Managing a team is not easy. It is crucial to stay on top of business activities. However, it is not possible to monitor every team member each minute. This is why CRM has become necessary. You can leverage the CRM to keep track of productivity and focus on improving it continuously.

Research shows that a CRM improves productivity levels by as much as 26.4 percent. A core function of CRM (Customer Relationship Management) software is to track the productivity of users. Any team leader can use it to make sure that team members perform to their fullest.

If you are considering leveraging CRM for better productivity, you have come to the right place. This post takes a close look at some of the best ways to leverage the system for improving performance. Let’s dive in.

WHAT IS CRM?

In the simplest of words, CRM is a technology that enables one to manage company interactions and relationships with existing and potential customers. It aims to help the business improve relationships by staying connected to customers, streamlining processes, and improving profitability.

When people speak about CRM, they tend to refer to a CRM system. It is a tool that assists businesses with contact and sales management.  Therefore, you get to focus on developing a relationship with each customer, supplier, colleague, and service user throughout your lifecycle.

Multiple types of CRM are available in the market, i.e., strategic, operational, analytical, and collaborative. Although all CRMs provide the above-mentioned functions, some specialize in one function. You may choose the CRM that is most suitable for your business on the basis of its specialty.

On the other hand, some CRMs provide all these functions, such as Salesforce CRM. It is of the best CRMS in the market; companies have increased their sales and enhanced their productivity through consistent and well-informed use of this CRM.

Although it is a great CRM, it is not the only one. There are many alternatives to Salesforce available as well. From Zoho to HubSpot, you can choose a CRM that best suits the unique needs of your business to benefit from the numerous advantages of this software!

Here is how you can make the most of it.

1. REPORTING

One of the ways to leverage your CRM for better productivity is through reporting. Every part requires data of the organization, and CRM helps deliver that data. It gathers data from many sources, including social media, business software, apps, and Google Analytics to provide valuable insights.

Once the data is collected, it is sorted, cleaned, and analyzed to provide actionable insights. All companies use social media, and Google Analytics is used for monitoring website traffic. But, you require a CRM system to go deeper with the data.

Every successful organization understands the importance of maintaining clean data. It is essential for collating, tabulating, and organizing data that interprets every minute detail to help you gain a better understanding of your operations.

The reporting capabilities of the CRM will enable you to look into how you can improve performance, where you might be going wrong, and how you can sell better. In fact, you can even run reports to see where opportunities lie and how you interact with customers and leads.

Browse through a variety of parameters for running the reports. It is vital that you categorize consumers in the CRM according to their stage in the sales funnel (leads, sales, or opportunities).

The reports you generate will enable you to see which marketing messages and ads are most successful and which ones could do better. Reporting is possibly one of the most valuable features of a CRM platform, all the best CRM software provide easy reporting. Enhanced AI (Artificial Intelligence) makes it possible to find correlations and more.

CRMs help you monitor every single conversation and gather as much information as you require. Actionable data will allow you to effectively communicate with your target audience and assist with decision-making.

It also helps you keep an eye on each statistic as you never know where the opportunity lies. It would ensure that you make the most of each opportunity that comes your way.

2. TO VISUALLY SHOWCASE DATA

The dashboard makes it possible to visually showcase data. If you have used a spreadsheet, you would know just how much effort goes into inputting and importing data manually. It makes it difficult to figure out what is important.

When you utilize CRM, you get to present data graphically. The dashboard offers amazing capabilities. You should be able to set up the dashboard for each individual in the company who has a login credential.

For instance, the marketing director would be interested in checking the email marketing metrics or the click-through rate of each campaign in being precise. Thus, they can use the dashboard to display how many people were sent a particular email, how many people opened the email, and the click-through rate.

Similarly, the sales director would want to know the number of calls that are made each hour and the number of calls that had a positive response, such as a future demo or meeting.

The thing about dashboards is that they enable users to visualize data to monitor what is important without sorting, sifting, and digging through a spreadsheet.

3. PERSONALIZED OUTREACH

Automation enables CRM users to ensure greater personalized outreach. Since you get to continuously capture data about your target audience, you get to create more personalized and relevant content for your campaigns.

Automated messaging and dynamic content allow you to boost your reach. You get to put similar customers together, such as those that have an interest in a niche product or drip campaign.

For instance, if you own a real estate business, you can leverage real estate CRM to send a personalized email to each lead based on the type of property they view. Thus, you get to speak to your audience specifically to trigger a specific action.

Similarly, tour operators can build a custom itinerary for a trip to South Asia for each client based on the cities that they view online rather than sending a generic email about travel. Starting a drip campaign should be extremely easy as you would be able to create a custom itinerary.

Through automation, you get to target each individual lead to get them interested in what you have to offer.

4. PROACTIVE SERVICE

Similar to how the CRM platform helps you automate personalized outreach; you can also use it to improve the outreach efforts of your sales team.

As the sales team would have better knowledge of what a particular customer finds interesting, they would be better able to meet the needs of each customer to solve their problems. This major advantage will enable your team to provide a proactive service to clients.

Customers today are highly demanding. They do not want to waste a single minute and require you to provide knowledgeable service quickly.

A proactive service will allow you to achieve higher customer satisfaction. Hence, you can expect the time it takes for customers to achieve a resolution to be reduced.

Relevant data available on the dashboard would ensure that the customer service team does not have to dig for information. They would have access to every single bit of information to make customers feel valued.

5. TO ENHANCE EFFICIENCY

In addition to the above, you can leverage your CRM to enhance efficiency. Tracking and managing customer information does not need to be harder than it should be. Since all the data is kept in one place, it becomes easier to stay updated at all times.

Here is how the CRM platform can help you increase efficiency.

  • To handle simple customer questions like the status of an order through chatbots and automated messages.
  • To score leads with customer parameters with the built-in AI. Thus, your team would be able to prioritize the marketing qualified leads. It would enable them to transition sales-qualified leads.
  • To cut down the amount of time it takes to email leads and nurture them with drip campaigns.

As time is saved, the marketing department would have more time on its hands to create campaigns that truly resonate with the target audience. The team can analyze the data and test different strategies by leveraging analytics.

On the other hand, sales would focus on selling the right service or product to the right customer. As for the customer service agents, they would get to work with clients who have complex needs, problems, or questions.

6. TO ENSURE SIMPLIFIED COLLABORATION

The CRM platform you use serves as a record of contact information, notes, needs, interactions, and conversations. If it is cloud-based, it will remain up to date at all times. Teammates would have no trouble looking at the records and making decisions in real-time.

Some CRM applications even offer built-in collaboration tools to ensure that all stakeholders work together and collaborate to complete a task in real time.

Evert team member who has access to the CRM would get to work together through the shared record. For instance, the salesperson would fill certain fields of information for every new customer they speak to. The information entered would be immediately available to everyone.

The rest of the team would get to use the latest details to the best of their ability. Instead of worrying about silos, the sales, marketing, and customer service teams would work together seamlessly. It is as good as it gets.

7. TO ADD VALUABLE FUNCTIONALITIES

A great thing about CRM is that it enables you to add valuable functionalities to take your business to the next level. You must consider adding sales functionalities for better managing deals.

In fact, the sales representatives will have an easier time communicating with clients with these capabilities.

A key element of content management platforms is the ability to provide access to marketing materials and to even develop personalized content with ease. Digital marketing is simplified and made more efficient with a CRM; companies can better manage their leads to enhance sales funnel performance.

Businesses can integrate their social media platforms into the CRM to ensure that sales representatives can connect with prospects, generate leads, and gain valuable insights into industry issues.

Approaching prospects and contacts directly is possible by using the valuable functionalities offered by the CRM. Duplication of effort would be avoided, and records would be seamlessly updated.

8. TO MAINTAIN A GOOD RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DEPARTMENTS

Since CRMs also provide accessibility on smartphones to keep every employee connected, maintaining a good relationship between departments becomes a reality. Everyone stays informed about what is happening in the organization.

The CRM platform allows businesses to integrate entire departments. This only leads to greater accessibility between teams. Thus, employees would feel more connected and have an easier time working together.

As relationships grow, your workers would become more satisfied with their job. It would influence productivity level considerably.

9. TO UNDERSTAND TRENDS

Companies can also leverage their CRM to better understand trends. Learning about the latest trends is critical to staying competitive. You cannot just sit around for competitors to continue leveraging trends. Instead, you must keep up with the most recent trends.

Besides learning about what your customers want and need, you can also conduct an in-depth investigation into what the future holds. Look for opportunities and make necessary improvements to stay in the game. Otherwise, your competitors would easily outpace you.

When you learn about the latest trends, you get to identify opportunities and provide a product or service that recognizes these trends. It makes your organization more relevant.

10. TO GENERATE MORE ACCURATE SALES FORECASTING

Every business requires sales forecasting to keep up with demand. This is where CRM truly shines. It allows you to generate more accurate sales forecasting.

Review past performance and plan for the future with the tool. You should be able to get an idea about what to expect from the future sales cycle by identifying key trends. You can also adjust your metrics and goals to suit the projections.

Sales forecasting plays a huge role in your overall success. As you can accurate sales forecasting, you would be in a better position to manage your organization efficiently. Thus, you would benefit from better productivity.

LEVERAGE YOUR CRM FOR BETTER PRODUCTIVITY

After you have gone over the post, you would know how to leverage your CRM for improved productivity. From reporting to generating more accurate sales forecasting, there is nothing you cannot do with the tool.

As competition intensifies, you have to use a CRM platform to better manage your organization. There are plenty of features that will allow you to increase productivity. Make sure to choose the best CRM platform for your industry for the best outcome.

How to Leverage Your CRM for Better Productivity
Author Bio:
Nouman Ali provides ghostwriting and copywriting services. His educational background in the technical field and business studies helps him in tackling topics ranging from career and business productivity to web development and digital marketing. He occasionally writes articles for Dynamologic Solutions.

 

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