Why are CRM Solutions important for small businesses?
So you want to boost sales, right? Of course you do, that is why you are in business. But what if you did not need to search for new clients? What if the key to a huge boom in sales is right under your nose? Your previous customers may be a valuable resource that you’re not using. If you have managed your small business correctly, you have compiled a large list full of client information and email addresses. Have you put them to work? This is sometimes overlooked by small businesses. Remarketing is a powerful sales strategy that can take your business to a whole new level,
But how can you properly 
re-market if you do not know where all your client information is stored? And what happens if Jim from marketing goes on vacation for a month and takes every client’s information with him? How about if customer A’s information can not be found when they call because that is in platform B, and customer B’s information is suppose to be in Platform B but they re a B-2-B so its in Platform C… Confused? You should be. These things can get very complicated, even more so when we throw in a bunch of new terms in the mix, lead pages, squeeze pages, magnets, banner ads, lists, content delivery page. You get the idea. The technical aspect of marketing can be daunting if you are not tech savvy and can be very frustrating. As a small business, you would be much happier working on expanding your business and services than working on tedious tasks.
Luckily for all of us there is no shortage of software design for marketing and remarketing. There are tons of great software out there dedicated to helping small businesses integrate all of their information seamlessly through one platform, saving time, money and hopefully increasing conversions in the process.
They all vary in their complexity level and sophistication and some are more inclusive than others. There are entry level marketing machines like Aweber and LeadPages that are great for managing email lists, automatically sending out emails and generating landing pages, which are essentially stand alone pages on the web, dedicated to collecting your email addresses for further marketing. Both of these platforms are some of the more popular ones on the web. They are relatively inexpensive and have different payment options. They both have responsive and customizable themes that are optimized for conversions. And they are simple and easy to use.
These two are simply two of the many, many email marketing services out there on the web, and they will both do far more than we have mentioned. However, These services only collect customer email addresses. They are not designed to be a for large-scale customer information database. For this, we will have to explore far more powerful options. If you are looking for a more elaborate marketing campaign to really get those sales going, A true CRM strategy will beat any set it and forget it emailing campaign.
CRM stand for customer relationship management. It refers to the strategies kept in place to best manage customers. These include follow-ups, which are critical for converting. These software companies are great for maintaining critical customer information in an all in one platform. CRM is not just useful in the sales department or the marketing department, or even the customer service department. It’s critical for all of them.
The purpose for these CRM companies is to manage all of the customer information in one platform so you are not spending valuable time pacing thru the office looking through filing cabinets or opening different computer applications to find valuable information you wished was more readily accessible. This is critical for a small business because if this information is kept in only by sales, then marketing cannot get a hold of it.
Example: If Kate is in charge of calling or emailing customers for marketing, but this information is not shared with customer service. Then Matt over at customer service does not have access to a customer’s order information when they call to ask if their order is prepared. Matt would have no idea if it is prepared or who prepared it. With a sophisticated CRM system. Customer service will not only have the information necessary to answer any clients questions, but they will know who is calling, from where, what they ordered, how to contact them, and who the last colleagues were that contacted the customer. This is all very useful information that customers appreciate. With a proper and sophisticated CRM strategy in place, we can potentially keep track of a customer’s past calls. Know who they spoke to and why they needed help, then follow up with them on said request all without the customer wasting time re-explaining an issue they surely had to explain many times, making them frustrated and angry that you did not have a CRM software before.
Your business, no matter what it is, requires customers and you want to best manage your interaction and information of those customers. Every interaction you have with a customer must be recorded and there truly is no better way to do this than with a CRM software. Using all the information about your customer, you can build a long lasting relationship with them.
Luckily for us there is no shortage of all in one CRM platforms on the web. We are going to take a quick look at three of the top CRM business solutions on the web. This list is in no particular order.
Salesforce
This is one of the many cloud-based, all in one solutions. Sales force has a reputation for being large e business CRM solution. However, Salesforce does have a small business edition. It is much more affordable and still allows the use of its many features, including workflow automation, lead generation sales forecasting, and tons more. Salesforce is really an industry standard when it comes to CRM a quick Google search of CRM will confirm this. Salesforce also includes analytics reports, collaboration platforms, email integration, social media integration and tons. Which is largely why they have remained an industry standard Check out more information about Salesforce.
Insightly
Salesforce too big for you? Don’t worry there are comparable solutions. Insightly is an all in one CRM software that is specifically designed for small businesses. Though it is great for small businesses it’s not only for small businesses. It is highly scalable and can grow with your business. One of the most attractive features about this popular CRM platform is in its price. It’s extremely affordable so it’s ideal for small businesses and there is even a free version, allowing you to check out the features before you commit.
Infusionsoft
Infusionsoft is great for small businesses because it was built exclusively for small businesses. It has social media tools, lead generation tools, and more. Infusionsoft also provides one on one coaching services that are great for CRM beginners. They will take you by the hand and show you exactly what you need to do to get your CRM plan in full effect.
Zoho
If you are not aware of Zoho, it is one of the most popular CRM platforms on the market. This is largely due to its cost. Which is nothing! It’s a free software. However, do not let this fool you, it is one of the best on the market for a reason. One of the great advantages of Zoho is it’s not only browser based but it also has a mobile app allowing you to maintain critical records anywhere at any time. It’s important to note that though it is only free for up to 10 users.
Team support
Team support is another great and very inexpensive option. One of the highlighted features of team support is its ticket Automation which allows your support staff to flags messages by class or specific word. For instance, a flag could be used for any support request containing the word “angry” or “disappointed,” allowing your team to better manage the requests that require critical attention. The “water cooler” feature provides a forum for team members and employees to collaborate with new ideas and solutions to help manage problems. This is truly unique and soothing that should be implemented in every one of these softwares.
Pipedriver
Simplicity is the key of pipeline. And no one is complaining. It was built for sales people, by salespeople making them a very trusted platform. They have a mobile app for staying connected anywhere anytime. Take a look at their interface. It is actually quite impressive and it really does look as simple and streamlined as they claim it to be. On a personal note, I feel simplicity to be extremely important. Popular software may be unbelievably powerful, yet so complex and not user friendly that I will never consider using it long term. Simple is always the way to go.
Microsoft Dynamics CRM Software
Speaking of Microsoft, Microsoft Dynamics CRM Software is Microsoft commercial answer to CRM. It was first introduced in 2003 and has had many makeovers since. It offers solutions in all fields including but not limited to government agencies, retail and education. It is available not only for Microsoft computers, but Linux and OSX operating systems as well.
These are simply a few p
opular platforms available now but there are many more with many features to help you keep in contact with your customers and build those life long relationships that build strong businesses. Your previous customers are extremely valuable, and you need to know who they are, what makes them tick, and ensure your services are customized to them specifically. The only way to know this is to record every interaction. No matter what your CRM plan is, it’s better to have some plan than no plan at all. Hopefully you have learned a thing or two about how to best keep track of your customers and manage all of their information. And if you didn’t learn this, good news, you don’t have to! Just let the CRM platforms handle this for you so you can spend more time doing what you really enjoy. Making sales!
Conclusion
Whew, that’s a lot of material. Hopefully by now you have a basic idea of how sales and marketing automation software can help you boost your small business. There is a wealth of software out there to help you, so get started on taking advantage of it!
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