Are you searching for ways to streamline your administrative processes? Are you wondering how you can build and improve your customer relationships?
Did you know that you can hit these two targets at one time?
Enter customer relationship management, more popularly known as CRM. This involves integrated software solutions that rely on data. Its main goal is to improve the way you interact and conduct business with your clients.
Statistics show that the CRM market will continue to rise. Experts predict CRM will reach $80 billion in revenues come 2025.
Before you invest in a CRM server, you need to understand how the system works. You need to know the benefits CRM offers. Continue reading below to get the lowdown on CRM.
How Does a CRM Server Work?
To better appreciate CRM in its entirety, you need to understand how a CRM system works. The main purpose of the system is to consolidate customer data. It then uses the data to perform numerous tasks.
Some of its key tasks include automating processes and managing various tasks. It can also manage your email campaigns.
It fosters better collaboration among different teams in the office.
The Four Types of CRM
There are also four main types of CRM software. Let’s take a look at each one and see what you can expect from them.
1. Lead and Deal CRM
This is arguably the most popular type of CRM server. This is because the majority of businesses put lead generation a priority. A lead and deal CRM can help you track potential customers as “leads.”
As you convince those leads to purchase your product, the CRM will help you add information on the client. Once the clients decide to purchase your product, they will become “deals.”
Within this process, the CRM software will log each step. It will also track the interactions to chart a roadmap from the first contact to the closing of the deal.
This process is useful, especially for your marketing team. Through the data, you can pinpoint the areas where you often struggle.
You will also get a full understanding of the stages of the deal and where you were at any given time.
2. Conversation CRM
The conversation CRM, on the other hand, focuses on the quality of client conversations you have.
This CRM works by organizing every conversation you have across the company. It will align each conversation into the profile of your contacts.
In turn, you will see how the conversations between your teams and the clients progressed from start to finish. This will help prepare you as to what to say when reaching out to your clients.
A conversation CRM software organizes all of your company’s emails. It arranges your inboxes and connects you with customers faster and more efficiently.
3. Contact CRM
If your business is big in establishing a more personal connection with your customers, contact CRM is your best option. Apart from being user-friendly, it zooms in on the personal details of your customers.
The software helps you gather client information, like their birthday, hobbies, and official designation. The software can even go as deep as the last drink they ordered during your last meeting with them.
In turn, you can use these details on your next meeting to build a more personal connection.
Additionally, contact CRM is one of the most affordable in the market. It also offers an interphase that is similar to that of Google Contacts.
4. Marketing CRM
Last, but not least, is the marketing CRM software. It comes with tools similar to a lead and deal CRM. On top of those, it also features automated workflows.
These workflows allow you to automatically send emails to a lead. This automation takes place the day after the lead clicks a link that comes with a marketing email you sent them.
Moreover, it can also identify leads as “interested” in your products and services. This happens when the leads open a specific number of your emails. After tagging them, the CRM will send a message to your marketing team.
It will prompt them to connect with the leads using a more personal tone.
Thankfully, there are companies that integrate a combination of tools like this product. Through integration, you can get features that you want at competitive prices.
The Key Benefits
Now let us take a look at the key benefits you will enjoy once you decide to use a CRM system.
1. Consistent Messaging
CRM allows you to enjoy consistent messaging. This means syncing all your customer processes across the different departments in your office.
You can all work on unified data and remain consistent in all of your client engagements and communications.
This allows a customer service representative to escalate a problematic ticket to a manager without confusing the latter with the details. Moreover, your people will avoid saying the same things repeatedly to the same client. It will also keep you from saying contradicting messages.
2. Improved Customer Insights
You can enjoy a better view of your customers even if there are hundreds or thousands of them. This is because of the CRM server’s ability to organize all your customers’ data. This also covers all the social media mentions, transactions, and complaints that involve them.
You will understand your customers on a deeper level. You will know more about what they want and what they dislike. You can develop new products and tweak old ones that your target market will patronize.
3. Workflow Automation
CRM software can automate your workflows. It can create reports and submit forms. In addition to that, CRM software can organize your notes and answer inquiries.
In turn, it will save you more time that you can use to focus on other pressing concerns.
Continue Improving Your Office Systems
With the help of a CRM server and system, you can generate more leads. You can strengthen customer relationships and build new ones.
But you shouldn’t stop there. You should continue searching for ways to improve your office systems.
We invite you to read our other articles and blog posts. We discuss various topics on systems that transform companies into more efficient ones and you may be able to find more ideas to implement in your office.
