CRM: The Basics
Let’s get down to basics:
- What exactly is a CRM tool?
- Why would you want one?
Can you imagine life today without the contacts app on your phone? Phone numbers are hard enough to remember, let alone the email addresses for everyone you know. So we outsource that to our phones, who keep track of everyone’s contact information. Phoning a friend is as simple as saying, “Siri, call Bob.”
A Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platform will do that and much more, The “R” in CRM is for Relationship which is the primary focus built around relationships.
Although CRM may appear to be a complex concept, its objective is straightforward: to store all of your connections in one place and up to date. By storing all interaction history and deal-related information in one place, a CRM ensures that everyone is on the same page for every opportunity.
WHAT IS CRM?
So, what exactly is a CRM system? It’s a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solution that allows you and your team to keep track of all of your customer and contact information. It assists sales management, delivers actionable insights, integrates with social media and streamlines team communication.
CRM software enables firms to concentrate on their connections with customers, co-workers, suppliers, and other decision makers. With a competent CRM in place, finding new clients, earning their confidence, providing qualified assistance, and providing extra services throughout the relationship becomes much easier.
HOW DOES A CRM WORK?
“CRM” stands for customer relationship management. However, this isn’t the entire tale. Without software designed to help stay on top of the key details, company owners or decision makers can run themselves ragged trying to keep up.
The implementation of CRM may make a company’s customer-facing operations simpler and easier. Making a successful business and keeping it operating may be difficult. When everything happens at once and you have to deal with large amounts of data in the form of campaigns, meetings, and appointments, you’ll need to use a powerful app rather than a bunch of smaller applications. An all-in-one CRM unites all the required functionalities on a single platform.
Key Features of a CRM System
- Workflow automation: By automating your workflow, CRM software may make your life simpler. By using rules, you may programme your CRM software to do a certain action depending on triggers or events.
- Interaction tracking: To always know what to do next with a contact, add notes and track interaction history.
- Customer service: By offering exceptional customer service, CRM software can help you acquire and retain customers. It keeps track of all conversations, from lead generation through closed transactions and sales history, automatically.
- Lead management: To always know what to do next with a contact, add notes and track interaction history.
- Email integration: Integrate with email such as Google, Outlook, different SMTP providers, etc., allowing for management and categorization of contact lists, as well as a centralized hub for internal cross-collaboration.
- Pipeline management: See an overview of your whole sales pipeline, as well as the status and development of each individual stage.
What is a lead? The 5 most common CRM terms explained
It’s time to brush up on your CRM language now that you’ve grasped the basics. If you’ve never worked in sales before, CRMs are full of unfamiliar terminology like leads, deals, contacts, opportunities, and more. Here are a few of the most often used CRM terminology, along with a brief explanation.
Contact: In the CRM world, contacts are people. You’ll keep the names and personal information of your customers and clients just like you would in an address book (your contacts). Along with contacts, your CRM is likely to include designations like “company” or “account.”
Lead: Leads are connections who may want to do business with your company in the future but still need to be nurtured quite a bit before they get there.
Campaigns: A series of marketing actions aimed at attracting new consumers and improving sales from current ones.
Deal: Everything worked well, and you were able to make a deal—or not, and the chance was lost. Both of them will be tracked using deals (won and lost).
Tag: Tags, like tags in Gmail or metadata on your images, allow you to add more information to a contact, deal, or anything else in your CRM. This additional information provides you more options for filtering and sorting your CRM.
How can you start your own CRM journey?
It’s important to grasp the basics of a CRM when you begin your CRM journey. Before deciding which platform to use, take a look at your company operations and figure out why you’re seeking for a CRM in the first place.
You may also hire CRM specialists to take you through how a CRM can assist you enhance your specific company operations. For instance, our trained professionals at Exotto will spend time reviewing your company requirements and assisting you in implementing them into your CRM configuration.
A well-planned out CRM strategy will boom your customer retention and you’ll be well on your way to customer relationship management success.
To learn more, contact exotto CRM experts.