One of the toughest jobs of a marketer is to bring in more leads. It requires not only innovative thinking but also a brilliant strategy to get more customers for a business. This is why marketing is considered as one of the hardest jobs out there.
This is where Customer Relationship Management, or CRM for short, often comes handy. CRM makes it easier for managers to build relationships with customers to the point where customers become comfortable providing their information, such as email address or phone numbers, to the company.
Customer acquisition becomes more difficult and is hindered largely upon lead nurturing. Lead nurturing is the process through which leads are tracked and successfully converted into sales. A study by Marketo showed that companies who are good at lead nurturing generate 50% more sales ready leads, at a 33% lower cost.
CRM offers companies a lot of potential when it comes to boosting their sales, but before we delve into how CRM software can help generate leads, let’s take a closer look at CRM.
What is CRM?
Customer Relationship Management is a set of business strategies that are designed to optimize the relationship between the company and the customer with the goal of increasing sales in the long run. It involves an integrated approach that includes marketing, sales, customer care, and tech support.
However, when most marketers talk about CRM, they often refer to a CRM system or a software. It is basically a tool that helps with contact management, sales management, workflow processes, productivity, etc. It consolidates all your data in one place, thus allowing companies to focus on their relationship with individual people including customers, service users, colleagues or suppliers.
The CRM can record complete customer information and compile it into one cohesive unit. It gathers information such as list of deals, emails, notes, appointments, etc. It can even provide real-time notifications when customers perform a significant activity such as clicking on your website, clicking on your link in an email, signing up for your newsletter, and so much more.
While CRM software are most commonly used for customers, it is not limited for just them. CRM software can also be used in other departments – from HR to supply-chain management. All of your information related to the business including shipment received and sent, stocking dates, customer information, invoices, employee records, etc. can all be included in one CRM software.
Benefits of CRM Software
CRM software comes with a lot of benefits that can help companies and marketers conduct business more efficiently as well as create a more meaningful relationship with their customers.
- Identify and Categorize Leads
CRM software can help identify and add new leads, as well as quickly and easily categorize them. It allows creating customized pitches and documents (or you can even integrate it with proposal tools like this) that can help cut down response time and allow sales teams to move on to the next pitch if one doesn’t pan out. It also records all customer actions, making it easier for the marketing team to understand what the customer actually wants.
- Increase Referrals
The software allows marketers to understand their customers better using the data provided and makes it easier to offer them more relevant products and services. It gives them better cross-selling and up-selling opportunities, as well as a chance to bring in new customers by offering them the right products. Better information allows the marketing team to keep the customers happy, who are likely to become repeat customers.
Read more :- Learn Everything About How to Use an Email Verifier
- Improve Products and Services
The CRM software gathers information regarding the company’s products and services through multiple channels. This provides the marketing team with insights to how the customers feel about what products, the products that sell better, the products that are not selling, etc. It gives the team a chance to improve their offerings, spot problems early and identify gaps.
- Healthier Pipelines
The software offers an array of information that allows organizations to make more sound decisions, as well as clearly visualize the pipelines. This makes it easier to prioritize deals and select the ones that are most effective. This results in pipelines remaining clog-free, and allowing the focus to remain on the bottom line.
- Improved Customer Relations
The best part about a CRM is that it provides insights into the customer’s behavior, where the organization can learn about the customers likes, dislikes, wants and needs. Understanding their behavior gives them a better opportunity to provide the customer with products that they actually want to purchase and maybe even put out embers, before they become flames. It allows companies to build a better relationship with their customers.
- Reduced Data Entry
CRMs eliminate mundane tasks such as creating leads from sign up forms, adding leads to spreadsheets, sending out welcome emails, compiling data from multiple places such as scribbled notes, etc. While spreadsheets require data entries, CRM software help minimize it.
- Better Communication
With all the information complied and stored in one place, each person has access to the same information. The unified information removes information gaps, allowing everyone access to the same information related to the customer as well as the business. This allows companies to have a united front, and the customer hears a consistent voice from the businesses.
- Increased Collaboration
CRM software can be used across multiple departments including sales, marketing and support. This allows the different teams with access to the same information and also enables them to plan campaigns and respond to the customers better. CRM software helps increase collaboration across multiple departments.
Read more :- Make Smarter Purchasing Decisions by Comparing Vendor Quality
- Better Revenue
With a better and more collaborative approach to marketing and selling as well as systematic insights to the customers’ needs and wants, selling to the customers becomes easier. You can offer the right products to the right customers and also upsell at the right moments. This helps increase revenue, as well as allows more effective lead conversions.
As the world progresses, we can no longer apply the same traditional marketing ideologies. Customers know what they want and when they want it, the best marketing strategy is to be there to offer your product. Companies are now investing in CRM software to help them remain a step further than their competition.
CRM software not only organizes your information in one place, but also provides you with data to make insights related to the business as well as your customers. These insights can help companies plan their marketing and sales strategies as well as get the most value out of them.
In short, CRM software are the future of marketing and lead generation and the best thing a company can do is not get left behind.
