members is locked down in Milan or another one is working in isolation in Bangkok, they can work normally, thanks to this technology.
CRMs facilitate easy sharing of information, assignment of roles, and reporting. What’s more, most have their functionalities extended to mobile apps, meaning users can go about with their businesses even while on the go.
Pay for only what you use
When running a startup, a critical factor that determines your success or failure is how well you manage your expenses. You don’t want to employ more people than you need or buy expensive tools that you can’t utilize fully.
A lot of CRM apps today allow you to choose from several packages, so you work only with what your business needs the most based on your current needs. Some even come with free trials to see if they are going to be good fits for you or not. You can always upgrade your plan as your business grows and customer relationship management needs increase.
What makes you hesitate to adopt CRM software for your startup? We’d love to hear your feedback in the comments below.
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