How CRM solutions can strenghten your business strategy
CRM (Customer Relationship Management) technology has become a vital tool for companies of all sizes over the last few years. Designed to help organisations strengthen their bonds with consumers, generate repeat purchases, and improve lifetime value, CRM solutions are powerful tools.
Consumers have become increasingly discerning about which brands they do business with post-pandemic, and the quest for customer loyalty has grown more complex. Demand for CRM software has increased. The CRM market is projected to grow at around 14.27% from 2020 to 2027, driven by an increased brand focus on CX.
You could miss out if you’re not already investing in customer relationships with a robust CRM software solution. Here are some reasons why you need a CRM in 2022.
CRM tools have various features to help companies understand their customers, track purchasing journeys, and manage client conversations. One of the most powerful capabilities of a good CRM is the ability to track customer information from various environments in one place.
The ability to manage contacts (94%), track interactions (88%) and monitor funnels (26%) are some of the most highly requested features of CRM tools because they allow companies to understand what steps a customer takes when making a purchase, or becoming a loyal advocate.
CRM solutions ensure you don’t have to jump between multiple analytics apps, social media tools and other systems to track information about your audience. You can get a complete end-to-end view in one location, so spotting trends and insights are much more accessible.
Collecting information about your customers doesn’t just help you to track their purchasing journey. The correct information can also help you to differentiate different kinds of customers into various “segments”. These segments can make it easier to identify which clients are most likely to respond to specific sales and marketing techniques.
Your CRM solution will allow you to organise contact data, add tags to each customer, and segment your audience based on factors like the deal stage, company size, and location. You can even track each customer’s stage in the purchasing cycle.
Segmentation will allow companies to take advantage of the growing demand for “hyper-personalised” experiences in the digital world. The more you “define” your customers, the more you can provide the unique experiences they’re looking for.
Agents in a contact centre, service representatives, and sales professionals work best when they have access to the right tools and information. A CRM can help take your team’s performance to the next level by providing your staff with all the insights they need.
You can use your CRM technology to create sales dashboards and reports, so salespeople can get instant guidance on the next step when converting a customer. The same tools can even help you forecast potential sales results and improve your processes by showing you which strategies work best to close deals faster.
CRM tools can often integrate into your contact centre and service desk technologies. In these environments, the right tools can give your agents an immediate customised overview of the details they need to know when serving a customer. This could include information about previous products purchased by the client and insights into which agents they’ve spoken with in the past.
Automation is one of the most exciting new trends in the customer experience landscape, capable of supporting and empowering teams while driving better customer experiences. CRM solutions can come with various automated workflows you can adapt to suit your needs. For instance, you might set up automated messages for users when they need to renew their subscriptions, so they don’t have to worry about losing access to crucial tools.
A CRM solution with intelligent tools and integrations to your contact centre can automatically collect information from a phone conversation or instant messaging chat and add it to a customer’s profile. This allows for more in-depth insights into each client.
Through automation, you can reduce the pressure on your team members, giving them more time to focus on the tasks that genuinely need their insight. At the same time, you can improve your chances of collecting and leveraging information that leads to better customer experiences.
Customers in search of the perfect experience have always demanded “speed”. The faster you can respond to an issue or connect with your customer when they need your help, the happier they’ll be. Today’s companies can use various tools to speed up service, from automation and self-service to intelligent routing.
CRM solutions can allow you to take your focus on speed to the next level by proactively anticipating your customer’s needs and delivering a solution before they ask for anything. The information you gather about your customers and their purchasing habits can allow your CRM system to determine the best moment to reach out to customers about a renewal, maintenance, or another service they might need.
The same solution will also allow you to forecast changes in demand using historical data, so you can scale your customer service resources up or down to suit these alterations.
The right CRM system gives you a complete end-to-end view of customer interactions, covering everything from sales to services. With this visibility, optimising and scaling your processes over time is much easier. For instance, you can enhance how you manage the sales cycle by implementing automated strategies for scoring leads using AI-enhanced parameters.
Suppose you notice your employees are losing time moving between different applications in the CX environment. In that case, you can integrate your CRM with the other tools they use daily, building a comprehensive pane-of-glass for information and productivity.
With the ability to track crucial metrics and even forecast sales and service opportunities over time, you can more effectively prepare for the growth and development of your business.
CRM solutions are more than just a tool for learning about your audience. The right solutions can facilitate effective team performance, communication, and collaboration. CRM service as a record of conversations, notes, and contact information, so team members can easily share their experiences and collaborate over customer service and sales.
Many CRM platforms even come with built-in collaboration tools that allow people to work on the same file or sales quote simultaneously while chatting through instant messenger. The collaborative environments within your CRM can ensure more team members can work together on delivering sensational experiences, even if your staff are distributed in a remote setting.
