Customers are the lifeline of every business. The whole essence of your business revolves around them. The sole aim of being in business is to make a profit which can only be achieved through customer influx. Thus, it is only natural that brands reputable for good customer relations would fare better than others. Such brands often enjoy customer loyalty and increased turnover.
A Salesforce survey conducted in 2019 reveals that 84% of consumers value the experience they have while in contact with your brand as much as the product or service of your offers. It doesn't matter how amazeballs your product is if your customer service sucks; you will most likely get a bad review.
Remember it is a battlefield out there and for your business to survive, it must be at the forefront of the competition. What better way to win than to improve your customer relations. More than the war of lowest prices and best products, you should also focus on giving your customers optimum experience.
Over the years, business relationships between companies and their customers have become easier with the advent of CRM. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software as the name depicts is a tool that helps you manage your engagements with your customers.
It is a technology designed to coordinate all company correspondence with their current and prospective customers for effective customer relationship management. The aim of this software is to better manage and enhance the interactions between companies and their customers.
Current trends in the business scene show that the use of CRM will grow at 13.5% CAGR over the next three years. In fact, it is predicted that customer experience will be the ultimate brand differentiator this year. Little wonder 2020 is regarded as the year of customer experience.
If your business goal this year is to have ascendency over other brands in your niche, then you will need a good CRM strategy. With it, your business can generate leads, increase sales and enhance growth. Gone are the days where only big companies could afford CRM software. These devices can be accessed at affordable prices and they are quite easy to use and maneuver.
Here are some benefits of CRM software that will be valuable to the growth of your small business.
1. Enhance customer satisfaction
The software serves as a tool for tracking sales interaction by recording all correspondence with your customers. It keeps track of all sales activities that involve both direct and indirect communication with customers which includes marketing, services, and product sales. It computes and analyzes customer's purchase patterns, response time, and retention rates. It also provides an update on your transactions with your customers.
The information retrieved from this automated system will aid a better understanding of your buyer persona, customer demographics and previous transactions which will, in turn, improve customer satisfaction. If an issue arises with a customer, you can refer back to the data compiled in your CRM database.
2. Boost lead generation and conversion
The process of making sales in business starts from the point of lead generation, management, and subsequent conversion. This task proves difficult when the sales personnel is not adequately equipped with the right information.
This is where the CRM software comes in handy. The software grants the salesperson access to customer data which gives room for customer segmentation according to their buying behaviour, age, sex and preferences. Armed with this information the salesperson can adequately manage leads generated from marketing campaigns and create effective lead conversion strategies. The sales personnel can also update lead revenue with the CRM software.
3. Improve customer retention
CRM technology helps you improve business revenue and customer retention rates. Harvard Business Review shows that if your customer attrition rate decreases by, five percent, it could lead to a 25% -85% profit increase. When you review customer feedback using CRM software it gives you a better understanding of your customer's needs and preferences. This helps to improve service delivery which increases your revenue and reduces customer deflection to similar brands. It could also attract referrals from customers who are satisfied with your precision of delivery.
4. Streamline internal communication
A good CRM technology and be used to enhance and build an effective communication system within the organization. It can serve as a faster alternative to direct messaging via emails. With just a few clicks, customer information and data can be distributed across various departments for easy workflow.
The software has a feature that manages the activities and business operations of all departments. This promotes team collaboration and interconnectivity through a single online platform. Team members can work on a project by communicating through this channel.
They can also receive notifications of general information, customer complaints and new changes in their assigned tasks. The software also keeps track of appointments, duties, meetings, tasks, memos and calls.
5. Upgrade Business Performance
Brand automation is essential to the growth and expansion of your business. The software promotes growth and productivity through better system management. It simplifies operations by providing an automated alternative to manual tasks which enhances workflow. Certain tedious time-consuming tasks can be programmed into the system to reduce employee's workload.
The aim is to boost productivity through robotic automation. All business projects, contracts, services and events can be managed from one interface. CRM software also automates data collation and system management. It can be used to create team reports to avoid data miscalculations and mismanagement. It also provides automated scheduling and tracking systems for managing departmental activities.
6. Improves data collation and computation
CRM software improves information documentation and organization in your business. The software records all interactions and engagements with your customers. It extracts important information from all your business channels which include your official website, social media channels, customer support logs, and feedback reviews. The data it retrieves from these sources are gathered and stored in a central database. This makes it easy for employees to access customer information from a central platform.
