Have you
ever stayed at a hotel and then returned, finding that they have stocked your
room with everything you asked for the last time you were here? Your special allergenic pillow was
already waiting for you, you were asked if you would like a dinner reservation
made just like you always do the first night, and there were even extra hangars
because you always need extra hangars.
None of this would be possible for the hotel if it didn’t have a CRM,
customer relationship management, system in place.
Would your
clients be impressed if you remembered all of the details about your last
conversation, their last purchase, or their preferences? If so, your business might benefit from
a CRM system.
Businesses
that have more than 30 or so clients may benefit from a system that allows you
and your employees to enter detailed information about each client interaction
that they have. It can work for
both current and future clients, i.e., prospects. A CRM is basically a great big customer database at its
core. It contains master file
information on a customer or client, such as name, company, address, contact info,
and custom fields. It is also transaction-driven
in that you can log activity such as calls, meetings, proposal dates, and
more.
A good CRM
system is also integrated with your other internal systems, such as your
accounting or POS system or both.
In some CRM systems, you can see invoice and payment history, so that
when a client calls in, you can also peek to see whether they owe you money or
what goods they ordered that they may be calling about.
There are
literally hundreds of CRM systems to choose from. The gold standard for large companies is SalesForce.com;
however, some small businesses use it as well. SugarCRM is the largest open source CRM, meaning its
programming code is available to the public. ZohoCRM is one of the largest small business CRMs and offers
a suite of products for small businesses.
And Act! is also very popular and plays well with social media.
Before
choosing a CRM, decide what you want it to do and how you will be using
it. One of the most important
aspects of profiting from a CRM is to make sure it gets used, and that takes
some habit-changing from you and your staff. Once you have your requirements, you can evaluate the
software options available, and choose the one that works best for you.
When your
clients start talking about how great your service is and how much attention
you pay to the details they care about, you’ll know your CRM is paying off for
you.
