What Are The Benefits Of A Good CRM?

"Are CRMs (Content Relationship Management) a good thing for business or just a time sucking waste of people's valuable resources?"

With an estimated 75% of companies having no process of nurturing sales leads (this is what a CRM does) it would appear they are deemed a bad thing, not worth having or using.

Let's turn this on its head by looking at what happens when your company does use a good CRM by cramming in a few juicy details:

5 Business Benefits Of Using A Good CRM

The Clue's In The Name: When you hear business people ranting about ROIs, KPIs and even CRMs there's a tendency to glaze over, but the clue really is in the name on this one. Customer + Relationship. Perhaps the biggest benefit of using CRM systems is that their use leads to a better overall customer experience. And happy customers tend to become loyal customers. Engaging customers through a CRM system increases the odds that they'll spend more in their next transaction by 20-40%. And because CRM systems improve the buying experience, customers are more likely to recommend the purchased product or service to friends and colleagues.

Internal Comms: Even in smaller businesses, the entire customer lifecycle is typically too complex to be managed effectively by one person. How can you recall buying habits, customer preferences, dates communication took place, updates on social media, and all of the other vital points of contact with clients within one organisation? CRM platforms allow for employees in multiple departments to more effectively manage their customer relationships and to see the big picture at any time. Successful implementation of a good CRM system means that reps can be more productive, sell more, and get more references.

Data Overload: How many ways are there to communicate with clients? Customers you have a history with, new customers, potential customers? Let's see now, there's snail mail, telephones, IM, email, face-to-face meetings, networking, social media, advertising, public speaking, websites....... we are drowning in a sea of data, so much information about potential sales prospects. But how many businesses then use that data to their advantage? A CRM will help companies to understand their data, how to use it to their best advantage, and to learn things about their customers that wouldn't be possible otherwise.

All Together Now: Efficiency is the key here - you have all your data in one place right at your and all relevant employees' finger tips. It doesn't matter who Mrs Jones get through to on the phone, you can all see who she is and what it is she is likely to need. Thanks to the ability of the better CRM platforms to integrate with other systems, such as marketing automation tools, the efficiencies of CRM can enable companies to interact with customers in ways that they wouldn't have the resources to otherwise.

Accountability: A well-implemented CRM system helps employees across departments understand their responsibilities to customers throughout the customer lifecycle. When those responsibilities aren't met, it's easy to identify what went wrong, where, who fell short and how to make sure it doesn't happen again. If companies lack the tools to manage their customer relationships, customers are bound to fall through the cracks. CRM systems can help ensure that this doesn't happen by adding a layer of accountability to the customer relationship management process, helping the sales and marketing professionals to report, track deals and flag opportunities.

With reports from the US showing that a CRM on average returns $5.60 for every $1.00 spent (that’s a ROI of greater than 50%!) and an overall increased efficiency and accountability for businesses, CRMs are a real benefit when implemented correctly.

Good quality and well implemented CRMs have helped businesses to increase their revenue, improve their sales conversion rates, increase their customer retention rates, decrease their overall marketing costs and increase their profit margins.