What if someone said with just three letters they could help you increase your sales, streamline your process, boost efficiency, and land more referrals. What is this enigma you ask?
CRM
Now some of you may be rolling your eyes and others may be nodding in agreement. Over the years CRM (Customer Relationship Management) systems have adopted a bit of a bad reputation. With the dot-com bubble burst in the early 00’s, CRM systems stumbled a bit when it came to adapting and evolving. Because of this they struggled to meet the needs of businesses.
Over the last 16 years, CRM systems have more than adapted. In fact a recent study published by Gartner predicts that by 2017 the CRM market will generate $36 billion and it’s already the fastest growing type of business software. CRM systems aren’t just helping us do business, in some cases they’re changing the way we do business. The changes that successful CRMs have implemented revolve around the customer experience.
In the words of Steve Jobs:
You've got to start with the customer experience and work back toward the technology - not the other way around.
CRMs have become a product that anticipates your customers’ needs and gives you the tools to not only meet those needs, but exceed them. With the emergence of cloud based technology, SaaS solutions, and the capability to sync all of your business applications into a “one and done” process, CRM systems are capable of doing more in one exchange with a client than you could previously do in a day.
It used to be practically impossible for one person to track and manage the entire customer lifecycle. With the use of CRM platforms customer relationships can be managed effectively by multiple departments at any given time. Customers can be correctly segmented, their needs effortlessly identified, and their history with the company can be accurately traced. With all of these processes streamlined you can build a more meaningful and productive relationship with your clients.
Between the proven results of increased sales and client retention and the seamless integration of new technologies like communication tracking, cloud based security, mobile support, and cross channel analytics it’s not surprising that 91% of businesses with over 11 employees now use a CRM system.
If you started this article with an eye roll, we imagine it’s now been replaced with an inquisitive, and dare we say impressed, eyebrow raise. There’s no denying that the CRM industry has more than redeemed itself. It’s setting the standard for the business-customer relationship.
Still not convinced? Take a look at this infographic from HubSpot that visually depicts the benefits you could reap by incorporating a CRM system into your business.
If you’d like more information about the benefits a CRM system can bring to your business or want to ensure you’re getting the most out of your SmartOffice solutions, reach out to us anytime!
