How To Use CRM For Sales And Lead Management

CRM

Sales and lead management are crucial in the sales pipeline and should be done correctly. Read this blog to learn:

How To Use CRM For Sales And Lead Management

One thing every company owner will agree to is that customers are essential for a business to exist. As your brand grows and with it more customers and sales, handling this data becomes challenging. It is well beyond a manual task and businesses cannot take the risks associated with human error, data loss or duplication associated with pen and paper.

The best way to ensure complete customer data management is by using customer relationship management (CRM) technology. CRM software can manage all the interactions your business has with your customers, past and existing, as well as those who have expressed an interest in doing business with you. By having this ‘bank’ of information at your fingertips, you can invest the time to nurture your relationship with them. This way, the communication you have with them can also be used for sales and lead management in the following ways.

  1. Sharing information across teams

CRM

Information forms a crucial part of your lead and sales management. Collecting enough consumer data can help you really understand your customers, their problems and how you can act to solve these for them. If you are able to put yourself in a position where you can create personalized messages that engage your customers and turn them into brand advocates, then you immediately put yourself in a very strong position to win their custom again. This information needs to be visible across all the teams who will have touchpoints with your customers. It is only by doing this, that you can achieve a personalized service that caters to their individual needs.

Jobber is a good example of a CRM system that has been developed specifically for companies operating within the field service sector, such as window cleaning. All customer information is collated in one place making it very easy for any team member to access when speaking to a customer. The progress of sales can be tracked with ease, and it becomes simple to share consistent and effective marketing messages to customers at the various stages of the sales funnel.

  1. Gathering data when and where needed

The primary function of CRM is collecting customer data from the different channels where they interact with your brand. First, the system will gather all the required data from all the essential channels, which it does without any human intervention. Second, it will check the data for keywords or customer demographics. This kind of quality data is essential for lead management and for making conversions.

Additionally, CRM can facilitate an easier delivery of information to your team by providing it when and where they need it. This is done through customizable CRM dashboards, which can be designed by your team according to what they want to see. This helps with productivity as administrators can immediately find the information they are looking for.

  1. Reporting

Analyzing the data you’ve collected and making reports in between marketing campaigns will help you assess where your progress stands and benchmark your levels of success. This will tell you if you’re meeting your marketing goals, and if you need to improve or change the tactics you have adopted.

CRM shows infographics and information in real time and when needed. Because of its automated features and customizable dashboards, there is no longer the need to manually gather data for reporting purposes. It can be used for real time decision-making to improve sales and lead generation management.

  1. Offering better customer experience

Customer experience is an important step in lead management as it determines how satisfied your prospects are with your services. Therefore, make it a point to always offer the best experience to your customers and endeavor to turn qualified prospects into buyers.

Unfortunately, there are businesses that fail at this, and so they end up losing out on revenue for several reasons. To prevent this from happening, the investment of a CRM system will help automate all interactions between your business and its consumers. If used correctly, it should be able to capture data to help your sales team understand your customers frustrations, emotions, and other needs and how you can service these.

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  1. Tracking leads

Companies can improve their sales and lead management through the tracking of leads. This is an effective way of knowing the status of each. For example, you can track the number of customers who were contacted during the past month. You can also track what was discussed, the results of the interactions, and what channels were used.

Using a CRM will allow you to identify the actions that can drive conversions or generate quality leads. You’ll have an enhanced sales process as a result that helps you reach your goals faster. Also, tracking with the use of CRM helps identify areas that may need improvement in your sales pipeline.

  1. Distributing leads

During high seasons, businesses can experience a high influx of leads over a short period of time. This can quickly overwhelm internal teams if they don’t have the right tools in place to deal with them. A CRM software program can help to automate leads so they can be assigned to specific team members to be dealt with in the most effective way. The same applies if territorial sales are to be assigned to a particular regional or sales group.

  1. Nurturing leads

CRM

Lead nurturing is the process of identifying where a prospect is in the sales pipeline. It happens after the leads have been tracked and distributed to the sales team and includes the creation of targeted content and communications with prospects who are at different stages of the process and whose preferences may be through different communication channels.

A CRM system can help you personalize and coordinate these communications. Without a CRM tool in place to automate this process, it will be difficult to track whether your messages are working and leading to conversions.

Conclusion on CRM

Good sales and lead management requires the automation of certain tasks. Large volumes of data is required in order to draw actionable conclusions to inform business decisions. This can only be done with a robust CRM system in place that has the capabilities of handling large amounts of information and collecting it in such a way that it can be sorted, reported on and used to inform strategic direction and deliver a personalized service that your customers want.

 

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Own a Marketing Agency? Here are 12 Tips to Scale it up with a CRM

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Twelve Tips to Scale it up with a CRM

A CRM can prove to be very beneficial to your business. Considering the perpetually growing influence of digital marketing, it’s no surprise that new marketing agencies are constantly emerging. And if you want to be a relevant player in this competitive market, scaling your operations is the only way to stay in the game. 

In today’s digital world, new technology and tools are frequently introduced. For a successful marketing agency, it is crucial to recognize the potential of such tools and leverage them to your advantage. For example, customer relationship management (CRM) tools like Daylite can prove to be highly beneficial for your organization. 

When you’re a budding business, it might be possible to manually keep track of your clients and prospects. However, as your organization grows, this is no longer a feasible option. 

Are you on the fence about deploying a CRM system for your organization? In this post, we’re sharing various ways a CRM can help you effectively scale up operations. Let’s dive in. 

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  • Everything in One Place

One of the biggest advantages of CRM software is that it allows you to keep all information about your clients in one place. Hopping from Excel sheets to emails to phone calls  can be confusing and lead to missed deadlines and other administrative errors. Instead of maintaining disjointed files, you can make the most of CRM software to efficiently organize data. 

  • Track All Communication

Your employees are likely working on multiple clients at the same time. How can they keep up with every customer interaction? With CRM software, of course. Every internal and external communication occurring over  emails, phone calls, and other platforms can be efficiently recorded on a CRM system. Even if you are using LinkedIn for sales, a CRM can streamline your communication.

Furthermore, CRM software is  an indispensable tool for a growing organization. As you add more reps to your team, a CRM will ensure smooth communication without any hindrances. You can easily bring new employees up to speed with ongoing projects.

  • Develop a Client Onboarding Process

A client onboarding process is necessary to align your business needs with clients’ needs. Without a dependable client onboarding process, you risk losing a client and all the resources you spent on them. 

Using CRM software, you can develop a repeatable client onboarding process that encourages clients to continue to buy new products and services from you. It is also possible to customize the onboarding process to meet the requirements of a particular client.

  • Speed Up Lead Generation

Has your agency reached a point of stagnation with lead generation? Without quality leads, your business can quickly lose its momentum. CRM software collects data from integrated platforms and helps discover qualified leads. Access to accurate data helps reps to nurture leads and close more deals. 

  • Scope of Integration

The scope of CRM extends beyond just record-keeping. A CRM offers integration of various platforms that can ultimately help you deliver a personalized customer experience. Especially for a marketing agency, CRM software can be used to integrate social media, email marketing, outbound marketing, Google My Business, and other platforms.  

  • Easily Customize Proposals & Contracts

Personalization is pivotal if you want to make your prospect feel seen. But customizing each proposal or contract can take up too much time. Fortunately, there are CRM systems that can speed up the process. 

Moreover, CRM software not only helps maintain records but can also be used to analyze consumer behavior. Just like LinkedIn prospecting tools, these metrics come in handy for marketing agencies. They can utilize this information to create personalized content and tailor CTAs to persuade prospects. 

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  • Automate Administrative Tasks

Certain administrative tasks such as logging calls or any client interaction can be time-consuming. Moreover, these tasks can keep you from focusing on core activities and impact your productivity. This software saves you from redundant data entry. You can automate collecting, recording, and summarizing data. 

  • Collect and Use Insights

Customer feedback is important to ensure a seamless experience. A CRM system can improve your customer experience endeavors with the support of internal reviews and surveys. Instead of customers leaving negative feedback on public forums, you can invest in CRM software for effective reputation management.  

  • Facilitate Global Access

Several organizations around the world were forced to operate remotely because of the COVID-19 outbreak. And organizations without the right tools struggled to communicate and smoothly transition to a remote work setting. 

On the other hand, organizations with CRM systems flourished. CRM makes it possible to sync updates from the entire team and access any required information, no matter where you are in the world.

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  • Maintain a Paper Trail

Misplacing even a single important document can be costly for your organization. From employee to customer documentation, a CRM system enables your organization to keep a clear and easy-to-access library of all documentation. Whether you are a new or an established agency, CRM is certainly worth the investment.

  • Set Up Reminders

When you’re juggling several clients and prospects at the same time, a CRM tool can be paramount for your organization. 

When a lot is going on, it is easy to forget to follow up with a certain prospect. And all the resources and time you invested in convincing the prospect to choose your service goes down the drain. 

A CRM will enable your team to keep track of all prospects and remind your employees to follow up at the right time.

  • Identify Trends

To effectively sell your marketing services, an agency needs to be aware of which strategies work and which don’t. You can employ CRM to extract key metrics and identify trends. These trends are useful to understand which processes deserve more attention and resources. This plays a significant role in making informed decisions down the line. 

The Bottom Line of CRM

CRM is a versatile tool that is not only a useful tool for marketing agencies but also for other businesses of all sizes. The right software for your organization plays a key role in streamlining communication and managing prospects. Hopefully, the aforementioned tips encourage you to explore the endless possibilities promised by CRM solutions. Ideally, you should choose this software that will grow alongside your business and support your expanding requirements.

 

Author Bio:

Stefan Smulders is a SaaS Entrepreneur | Bootstrapped to €3M ARR in just 1year | Founder of Worlds safest software for LinkedIn Automation Expandi.io | Vegan | Father

 

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