To make company’s business run smoothly and without obstruction, it is recommended that all the company’s work and communication takes place in one software platform, which includes CRM, or customer management. The most important resources in any company are time and a software platform which collects all the customer management related information into one place and ensures faster information exchange both inside and outside the company.
CRM ensures that all the data concerning customers, transactions and plans are quickly available to employees and easy to manage. This enables the company to communicate with customers individually and directly. The more efficient is the communication with the customer, the better the service provider understands the customer’s desires and needs and can suggest the most appropriate solution.
360-degree overview of the customer
If all customer-related knowledge is the responsibility of only one or two employees, it is risky for the company. What happens if the responsible employee falls ill, goes on holiday or quits unexpectedly? This means that the customer management and the related knowledge must be quickly passed on to the other employee, which may temporarily hinder the customer service.
Thus, it is much safer for a company if all the information about customer profiles is available in one easily manageable location. The person who is currently serving the customer becomes less important, because, after identifying the customer, the service provider can find all the necessary information in the system – invoices, operations, contracts, plans and previous transactions. CRM offers the company a 360-degree overview of the customer and allows them to be served in the best possible way.
Information in one system saves time
The company does not need to use other databases or programs if the customer management is integrated into the business software. The employees do not need to enter data multiple times, as all the necessary information is in one place. This makes communication with customers faster, but also saves time because information moves swiftly within the company. Thanks to this, different departments of the company are in better contact with each other and can cooperate more efficiently
History and clear processes
A customer management software program can record all work tasks, events and meetings related to customers, sales contacts or service and other agreements. The recorded activities and events are visible to the company’s employees and can be changed and complemented if necessary.
This helps the company to keep a closer eye on work and provides an overview of plans, customer communication and the performance of tasks. The software enables to you to coordinate, approve and, if needed, to delegate different work tasks. It also offers a comprehensive overview of how long it took to complete a task.
Customer categorization
The CRM provides the opportunity to divide customers into groups based on different categories, and send mass postings and messages to different groups. Clients are much easier to manage based on categories, and such a division allows the company to better analyze customer-related activities.
Customer management provides reports on different customer groups, and this provides a clearer overview of customer behavior and choices. The reports reveal the preferences and purchases of different customer groups, and, based on this, companies can more efficiently plan their business activities. This way, the company’s salespeople and project managers know what to prioritize and how to improve the service quality.
Monitoring sales processes
A sales pipeline also plays an important role in an effective software solution. It can be divided into columns or stages according to the user’s wishes. For example, the first column might contain the customers with whom first contact has already been made and who require further communication. When the offer is made, the customer is moved to the next or waiting column. After the prepayment invoice has been created, the customer can be moved again.
You can also mark your following activities in different colours: customers with a grey marking must be contacted in the future, greens must be contacted today while reds need to have been contacted yesterday. This feature greatly facilitates the monitoring of sales processes.
Good CRM allows the possibility to:
- Get a complete overview of customers and promptly find the necessary information
- Ensure up-to-date information regarding the client’s history, needs and current situation
- Issue invoices to customers for work performed
- Send e-mails, reminders and store documents
- Save time because all customer information is accessible in one system
- Preserve a common system for collecting customer information within the company; this ensures stability even when employees change or are absent
- Request customer data directly from the Inforegister database, thus ensuring the data is always up to date
- Manage the calendar and be informed of colleagues’ activities
- Monitor sales processes
- And much more besides