As more and more businesses move into the digital arena, there are countless opportunities available to them. Chief among these is implementing software solutions into their workflow. This helps to streamline tasks and allow the different departments of a business to spend less time on organization and information management and more time on the tasks that actually bring in revenue. These three pillars are sales, marketing, and customer service. In order to streamline these departments and help businesses move into the digital arena, a CRM is highly recommended.
But what is a CRM? A CRM, or customer relationship management software, is used for automating the process of managing customer relationships. For sales teams, marketing teams, and customer service teams, this is an essential part of getting customers in the pipeline and keeping them there. With that in mind, here are the best ways to use a CRM for sales, marketing, and customer service.
Best Ways for Sales and Marketing Teams to Use a CRM
Utilizing a CRM software, a sales team can easily capture, store, and analyze customer data in order to see which tactics work best. Sales teams and marketing teams often work against each other, but when using a CRM, they can work together to identify ideal buyer profiles and find hot prospects. For example, it may make sense for the marketing team to start sending customers paid ads on social media. The sales team can then track who has actually interacted with the identified leads, and then follow up with anyone who has requested a lead magnet such as a free PDF that was served to them via a paid ad.
In working together, both the sales team and marketing team can gain a better perspective and learn from one another. Furthermore, this cohesion through the use of a CRM allows these teams to work toward a common goal, which is acquiring more quality customers.
Best Ways for a Customer service Team to Use a CRM
While sales and marketing teams are primarily responsible for acquiring quality leads and converting them, customer service teams need to retain them for the long term. Utilizing the functions of a CRM, customer service teams can take a holistic view of pain points and better understand where their efforts will have the most value. For example, it may be the case that there is a certain part of the customer onboarding process that continually frustrates customers.
This is particularly the case if it is a B2B industry and the value of the item or service is high. In that instance, a customer service manager can assign a customer success team member to make sure that everything goes smoothly and troubleshoot any problems that may arise there.
Furthermore, the company can even use the CRM to generate detailed reporting so as to get a better understanding of where their process can be improved.
Overall, a CRM has many benefits for sales teams, marketing teams, and customer service teams. Although a CRM is not a magic bullet solution, it does allow disparate parts of companies to work together in order together in order to identity, acquire, and retain a large variety of customers.