Sales are the backbone of almost all businesses. If you want to do well in the business world, you need to empower your sales team with all the amenities so that they achieve all their goals. After all, businesses are in business to make money, and you can do so only if your sales reps and your sales process are up to the mark.
So, what should you do to empower your sales employees and improve your sales process?
To improve your sales, you need to develop a strong relationship with your customers. One proven tool that can help accomplish this goal is a good customer relationship management (CRM) solution. Contrary to popular belief, a CRM system isn’t only for large companies. Many CRM products can be scaled to meet the needs of businesses of every size and in every sector. A small- to medium-sized business can benefit – and perhaps join the ranks of those large companies as a result of implementing an effective CRM solution!
First things first: What is a sales CRM?
CRM software is a tool that helps your team members manage relationships with customers, streamline your sales processes and channelize your marketing efforts. It organizes and keeps all your data in one place which optimize your processes, detects errors, saves time and allows you to improve your overall sales.
CRM facts and figures
CRM solutions can help organizations save a minimum of $75,000 in marketing expenses. Around 69% of organizations rate CRM software as more valuable than laptops and smartphones. If organizations integrate CRM smoothly with their business solutions, it can boost ROI up to 245%. Also, CRM gives an ROI of around $8.71 for every $1 spent.
There is no doubt that CRM is a powerful tool. But to reap its full benefits, you must make sure that your sales reps are on board with you before you start implementing the system. You need to convince your sales reps that adopting a CRM system will not just help them sell more, but it will also allow them to do it in a faster, better and smarter way. Our September 2018 blog post – “Why Your Sales Reps Try to Avoid CRM” – examines common reasons for resistance, and how to address and overcome them.
Here are the ways in which a CRM system can improve your sales process.
A CRM system helps share information uniformly across your sales reps – Coordination is the key to success for every organization, and the sales function is not any different. There should be proper coordination among your sales employees when they contact your leads and make a sales pitch. Imagine what can happen when two or three sales reps call the same lead with the same sales pitch. It not only annoys your prospect, but it also conveys an unprofessional attitude of the organization. However, with a CRM system in place, you don’t have to worry about coordination because every member of your sales team has all the information about your customers and prospects. And, when all your team members are on the same page, you don’t have to worry about coordination.
CRM software keeps your sales manager in the loop – It is necessary for the head of the sales department to know what’s going on. A CRM system not just makes it easy to keep track of your sales reps, it also keeps your sales manager in the loop at every stage. The sales manager can track all aspects of the process – the deals that are in the pipeline, the stage the deals are in, the deals that are ready to close, and those that have already been closed.
A CRM system helps you allocate your sales resources in a better way – You need to wisely allocate your resources to maximize your sales. While every client is valuable, some have a higher value to your organization, and need more resources from your sales team. A CRM system provides the data you require to provide the right level of service to every client.
CRM software helps track your sales process – When it comes to following up with leads and closing sales, most organizations have a sales process in place to keep their employees’ performance consistent. A CRM system makes it possible to see if they’re following protocols.
A CRM system allows you to gauge your team members’ performance – You need to review your team members about their performance so those who need to improve can be identified and provided with corrective measures to take. A CRM system in place lets you benchmark their performance – which also helps your company’s performance.
CRM software simplifies your reporting requirements – Reporting is an important task for members of your sales team. A CRM system simplifies many aspects of your sales teams’ duties, such as reporting activities. For example, it tells you how many calls were made in a day by a sales rep or the amount of time an individual spent on scheduling calls or appointments. It makes it easier for your sales team to input important data, saves their time and allows them to focus more on selling.
It allows your team members to share sales materials and other documents easily – When you have a CRM system, your team members can easily share sales materials and other documents. When the members of your sales team are equipped with all the relevant information available, it helps them close more sales. Your sales reps don’t just save on time, but it also improves the efficiency of your sales department. It is even more important if your sales team is geographically spread out.
It allows collaboration – It is important for your sales reps to collaborate because better collaboration results in more sales. It not only helps your team share documents, keep track of sales calls and allows your sales manager to know what is happening, but it also gives you a bigger picture. A CRM system allows your sales team to collaborate on many levels. It allows team selling, which helps you to land larger, high-value accounts.
It helps you learn more about your customers – A CRM system helps your sales team gather an enormous amount of customer data, which can then be used to learn more about your customers and prospects. With insight into customer behavior, you can customize your offers to increase your sales. Also, you can find out the customer segments that are valuable to your organization. When you know your valuable customers, you can allocate your resources to increase your sales.
It helps improve your customer service – It is a well-established fact that acquiring new customers is more costly than retaining existing customers. CRM software allows your team members to communicate with your customers effectively, and you can use the information to offer solutions to their problems. You can integrate a web portal with your CRM system so that your customers can easily access their online order status and service ticket information. All this can significantly improve your customer service and help you retain your customers for the long term.
A CRM system allows task management – If you want to handle your most vital responsibilities efficiently, then task management is essential for your team. When you manage your customer accounts efficiently, it helps you to easily upsell and cross-sell, which can increase your sales substantially. With CRM software in place, you get to know what needs your attention so that you can take the necessary action and provide an outstanding customer experience.
It helps capture leads – Lead management is important if you want to increase your sales. And, with a CRM system in place, you get to know if someone is interested in your product or service. Your CRM system can be customized so that you get the notification when a visitor to your website clicks on a product or service. You can then follow up with the prospect in this next phase of the conversion process.
If you’re considering a CRM for your business, we invite you to learn what eZnet CRM has to offer. Our solution allows easy, seamless management of every aspect of the customer experience. Make sure you don’t fall behind in this increasingly competitive business environment.
Contact us to learn more and get started with a free 30-day trial to be confident that eZnet CRM is the right choice.
→', 'twentytwelve' ) ); ?>