Why Do You Need CRM Software?
With greater customer expectations and global competition, the pressure is on for manufacturers and distributors to enhance customer relationships. Naturally, many enterprises are seeking out customer relationship management (CRM) software to refine their sales strategies. CRM includes features designed to manage front-end operations and data, including customer data, sales automation, lead tracking and customer support. No matter the size of your business, all-inclusive CRM tools can effectively maintain the integrity of customer data and optimize buyer’s journeys.
But some enterprises are still on the fence, unsure if CRM is the wisest investment to increase their bottom line. We’re here to quell those doubts. Check out 10 reasons why you should implement CRM software to strengthen your front-office performance.
1. More Sales
The numbers speak for themselves: CRM can improve customer retention by 27 percent. 74 percent of users said CRM improved access to customer data. Best of all, studies have found that CRM can increase sales by 29 percent.
CRM software makes the lives of your sales reps easier by increasing their efficiency, so they’re spending less time on complex quoting processes or manual tasks and more time cultivating strong relationships. Smart recommendations, a central hub for customer data and intuitive interfaces streamline the sales process from start to finish and help users capitalize on more opportunities.
2. Better Organization
Spreadsheets become outdated. Business cards get buried under papers and files. Sticky notes end up lost or thrown away. It’s time to replace these haphazard attempts at organization with a robust CRM system. CRM categorizes information for easy reference, no matter how large your data grows. From an intuitive dashboard, you can drill down into critical information and keep tabs on leads and customers to forward the buyer’s journey.
3. Process Automation
Your sales rep’s time shouldn’t be eaten up by manually compiling forecasts, sending reports or filling out forms. CRM has the power to automate most of the mundane, time-consuming tasks that slow down sales cycles. Automated workflows reduce human error, maintaining accuracy throughout customer experiences. They also free up more time for sales reps to interact with prospects and close deals.
4. Full Collaboration
Far too often, multiple departments perform tasks and track data on disjointed systems. This means that users must manually enter data into separate programs. Additionally, sales, marketing and customer service teams lack real-time access to information on customers and leads. CRM tears down departmental silos by coalescing front-end data in one place.
With up-to-date data instantly available for everyone in the front office, there’s no duplicate data entry wasting everyone’s time and increasing the risk of human error. Furthermore, employees have a full picture of the customer in one place, improving customer experiences and fueling front-end collaboration.
5. Customer Service
When service reps have a comprehensive view of the customer, they can address issues quickly. But CRM goes beyond this basic functionality to include innovative technology that meets modern customer service needs.
For example, your CRM can be leveraged to create self-service hubs where your clients can access FAQs and tutorials to solve problems on their own. AI technology, such as Salesforce Einstein or Microsoft Dynamics 365 AI, also helps employees deploy virtual agents in minutes without coding. CRM supports chat buttons as well, so consumers can voice their concerns at the push of a button.
6. Improved Decision Making
Miscalculated data, limited visibility and poor tracking make it impossible to get to the bottom of roadblocks in the sales cycle. CRM provides reliable metric tracking and automatic reports to enable users to confidently develop new strategies to increase profits. CRM providers lead the field in driving powerful insights. Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Salesforce both include AI programs that create reliable predictions and recommendations to progress your pipeline.
7. Mobile Performance
Salespeople are constantly on the go, making mobile access to contacts and metrics critical. CRM providers know this; that’s why they adopted cloud computing and developed mobile apps faster than other enterprise software vendors. Using CRM, sales reps can answer any questions when they’re in the field by accessing product data, client information, documents and more. When customers receive immediate answers, they’re more likely to sign deals.
8. Customer Data
You can’t afford to lose data on your most loyal customers, but that’s what happens when users rely on legacy systems and disorganized methods. Furthermore, when a member of your sales team leaves, their clients shouldn’t leave with them. CRM maintains your customer data in one place, ensuring all their previous interactions stay intact. Clients can count on receiving relevant services and robust experiences no matter what changes take place in your company.
9. Back-Office Integration
CRM systems often have the flexibility to integrate with back-office software such as ERP. This connectivity is critical for facilitating a 360-degree view of customers and business processes. ERP users can optimize products and services based on consumer feedback and automate order fulfillment. Sales and service reps have instant access to back-end data, so they can answer any questions customers might have about inventory availability, pricing, order statuses and more. A software integration serves as an easy, effective method of streamlining operations and maximizing the value of your data.
10. CRM Keeps Getting Better!
As we’ve already touched on, CRM has been at the forefront of enterprise software innovation, becoming early adopters of cloud computing and AI technology. Experts predict that CRM will continue enhancing its functionality to deliver intelligent insights through better AI, BI and analytics tools. With this level of performance, users can create customer-centric processes and plan for future business growth.
Wrap Up
CRM software equips front offices with all the tools they need to effectively manage customer data, generate leads and close deals. Other solutions and methods pale in comparison to the advanced technology and organization of a robust CRM system.
An ERP, eCommerce and CRM consulting firm, Datix will ensure your new software aligns with your unique business needs. As a certified partner of both Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM and Salesforce, we can help you select the best fit for your enterprise. Furthermore, our landmark Unity integration application instantly connects Epicor ERP with CRM and other systems to create a single source of truth. We’ve offered comprehensive manufacturing and distribution solutions for over 20 years, making us a trustworthy source for all your enterprise software needs.
Ready to install your CRM platform? Get started on your software project by reaching out to one of our expert consultants!
{{cta(‘770c1544-d87d-4acb-9fc4-7a25e1385094′,’justifycenter’)}}
