Collecting, collating, organising and managing customer information is one of the most important administrative aspects of any business model, whether you are a large scale company or a smaller business with a few key staff.
Any business owner knows that maintaining a positive and solid customer relationship leads to continued business and profits – so, how does one perform the myriad of tasks that comes with managing customer data? By using CRM software!
What is CRM software?
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software is a system that is implemented to improve the relationship between businesses and current customers, discover prospective customers and to potentially win back previous customers or clients.
It is best to use CRM software, in order to remain efficient and improve the productivity of your team, as collecting, organizing, and managing the customer information without software – using traditional filing or simple Excel sheets – can be tedious and time-consuming.
What CRM software can do?
Aside from simply storing customer data, CRM software and a CRM strategy allows business owners and managers to:
- Fully understand their customers
- Maintain their customer base through better customer service
- Attract and discover potential customers
- Decrease customer management costs
By implementing and using this software, the limits to what CRM software can do are endless, as it stops vital customer information from slipping through the cracks of disorganisation, and allows for easier management of complaints, queries, quotes and emails.
One of the biggest benefits of using CRM software, is that you are able to keep track of every interaction between your business and your customers, so if there are any concerns raised over whether or not a quote was sent or a query answered, you will have immediate and organised access to the necessary information.
This software can also show how the different sectors of your business are performing, therefore allowing your business to meet its overall business goals and objectives.
What are the benefits of CRM?
Collecting and managing customer data can feel like a full-time job – one which does not forgive mistakes easily! This is why it is a good idea to invest in a high-quality CRM system that can optimise your productivity and seamlessly collect all pertinent customer data.
Some of the most noteworthy benefits of CRM systems include:
- Improved organisation of information
Using a CRM system allows you to move away from a cluttered filing cabinet and into the future of digital information storage. CRM software allows you to know more about your customers with easy access to their data, which allows for a better customer experience. This software is not only able to accurately measure and classify data for easy future references, but also make that data available across every necessary department in your business!
- Enhanced communication
Using a CRM system allows any employee the ability to provide a customer with excellent service, as the information will be available across every sector. Given that many CRM systems are available on multiple devices, you are also able to access customer data – such as quotes or updated emails – from wherever you are, allowing for an easier stream of communication between business and client.
- Automation of daily tasks
Closing a sale or project is never an easy task, and involves more than simply persuading a client to commit. There are numerous details that need to be completed, such as the filling out of forms, sending of reports, possible legal issues that need to be discussed and much more; these tasks can be time-consuming, but by using CRM software, your employees will be able to perform these tasks within one easy-to-use system of automation!
- Greater efficiency for field staff
If you have staff in the field who deal with customers, it is vital for them to have easy access to customer data, in order to correctly estimate, quote or complete a project. More than that, they will be able to provide the customer with the correct bills and information regarding their projects – which may be difficult if you operate on a traditional paper-and-filing CRM system!
Is Customer Relationship Management Software Difficult to Use?
Traditionally, CRM software has been considered difficult to use by those that may not be technically minded, but with technological advances, many systems have been released that are easy to use and offer uncomplicated interfaces.
Technology advances and the internet have changed the way that companies approach customer relationship management strategies, as well as changing the manner in which customers relate to and interact with companies. This means that a CRM system must be able to electronically manage customer data. The strategies and processes of a good CRM system and software are able to collect, organise and manage customer data in a way that is easy for users to understand and implement.
Traditional CRM systems involved documents, email systems, mobile phone data and even paper note cards which were spread across numerous office suites and kept with different people, which would have been confusing and time-consuming to collate; while this may be the system you are used to operating in, do not let technology intimidate you!
The Eworks Manager CRM system is built into our revolutionary job management software, and is user-friendly, easy to find and easy to manage!
