If there’s one thing that companies are continually striving to do, it’s maximizing sales and improving the bottom line. Managing sales leads is a good way to achieve this goal, and sales leads can be much more easily managed by using customer relationship management (CRM) applications that are hosted on the Web. Data management has never been easier or so accessible. Custom applications for CRM can be designed to meet the needs of every business, large or small, for providing improved customer service and satisfaction.
Sales representatives use CRM data when approaching prospective customers. It gives them an edge over the competition to have facts and figures handy at the drop of a hat. Beginning the conversation with all that customer knowledge for support makes the sale go more smoothly.
Practical Application:
A Southern California craft brewer can attest to the usefulness and ROI of a cloud-based CRM system. Karl Strauss Brewing Company needed a solution that its field reps could access from anywhere, because they were always out and about. Wireless capabilities and mobile access were critical. With sales force automation applications that are hosted on the Web, the reps can now use their BlackBerrys to receive leads, check in with sales managers, enter information about sales or customers into the system, check inventory and delivery schedules, and otherwise create a rich, valuable purchasing experience for the buyer—in addition to giving their managers and colleagues real-time updates on their work automatically. The insight they gain from accessing these SFA apps has helped the reps to cross-sell and up-sell, which has boosted not only sales but also customer loyalty. CRM applications can pave the way for Karl Strauss’s sales department to function better and more productively, while also allowing the brewer to provide top-notch customer service.
Lead routing can also be automated, freeing up managers to focus on more pressing tasks. Follow-up also becomes easier when the information about a particular lead or customer—as well as information about competitors—is available at all times and continually updated. Lead management and lead nurturing can speed up reporting on customer behavior and preferences. This provides information that can be used in creating targeted communications for marketing. By adding customer data to the database and making it accessible to all departments, customer service is enhanced.
CRM lead management makes tracking customers and sales interactions with customers easier for managers to follow. Increased amounts of data given at increased speed gives the sales department the fuel they need to capture leads and make a presentation that is tailored for that customer’s preferences. This can greatly enhance the chance for closing a deal faster. Productivity in all departments, including sales, is upped, along with the bottom line figures.
Many a sale has been lost due to unnecessary delays and a feeling that the company doesn’t know what the customer wants or likes. CRM databases can fix those problems by bringing increased speed and data access to salespeople. Nothing encourages a sales representative more than closing deals. By giving them fuel to work with, CRM fires up their enthusiasm and the number of deals they can bring home.
