Customer relationship management CRM software is no longer just for large corporations with huge budgets and the IT infrastructure to support the system. Small and medium sized businesses (SMBs), which account for 54 percent of all U.S. sales, have realized the advantages of utilizing CRMs and are getting on board as well. The need to focus all selling processes on current, past, and future customers (the core competency of a CRM) has become the highest priority for most marketers.
Sometimes, running an SMB means doing as much as possible with as few resources as possible. Large companies with more money, more people, and better technology used to be the only players who could make use of a CRM platform. Now, those tools are more affordable and more accessible to SMBs — some even customized and streamlined to meet the unique needs of those businesses.
Let’s take a closer look at three reasons SMBs are moving toward CRM software:
1. Improved Lead Quality
A CRM gives businesses the opportunity to generate new leads and nurture them until they convert. The software stores information about their potential customers and provides insight about which channel sources (emails, social media, company website) bring in the most leads. This information helps SMBs know where to focus their time, attention, and marketing budgets. A CRM can help an SMB better identify which of their leads is warm and ready to convert, as well as where they have opportunities to upsell.
2. Better Customer Service
No one knows more than an SMB the importance of a good reputation and great referrals. In fact, 83 percent of customers are likely to make a referral based on a positive customer experience. In the world of SMBs, that is a critical statistic; it means you should do whatever you can to create an exceptional buying experience in order to not only retain customers, but get them to tell their friends about their experience.
CRM software stores data regarding customers’ buying history as well as their preferences and behavior. This makes it easier for an SMB to customize their messaging and support to serve their clients better, which means businesses with a smaller staff are less likely to let a customer fall through the cracks because of a lack of resources.
3. Increased Accessibility
The owners and employees of SMBs can attest to the reality that they are covering a lot of ground and often wearing a lot of hats in order to keep their business running. But they cannot be in all places at the same time. Modern, cloud-based CRM software with native mobile capabilities provides more flexibility, since users can retrieve and manage data anytime, from any device. Cloud-based CRMs also improve data reliability compared with their on-premise counterparts. If your business suffers an unexpected outage, theft, or natural disaster, your data will be safely backed up to a remote server.
SMBs can experience better lead quality and nurturing and an improved level of service because of a personalized focus on their customer. The freedom that comes with flexibility and security due to the accessibility of their CRM from anywhere and on any device.
4. Easier Integrations
It used to be that if you wanted an integrated business system, you’d either need you own Dev team to build it or a hired software consultant to set it up. Thanks to the popularity of cloud deployment and API technology, modern vendors can offer a level of interoperability that before would’ve required custom development. In many cases, your CRM platform will offer “native” or “plug-and-play” integration with many other systems that are important to your business.
Instead of manually configuring API calls to your marketing automation software, for example, you can simply share your login credentials, grant access permission, and the two systems will sync in real time. The same could be true for accounting, invoicing, VoIP, business intelligence, and so on. That freedom means better flexibility and security thanks to accessibility from anywhere on any device. Read also: how VoIP CRM integration benefits business workflows.
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The advantages of CRM software are many, and the same benefits that larger companies have been realizing for years — stronger sales development, personalized marketing tactics, more targeted campaigns — are now accessible to SMBs as well. CRMs free up more of your time and give you the ability to compete with larger corporations without a monstrous financial investment.
Pipeliner CRM is designed from the ground up to empower SMB sales teams and sales management. Get your free trial of Pipeliner CRM now.
Comments (1)
CRM is simply indispensable in any type of business. A business thrives because of one thing – its strong relationship with its clients or customers. It is a good thing that we now have software like SutiCRM to manage these stuff.