5 Business Building Reasons to use CRM

Customer Relationship Management, or as it's more commonly referred - CRM, is a business eco-system that is at the heart of the World's biggest companies. CRM is the element of business strategy that helps manage organisations, relationships and interactions with customers and potential customers.

In the past CRM was out of the reach of most small and medium sized businesses as the software being developed was very much focused on large organisations. 'Enterprise' level solutions from the likes of Oracle and Microsoft represent a massive investment that is simply out of the reach of smaller businesses. There were some early database solutions, that offered elements of CRM, but the software industry went where the money was, and therefore smaller business CRM offerings always felt like a compromise.

With the advent of the Internet, Cloud Computing and the rise of Open Source solutions that have genuine credibility, CRM is now for every business. The barriers have been removed, as have the excuses for not taking CRM seriously. 

There are many reasons why we think every business should have a CRM system and philosophy at its heart. Here are our top 5.

Reason 1 - Manage the process of getting more clients

The vast majority of businesses are constantly on the look out for new clients. In some cases the acquisition of new clients is a focus for growth, while in others, where client 'churn' is high - finding new clients is a business survival necessity.

Having a CRM system allows you to systematically manage your businesses sales funnel and take potential clients on the journey from being prospects to hopefully being long standing and loyal customers.

Reason 2 - Manage relationships with existing clients
Running and growing a business is all about balance and if you focus all your efforts on getting new clients, your current clients will, sooner or later, start to vote with their feet and take their custom elsewhere. Business growth is unlikely if every new client you 'win', simply replaces a loyal client that you have lost. 

Real business growth comes through retaining as much business as possible so that every new client adds to the growth of your business.

A CRM system allows you to track the activity with current clients so that a constant communication channel is kept open. It can also identify new revenue generating opportunities from your existing clients that you may be missing out on. It's far easier to sell to a client you already have a relationship with and an effective CRM system is the engine to stop opportunities slipping through the cracks. 

Reason 3 - Personalised Marketing 
The data you gather and store about your clients and potential clients within a CRM system has the power to become your most valuable asset. The intelligence you gain allows you to logically arrange your client base into segments, so that you can prepare marketing campaigns that are focused and relevant. This personalised approach to your marketing is more efficient and because the offers you present to your clients are carefully targeted, the conversion rate is likely to be higher. 

Reason 4 - Risk Management
You can't trust your own memory. A CRM system is the brain of your business, and thankfully - it never forgets. Deploying your own CRM system allows you to keep a record of all customer interactions. Imagine a scenario where your top sales executive up and leaves your business with little or no notice? Businesses without an effective CRM system will be forced to scramble through hand written notes, order forms and emails in order to recover. 

If you have a CRM system in place, it is simply a case of reassigning the outgoing sales reps client base, to another sales executive. Doing so not just saves time, but it mitigates the risk of potentially losing focus on key accounts. 

Reason 5 - Data, metrics and reporting
CRM enables the day-to-day running of your sales and marketing efforts, but an effective Customer Relationship Management system has the power to do so much more. 

CRM has the ability to turn raw data, into valuable information, which transforms into actionable insight. It can be used to track and monitor sales performance, provide intelligence on your clients and potential clients and it can save hours of human labour, by producing automated reports which help drive the business. 

Used in the right way a CRM system can become the engine that drives any business forward, regardless of size. At Inspire IT Services, we don't believe in a 'one size fits all' solution when it comes to Customer Relationship Management. CRM software and tools can be adapted for any business and we have also created our own dedicated solutions for clients where a modified version of an ‘off-the-shelf’ solution simply wasn’t appropriate.

For a free CRM consultation please contact David on 01738 700 006 or get in touch through our web enquiry form.

David Dwyer is Managing Director of Inspire Web Development. He has years of experience in a range of web and IT roles plus seven years in sales and marketing in a blue-chip FMCG company. David’s academic and professional qualifications include a BA (Hons) in Business Economics (Personnel & Ergonomics) from the University of Paisley, an MSc in Information Technology (Systems) from Heriot-Watt University and PRINCE2 Practitioner-level certification. He is also an active member of the British Computer Society, Entrepreneurial Exchange and Business for Scotland.