Customers are the lifeline of any business. This is why you should manage your relationship with your customers as efficiently as possible. According to research by Marketing Charts, if you can boost customer retention by 5%, then you can increase your profits by a remarkable 25-90%. And what better way to do it than through a robust CRM system?
What is CRM?
The CRM acronym stands for customer relationship management. This is a system that successful startups and large-scale businesses alike use to manage their relationships and interactions with existing and potential customers. The goal of a CRM system is simple- to build and improve customer relationships.
But before using CRM systems to grow your customer base or first time business, it is essential to do the following:
Know your customers and your prospects
This is a no-brainer. When you understand your customers and stakeholders, then you will know how to meet their market needs. Knowing your customers also gives you an ace against your competitors because you will always be aware of what is happening and provide fully personalized services.
By combining personalization and customer insight, you will inevitably lead your business to success. As a business owner, customizing your services to meet your current client needs while targeting your prospects, will offer great returns.
Support existing clients as you look for new ones
There are two ways to get more business- getting your existing clients to spend more and getting new business. Both of these two ways are significant in growing your metrics.
You should always keep in mind that old business can falter, especially if people choose to move on and if pricing changes. Thus, you should always look for a new marketing strategy.
Focus on excellent customer service
As a business owner, having return customers should be your number one goal. The only way you can achieve this is by the kind of hard work that will help you offer excellent customer service. If you get it right, then your customers will always have positive reviews.
Take time to consider your customer service and ensure that it meets all your customer needs. Determine whether you offer great products and if there is anything you can do to take advantage of a new product. If you do this, then your customer numbers should grow exponentially.
Make use of your networks
Recommendations from others are always valuable. If you know people, then there is an implied trust. And when people trust you, then they will not be afraid to open up and also listen to what you want to say.
Do not be scared to make use of your service or product development networks as they can open new doors for you. Networking is not about hard-selling; instead, it is about what you can do for people.
Partner with other businesses
The truth is that your ideal customers already have relationships with other businesses. Thus, partnering with other companies is a smart roadmap that will allow you to not only reach a new audience but also offer much more to your existing customers.
Do not be afraid to speak to people and see if they will be interested in a partnership. You can even go out of your way to seek funding through a venture capital or an angel investment. This will elevate your business. Most importantly, keep your eyes peeled for opportunities.
Think of the future
Albert Einstein said it best when he said, “start small, think big, and do not worry about too many things at once. Take a handful of simple things to begin with and progress to more complex ones. Don’t just think about tomorrow, but the future”.
If every business abided by this saying, then they would be future-proof. Whether you own a small business or a massive enterprise, you are always looking to expand your horizons. The best way to do this is by coming up with ideas that will help your business survive the future. Start by identifying the right product market fit and capitalizing on it.
It may be in partnering with a more prominent company, securing a lucrative deal, or working with a range of notable clients.
Play to your strengths
It is essential to test out all your marketing approaches to find out what works and what doesn’t. However, when going about your marketing tactics, remember that every business is different. A marketing tactic that may work for one company may not work for another.
For instance, if social media marketing has been successfully working for a business in your niche, but does not work for your business, do not be afraid to drop it. Ideally, it is best to focus on marketing strategies that work for you. Play to your strengths!
Growing Your Customer Base with CRM
Now, let’s get down to the nitty-gritty!
The relationship with your customers is the key to growing and managing a successful business. Here is how your CRM system can increase your customer base:
CRM lead generation and scoring
Defined as the process through which leads are tracked and successfully converted, lead generation is a critical element that drives businesses today. So, what does your CRM system have to do with it?
The answer is simple - Your CRM software simplifies the management of every business aspect, including the generation of leads. While there is no secret for nurturing customers and generating leads, a solution like Tapdesk software will improve your sales initiative and get deeper into customer data.
CRM software follows its process of tracking leads, managing them, and improving the quality of the leads. A sound customer relationship management system will not only help you get quality leads but also identify the actions that are translating leads into sales. Using this data, you can fast-track your sales process and earn even more customers for your business.
CRM email marketing
CRM email marketing refers to email marketing that makes use of CRM tools to provide a more personalized and effective communication with existing and potential clients. The purpose of using CRM tools for email marketing is to remain embedded in the customer’s minds, primarily because the marketing focuses on the individual rather than a broad, ambiguous audience.
In comparison to traditional email marketing, CRM email marketing is more advantageous because individuals gauge their interest at a glance rather than investing valuable time in the email only to realize that they are not interested.
Secondly, businesses spend significantly less to reach scores of clients all at the same time. Finally, using CRM software packages for email marketing appeals to clients in a less-intrusive way.
You can not only personalize each contact but can also get to know contact names, interests, and shopping habits. By casting an extensive net, you can identify a more significant number of interested leads and immediately convert them to clients. This is a reliable way to grow your customer base.
Social selling and monitoring with CRM software
Commonly referred to as social CRM, social selling, and monitoring with CRM is integrating social media channels into customer relationship management platforms. These platforms are different from traditional channels because they allow customers to interact with your business using their preferred social media channels such as Twitter or Facebook.
This accounts for greater customer insight and better customer service. Social selling with CRM software enables your customers to gather substantial information about your products and services. On the flip side, it allows you to gather actionable insight about your customer sentiments and improve where you have to.
Tapdesk is a CRM system that is perfect for social selling and monitoring. It takes customer profiles and disseminates the information across your sales and customer service departments.
Reporting and forecasting CRM
A reporting and forecasting CRM system is useful in helping the sales team predict future sales growth based on potential deal pipelines. By knowing what the future holds, your sales team will easily fine-tune its storytelling strategy and track against their quotas at any moment.
Ideally, this will help you make more informed decisions about your business and plan for expansion. Using CRM systems, you can do the following:
- See projected sales
- Adjust pipeline estimates
- Identify top leads
- Analyze sales performance and adopt strategies that will help you grow your customer base
Content marketing with CRM
CRM is a decision making element for a majority of businesses and content marketers. The data points that you receive from social CRM and click-through-rates (CTRs) integrate into CRM systems. Therefore, when you develop new content, it can address your clients’ immediate concerns.
The data points include active content, website activity, and social engagement with your company. You can also see the search terms that drove users to your site and tailor your content according to these terms.
The result? More and more people will engage in your content because they are genuinely interested in what you have to say and how you intend to meet their needs. This makes lead conversion easy and consequently earns you more customers.
Customer feedback with CRM software
Customer feedback shows how your customers feel about the services that you provide. By soliciting feedback, you can fix any problems that require damage control. These problems could be causing a steady decline in your customer base.
But before you solicit any feedback, it is advisable to have a working CRM software that will keep all your contacts in a single database. Tapdesk is a CRM that will fit your needs, train your team to maintain data accurately, leverage automation, and keep your data clean and simple.
When you have enough information from your customer feedback, then you can begin the process of bettering your business or maintaining its good qualities. Remember, exemplary companies speak for themselves. And, in no time, you will be attracting a handful of new clients.
Adopting CRM in Different Aspects of Your Business
It is important to remember that CRM is not like any other software. It is a combination of technology, strategy, and philosophy. These three elements will make your CRM system outstanding.
For the implementation of your CRM software to be successful, you should define how your work processes will change, now that you have an advanced and capable software in place. Most importantly, determine how CRM will complement your business plan.
When adopting CRM in different aspects of your business, you should change your entire mindset and consider a strong relationship with your customers your number one priority. It also means that you are committing to a customer-centered business model.
Re-evaluating your business
So, how do you know that your business is ready for CRM? A majority of small and medium-sized companies do not see the need for implementing a CRM system because of the financial responsibility that comes with having this system in place.
But suppose your business has seen an increase in the number of customers, an increase in queries and complaints, an increase in business transactions and functions, and an increase in competition. In that case, then it is time to adopt a reliable, customer-centric, customer relationship management software like Tapdesk.
Why Tapdesk?
Tapdesk provides a comprehensive database to manage customer information, address customer queries, manage complaints, and offer quick solutions for any challenges that your business may encounter. It fosters better customer engagement in the best possible way.
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Written by:
Louisa Eunice
CRM Analyst
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