Save Time, Make More Money, and Strengthen Relationships with a CRM
Let’s say you attended a networking event yesterday. You collected business cards from potential clients and customers, and they’re sitting on your desk in a neat little pile. What happens to them now that the event is over? Will they end up scattered between bills, tax forms, and other papers? Or will they get stuffed into a drawer only to be dusted off and looked at months later?
How you manage prospect information—and existing client and customer information—is important to keeping your business organized and on the right track. This is where a customer relationship management (CRM) strategy and system can help.
Why you need a CRM system
Before you consider purchasing a CRM system, you’ll need to establish your strategy (more on this below). However, it’s important to know what a CRM system is and how it can benefit your business first.
Here’s a breakdown a CRM system benefits:
- It keeps all client information in one place
The right system allows you to track prospect and client details. You can set up fields to identify where a prospect found you, if they have pets, and any other useful information that will help you tailor future marketing efforts.
- It stays on top of important dates
A CRM system can manage all of your important business dates—from following up three days after a networking event to remembering any key celebrations in your customer's life.
- It helps you delegate
When your clients’ information is stored in one accessible location, it makes it easy for you to keep your team on the same page when you need to delegate projects.
- It automates touchpoints
You can automate all sorts of marketing efforts through your CRM—whether you decide to set up a thank-you message for your newsletter or send a mass email to all prospects about an upcoming sale.
- It’s secure
When everything is cloud based, you don’t have to worry about misplacing a client’s information. A CRM system securely stores all information in one easy-to-access database.
Creating a CRM strategy
How you organize clients’ information is vital to the growth of your business. But before you sign up for CRM system like Contactually or Insightly, you need to have a strategy in place. To build a solid CRM strategy, I suggest doing the following:
- Map out every touchpoint
The first thing you need to identify is how you currently manage client relationships. Start from the beginning of the process and go through every touchpoint that occurs when moving someone from prospect to loyal customer. This will help you identify the processes that are working, and where you need to make improvements. - Name your processes
When we give something a name—especially when that something is a business process—we give it an identity. And when something has a clear identity, it’s easier for us to remember. This is why I have a specific name for every step in the customer journey: from the first “discovery call” to the “success follow-up.”
Finding the best CRM for you
There are plenty of options out there to choose from, which makes it tough to find the one that will work best for you. However, once you have your strategy mapped out, all you need to do is match that strategy with the features your business needs.
This article covers a ranking of the best CRM systems in 2016 for small businesses and provides details on the many other options on the market.
Personally, I use Less Annoying CRM for my business and I absolutely love it. It’s highly customizable yet intuitive and user friendly.
Taking advantage of free trials
If you’re still on the fence as to which CRM system to use, I recommend taking advantage of any free trials being offered. Many software companies these days offer a trial period so you can make sure the system will truly suit your needs.
If you’d like to give Less Annoying CRM a try, they have a great deal that can benefit us both. Simply use this link, while I'll get one month free you'll extend your free trail to 2 months! This incentive is another reason why I personally love this CRM—you have nothing to lose while you take it out for a spin.
While it does take some time to get your CRM up and running, you’ll no doubt start to see the positive impact the system can make right away. You’ll find you have more time to invest in your business, while automation will see to it that more business is rolling in. If you need help with organizing your CRM strategy, let’s talk. Together we can find a plan that works best for you.
