Some CRM systems such as Salesforce now offer mobile CRM capabilities, which allow salespeople to access key information wherever they are, and update that information straight after a meeting while they are still in the field, so colleagues can follow up with the very latest information before the competition.
With mobile CRM it’s possible to run a whole business from a phone – closing deals, servicing customers and even delivering 1:1 marketing campaigns without being tied to a desk. This functionality can also support homeworking, and even allow organisations to reduce the amount of office space needed.
CRM platforms today can help businesses make the most of social media as a source of new leads, intelligence on prospects and information for customer service agents. All these new streams of social data are integrated with the rest of the available data about a customer, to deliver the fullest ever picture and a host of new actionable insights
Some CRM systems can use artificial intelligence (AI) to learn from available data in order to make recommendations based on company processes. In this way, the system constantly and automatically improves, becoming smarter and more targeted to the needs of customers.
Salesforce offers the world’s leading cloud-based CRM software, offering a range of innovative and far-reaching CRM solutions that can be effectively customised to the requirements of businesses of all sizes, from global enterprises to start-up micro-enterprises. Key reasons for choosing Salesforce include:
Because Salesforce runs entirely in the cloud on its own sophisticated, secure infrastructure, there’s no need to spend precious time maintaining hardware and software. Plus, setup is fast and inexpensive.
With Salesforce, pricing is based on the number of users -- a business just pays for what it actually needs. Additional users and applications can be added as a business expands, so the CRM system grows with the organisation.
Salesforce is as easy to use as the websites we use every day. It’s easy to log in from anywhere, view and update customer data, and work with colleagues, at any time.
Businesses can use Salesforce to smartly manage and harmonise many key functions of their operation, including sales, marketing, customer service, supplier management, HR, ecommerce and more.
The Salesforce app is available for smartphones and tablets, and to add the exact functionality needed in a business, there are over 2,000 apps accessible from the Salesforce AppXchange ecosystem – plus, of course, the opportunity to write bespoke apps.
Why use a CRM system? Using a CRM system helps businesses become more efficient, improve relationships with their customers and boost their CLV (Customer Lifetime Value).
What’s the best place to start when evaluating CRM systems? When evaluating and comparing CRM systems, it’s important for an organisation to first decide what best fits their needs: a cloud-based CRM or client/server CRM.
How can CRM systems help keep up with a changing world? CRM systems are flexible and scalable. Businesses can leverage AI, integrate social media and go mobile – anywhere, and at any time.
Do you remember anyone’s phone number by heart, nowadays? I only know my own. Imagine having to not only manage phone numbers, but also email addresses, customer data, engagement histories, and business insights without the help of any sort of reliable system.
Although CRM may seem like a difficult concept to grasp, its goal is actually quite simple: to keep all your contacts unified and up to date. Because we typically work in silos, it’s sometimes difficult to know what exactly you and your team have already discussed with a given contact; this leads to double-work, annoying miscommunications, and potentially lost deals. A CRM ensures that everyone is on the same page for every opportunity by storing all interaction history and deal-related information in one place.
In this article, we’ll cover everything you need to know about how to use CRM, why you need one, and how to implement one for your business.
So, what’s a CRM system? It’s a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system that helps manage all of you and your team’s customer and contact data. It supports sales management, delivers actionable insights, integrates with social media, and facilitates team communication. Most CRMs are complete with mobile apps for iOS and Android, as well.
Nimble is a CRM software that integrates with over 200 apps to ensure that all of your contact data is always up to date. Sync your favorite business apps (such as QuickBooks and Mailchimp) to unify your contacts across all platforms. Amazing, huh?
Customer relationship management is what “CRM” stands for. However, this doesn’t tell the whole story. Without software designed to help stay on top of the details, business owners can run themselves ragged trying to keep up. This has firmly established CRMs like Nimble as a must-have for small business owners who want to improve relationships with their prospects, clients, and other contacts.
HubSpot AlternativeThe sheer volume of data that you can track for each individual user in a cloud-based CRM system is staggering ― and exciting. Let’s look at the details:
CRMs vary in cost and complexity but generally share some key features across the board. The goal of every CRM system is to save teams and solopreneurs time on trivial data entry, build better relationships, and maintain the connections they create with their leads and customers.
It also helps marketing, sales, and customer service teams work better together by leveraging functionalities and features that can help everyone stay on top of important initiatives across departments.
Easy access to historical customer data. Customer relationship management systems allow teams to access client and prospect information everywhere they work. Some CRM solutions let their users sync information across multiple devices, providing the most up-to-date customer information from any access point.
Actionable insights. Most CRM software options are complete with analytics and reporting, allowing users to create customizable dashboards and reports based on customer data. With these reports, people can create segmented lists of customers, track revenue (potential and existing), and manage personalized campaigns.
Marketing teams can use CRM features such as contact segmentation, tagging, and group messaging to effectively engage with highly targeted lists of leads or customers. Customer Service teams benefit greatly from having a 360-view of entire engagement histories with contacts, enabling them better understand what needs to be done to solve an issue. Managers of every variety can enjoy custom pipelines, activity tracking, and a unified repository of emails across teams.
In essence, don’t let the preconceived notion that CRMs are just for salespeople turn you off; they can be used to amplify business efforts and streamline collaboration, no matter what team you’re on.
Application Programming Interface (API): A source code interface that a computer system or program library provides to support requests for services made via a computer program.
Cloud CRM: All the data of an organization resides in the CRM vendor’s servers in a datacentre and is accessed via the internet from anywhere. Therefore it is said to reside in a cloud.
Open Source CRM: The source code of a CRM is available for modifications. An organization can get CRM consultancy to determine what changes can be made in the CRM to align it with its business model.
Workflows: Automatic processes set in your CRM system. They are created to eliminate the need to perform a lot of manual tasks or to oversee a set of predefined actions.
CRMs range vastly in price; some are very reasonable, while others can run into the hundreds every month. This is why it’s so important to find the right CRM for your business; not only would implementing a super robust CRM software with all the bells and whistles cost a lot of unnecessary money, your team might not even use it due to complexity.
Do you work for a multi-million dollar corporation that employs 1,000 people? Maybe a solution like Salesforce is for you. Are you a solopreneur looking for a simple way to manage your contacts? Perhaps Nimble would be a better fit for your needs.
Salesforce is the biggest CRM company in the world. They’re known for having every feature imaginable. However, all of these bells and whistles come with a rather hefty price tag.
Salesforce is more expensive ($35 per month per user) than Nimble ($25 per month per user) and many SMB CRMs on the market, but many smaller companies choose it anyway. Why? It’s become synonymous with CRM software and, as our CEO Jon Ferrara says: “Nobody has ever gotten fired for buying Salesforce.” It’s a well-backed purchase — for the right team.
“For enterprise-level companies who may have large teams, or who wish to integrate multiple departments and multiple applications, or who’s needs are so specific that they require high-level customizations, Salesforce would be an obvious CRM that would be worthy of consideration,” explains Craig Jamieson, Managing Member/Owner of Adaptive Business Services.
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