It is notoriously difficult to determine the effectiveness of an investment in a CRM system, but for many businesses it is one of the most significant investments. Some companies prefer to rely on word of mouth in departments to evaluate the effectiveness of CRM: Sales guys love the new CRM The new CRM is hard to navigate. We can never find what we need in the CRM.
We are people from business, and based on rumors we can not afford, right? So let's figure out how to actually evaluate a new CRM system. In our ROI (return on investment) guide, we've included 10 of its features. And don`t forget that you can always turn to reliable crm software for movers.
1. Data centralization
The Economist published an article titled "The world's most valuable resource is data, not oil. There is no doubt that data is important, and companies are increasingly aware of the need for effective data collection and management. Moreover, data management is often a key reason companies invest in a CRM system. When data is spread across multiple systems, it can lead to a host of problems at the highest level:
Lost information;
Gaps in cooperation between departments;
Duplicated tasks;
Difficulty in moving new projects forward;
Failure to adhere to timing.
Every business will have different problems, but one common thread is inefficiency and wasted time. For example, an attorney working on a complex case might look at similar cases the firm has worked on to get ideas for the best outcome. Meanwhile, the partner in charge can keep an eye on the project and intervene if he or she feels the project is drifting. The finance department, in turn, can monitor billing status and do its job on time.
It's hard enough to measure the return on investment in data centralization because the benefits are so broad, but in the long run it provides the ability to speed up business operations, save time, save money and provide important strategic information.
2. Segmentation
Segmentation involves dividing the entire customer base into smaller groups. Traditionally, segmentation is in demand in marketing, making it possible to offer customers products that meet their needs. But it is also important for other tasks, such as defining the product range and making strategic decisions. Here are some examples of the use of segmentation:
Detailed demographic data about your customer base helps communicate strategic information about product development.
Analytics data is important when generating brand emails - it helps marketers understand who they're talking to.
The time for mailings at random is over, and you need to know who your customers are and what they expect to receive from you so you don't fly off the first mailing into your spam folder.
Let's look at an example of a sporting goods store. A website with 35,000 unique visitors per month, thousands of social media followers, and 10,000 subscribers to the customer newsletter. The store can significantly increase sales through segmentation. Even basic information such as purchase history, sources of visits, demographics, age and gender of the user can support marketing. After all, if a marketer has this data, he or she can create dozens of relevant campaigns.
3. Evaluation of potential clients
One of the biggest challenges for the sales department is deciding where to focus time and energy. If the CRM system reports on the highest quality and most ready-to-buy leads, it will help focus sales. For the evaluation to be effective, businesses should consider the following:
Do we have enough data to determine what leads to sales?
Will maintaining analytics adjust our approach to leads - if so, how?
Do we have the time and resources to evaluate leads "by eye," or is it better to trust the data from the system?
Based on analytics data, if the sales process is managed correctly, businesses can see where to focus their efforts most effectively and which customers are best sent to nurture.
4. Sales funnel
The superpower that the sales funnel in CRM will give you is the ability to visually track sales activity and quickly draw conclusions about the state of the funnel. A good view of the funnel depends on several factors: the relevance of the information and a clear understanding of the key indicators. At the same time, a properly built funnel allows a manager to draw useful and, most importantly, timely conclusions.
Sales funnel analytics will make it possible to decide what to focus on first, determine at what stage the most clients are lost, identify the main gaps in the business and take immediate action.
5. Email-маркетинг
Many companies have a CRM system and a separate email provider, so the task of combining email marketing and CRM in a single environment has long been routine. Many marketers will tell you that email marketing still works great. A few common tactics:
Sending personalized offers, promotions or discounts;
Surveys to build trust;
Personal letter from the owner (author newsletters are gaining popularity);
Useful content - articles or videos that educate readers.
By integrating CRM with customer data, marketers are able to send content tailored directly to the recipient. Automation that sends mailings based on customer preferences and behavior greatly improves results.
Even a small movie theater can use email marketing to support its brand. One approach is to send out quality content that will keep the theater in the minds of readers. For example, movie reviews or details about upcoming events that are happening at the theater. After the first few emails are sent, marketers can use automation to customize the next messages.
For example, a subscriber who is interested in events may be sent a series of emails describing them in more detail; those who clicked on a link about Saturday movies may be sent a reminder about upcoming movies later in the week. In this way, by creating messages, the movie theater gives readers what they are looking for and increases the likelihood of opening emails, which in turn leads to more sales.
6. Performance tracking
The CRM system can provide analytics to evaluate the effectiveness of both teams and individual employees. For example, track statistics on completed calls and emails, record the number of successful deals and project progress. It can be difficult to draw meaningful conclusions from this data at first, but as it accumulates, it becomes very revealing.
For example, the fact that the best salesperson makes only two calls does not necessarily mean that the low number of calls is the reason for successful deals. But once you have data on multiple salespeople over a period of time, the understanding of what actions lead to results will also become clearer.
Companies can also use this data when creating business processes. For example, if the optimal statistic is to make 80 to 100 calls a week or hold at least five meetings a week, then taking this information into account as part of the sales business process will improve performance.
7. User reporting
The best CRM systems not only provide a set of useful reports, but also have features for creating custom reports. Such reports can come in a variety of forms:
Sales metrics;
Sales funnel review;
Sales team performance;
Segmentation;
Marketing campaigns.
The managing director of a tea producer can use custom reports on a weekly basis to keep track of how the business is doing. A set of weekly reports in this case might include:
Sales: an overview of team performance and reputation;
Production efficiency: how much tea is produced;
Management accounting: profit and loss accounts that show overall efficiency;
Cash accounts: indicates the company's solvency.
After a cursory analysis, the managing director can delve into problem areas. For example, if the sales department is performing poorly, marketing and sales performance reports may be selected for a more detailed study.
8. Inventory management
Inventory management is a way to keep track of what products you have and get relevant information about those products. This functionality is most relevant to businesses that sell products. There are many benefits to good inventory management in CRM, just to name a few:
Inventory control: reordering inventory when it runs out.
Insight into buying habits: for example, sales of a product can drop dramatically, so it's worth replacing them.
Product information can be useful in answering customer questions.
Manufacturer information (information about deals, warranties, and manufacturer reliability) will be useful in deciding which products to keep in stock.
Price data: analysis of wholesale and retail prices and profitability over time can help focus on products that maximize profit.
Such a CRM system can ensure that sales, margins and inventory levels are optimized. For example, a retailer can use an inventory management system to evaluate its best-selling products; they may vary by location, so each location may have optimal inventory levels. For example, a store in a more affluent area may have more expensive products in stock.
9. Call center management
CRM with telephony is useful for several key reasons:
Calls can be made from the CRM, thus increasing the speed of work.
Recording calls allows users to listen to them later.
Call data is updated in the CRM, so everything is stored in one place.
Activity reports to track call data: e.g. call times, number of numbers dialed, whether the call was made on time.
If a company has several call centers, a centralized system will reduce duplication. Listening to calls from top salespeople can be used to simulate high sales performance, training and development of the entire team.
10. Customer Service
A CRM system that gives your support team access to the information they need quickly and on demand is a tool without which it is already difficult to imagine support. For example, being able to immediately understand the value of a customer who asks a question can make all the difference: The customer may be large or very small - in an ideal world, the business would provide consistent quality for all, but given the long list of requests, it makes sense to take care of key customers first.
There are other features that are important to have in a good CRM for customer service:
Knowledge Base. A series of well-formed reference articles and videos.
The system of tracking and prioritizing queries.
Automatic substitution of standard answers, if the problems are the same, affects the speed of processing requests.
Performance tracking allows managers to evaluate the work of support employees.
For example, an IT service desk in a large business with a complex infrastructure that receives hundreds of requests per day, a system to track requests and related actions is vital.
Conclusion
The return on investment in CRM is not easy to determine. As data becomes more important, using it correctly will give you a significant advantage over your competitors. The bottom line is that it's important not just to store the data, but to use it. Only then will you see the power that a new CRM system will give your business.
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