May 11th 2017
CRM | THE MARKETING POWER TOOL
WHAT IS A CRM SYSTEM?
A CRM (Customer Relationship Management) System is a large database of customer information, stored in one place. A CRM System comes with a lot of features that overall aim to improve your relationship with your customers. One feature, for example, is the ability to archive customer interactions, such as phone calls and emails. Therefore, you will be able to know which customers have been interacted with and which customers recently haven’t.
The CRM system that we use at Lily is WebCRM. As a result of implementing WebCRM in our business, we have seen a tremendous improvement in the way we work throughout the business in terms of structure and operations. At any rate, we have increased our sales, offer a better service to our clients and drive efficiency within every department. Here’s what we had to say.
WHY INVEST IN A CRM SYSTEM?
Firstly, a CRM is a costly investment for any business. But if you choose the right system for your business it can dramatically improve how your business operates on a day-to-day basis. Here are just a few benefits of a CRM System and how it can aid in your marketing efforts.
BENEFITS OF A CRM SYSTEM
- Ultimately, users of a CRM system can easily access and manage customer information all in one place, saving time. And we all know in a business, time is money
- Being able to understand who your customers are and their specific needs through data provided by the CRM will allow you to deliver better customer service
- Retain customers through quality customer service that you can deliver using a CRM
- Data is less likely to get lost as it is hosted in the cloud in one place
- Similarly, since data is hosted in one place, where all workers are able to access, there is less disagreement on what data is right
- Able to see previous customer interactions and customer purchase history
- Able to see any planned meetings and their status (active, cancelled etc.)
- Can identify potential customers leading to increased sales and revenue
CRM & MARKETING – HOW DO THEY WORK TOGETHER?
CUSTOMER ACQUISITION
With a CRM System, you are able to see opportunities that you may not have been able to see before. You’ll be surprised how a large quantity of data gets you thinking of conclusions. Being able to view these opportunities will allow you to discover potential customers. Therefore allowing you to initiate interaction and hopefully lead to a sale.
EMAIL MARKETING
Some CRM systems will allow you to manage mass emails campaigns and retrieve metrics, like a built-in email marketing platform. For example, WebCRM uses and comes with MailJet. Not only will this save money as you will not need to purchase an email marketing platform, but having all the data in just one place makes everything more convenient. But don’t forget that you have access to all the features that come with an email marketing platform, such as setting up emails and scheduling the time of delivery, just to name a few.
Through filters, you are able to soak through a large customer database to drill down to a specific audience, to which you can send targeted emails to. Also, you can make sure that emails aren’t sent to people who have already received them. Sending the same email to duplicate customers could harm your reputation and a CRM System will prevent that.
The head of marketing at Lily Comms uses a CRM to identify what the businesses’ strongest vertical markets are and which campaigns are working as intended to drive sales. The CRM allows him to spot which campaigns are weakest and decide on what to work on next to maximise his time spent effectively.