It’s no secret that customer relationship management is a crucial part of a successful business — for both B2B and B2C-oriented companies. After all, when the work processes of a company and its employees are well-orchestrated, the efforts of various teams are linked, everyone and everything stays organized, and each potential and existing customer gets the needed attention, this greatly boosts the chances for business growth. Sounds overwhelming, right? Not if you have the right tools.
In this article, we’ll explore customer relationship management (CRM) tools and why such technology is beneficial. We will also go through the top solutions that are available today and how to find the right tool for your business. Let’s dive in.
CRM Systems: What They Are & Why They’re Worth It
Customer relationship management software is used for structuring business processes, organizing data, and managing the work of all teams. This solution is great at eliminating silos and combining all departments in one single environment.
At the end of the day, if marketing specialists and sales reps solely focus on their own branch of responsibilities without paying attention to the work of the other team, the company won’t go far, it’s a proven fact. Even this point alone already explains why CRMs are worth it.
But that’s not all a CRM can do. Other benefits include:
- auto-creating leads and segmenting them based on interest and readiness to buy
- enhancing the way that all work processes are lined out and handled within a company
- saving time by automating the work that’s usually fulfilled manually
- helping to improve customer service efficiency and client support quality
- boosting the productivity of sales specialists
- upgrading marketing processes (email campaigns, landing page designs, smarter listings, targeting tools, among others)
- organizing the information on leads, clients, partners, etc without excessive data
- logging all the interactions with them (call and chat history, comments, reminders)
- safeguarding documentation, order history, invoices, and other key elements
- controlling the access that employees have to data
- setting up approval processes
- simplifying communication within the company and with clients
- distributing tasks and leads automatically
- having notifications and auto-reminders at hand
- providing various templates and automatic email send-outs
- making analytics easy due to flexible reports
Selecting The Right CRM Software for Your Business
Currently, there are many CRM software solutions available on the market. Some are tailored for large businesses; others are suitable for small ones. Some can be a great fit for eCommerce; others are better for B2B companies. But how do you choose the one that’ll suit the needs of your specific business?
Start by answering the following questions. This will help you build your criteria list that you can use when shopping for solutions.
- Are you looking for a CRM that’s available only on a free basis or do you have a budget for the software?
- What is the field of your business (eCommerce, non-profit organization, etc)?
- How large is your company? How many users need access to the CRM?
- Does your company need the CRM to be highly customizable? Does it have to be able to cope with many complex integrations?
- Which feature set do you need (f.e., solutions just for sales specialists or a full package for various teams)?
- Do you have someone who can run the CRM from a technical perspective and help to introduce it to employees? Or do you need simple software with a minimal learning curve?
Let’s take a quick look at the popular software that’s out there.
A Short CRM Software Overview
Salesforce
Being one of the best-rated and largest CRMs of its kind, Salesforce is widely used around the world by drastically different businesses. The thing is that the cloud-based solution is very flexible, meaning that you can mold the entire CRM specifically to the tastes and preferences of the company. The software can also boast having ready-made solutions for various types of enterprises (such as their non for profit solutions), as well as various department-specific tools (for sales teams, customer support teams, marketing teams, etc). This is what makes it stand out from the crowd, yet, to be fair, Salesforce is a better match for larger businesses and corporations (both B2C and B2B) rather than small ones.
Furthermore, due to its complexity in terms of setups and architecture, it requires specially trained administrating and development. Plus, there is a learning curve to overcome before the staff assimilates. What’s for the question of price, it’s comparatively inexpensive.
Hubspot CRM
Hubspot CRM positions itself as a solution that’s suitable for small and medium-sized businesses (SMB) that offers the needed tools for a growing business. HubSpot has the functionality for service, sales, and marketing departments, which makes it a popular choice. Furthermore, Hubspot is considered a good choice for companies that focus mostly on B2B sales.
You can get started with the CRM for free and extend its capabilities later on as you expand the business and the functionality with integrations, which makes the solution flexible — a must in today’s fast-paced business world.
Zoho CRM
Our final favorite CRM tool comes from Zoho which is perfect for businesses of any size. It’s a flexible and affordable solution that can grow with your business as it grows. Zoho offers a free version as well as an enterprise edition with a greater stack of capabilities. Best of all, Zoho has made a pledge not to sell any customer information for revenue. They truly value the privacy of their customers which definitely sets them apart from the rest.
Conclusion
Having the right software for your company is integral. And although it might be tricky to find the best CRM option for your business and its needs, as long as you have a clear understanding of what kind of instrument you’d like to have as a result, you’ll likely find what you need. In the long term, with every client in the spotlight and every teammate in sync, there’s no other way other than upwards growth.
The original version of this article was first published on V3Broadsuite.
- How to Choose the Right CRM for Your Business in 2020 - September 16, 2020
