Are you thinking about a customer relationship management (CRM) system? As you consider, you probably have one huge question: How will it help my business?
The following tips will help you use a CRM system to build customer relationships and increase the quality and value of your business through improved information management.
Integrate Information
Your sales and customer service employees create solutions based on customer need. The information gathered by your employees from your customers gives you the ability to create unique campaigns and materials suited for each customer. A CRM will make the information-gathering process easier and more thorough. The information will also be more organized, centralized, and accessible to everyone in the company.
Connect Your CRM with Other Systems
Other software, like accounting systems, enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, and inventory management systems, can be integrated with a CRM. The combined data will improve your customer service – and your internal operations. How? If your sales representatives can access your warehouse’s shipping schedule and the warehouse can access customer data, the exchange of information is easier and faster. Data transfer errors will be all but non-existent, efficiency will increase, and costs will decrease.
Manage Your Social Media Communications
Social media is a fast-paced world of information, and with so many messages out there, it’s sometimes hard to be heard. It’s also hard to hear what your customers are saying, so use your CRM to collect information from your various social media pages to better understand the needs of your customers. You can then craft messages to match the tone of the various social media platforms, giving you maximum exposure.
Manage Email Lists
Email marketing is still a valuable tool for businesses. With the information collection and social media management tools of your CRM, your email campaigns can be more personal and offer more value. More personal emails entice more customers to open them and interact with them, drawing more visitors to your website, making more sales and increasing profits.
Manage Outside Salespersons
If you have outside or mobile sales representatives, you’ve undoubtedly noticed that managing their information can be difficult, whether it's from customer locations, their cars, their home, your office, etc. With a CRM solution that has mobile capabilities, however, outside and mobile sales and service reps can enter information into your CRM the moment they receive it. Then, as soon as they have an internet connection, the information will automatically sync with the main system.
At Oates and Company, we recommend the use of Sage’s CRM. With this easy to use system, better information management and customer service are easily within your reach. Contact us for more information.
