The complete guide to Customer Relationship Management

Customer Relationship Management, otherwise known as CRM, is defined as the combination of practices, strategies and technologies that companies use to manage and analyze customer interactions and data throughout the customer lifestyle. The goal? To improve business relationships.

So why exactly is CRM important? CRM systems serve as a hub for organizing and making sense of valuable information, providing businesses with the tools they need to be successful. As of lately, businesses of all sizes are turning to CRM tools to gain a better understanding of what it is their customers want.

Most employers will actually choose using an excel sheet over a proper CRM system. With minimal CRM usage, many teams are missing opportunities to attract consumers. As a result, revenue growth will suffer, which is the last thing any business, especially a startup, wants to happen.

Generally though, before choosing to use a CRM, said company will establish a plan on how to use it, how to generate sales and how to succeed through it. So, what exactly are the advantages of having a CRM in place? Better customer experience, higher productivity, increased collaboration with team members and greater insights on the company itself.

CRM strategies keep the company focused on their goals. If properly used, a CRM can increase sales. While each CRM shares similar elements, what really makes or breaks a business is CRM customization. By customizing your CRM to what your business needs most, you’ll likely notice an increase in sales and revenue. According to this study, 90 per cent of users find the personalization of CRM appealing, while 80 per cent of shoppers only buy from businesses that provide personalized experiences. Personalization along with a clearly defined course of action is essential for a profitable business and to keep buyers coming back.

When it comes to garnering more repeat customers, there are a few courses of action worth taking. When a customer is satisfied with your products or service, they’ll likely turn to you in the future should they need something else. Using CRM drives repeat business from customers — and here’s why.

According to a study done in 2020, one bad customer experience stops 80 per cent of customers from ever returning to that store again. A CRM can help you to manage and serve your customers better, by offering 24/7 self-serve convenience through online portals. At the click of a button, customers are left to check balances, complete payments and so much more, on their own time, allowing them the freedom and flexibility that they desire.

With a CRM, it’s easy to keep customers engaged. By showing you care, your customers are more likely to stick around. Use a CRM to find and leverage your customer’s history, and use that information to connect with them after each sale. If you stay in touch with your customers through nurturing them, they’re likely to shop with you again. The deeper the relationship, the more likely it is that your business will sustain success.

Another benefit to CRM, as previously mentioned, is increased employee productivity. Using a CRM allows you to offset process-heavy and strenuous tasks, giving your employees more time to build relationships with customers. With improved customer retention comes an increase in profits, so giving yourself that visibility across all relationships is extremely important.

Now that we’ve covered a lot of the benefits of a CRM, it’s important to choose the software that’s right for you. Each CRM system has pros and cons, and some are better for your business than others. It’s important to take into account factors like customization, ease of use, cost and user adoption, to name a few. With all that being said, one of the most crucial criteria of choosing a CRM system is user experience; how you feel and what you experience when you use it.

Keeping all these factors in mind, we were able to choose the right CRM for our business. Here at CAKE Capital, we’re big Hubspot users. Hubspot is a great CRM software that connects everything that a company needs to be able to deliver the best experience possible for their consumers. A great software for small to medium-scale businesses, Hubspot groups all marketing tools together on one easy-to-use platform. With popular features like SEO, Marketing Automation and even Salesforce Integration tools, using Hubspot makes every task a little bit easier.

All in all, let this be a message to small and medium-sized business users everywhere; if you haven’t already considered incorporating a CRM into your business, you should look to start. Most systems are free, with some premium features that you can opt for on your own time should you so desire. But, CRMs are incredibly useful when it comes to streamlining your work, making everything run seamlessly. Without a good CRM in place, you run the risk of collecting bad data, running into productivity issues and ultimately, will have less leverage over your customers. In short, these are all things you want to avoid, and can, when choosing CRM.

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