CRM for Small Business
A great marketing foundation means you know where you want to go… and know the tools that will help you get there. A CRM (customer relationship management) for your small business is one of the ways you’ll get there.
You may wonder why you would need a CRM for your small business to manage your customer relationships? That’s a valid question… and one that isn’t too hard to answer
A Strong Marketing Foundation is the First Step
For starters, a small- or medium-sized business (SMB) who has not only taken a look at their marketing foundation but knows where they want to go (and the tools that will take them there) are at the forefront of their competition.
Being an entrepreneur usually means a few people are wearing a lot of hats, including your marketing and sales staff. You don’t have a large staff of people to take care of all the details. That’s where a CRM comes in.
CRM Puts Your Customer at the Center of Your Efforts
It’s been said that maintaining contact with your customers is the lifeline of any business.
According to Forbes Magazine, recovery from the current economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic will be achieved by customer retention… not customer acquisition. A CRM is an ideal tool to enhance your customer retention.
That view was echoed by Natalie Severino, VP of Marketing at Chorus.ai, in Hubspot when she predicted the one thing that has allowed SMBs to weather the economic storms over the past months: the ability of the company to put their customers at the center of their efforts.
So having a CRM that allows you to automate that customer-centric effort should be one of the first things you do as you start your marketing roadmap. Here’s why:
Central database. The purpose of having a CRM tool or database is to manage all your customer data in one central location so you can better access and organize client information, better serve your customers, and increase your bottom line.
Managing all your customer data in this way will keep your efforts streamlined and can also provide a platform for all your inbound and outbound marketing efforts.
Central Communication Platform. You can further increase customer retention through consistent communication, and with a CRM, you will know what each customer has received and when they received it. Additionally, all of your staff will be able to see which customers have received which pieces of information so no duplication occurs.
Identify and sell to the low hanging fruit. Because a CRM lets you analyze your customers preferences and past actions, you can identify the services or products they may be currently interested in, or may have interest in for the future. Your customers most likely want offers that relate to their current situation and your CRM can make that happen.
Data Entry and Automatic Notification. With the right CRM tool in place, your staff don’t have to spend hours logging in phone calls, emails and other types of contact: It will all be aggregated on your CRM. Then, when appropriate, the sales staff can be automatically reminded to follow up with a customer.
Customer segmentation. Customers today expect their experience with your company to be seamless. Segmenting your customers means you can sort by location, company size, or deal stage—among other characteristics. When you do that with your CRM, you are continuing to personalize that customer’s experience to make it more meaningful, relevant… and seamless!
A CRM Can Improve Your Profits
Because a CRM can show you where your current and prospective customers are in the sales cycle at any time, you can act much more quickly—and not lose a sale due to inactivity or lack of organization.
In fact, in an article in DestinationCRM.com, one CEO noted that CRM tools can help increase sales by up to 29 percent, sales productivity by up to 34 percent, and sales forecast accuracy by 42 percent.
These numbers are hard to ignore.
If you are wondering what your next steps are to strengthen your own marketing foundation, check out these free resources to learn more about the process (including our free quiz that will give you a grade on each of the four key areas). Contact us any time if you have further questions… we’d love to chat with you!
Tomato Fish Is An Indianapolis Consulting Company Focused On Helping Small And Midsize Businesses Make Good Strategic Planning Decisions.
