CRM to improve customer relations and build loyalty
CRM - Customer Relationship Management - software is the foundation of any sales approach. However, its functionalities can be extended to help you make the difference with your customers. Here's our advice on how to use CRM.
Classic CRM
CRM is the tool used by salespeople on a daily basis. It brings together all the functions needed to manage the tasks involved in canvassing and customer relations. Here are the classic functionalities offered by all CRMs:
Prospecting
Prospecting is your first direct approach to part of your audience: your leads (targeted contacts). Prospecting is often thought of as a physical meeting or telephone canvassing, but this is not always the case. You can also start from your contact base, segment it, and send a mailing tailored to each profile, for example.
Monitoring your actions
Your sales cycle is made up of stages. In BtoB - Business to Business - in particular, they often extend over a longer period of time. The sales rep has to get back to this person in a month, or that person in two months... The risk: forgetting. That's where CRM can help. With a reminder system, you can enter your upcoming actions and be notified in due course.
Customer relations
Just as you need to keep track of your prospects, you need to be there for your customers, find out how satisfied they are and understand their expectations. Weak ties won't keep them when your competitor approaches them. For 75% of customers with negative feedback, the problem is not the product, but the relationship they have with the supplier of that product. CRM also serves to strengthen your ties. For example, you can schedule regular contacts. You can also give and take news, so that your customers feel you're there for them.
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Steering your sales approach
The CRM dashboards reflect your situation: number of customers, number of prospects, weight of each in value, etc. This real-time view enables you to see the impact of your sales strategy. This real-time view enables you to see the impact of your sales strategy.
Extended CRM
Depending on your company's specific needs, it may be worthwhile to choose a CRM with other strings to its bow.
CRM with sales management
A CRM like TigerPro goes even further in managing the products or services you sell. Pricing grids including different variables, refine the offer according to date or quantity, for example. Take the case of a set-up offer, for example: the price will depend on the location, the space to be covered, the equipment... The salesperson will need to be able to define it so as to quickly communicate it to the prospect. With a tool capable of estimating it, he'll be more responsive and more likely to close the sale.
CRM extended to accounting
There's only one step from quotation to invoice. That's why some CRM solutions, such as GRC Contact, integrate all stages from pre-sales to post-sales. Invoices are automatically edited, then converted to accounting entries. This eliminates the need for intermediate data entry and reduces the risk of errors. The reasoning is equally valid in the other direction: if you're going to have management software, you might as well have a CRM module, like Evoliz. Its functionalities go so far as to help calculate and declare VAT (Value Added Tax), and its online payment module helps collect invoices.
CRM at the customer's disposal
Once the sale is made, follow-up is essential. Your customers may need to contact you again, to report a technical or other incident . This exchange, central to your customer relations, can naturally be integrated into your CRM. Just like the Initiative CRM support module. The customer portal with ticket management lets you track the workflow of requests.
One imperative: customer satisfaction
Your performance becomes a customer benefit
Choosing the right CRM for your needs is decisive for customer satisfaction. Whether you're optimizing your internal management or your customer relations, your responsiveness and professionalism will make you more available to your customers.
Satisfaction: the key to loyalty
A satisfied customer is a loyal customer. And taking care of this is highly strategic, first and foremost in view of the costs involved:
- the cost of acquiring a new customer is 3 times higher than that of retaining an existing one,
- the cost of winning back a customer is 12 times higher than that of retaining an existing customer,
- increasing customer loyalty by even 5% can boost your profits by 25-55%.
Secondly, improving or damaging your reputation can have a knock-on effect:
- 1 very satisfied customer tells 3 people,
- 1 dissatisfied customer tells 12 others,
- 1 extremely dissatisfied customer is likely to tell 20 others...
These figures speak for themselves, and illustrate the scale of the loyalty challenge.
There are different types of CRM. Depending on your needs, you may choose a sales management CRM like Initiative CRM, or a billing CRM like GRC Contact. Or, on the other hand, start with a management software package such as Evoliz, which you can also use as a CRM. The key is to gain operational agility to optimize customer satisfaction.
Article translated from French