It’s challenging to maintain a customer relationship in a business landscape where your biggest competition could be right across the street or one click away. Finding creative and sustainable ways to rise above the rest helps win the race, but it’s important for small business owners to adopt CRM systems as early as possible. When you manage your relationships better, your earning potential could skyrocket.
A big myth surrounding CRM systems is that’s it’s too expensive and best suited for larger enterprises. This is far from the truth. Not only are these systems more affordable than you think, but offer a long-term return on investment. With the right technology in place, it’s much more simple to achieve company growth and identify new areas of opportunity. There are many ways a CRM system can help grow your business:
Increases Sales
According to a study conducted by CSO Insights, salespeople only spend between 25-30% of their time selling. The majority of their time is spent on administrative work. CRM systems are designed to automate many of the day-to-day tasks that add up and make it easier to sell. Salespeople can close deals much quicker when they have access to instant information on sales deals, potential leads, marketing campaigns, and accounting updates. Leads are automatically routed, and easy access to a wealth of data ensures communication is always relevant and up-to-date.
Another study by VB Insight found that 80 percent of marketing automation users saw their number of leads increase with CRM software, and 77 percent saw more conversions.
Over time, this data presents countless opportunities that go beyond assisting a sales deal. Business owners will now have a clear picture of their sales cycle and sales funnel and use it to make adjustments that lead to more revenue. These metrics demonstrate what’s working and what isn’t, and can even reveal trends you hadn’t predicted.
Improved View of the Customer
A better understanding of your customers and trends makes it easier to acquire new customers. Customer acquisition is critical because it’s 5 to 10 times more expensive than customer retention (depending on the industry you’re in). CRM systems are really about your customers — not your sales department. Without a CRM, it can be difficult to monitor a lead’s account activity or understand their company and industry.
The customers of today’s connected economy value tailored communication. CRM systems put a plethora of data into a centralized place: contact information, company details, and even recent activity on your website. You can use this data to resonate with your customers and make them feel special. For example, you could target customers who have downloaded a particular application and use that data to segment customers and send them personalized emails and campaigns.
Increases Productivity
Small businesses need every resource they can get. Far too often, small business employee are stretched thin and juggling the work of several departments. CRM systems have been proven to increase productivity, and a joint study by Brainshark and Forbes Insight found that 55 percent of top-performing companies depend on CRM systems to increase productivity. This is because CRM solves many time management issues that small businesses face, particularly when there’s a steady flow of new customers.
One of the biggest obstacles small businesses face when it comes to dealing with customers is their inability to quickly locate and harbor information on potential clients. Shaving even a few minutes off of customer research saves hours per week, and days or weeks per year. With an affordable CRM software, users can view a client’s previous interactions with the business, their social media presence, client history and preferences, and much more.
It Can Help Boost Your SEO
CRM systems teach you a lot about who your customers are, allowing users to translate that data in multiple ways. For example, the data that you gather about your customers can help you communicate with them in relevant and dynamic ways, including campaigns and blog posts. Armed with a thorough understanding of your customers, you can create relevant content that drives engagement and increases your position in the SERPs.
You can also use this data to identify guest blogging opportunities and which channels you should publish and promote your content on. Once you create valuable content, you can promote it to the right people based on your client data.
Search engines recognize when you’re engaging with your customers and producing useful content, and the more you understand about your target audience, the more likely you’ll be to attract them. And the more data you use to bridge the gap between your clients and potential customers and your content, the more likely you are to increase traffic and gain search engine recognition.
