How to Pick the Right CRM for Your Business?
Reading Time: 5 minutes Peter Drucker, who was famously known as the Father of Management Thinking, once said, the purpose of business is to create and keep a customer! This purpose is best served by an efficient CRM software that is packed with practical tools that manage your sales cycle.
Customer Relationship Management, abbreviated as CRM, nurtures the relations of a business with its customers, ensuring a good experience for them.
The use of CRM much transforms your business and plays a vital part in leveraging customer interactions. It gives you valuable insights based on customer’s data and increases the productivity of your sales team.
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Small businesses, retailers, and large enterprises all can benefit from CRM solutions.
According to TrackVia, customer retention of a company is enhanced by up to 27% if a CRM software is used, and the revenue per sales representative can increase by up to 41%.
There are several factors to look out for when you are picking up a CRM for your company. Here are a few prospects that you should weigh in before investing and implementing a new CRM software:
Table of Contents
Diverse Access
The first thing any business should look for is whether the CRM tools can be accessed via multiple devices.
Given the upsurging competition between businesses, companies now want their sales professionals to have round the clock access to the CRM solution on any device they are using. Using the software only via desktop or laptop will give limited access to the data, which translates into missing opportunities.
On the other hand, software that is accessible via mobile, as well as the desktop, is clearly more beneficial. The salesperson can use it whenever the need arises, and it increases the conversion percentage by a significant margin. How? Read the following statistic:
The nucleus research report informs that the sales target of 65% of companies is met who use mobile CRM software. Whereas, of those who use the non-mobile version of the software, 22% of them could reach the sales quota.
Growth
To put your company on the growth path, you need to be sure that the CRM you are using has features to help you do so. An inspiring quote by Bill Gates goes like, “How you gather, manage, and use information determines whether you are going to win or lose.”
An automated process saves the time that you were using to manage tasks. You can instead use this time to make growth strategies.
CRM has also been proven to build remarkable brand loyalty via customer retention, which impacts the growth process. It helps your sales team reach the targets faster, which in turn ensures the closure of deals.
Harvard Business Review concluded that the use of advanced CRM technology increases sales by more than 30%.
Customization
The best CRM software is the one whose features align with your business strategies and goals. Before buying the software, you should not only consider your budget.
In fact, you can make a whole list of your goals and the problems you wish to resolve via CRM implementation. It will assist you in deciding what kind of CRM will suit your needs.
Talking about needs, they vary for every business. Your potential CRM should be customizable to fit those needs.
For instance, you may not need some features of the software, or wish to modify some of them. A CRM will only be useful if it is tailored to your specific requirements; else, the money you invest will probably go waste.
Cost
Weigh in the pricing structure well before hitting the sign up button. At first, you should evaluate if the implementation of CRM would be worth it and reduce costs in other areas. For instance, Cloudswave estimated that Sales professionals could reduce lead costs by 23% by using CRM.
Going digital saves the effort of printing each document and maintaining countless files and folders. It also gives your sales team the benefit of a paperless desk, which can reduce their stress level as they feel more organized.
Usually, the cost of a CRM software is specified per user. Depending upon the size of your business, or it’s specific needs, you can select a plan. The CRM company should give you an option to pay annually, as you can save significant time this way.
Scalable or Not?
A vital factor to look for is the scalability of the platform as your business grows.
The CRM should be well equipped to handle an influx of customer inquiries and orders. You can imagine the scenario if it is not capable of doing so on a good sales day.
You will undoubtedly lose a high number of potential sales just because your CRM collapsed. Only if the CRM offers an expansion of functionality as needed, it will be your best bet.
User Friendly
Managing your customer’s data manually is inconvenient, but thankfully it is fast becoming a thing of the past. But, if your staff is having trouble using complex software for CRM, it also won’t serve the purpose of minimizing hassle.
If you thoroughly understand the purpose and features of CRM, you will be able to maximize the benefits it can bring.
The primary use of CRM is to give you a clear picture of your target audience so you can understand and serve them better. This is not possible unless the software is easy to use.
Your sales professionals should be able to pull out whatever information they need from the system and navigate it without putting much effort.
Effortless Integration
The tools that you currently use for your sales cycle should flexibly be integrated with the CRM you pick up. The software should not be an additional burden for you. It should instead fit seamlessly with all the useful tools such as email, call recording, calendar, Google Drive, Chrome, invoice, maps, and WordPress to build an easily maintained interface.
Free Demo
Before asking for money, a good CRM will always let you have a free trial of the software for a few days. Try before you buy is a tactic that goes in favor of the customer due to many aspects.
At first, the free demo makes it convenient for you to assess the service and decide whether it is the right one for your business or not. You can buy it if it proves to be valuable, or discontinue the use if you are not enjoying it.
Once you hit the free trial button, you can check whether there is an impact on your sales team’s productivity. You can also see how quickly the CRM can manage leads and tasks. Chances are, you will figure out pretty soon if the software is suitable for you or not.
Final Thoughts
So, why are your sales professionals wasting hours on data entry every day when they should be using that time to sell instead?
Train them on how to shift their productivity on using the CRM so that additional revenue can be generated. Keep the factors mentioned above in mind before purchasing the software so you can get your hands on the best CRM.
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