Are you sick and tired of having to put your customer details in multiple different places? Are you over losing customer information because you can’t remember which location you put it? Are you done with losing potential customers because you forget when you should follow up with them because your kid burned your calendar for fun?
You need a customer relationship management (CRM) system!
With three easy payments of $18.99, all your problems will be gone! Call the number on the screen to magically erase all the sales issues you’ve ever had and increase your leads by 5,000%!
Ok, I’m kinda kidding.
A CRM probably won’t magically erase every sales problem you’ve ever had and it probably won’t increase your sales leads by 5,000%.
But if you’re having these problems, you DO need a CRM. And CRMs DO have an average ROI of $5.60 for every dollar you spend on them, so they’re still pretty magical.
But what is a CRM? What does it do? What does it stand for?
A CRM is a type of software that helps you, well, manage your relationships with customers.
The primary function of a CRM is to keep track of your customers and all their information in a single place. Thus, a customer’s name, phone number, address, email address, and notes on every single interaction your company has ever had with them can all be easily looked up. Additionally, CRMs have a functionality that allows you to input the dates you next want to contact a customer, and the software will alert you on that day.
That’s a really simple CRM, and for many young businesses, the extent of what you’ll need.
However, CRM can do a LOT more than just the basics. Many CRM tools integrate with accounting and email marketing solutions to allow you to easily track your clients’ payments, and send out email blasts and newsletters. A new feature of some CRMs is the ability to track clients on social media, so you can see everything they say about you and also track your interactions with them.
This type of CRM often goes by the acronym CXM (Customer eXperience Management). CXM is likely the future of CRM, given that nearly all businesses deal with their customers on multiple channels. CXM makes tracking social, email, phone, and website interactions much easier.
Ultimately, CRMs are an important tool for a company to have for a couple of reasons.
1. Sales people don’t have to track down all their customers across multiple platforms (Google calendars, spreadsheets, you know the deal), and they get alerts when they need to contact leads next.
2. CRM makes managing a sales team easier. (Spoiler: this is usually a reason sales people resist CRM implementation.) Managers can easily check in and make sure the sales team is keeping up with all possible leads.
3. CRMs are actually magnificent for your marketing team, too! It gives your marketing team a single location to find all the emails they need for their campaigns. Plus, if you get a solution that integrates with your email marketing or marketing automation solution, your marketing team may not even have to upload contact lists and whatnot. Major score!
More?
So that’s what CRMs are and can do for you in a nutshell. Check out a full listing of CRMs on the market now, and if you have any more questions, leave them below and I’ll answer them!
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