What businesses can use a CRM?

When I go out networking and to other businesses about what we do, when I mention CRM (Customer Relationship Management) solutions I often get asked 'Well what kind of businesses use that?' and 'Why have a CRM?'

We have many different business sectors using our ConvallisCRM product. These include sports clubs, retailers, cleaning companies, a pyrotechnic company and holiday cottages. These businesses have a varying number of employees and users of the system.

If you are just starting out in business you may think that you do not need a formalised system of recording your contacts, maybe you keep a box of business cards, a record in a notebook or a spreadsheet. Over time this will become uncontrollable and you could potentially lose some essential information. Getting a CRM system in place early on allows you to keep control of your records from the start in one central location and reduces the need to do something later on when your data may be starting to become out of control.

As your business grows you might end up taking on more staff. A CRM allows you to add additional users (you may have to pay for additional user licenses) to enable everyone in your business access to important client data. This reduces the need for multiple contact spreadsheets - sometimes duplicating data more than once - not very efficient I hope you agree.

Going back to the original question, 'What businesses can use a CRM?' personally I think any size business would find a use for a CRM to help keep accurate records and to have a central database for all their contact data, I say this as we have businesses from one single user to 50 users using our CRM.

Listening to your Customers

What do you do when you receive customer feedback about a product or service you supply?

Here at Convallis Software customer feedback has played an important part in the development of our ConvallisCRM product.

ConvallisCRM has been developed and improved over many years and this improvement is ongoing, quite a bit in part to feedback received from our customers. The software started out as a very simple contact management solution but over time has been developed into a far more functional customer relationship management (CRM) solution.

One example of a feature that was integrated in the software following customer feedback is the 'personal' details section.

Example of Personal information in ConvallisCRM

This feature came after talking to two clients, one runs a holiday let and wanted the medical conditions box to make notes if their clients were disabled or ill and needed and special facilities and/or access. The date of birth feature came from a club that wanted to make a report each month of their member's birthdays so that they could send them a birthday card or special offer for their birthday.

This is just one example of how listening to your customers can allow you to improve a product or service, but don't forget that as businesses we may sometimes get negative feedback. This should also be acted on appropriately and can still help to improve your business product or service.

Problems that can be resolved with CRM

As a business grows you will continue to encounter problems. In this article I hope to give you an idea of some of the problems that can be resolved by using a CRM.

1. Looking up addresses and telephone numbers: A CRM in its simplest form is basically a contact management system. It allows you to have a centralised database containing addresses and telephone numbers of your contacts allowing you to find the essential information you need with a few simple clicks of your mouse rather than having to look in directories or search engines.
2. Communication: Poor communication is not a good thing in a business because if a message is missed you could lose out on a major order or a new customer. Capturing and recording all messages is essential for effective customer service. A CRM can allow all in your business to record every communication with a contact against an individual contact record.
3. Tasks and Deadlines: Missing tasks and deadlines can be very costly to a business. A CRM system can record tasks and deadlines for the tasks and also assign them to a particular member of staff. Having this information available to all that use the CRM allows staff to set priorities of the work due to be done.
4. Too Much Paper: How much paper are you generating in your business and then just filing away never to be seen again? Keeping your documents electronically filed associated with a contact record reduces the need for filing cabinets and increases your office space.
5. Multiple Databases: Most businesses have many different databases with duplicate information. A simple task such as changing a telephone number or address will have be be changed on each individual database. A CRM system should only contain one record for a contact so it is easier to change information if necessary.
6. Who Do We Market To?: CRM records all products and services purchased or they have shown interest in within the contact record. This means you can build a clear picture of your clients requirements. You can create reports and set up mailing lists to generate specific campaigns for your services and you will save time by mail merging letters, emails and SMS.
7. Why can't I get the information I need now?: How many customers of a specific product do I have? Who is on a particular mailing list? Can I get a report of all customers in a certain demographic? Information that can sometimes take a long time to collate can be data-mined and created in a report within the CRM to generate lists which can be exported into a spreadsheet for mail merge documents or general reporting.
8. Where are your Staff Today?: Do you know where everyone is today, tomorrow, next week?  A centralised calendar system within your CRM means everyone knows where everyone is at any time. Appointments can be made for you or assigned to any member of staff plus your contacts can be added as attendees of an appointment if needed.
9. Getting Everyone Onboard: With CRM you can record all of the information you need to successfully carry out a project to its conclusion. Everyone has access to customer expectations, documents and the client records. Allowing all staff being able to see what is expected of them and the tasks they are assigned makes the job planning process so much easier.
10. Keep Yourself in the Picture: It is important that you are kept up to date with what is outstanding with any of your contacts. Each time you log on to your CRM system you will be able to view a wide range of matters that are outstanding including appointments, tasks, sales items and much more.

CRM helps you to look after your existing clients effectively: the more you know about them, the easier it is to identify new prospects and increase your customer base.

If you want to find out more about ConvallisCRM, our CRM solution available as either a desktop or cloud application please take a look at our dedicated website or contact us to discuss your individual requirements.