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24 Benefits of CRM software for more sales and better salespeople
The benefits of CRM are seemingly endless – here are 24 reasons to implement one today.
In 2011, Nucleus Research discovered that CRM systems delivered an average return of $5.60 for every dollar spent.
They continued to research the returns from CRM software and found that in 2014, the average return jumped to $8.71 for every dollar spent.
If this is any indication of a trend, it means the benefits of CRM software are only going to increase year after year.
If you don’t have a CRM system yet, It’s time you implement one.
We’ve already shared how software solutions for cloud-based inventory and supply chain management are crucial to running a successful business.
Today, we’ll share with you 24 benefits of CRM software for growing your sales and boosting your employees’ productivity.
But first, let’s define CRM.
What is a CRM?
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software consists of any strategies, processes, or technologies that help a company manage their customer interactions – maximizing their customers’ satisfaction and increasing sales.
There are hundreds of CRM systems to choose from.
Some serve specific industries like construction or medical, while others offer customizable solutions for companies of all shapes and sizes.
Despite their variations, all CRM systems have one goal in common:
To help you manage your most important resource – your customers.
24 Benefits of CRM Software
CRM software offers many exciting features:
- Fancy reporting dashboards
- Automated sales follow-ups
- Easy Call recording
- And so much more
But you’re probably more interested in results, not features.
Below is our big list of results you can expect to get from CRM software.
By the end of this list, you’ll have a clear understanding of what a CRM system can provide your business and why – according to Forbes – the market for CRM software keeps growing.
Read on to discover the many benefits of a CRM platform.
1) Automate Follow-Ups
Stop missing out on sales because no one followed up.
CRM systems can automatically trigger a sales rep to follow-up with a lead generated through the website.
Also, filtering your existing database allows you to find those leads who have not been contacted in a while.
2) Anticipate Customer Needs
CRM software helps you anticipate customer needs – like product reorders – by allowing you to set recurring reminders. Your customers will thank you for making their lives easier as you rejoice in making the sale.
3) Encourage Referrals
A CRM platform gives your sales and customer support team the tools they need to take great care of your customers every step along the customer lifecycle – providing the kind of experience they’ll tell others about.
4) Close the Sale
83{cb377218d5687e54e8ee9149518f87201a393a7c1db5e8076e9d750029ec0dc3} of online shoppers need support to complete a sale.
Many CRMs offer online support and chat features that help prevent shopping cart abandonment by ensuring someone is always there to assist your customers.
5) Contact the Right People with the Right Message
CRM software allows you to easily filter your contacts to get a targeted list of customers who would be most interested in an upcoming promotion or new product. According to Marketo, by segmenting your email campaigns, you increase engagement and ROI.
6) Make Sales While You’re on Vacation
By setting up marketing automation through a CRM system, you can send personalized emails to clients even when you’re relaxing on the beach.
So, once your customer performs a certain action, or a specified amount of time has passed, your messages will automatically be sent to them.
7) Maintain Loyal Customers
In the US, 40{cb377218d5687e54e8ee9149518f87201a393a7c1db5e8076e9d750029ec0dc3} of revenue comes from returning or repeat purchasers, who represent only 8{cb377218d5687e54e8ee9149518f87201a393a7c1db5e8076e9d750029ec0dc3} of all visitors.
By carefully planning the customer journey through your CRM platform, you can foster long-lasting and profitable relationships with your loyal customers.
8) Understand Your Customers
An underrated benefit of CRM systems is that they allow you to personalize each interaction you have with your customers.
You can track preferences, needs, concerns, etc. that builds rapport and keeps them coming back.
9) Stay Connected
CRM software helps you keep in touch with customers even when you have nothing to sell.
You can:
- Set up campaigns and triggers to stay in contact with your customers.
- Get to know them beyond your business interactions.
- And follow them on social media or monitor their name in the news so you can be the first to congratulate them on their latest successes.
10) Improve Service After the Sale
Sales teams have a lot of pressure to make the sale and move on to the next. CRM software can automate the selling process to ensure that once the sale is complete, customers are not forgotten.
11) Remember to Ask for Feedback
Your sales team has a lot on their plate and asking for feedback – while important – is easily forgotten.
By automating this process or setting reminders in a CRM system, you make sure you are getting the valuable insight you need to continue to improve your business.
12) Understand What Works
CRM software gives you the power to track lead sources and the revenue they generate – helping you make better spending decisions by understanding what marketing investments bring you a positive ROI.
Following these lead source best practices will give you a crystal clear picture of where you should spend your money.
Other KPIs like Lifetime Value of a customer, sales cycle length, or close ratio can also be calculated.
13) Spend Less on New Customers
According to econsultancy, 70{cb377218d5687e54e8ee9149518f87201a393a7c1db5e8076e9d750029ec0dc3} of companies say it’s cheaper to retain a customer than acquire a new one and 49{cb377218d5687e54e8ee9149518f87201a393a7c1db5e8076e9d750029ec0dc3} say that “pound for pound, we achieve better ROI by investing in relationship marketing over acquisition marketing.”
A CRM solution will help you keep customer acquisition costs down by retaining your existing customers through excellent customer service.
14) Reduce Payroll
By integrating with business apps or building processes directly into your CRM system, you can eliminate unnecessary tasks – thereby reducing payroll hours.
15) Implement Without Technical Skills
CRM software typically doesn’t require any IT skills. Most of them are easy to operate, so you don’t need to know how to code to make complex processes work.
16) Foster a Happier, More Productive Sales Team
Not only is a happy sales team a benefit to using a CRM system, it’s also crucial to its success. One of the top reasons CRM implementations fail is because of lack of team adoption.
By getting your whole team involved, you’ll reap the full benefits of CRM software.
17) Streamline Processes
Win over your sales team by automating mundane and labor-intensive tasks.
Even a task as simple as setting a meeting can take up precious minutes in the day.
Avoid the back and forth emails and phone calls by using a CRM system that allows your clients and vendors to simply click a link to see your current availability.
The way it works is simple:
Once they select a time, an invite is automatically generated for everyone’s calendars.
18) Strengthen Communication
“What happens if your most important customer unexpectedly calls with an urgent matter on the same day their sales rep is on vacation?”
Well, with a CRM system in place, everyone on the team can get up to speed in a matter of minutes thanks to a single record containing order history, past conversations, and preferences.
Instead of your team feeling frustrated and helpless – they can step up and be the hero.
19) Store Information In The Right Place
With the right CRM platform, complete customer histories are available anytime anywhere.
Not only is the information easy to find, but thanks to mobile apps offered by the leading providers, your sales team can access everything they need to know about your customers and vendors even when they are traveling.
20) Generate Consistent Commissions
One of the big benefits of CRM software for your sales team is that it helps them understand which clients are at what stage of their sales pipeline.
By knowing this information, they can prioritize who they contact and when to avoid missing their monthly quotas.
21) Increase Fun on the Job
With the addition of gamification features, some CRM systems can turn work into an interactive game – giving you the creative freedom to develop a friendly competition between your salespeople using real-time data.
This will make work more fun for your sales team and will encourage your salespeople to work harder to pursue prospects and close deals.
22) Help Struggling Employees
CRM software helps you understand who your top performers are and what they are doing to succeed. Use this information as a teaching tool for those who need a little more help.
23) Reduce Information Overload
CRM systems allow you to add tags and other key information for easy retrieval later.
Can’t remember which client did what? Use the powerful search functions to reveal exactly what you are looking for.
24) Enhance Employee Training
A solid CRM platform gives you the ability to quickly onboard new sales team members and equips them with templated emails, sales processes, customer data and other tools they will need to be successful.
Even the best salesperson can’t sell if they are left wondering what’s going on.
How to Increase the Benefits of CRM Software
The benefits of a CRM system begin with your salespeople and end with a closed deal.
So, what comes next?
Delivering the products to your new or existing customers and managing your inventory to stay on top of all these purchase orders.
Wouldn’t it be nice to upgrade your sales process with CRM software while seamlessly managing your inventory within the same centralized hub?
Well, now you can.
Experience the Benefits of CRM Software Combined with Cloud-Based Inventory Management
DEAR Inventory seamlessly integrates with Capsule and Salpo CRM platforms – giving you the benefits of real-time inventory tracking and real-time customer tracking simultaneously. Easily add customers and suppliers to DEAR as they progress from initial inquiry through to a sale while automating purchase orders and streamlining your stocktake.
Start your free 14-day trial of DEAR Inventory today!
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