Customer is the most important aspect of any business. It is very crucial to keep the customer satisfied, and equally difficult to maintain a customer in 2023. Salesflare is one such software which is growing in popularity for Customer Relationship Management (CRM).

In order to keep up with the battle of acquiring business, most successful companies are going out of their way to provide services to their customers. A good CRM software plays a vital role in punching in the customers and maintaining long-term relations with them.      

Providing the best customer service is the crux of sales; having a CRM system is a necessity, not a compulsion. 

Following are some CRM tools to find out whether or not a CRM is suitable for your business and worth your money:

#1 The Ratio of Customers to Investment:

To understand the CRM needs of a business, it is necessary to understand the customer type of business. The volume of customers is just a number; what matters is the kind of services which the consumer expects. There are businesses where the customer is more concerned about the outcome; here, even if the volume of customers is huge, a sales team or team with basic CRM Software does the job. On the contrary competitive pursuits like retailing need the best of sales services and after-sales services to acquire and retain customers. 

Generally, a sales representative is employed after every 25-50 customers. If you are a product-intensive business, it is ideal to introduce your sales team to a CRM platform when the number of sales representatives in your organization goes above 10.

If you are in a consumer-intensive industry, it is always advisable to apply customer relationship management within three to five years of the commencement of business. It was earlier believed that a CRM is for small business, but with the top most companies making the most of such software, it has been proven in the last few years that CRM is for everyone.

Choosing a leading CRM platform without having utility to all its features will land you an expenditure. Investing in good software could help your conversion rates improve by 300%; applying the right choice of software and implementing the right plan according to business progress shall help your investment be fruitful.

Here are details of the plans of Salesflare, the most awarded CRM software of 2022.

#2 Does Customer Data Matter to your Business? 

Now that we know customer relationship management is suitable for what investment let us understand whether it is suitable for your business. An industry that has direct or close contact with its customers on a regular basis most often needs to have a good CRM. Industries like the retail industry, consultancies, human resource management, healthcare and pharmaceutical industry, banking sector, real estate, hospitality, call centres, mass manufacturing, and agriculture are focussed on consumer behaviours needing a good CRM system.

On the other hand, industries which are based on general traffic, such as the automobile industry, transport, mining, aerospace, logistics, and petroleum, may or may not employ a CRM tool for smooth functioning. 

Apart from this, it is best to judge if the data about the consumer, its contacts, preferences, choices, demographics, financial status, and the likes have an influence on the decision-making of a business.   

#3 Is it the Right Time to Employ the Right CRM?

A CRM platform comes in different forms. It may be industry-specific or general, cloud-based for mobile access or remote access; it may be comprehensive or focussed, could be collaborative, analytical, operational or strategic. It is best to start with general CRM for small businesses and gradually move to a more industry-specific CRM tool. 

Opting for an annual plan is much more affordable; initially, for a sales team to adapt to CRM software may take a while. Having a monthly plan for a quarter to see if it suits all the needs and then subscribing to an annual plan is the best way to make sure the CRM software is perfect for your business.   

To avail of a free trial of CRM software, click the link below.

#4 How will you Measure the Returns?

Measuring the returns of the CRM tool requires co-relating and analytical data. It is not a direct statistical process where every lead is due to the success of a CRM. CRM software works only in the hands of an efficient sales team. Not only this, the company has to actually use the data generated by a CRM to make the most of an expensive software tool. 

While selecting a CRM for the company, ensure to check how it reports all its data. Is the interface easy to use and understand? An unsuitable CRM tool will only increase the job of data entry for the sales team rather than unburdening it. 

The ROI of CRM can be measured by comparing the approximate increased sales, improved customer satisfaction, and customer retention from the previous period, deducting the cost of the CRM tool, dividing it by the cost and multiplying it by 100. This figure is not entirely a result of CRM but helps to arrive at a relative figure. 

Some of the tracking metrics provided by Oracle for measuring CRM performance are net promoter score, months to recover CAC, and customer retention rates.

#5 Customer Feedback:

The best way to judge if the business needs customer management software is to ask the customer itself. Not quite literally, but the customer feedback is what matters. 

For a new CRM software: When it becomes difficult to handle the data of the customers and the sales team is falling short of support, the company needs an automotive tool that detangles the flow of sales.

For an existing CRM software user: Even after applying the software, if the customer is not happy with the services, then it is time to look for better CRM software. It is not the job of CRM tools to aimlessly keep sending emails to existing or potential customers and engaging their valued time; good software is which understands consumer behaviour and generates the right lead at the right time. 

#6 What are the Other Options?

Before diving into CRM, it is best to weigh out the options available in the market. SaaS offers a huge range, such as email marketing software, project management software, human resource management software, recruitment software, marketing software, lead generation software, customer support software, user guides software, customer feedback platform, and pre-sales software; the list is endless. In certain circumstances, a CRM may not justify the need of your business as much as a specific SaaS would. 

Studying your business model and identifying and analyzing user needs is the only guide to help you choose the right SaaS for your business.

#7 Quality vs Best Deal:

There is some CRM software which is referred to as the gold standard, the best in class. They may also offer competitive pricing because of their scale of operations, but they may not always be able to do justice to your business. 

What a growing platform can do for a business is make your journey easier. To choose a CRM for a small business, it is advisable to start with a CRM system which is comprehensive and covers all aspects of sales.

What does CRM do for your Sales Team? Or Can CRM Replace your Sales Team?

CRM software is a valuable addition to the sales team. It cannot completely substitute the sales representatives. Following are actions a CRM will manage for your sales team:

#1 Maintain a Log of Leads from first day:

CRM software maintains the log of all the communications of a company with the customer, be it through phone, email, socials, or enquiries etc. With this information, the CRM platform integrates all the data available over the web about the particular customer. This data is then stored in a single log and made available to everyone in the company. As there is a single portal of all communications to date, the information helps to pick up the deal from the point it was last held at any time and by anyone from the company. This also helps up in coping with changes in employees or changes of duties in the sales team.

#2 Ease of Access to Everyone:

CRM for small businesses provides data to each and every person in the organization (personnel with permission.) The interface is easy for everyone to understand and can be adaptable at all levels in the firm.  A previous purchase, a previous complaint, a preference of the customer,  all the data is accessible. Knowing the needs of the client helps the sales representative provide the right solution to the customer. The customer also gains confidence and comfort when a business pays attention to the intricate details of its clients.

#3 Better Assistance: 

Customer relationship management offers assistance most efficiently and in the fastest way possible. It is time-saving and effective. A CRM system is not designed to take over the sales team but helps to fill the gaps between the customer data and the sales team’s information. A CRM manages most of the data entry work so that the sales team can focus on rather important tasks of making the actual sales. The software handles redundant tasks, while the real team can rely on and increase leads based on the tasks of the software.

#4 Analytics for Potential Sales and Profit Focus:

CRM Software is the best analytical tool which gives prime importance to customers. The analysis is error-free and helps in identifying statistics such as the most profit-making clients, overheads analysis, expense analysis, cost and time spent on each conversion. With this on-the-go data, the sales team can concentrate on customers who are more profitable rather than those who may improve sales marginally but are time-consuming. The decision-making becomes more accurate and optimized with the use of CRM tools.

#5 Automation is the Future:

To sustain the industry in future, it is best to move shoulder-to-shoulder with technology. CRM is automated software which is cost-effective and helps the company to produce the best results with the least staff. Staff may or may not remain loyal to the company, but the data shall always be there. In the long run, it is best to have a holistic data collection.

#6 Understand Shortcomings:

A CRM system not only produces solutions but also helps in pointing out the shortcomings of the sales team. It is easy for top management to identify inefficient sales tasks if the sales are not converting even after all efforts. It is difficult to commit fraud in the business flow when everything is documented in software and can be viewed by the entire team.

Features Of A Good CRM:-

The right choice of CRM today will be the one which runs with you wherever you go. In a fast running business, data is everything and timing matters. A cloud CRM is the most logical platform, as there is no downtime. Whether small businesses or large enterprises, customer data is always building; it should be readily available at your fingertips. There should be no delay in serving the client, as poor customer satisfaction is the biggest reason a customer will leave you.

Editors Choice: Salesflare

Salesflare is a growing CRM software company established in 2014. It is known to be the most promising customer relationship management software for 2021, 2022 and 2023. Salesflare offers the best services with the most smooth integrations. Customer satisfaction, positive customer reviews and a customer support team have made Salesforce the most suitable CRM software for small business and medium-sized organizations. Big enterprises like Compliance Core, Bitsmith, Inedito, and Discover echo vouch for the CRM services of Salesflare. The regular blogs posted on the Salesflare website provide an energizing boost; it is a company which helps you grow and participates in your growth.    

Features:

• Cloud CRM helps the data to be accessible from anywhere. It is the most convenient way of using CRM on mobiles, tablets and desktops.
• Automated data input envisages reduced data entry. All meetings, communications, social profiles and phone calls are logged automatically.
• Follow-up reminders and calendar integration feature help never miss a schedule
• It stores all the information on the cloud, a single storehouse of information which inputs data from everyone and makes it readily available to the entire team. There is one smart overview window which is aesthetically easy and user-friendly to understand
• Very easily integrates with other tools and provides an exhaustive list of available integrations to choose from, such as Linkedin, Betterproposals, Leadinfo, Syncpenguin, Googlesheets, Mailchimp, QuickBooks Online, Slack and so on.   
• Finds accurate email addresses over the web from the minimum information available.
• The software is able to decode customer reactions, record data accordingly and suggest follow-up.
• It comes with email, link and website tracking solutions.
• Track of the network of the entire team at a particular company can be made with a simple click.
• A dynamic toolset which comes with development solutions within the snap of fingers.
• The API connect can help you integrate with ERP and other customer-related systems.

Highlight: The Linkedin integration of Salesflare is the best part of the software as it is seamless and nost useful.

Pros and Cons:

Pros

• All plans, including the basic plan, come with mobile app support
• Email finding credits are available based on the plan. Minimum 25 credits in the base plan.
• Comes with LinkedIn and Email sidebar
• Customisable dashboards
• The enterprise plan also helps in data migration and custom training

Cons

• Difficult to integrate with large teams
• More suitable for small and medium-sized businesses
• Does not consist of web forms
• Does not give notifications about a target not met
• Multiple reminders can be bothering at times

One cannot reap the benefits of a product until they try it for themselves. CRM is one such software where the conversion rates speak for themselves. Using all the features of Salesflare will grow your business and improve sales performance like never before. To view the best deals on the best CRM software, click on the links below.