Five Factors to Consider When Choosing a Small Business CRM in 2020
There comes a time when managing your client’s databases via thousands of spreadsheets, hopping from one system to another to find leads or customer data, or navigating amongst sales opportunities by checking scribbles on Post-it notes is no longer an option.
In order to effectively handle business operations and to improve the efficiency of your business, you need a robust customer solution where you can capture customer data, track incoming leads, segment customers into meaningful groups and create a structured workflow. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems work best for small businesses to maintain strong relationships across the board. In a CRM, all employees can record customer interactions with the company, create personalized messages for a targeted audience group, implement lead nurturing and lead scoring techniques, automate work processes and much more.
Let’s take a look at factors to consider when picking a CRM software:
- Define your business needs
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- Do I need to increase lead generation? Look for a CRM that delivers strong and agile lead generation software.
- Are deals getting stuck in my pipeline? You’ll want a CRM with strong sales reporting, so you can identify the bottleneck.
- Do I need to better access my contact data? Purchase a CRM that provides easy access to a 360-degree contact view.
- Do I need to increase efficiency across my teams? Look for a CRM that can automate as many manual processes as possible.
- Do I want easier access to insight around my results? Your best bet is a CRM that provides customizable dashboards.
- Is my sales team unable to convert leads? A CRM that provides lead scoring so that you can qualify leads and identify the most sales-ready prospects will help.
- Price of CRM for small business
Most CRM software providers offer a free trial and offer per user pricing. Before making the final selection, it is advisable to take advantage of the free trial and consider the price your organization can afford on such a plan.
- Ease of use/learning curve
Will your team be able to easily use the system? User-friendly CRM software is what your small business needs, so having to spend money on training might not be a great idea. Research reviews and find out if the CRM is easy to use and novice-friendly.
- Availability of customer support
You might have technical questions that only the software provider can answer-finding one that offers customer support without any delay is the key to success for any business. Your business needs complete and unhindered access to support that doesn’t allow geographical boundaries or time zones to come between you and support.
- Marketing features
All-in-one CRMs include marketing automation software. The capabilities coming out of such software will let you do things such as:
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- Email marketing
- Build landing pages and web forms
- Score and qualify leads
- Run multichannel marketing campaigns
- Track the results of your efforts
- And much more
An all-in-one CRM eliminates the need to spend more money on a stand-alone marketing automation solution, making it a great choice for small businesses.
It’s more than likely that you’re already using other software systems in various departments of your small business. A systems integration will ensure the right information is available to your organization.
Your sales team will have access to ERP data directly in CRM, such as customer information, sales history, invoicing, serial numbers, inventory, multi-ship to addresses, and much more. With a two-way sync, new accounts and orders are integrated from CRM to ERP. This gives you a 360-degree view of sales and marketing.
Revolutionize the way your organization does business and expedite all processes by getting an advanced CRM system. Happy New Year!
