If you're on the cusp of implementing a CRM system, it's a clear signal that you're prioritizing the growth of your business. Multiple spreadsheets and manual document management are no longer enough in today's modern business world. Instead, companies are turning to CRM solutions to streamline processes and accelerate business growth. Research shows that sales teams using cloud-based CRM achieve their sales goal 65% of the time. That's nearly a three-fold improvement over their counterparts without a CRM system. Interested? Read on to discover our ultimate CRM automation guide.
CRM: Buy it for this one reason
Businesses of all sizes generate a phenomenal volume of data. The more your business expands, the larger your contact list becomes. And that's before you add all the other data points you need to collect to run efficiently.
Although the sheer volume of data can often be overwhelming, it doesn't have to be. With a CRM system, you can track as much information as you want. You and your team get reliable data that you can work with in real time. Without CRM, you're sitting in the dark, letting prospects slip out of sight. With CRM, you automate much of your sales activities and work smarter, not harder.
CRM vs. automated marketing
CRM alone may not be able to meet all of your marketing needs. However, this is no reason to break the deal. CRM is designed to integrate with all your existing software and platforms, including marketing automation packages.
Whether you need both CRM and marketing automation is up for debate. It all depends on the unique needs of your business. Unlike traditional marketing automation, CRM allows you to streamline your marketing and sales processes to increase efficiency and create a better customer experience.
4 great ways your CRM can automate your small business.
If you want to save time, get more engagement with leads, and make faster sales: here's our guide to 4 great ways CRM automation can help.
Automate data entry.
It's widely recognized that sales teams spend nearly a fifth of their day on data entry. With CRM, you can implement data automation, one of the biggest time-wasters. For example, you can automate a number of actions, including auto-populating the CRM system with data submitted via online forms.
Email management
With your CRM system, you can create email sequences to target leads. This is another time saver, as there is no need to recreate content for individual customers.
You can also segment your email contact list instead of dealing with a huge list. For example, automation can add contacts to filtered lists on its own, based on their interests and past purchases. You can also integrate your existing emails like Gmail and Outlook into the CRM system.
Interaction logging
CRM can automatically log our phone calls and emails when you interact with leads. This logging means you always have an up-to-date record of where the lead is in the sales process. In addition, a full history makes it easier to nurture leads, as you can create notifications to remind you when it's the right time to follow up.
Customer support
If you want to use chatbots to help leads and customers with service-related issues, all those interactions will be logged as well. This gives you a much better overview of customer service requests.
CRM and marketing automation
While CRM has a good reputation with sales teams, it also lends itself to better collaboration and coordination between departments. When marketing and sales data are stored separately, it makes communication between the two departments more difficult. It also makes their work much less efficient and smooth.
In fact, companies that closely align sales and marketing are said to have over 35% higher customer retention. Incorporating marketing automation into your CRM gives everyone a 360-degree view of the sales pipeline. Dun can then align their operations with sales priorities. The following list shows some of the stark business realities of working with and without CRM.
With CRM
Targeted email campaigns with high engagement because the messages are relevant to the recipient.
Automated workflows speed up business processes and increase customer satisfaction.
There is a single platform that is accurate and constantly updated in real time. This allows employees to easily access the information they need to complete their task.
Without CRM
Mass email campaigns without personalization and low response rates.
Time wasted on manual tasks that do not generate direct revenue. Business processes are slow and not well coordinated. There is a lack of opportunity to improve the customer experience.
Employees work with dozens of spreadsheets and jump back and forth between different apps and platforms. It's difficult to get a complete picture of what's going on. You have no idea how up-to-date or accurate the information is, or if you and a colleague are even working with the same numbers.
Your next step
What you need to do next is put chatting on hold and get your hands dirty with CRM. Since CRM vendors offer free trials of at least 14 days, you have a risk-free opportunity to test their system. Two weeks is enough to bury any doubts you may have about your CRM implementation. It's then up to you to find the system that's a perfect fit for your business. For small businesses, a cloud-based CRM is the best choice. It's cost-effective and can scale as your business grows.
Conclusion
Hopefully, our CRM guide has given you a good overview. As it turns out, there are very few - if any - downsides to CRM today. It has become the most important business growth tool you can buy in recent years.
CRM: Buy it for this one reason
Businesses of all sizes generate a phenomenal volume of data. The more your business expands, the larger your contact list becomes. And that's before you add all the other data points you need to collect to run efficiently.
Although the sheer volume of data can often be overwhelming, it doesn't have to be. With a CRM system, you can track as much information as you want. You and your team get reliable data that you can work with in real time. Without CRM, you're sitting in the dark, letting prospects slip out of sight. With CRM, you automate much of your sales activities and work smarter, not harder.
CRM vs. automated marketing
CRM alone may not be able to meet all of your marketing needs. However, this is no reason to break the deal. CRM is designed to integrate with all your existing software and platforms, including marketing automation packages.
Whether you need both CRM and marketing automation is up for debate. It all depends on the unique needs of your business. Unlike traditional marketing automation, CRM allows you to streamline your marketing and sales processes to increase efficiency and create a better customer experience.
4 great ways your CRM can automate your small business.
If you want to save time, get more engagement with leads, and make faster sales: here's our guide to 4 great ways CRM automation can help.
Automate data entry.
It's widely recognized that sales teams spend nearly a fifth of their day on data entry. With CRM, you can implement data automation, one of the biggest time-wasters. For example, you can automate a number of actions, including auto-populating the CRM system with data submitted via online forms.
Email management
With your CRM system, you can create email sequences to target leads. This is another time saver, as there is no need to recreate content for individual customers.
You can also segment your email contact list instead of dealing with a huge list. For example, automation can add contacts to filtered lists on its own, based on their interests and past purchases. You can also integrate your existing emails like Gmail and Outlook into the CRM system.
Interaction logging
CRM can automatically log our phone calls and emails when you interact with leads. This logging means you always have an up-to-date record of where the lead is in the sales process. In addition, a full history makes it easier to nurture leads, as you can create notifications to remind you when it's the right time to follow up.
Customer support
If you want to use chatbots to help leads and customers with service-related issues, all those interactions will be logged as well. This gives you a much better overview of customer service requests.
CRM and marketing automation
While CRM has a good reputation with sales teams, it also lends itself to better collaboration and coordination between departments. When marketing and sales data are stored separately, it makes communication between the two departments more difficult. It also makes their work much less efficient and smooth.
In fact, companies that closely align sales and marketing are said to have over 35% higher customer retention. Incorporating marketing automation into your CRM gives everyone a 360-degree view of the sales pipeline. Dun can then align their operations with sales priorities. The following list shows some of the stark business realities of working with and without CRM.
With CRM
Targeted email campaigns with high engagement because the messages are relevant to the recipient.
Automated workflows speed up business processes and increase customer satisfaction.
There is a single platform that is accurate and constantly updated in real time. This allows employees to easily access the information they need to complete their task.
Without CRM
Mass email campaigns without personalization and low response rates.
Time wasted on manual tasks that do not generate direct revenue. Business processes are slow and not well coordinated. There is a lack of opportunity to improve the customer experience.
Employees work with dozens of spreadsheets and jump back and forth between different apps and platforms. It's difficult to get a complete picture of what's going on. You have no idea how up-to-date or accurate the information is, or if you and a colleague are even working with the same numbers.
Your next step
What you need to do next is put chatting on hold and get your hands dirty with CRM. Since CRM vendors offer free trials of at least 14 days, you have a risk-free opportunity to test their system. Two weeks is enough to bury any doubts you may have about your CRM implementation. It's then up to you to find the system that's a perfect fit for your business. For small businesses, a cloud-based CRM is the best choice. It's cost-effective and can scale as your business grows.
Conclusion
Hopefully, our CRM guide has given you a good overview. As it turns out, there are very few - if any - downsides to CRM today. It has become the most important business growth tool you can buy in recent years.