What does CRM stand for?
Customer Relationship Management - The most valuable asset an organisation can have. To put simply, "a technology used to manage interactions with customers and potential customers."
Inefficient processes, difficulty in tracking customer data, payments, invoices, losing track of sales? If this sounds like you then this is even more of a reason to implement a CRM System!
As in the name itself a CRM tool emphasises Customers. Building and maintaining a customer relationship is essential for the success of any business and in order to do so we need to keep a track of existing and potential customers.
Imagine a system where everything was stored in one place so you can keep a track of:
And so much more!
You must have heard of the phrase - "put the customer at the heart of your business." A CRM tool literally does that for you, so adopt a forward-thinking strategy and definitely consider investing in one of the largest software markets in the world, if you haven't done so already.
For start-ups or new businesses a CRM isn't essential straight away, due to budgeting factors, a limited number of employees or not having a lot of data to store. Your goals as a start-up will vary from your goals as you expand. Therefore your initial focus may not be spending a lot of money on this tool. Instead you will aim to minimise ongoing business expenses and could be happy inputting your data into simple spreadsheets. Eventually as you begin to grow that's when you will focus on efficiency of operations, collating large datasets, customer service objectives and can look to bring a CRM tool into play.
The good thing about a CRM system is though it is customer centric but that's not where it stops. It can also be used to increase productivity and enhance day-to-day business operations. You can consolidate different business functions and gather useful business information.
You can track the following areas:
Sales: