Customer Relationship Management System (CRM) is one of the most important systems for businesses. The reason is that customers are the most important part of business, and therefore you need to provide them good and quality service.
Many small businesses do not use a customer relationship management system (CRM), one of the reasons is the price, the other reason that they are not aware of how important it is for business. Netolink explains to you why it is important to work with a CRM system and how to choose the best system for you.
Why is customer relationship management system important for your business?
Better management
There is no doubt that managing the business and customers with a system which gathers all preferable to an Excel file or other lists.
Time Saving
Perform important functions for you and your business and save valuable time, just using a CRM system can save time and money.
Concentration of operations
Connect all your resources through the system and optimize the business. You can connect accounting software, interface with other systems, concentrate all the information in one place and another.
Monitoring
Full control over everything that happens in your business, how many customers do you have? how many sales? Who is the main contact? How long does the customer care and more.
Order
Made the order when it comes to your business customers, from leads to customers retention. An order will also help the customer to understand that you are serious business and will continue with you.
Budget and Finance Management
The important part in the business, how much revenue the company had, how much expenses, what the budgets for advertising and more.
Customer service and customer retention
With CRM you know the history of the client, manage the whole system and offer additional products and services and to keep him as your customers.
How to Choose a customer relationship management system for your business?
Choosing a CRM system is not an easy choice, especially if you had no one ever. When selecting a CRM system you should pay attention to several important things, these will help you understand what you and your business need today and in the future.
Landing Pages
If you advertise and use many landing pages, interfacing to landing pages may save you time. Interfacing helps connect the contact forms directly into your CRM system, so when a potential customer fills in the contact form and sends it. The CRM system detects it and establishes it as a potential customer (lead) in your system.
API
This API interfacing between servers. Using API, you can make complicated things, interfacing with landing pages is also a kind of API, but note you can connect to many services such as automation. Lead forms of Facebook this is one example of this.
Tasks
Tasks are very important in the CRM system, tasks allow better you to manage your communication with the customer. It is strongly recommended to assign tasks to know what the next step in the relationship between you and the customer, for example, if the customer asked to call him in a few hours, you can set up a task and you will know to go back to it at this time.
Daily Planner
Meetings management is very important, similar to tasks, with a calendar you can manage all your meetings with clients, you will inform yourself and the client in advance of arrival. A daily planner helps manage better and optimize your daily schedule when going on a meeting, length of trip and more.
Products / Services
If you offer different products or services, it would be great if your CRM system will answer the requirements. Products/services may make you order including fixed prices, discounts, give them own product code and so on.
Projects/campaigns
Projects are an excellent tool to manage all your project, including all those involved in it. Including employees and customers, revenues and expenses.
Bookkeeping
Accounting in the CRM system can optimize your work. You can turn quote to work order and to make an invoice and/or receipt.
SMS / Email
Sending an SMS or email to yourself or your client this is a very great possibility to remind yourself or them on every topic including the meeting. Reminder messages very helpful for customer relationship management and customer service.
Synchronization with Microsoft or Google
With synchronization with Microsoft or Google, you can transfer your contacts to the system and vice versa. You can synchronize calendar appointments and other options that can make things easier during the work.
Security / Encryption
Ask the company to know whether your information is encrypted and is not public. All of your business information is confidential especially for you, you should know that this information is safe and encrypted.
Support
Never give up on support, even if your cost will increase. There are things that can not save costs, support is very important in every part of the system itself. With support with representatives of the company that develops the system, you can handle any problems that you can not solve.
Updates
All software, system, and application need updates. Updates are due in part because of a bug, upgrade, adding new widgets and more. It is important to choose a company that performs updates, so you will know whether to choose the system itself is worth.
Implementation
Implementation is the action of matching the system with needs of your business. With proper integration you can work more accurately, saving time and unnecessary costs and because the system could be complicated for you or for your business employees.
Files Uploading
Uploading files into a CRM system can help you easily assign any files to clients. If you are interested in uploading a signed bid, an agreement signed by the customer, ID copy, ID copy of Company and more. Affiliation all the files to that client can make you order in terms of customer and important order on a computer.
Backup
Backup is very necessary, you manage most of your business with a system, all customers, bids, contracts, files, all of this must be backed up continuously. When you choose a CRM system check if the company provides you with a backup.
Interfacing with Switchboard
If you are using a PBX (private branch exchange), it’s great to pair it to a CRM system and thereby once the customer is calling you, automatically opens customer card to vacated representative, you can assign the call to the customer card. Because PBX can be for many business units, it can really help you understand what the customer wishes and where he turns.
Cloud
Do you use Google Drive or Dropbox or OneDrive Microsoft? you know. Today’s technology is entirely based cloud, with the cloud you can manage your business and your customers from anywhere in the world and you only need internet.
App / Mobile
Some companies also offer an application or mobile website, if you are a long time away from the office or where hard work with a laptop, an application you can solve the problem. Quality CRM system can allow you to manage most functions similar to full software.
Business Units
With business unit, you can adapt the software to that specific unit and better management. For example, for sales and marketing department will assign all your customers and new interested clients, for the finance department, associate them with all the bookkeeping.
Role Permissions
In addition, business units, this is an excellent way to allow each role in your organization its own permissions. A sales manager may have more permissions than a sales agent under him.
Import & Export
Perhaps most importantly, this is the option to import and export files, contacts, clients, documents, invoices and receipts, and more. CSV files are known as a protocol for importing and exporting files for different systems when the main goal is to transfer information.
Control Panel
This is an excellent tool to provide numeric or visually graphs and charts. The aim of the control panels is to evaluate and compare various performance and have full control over the business. Senior managers may choose parameters such as revenue monthly / yearly, a number of customers, growth percentages, etc. Junior sales executives and other employees to see data such as a number of customers this month, the number of calls, call time and more.
The management of the system must be simple, easy, convenient and not too many things. Most systems today are more comfortable views for users, there is no reason for a complicated system or that require a long time to understand how to operate it.
These are important topics in the CRM system and how to choose a good system for you. You can then compare to choose what is suitable for you, of course, each system has different prices and costs.