How a sound CRM system improves your business entirely

Customer relationship management (CRM) software is widely used to help companies in building a longer-lasting business relationship with customers – and eventually to sustain a successful business.

You may realize that businesses put a lot of emphasis on CRM and customer service nowadays. To win customers and close more deals, it encompass many aspects and touchpoints in the entire customer journey. Thus, to stand out in this competitive era you will have to provide something exceptional – one thing that you can work on is your customer service quality.

The reason being customer retention supports growth and revenue, which is why it is relatively important for you to deliver an outstanding customer experience. From front desk service to back end operations, everything have to be connected and flow seamlessly from one to another. And there’s no better way to do that with a CRM software that has all the essential tools you need to help you move customers down the sales funnel.

A good CRM software helps you to target the right customers and allows you to build sustainable relationships with them through understanding and personalization of your services. Needless to say, it also improves your business efficiency by eliminating redundant tasks to reveal a more streamlined business process. All of these are essential for you to take your business forward on top of a well-planned strategy, which makes selecting a CRM solution a very important decision.

So how do I determine the right CRM solution?

Generally, there are different approaches and guidelines in selecting the best CRM system for your business. However, we have shortlisted the 5 most important steps for you below.

1. Evaluation of current process

Before even jumping into buying a new CRM system, it is important for you to identify the reason why your business needs it. You will have to assess your current business performance to identify the challenges and areas to improve. You may also want to ask yourself these few questions:

Do I have visibility into what my team is doing?

How long does it take for my sales rep to close one deal?

What is the cause for poor sales performance in the last quarter?

If you find yourself a little unsure or unable to derive a concrete answers to the above questions, you need a CRM system. There are many other questions you may ask yourself to find out the gap you are missing and these will then be your guideline for features to look for in the CRM system you’re about to buy. If you already have an existing CRM software in place but the challenges still persist, you might need something new.

2. Research on information – what features and tools you actually need

Once you have identified the issues you want to solve, it is time to dig deeper into the different functionalities you want to have in the CRM system. Depending on what you need, you can focus on getting more information to make the right purchase.

You might want to list out all the different features and tools you require in priority order. This would allow you to have a clear idea of what features are must-have and good-to-have – as certain functions would come with higher price point which may exceed your budget allowance.

3. Get users involved in the selection process

It is inevitable for you to involve the key users of the CRM system you are going to invest in. After all, the main purpose of it is to help ease their workload and allow them to work more efficiently. By doing so, it will not only ensure that you covered the important features needed, but it will also help them to realize the value of using the CRM system and ultimately reduce the resistance to change.

4. Narrow down choices

There are many CRM providers out there in the market and it can be difficult to eventually decide which one to get. A few key players in the market includes Salesforce, Microsoft, SAP and Oracle. However bear in mind to select the CRM system that aligns with your budget and requirements.

You may also want to ask for product demos for the shortlisted CRM systems to see how it can actually help your business operation. This would give you a better understanding of how each system works and which one would eventually be a closer fit to what you are looking for.

JustCloud CRM Suite is a comprehensive yet cost-effective customer service and engagement platform that allows you to achieve high customer satisfaction at ease. The built-in features enable you to manage customer relationships, do sales forecasting and even log cases in one single platform. All in all, it is versatile enough to fit into any business vertical and customization is also available to modify the system to fit your business process.

5. User adoption

Once you made your purchase, you also want to make sure that your users know how to use them correctly. Certain forms of training is required to ensure everyone is comfortable with the new business process and get them to familiarize with the new CRM system.

Conclusion:

Change is always the hardest in every organisation. However, once you get through the process, you will be able to leverage the full benefit of having a sound CRM system in place – where you gain visibility into sales operation and performance tracking to take necessary actions.

---