Choosing the right CRM app amidst the many options on the market can be a challenging task. Your first step should involve analysing the key CRM features.
As clients increasingly search for products or services that meet their needs with ease, business owners must personalise interactions to stay ahead of the competition.
Even with a large customer base, you can effectively track client engagements with the help of CRM software.
Once you have a good grasp of the core CRM capabilities, you can begin exploring the web to find the platform that best suits your specific business needs.
An Overview of CRM
Customer relationship management (CRM) encompasses the principles, practices, and guidelines that an organisation adheres to when engaging with its customers, one article from Investopedia explained.
From the organisation’s perspective, this relationship covers various aspects, including direct interactions with customers, such as sales and service-related processes, forecasting, and analysing customer trends and behaviours.
The ultimate goal of CRM is to enrich the overall experience of the customer. Here‘s what you need to know:
- In 2022, the global customer relationship management market reached a substantial value of USD 58.82 billion. From 2023 to 2030, experts predict a phenomenal compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.9%.
- Current developments, such as the hyper-personalisation of customer care, the incorporation of AI and automation, and the adoption of effective social media customer service, are credited with this growth.
These trends contribute to cost reduction, faster response times, improved customer satisfaction, and widespread adoption of customer relationship management (CRM) platforms across various industries, thereby driving market expansion.
What Are Features to Look for in CRM Systems?
Below are essential features to consider when selecting CRM software:
1. Workflow Automation
CRM software can simplify your life by automating your workflow. Look for software that allows you to set up custom rules and includes sales force automation to increase productivity for both you and your team.
For example, when a potential customer fills out a contact form on your website, the CRM software will automatically direct the message to the appropriate sales representative or department.
Additionally, the CRM software will automatically send a pre-programmed answer after a sales representative receives a message.
2. Contact Management
Contact management is the foundation for securely storing, organising, and accessing essential customer information, revolutionising how businesses interact with their audience.
To begin with, robust contact management allows your businesses to centralise and secure customer data in one place. From basic contact details to comprehensive profiles, all information is readily available, empowering teams to deliver personalised experiences.
Contact segmentation enables businesses to categorise their contacts based on demographics, preferences, or purchase history.
3. Team Members Tracking
CRM software offers an effective method for monitoring employee activities and performance. The options for software that provides individual employee accounts, enable them to track their hours, tasks, and other relevant information.
Additionally, the software should grant supervisors and upper management access to dashboards displaying individual employee goals, completed tasks, and other productivity metrics.
This feature helps managers in conducting employee performance reviews, establishing incentives, and identifying areas of improvement for those facing challenges.
4. Lead Management
The lead tracking functionality enables you to recognize your leads and their interactions throughout the sales cycle.
With the lead management process, you can assign scores to your leads and, if necessary, transfer them to another team member for converting potential leads into customers.
Occasionally, inactive leads may linger in a CRM system for extended periods. A savvy sales manager actively manages leads and reassigns dormant or seemingly unresponsive leads to different team members for re-engagement.
5. Real-time Data
It helps in making well-informed marketing decisions regarding the bidding price and placement of online advertising.
You gain an immediate overview of market demand, enabling you to adjust your marketing strategy for improved outcomes with CRM data insights.
You can pinpoint the products and services that generate the highest revenue, as well as those that perform less and might benefit from increased exposure.
6. Customer Analytics
Customer analytics, commonly referred to as CRM analytics, provides an understanding of customer information.
This information is crucial since it can help in your decision-making regarding the kinds of goods and services, marketing campaigns, and general communications you offer to your clients.
You can look for the following specialised analytics:
- Simple to read and comprehend customer segmentation.
- Transparent profit and loss information to help you calculate your ROI.
7. CRM Reporting
Reporting All of the CRMs we looked into have reported as basic functionality. Reporting combines the results of your marketing and sales efforts. It’s best if you have access to more of these report types:
- The number of leads received over a specific period of time
- The volume of sales produced over a specific period of time
- The sales representatives to close, and how many they closed in a specific period of time.
- The number of incoming calls The efficiency of your emails
- The point at when your leads are converted, which can be used to find opportunities to close leads more quickly.
8. Email Integration
Keeping track of emails with a conventional inbox can become frustrating and confusing. To enhance the likelihood of making sales, it’s critical to receive and respond to every sales email promptly.
A CRM’s email capability helps your sales representatives. In order to arrange appointments and interact with prospective customers appropriately, they can integrate their calendars.
The capability to automatically pull in email templates saves reps time by reducing the need for them to create unique email content.
To Sum Up
Make an informed decision for your business’s future. Take the next step towards enhanced customer relationships and optimise processes by exploring Membership.ninja’s CRM capabilities.
Don’t miss out on this opportunity to boost productivity and drive growth.
Try Membership.ninja here, and experience the power of a customised CRM solution that caters to your specific needs and empowers your business for success.