The Importance of Using a CRM to Manage Sales
You have been hearing about customer relationship management (CRM) for a while now. You hear colleagues in the sales world raving about how using a CRM has improved their customer retention and satisfaction rates. But you still aren’t feeling the love.
You may be thinking automation is impersonal. You may be comfortable with your spreadsheets and email forms. You may even think your boss is using CRM software to monitor your activities, your progress with customers.
Myths such as these are keeping you from achieving your goals at a much faster rate. You already dominate in your field. Think what you could do with more time, better organization and the ability to stay one step ahead in meeting your clients’ needs.
Managing sales effectively is why your ROI is healthy. It’s why you are a leader in the game. But the less time you can spend on current and potential customers, the less your sales can grow. And in this game, growth is what it’s all about.
Using a CRM to manage sales is key to helping you reach your full potential. Keep reading to find out why using a CRM to manage sales is so important.
Anticipate and Solve Problems
You don’t have to be psychic to figure out your clients’ needs and provide solutions before they even ask for help. You can do this with using a CRM.
All the information you gather on your customers can be recorded and saved. Within minutes, your CRM team can run reports, so you can analyze specific data. This data gives you insight into your clients’ lives, their needs, allowing you the opportunity to meet those needs.
Data is accessible in minutes. This is much more efficient than if you are trying to source data from emails or spreadsheets. In sales, quick help is what your clients are seeking.
Focus on Doing Your Thing
It’s doubtful you got into sales because you love importing contacts, tracking referrals, sending email campaigns or managing calendars. Marketing is okay, but where you shine is with people. You are a rock star at closing the deal.
The more you can focus on your current clients and acquiring new clients using your unmatched sales tactics, the better your portfolio will be. A CRM team can take all the minor marketing tasks off your shoulders, so you can focus on doing your thing.
While you are making your customers happy, you can feel confident all your other important, but not as fun, activities are getting done.
Increase Leads and Referrals
Because you have more time to spend on satisfying your customers, you will notice an increase in the number of leads and referrals you acquire. Satisfied customers are eager to spread the word to their friends and family members when they hit the jackpot with a great new business.
You can also use the information provided by your CRM team to help you further provide clients with the attention they deserve.You can learn how each of your clients respond to different marketing tools, such as email campaigns, postcards or phone calls.
With just a few simple clicks, you can have reminders set that will notify you when to follow up with current clients and potential leads.
Using a CRM can even help you set goals for yourself and for your clients. It can keep you motivated to reach those goals, becoming even better at selling directly to clients.
Get Away from Your Desk
Using a CRM allows you to be mobile. Meaning, you can work from anywhere and still be at the top of your game. It may even put you ahead of the game.
You can answer an email at midnight from your sofa. You can skype with a client from the local bistro. You can make a quick call from your child’s baseball game.
Being mobile gives you flexible hours so you can respond to customer needs, when they need you, rather than when you make into the office. You can answer questions from your clients from anywhere and within just a few minutes.
Gone are the days where you can only access client information from your desk and between the hours of nine to five.
Get the Sales Scoop
Using a CRM helps you get data on your clients. Data that can give you feedback on what you are doing right and what you could do better. Not all your sales techniques are going to work on each of your customers or potential customers.
With the help of a CRM team, you can learn which clients click on the links you send them. You can be told the number of emails they open, the number of pdf files they opened and even the number of embedded links they followed based on your request.
CRM can also tell you which clients follow links to YouTube, Facebook and other online resources. CRM teams can tell you if the clients you are watching are watching you too. Yes, you can learn which of your clients are seeking more information on your website and exactly which information they are searching.
Let’s face it, you already use many tools to help you be a selling machine. You use them to make first time sales, upsell, and resell to your clients.
Why not integrate CRM into your toolbox? It’s like having an on-call service team whose goal is to help you make more money through improved processes. It’s like having your own cheerleading squad, at your disposal, online or offline.
Not only does using a CRM motivate and inspire you, it helps you manage all aspects of your business. Systems such as these are being praised for their multi-level advantages, from communicating more efficiently with partners and customers, to increasing security of your data.
Many of your competitors are already using tools like this to manage sales. They will likely tell you that much of their success is due to their use of customer relationship management software. You too deserve the rewards a CRM can offer.
