10 important points to consider when investing in a CRM solution
In today’s society customers are fast moving, well informed, and often impatient.
The more information and options they gain, the harder it becomes to keep them satisfied. This is why it is important for you to understand the type of CRM system you need to keep your customer relationships strong and long-lasting.
With the right CRM, you can create meaningful relationships with your existing clients and improve your business efficiency by gaining the ability to sell smarter and faster. Here are the top 10 features you should look for in a CRM system to ensure you invest in the perfect solution and get a return on your investment.
Automation
Repetitive tasks are a burden for many growing businesses. With a CRM system that provides automation, you can eliminate manual processes and save valuable time to focus on what matters most. The best CRMs allow you to sync your accounts, calendars, and smartphone quickly and easily to reduce the amount of manual tasks you need to do and increase productivity.
Collaboration
If you want to create the perfect experience for your customers, your teams should work together from the same up-to-date information. By communicating and sharing customer information through CRM, all your teams can stay updated with the latest and most accurate data. Sharing data allows you to work more efficiently and provide the fantastic experiences customers expect.
Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence (AI) within a CRM system enables you to keep your deals moving forward. AI can uncover insights, anticipate outcomes, and suggest the best moves to make in order to get new customers. Gain the ability to sell smarter by automatically capturing data and proactively coaching your sales teams to win with predictive forecasting.
Salesforce Einstein AI – find out more.
Integration
Many CRM systems can integrate with other business tools such as marketing automation, email, accounting software (Sage 50 & Sage 200), chat services and key social tools. By integrating these tools with a CRM solution, you can capture data in real-time and gain a complete view of your customers.
Managers all your business processes in one place, without the need to look across two separate systems.
Mobile Access
In today’s modern world, we are no longer tied to our desks 24/7. It’s important that you find a CRM that can be used on mobile devices, tablets, and laptops to allow you to work in any location, at any time. With the ability to use your CRM system through your mobile you can access your files instantly and connect with your colleagues regardless of your location, helping you increase efficiency.
Act! Mobile – find out more.
Customisation
Every business has its unique way of running, so its imperative that you find a customisable CRM solution that has the ability to adapt to your specific business needs. The best CRM systems often provide drag and drop customisation capabilities and filters such as ‘by product’ and ‘by source’ enabling you to find the numbers that matter.
Cloud-based
By investing in a CRM solution that is cloud-based, you can work on any device with an internet connection such as your smartphone, tablet or laptop.
This allows you to work on the go, turning your mobile device into a portable sales office. Save money with no need for servers or the overheads to maintain them, gaining the ability to scale easily as your business grows.
Act! CRM (can be hosted on premise or in the cloud) – find out more.
Salesforce (the world’s leading cloud-based CRM) – find out more.
Setup & Training
Although some CRM systems have fast and easy setups, others can take time with extensive implementation and training.
Whilst you may want to avoid this, it’s important to remember that the more training you have, the greater your understanding and use will be of CRM, giving you a greater return on your investment.
We offer a range of award-winning services including project planning, installation, training and support to maximise your business productivity and profits.
Sales process tools
In a nutshell, CRM is designed to help your teams become more effective – not just better organised. With a CRM solution that has sales process tools you can understand when and how to reach out, allowing you to focus on closing sales rather than task management. Easily break down your pipeline and know whether your sales team are effectively working leads.
Value
Finding a CRM solution that brings value to your business is a top priority because your investment needs to be worthwhile. Be sure to look for an affordable CRM that can provide all the features and functionality that are crucial to your business. It is key to remember that regardless of the CRM solution you choose, the information you get out of it is only as good as the information you put in, so it’s important that correct CRM usage is championed from the top of your organisation.
Whatever CRM system you choose, it’s essential that you carefully think about what features and functionality are fundamental before resting on a final decision. At Solutions we provide Act! CRM, Sage CRM and Salesforce. We can help you make the right decision for your business and support you through the entire process from installation and training, to ongoing support.
Our CRM Solutions
Act! CRM
Act! CRM, from Swiftpage, is the world’s leading contact and customer management system for smaller businesses. Organise all your customer information in one central location, so it can be accessed on demand by your customer-facing staff. Act! CRM makes it easy to grow your business with a flexible platform trusted by more than 4 million users worldwide.
Sage CRM
Sage CRM is designed to save your business time, increase productivity and revenue, and uncover new opportunities.
Gain end-to-end visibility and data you can trust, helping you make informed business decisions based on accurate, real-time information. This single system supports all your customer management needs.
Salesforce
Salesforce is the world’s leading cloud-based CRM system, which has revolutionised the way businesses manage their relationships with customers and prospects.
As the world’s #1 CRM platform for medium and larger businesses, Salesforce empowers your service, sales and marketing teams with real-time client information.
How can we help?
At Solutions for Accounting, we pride ourselves on taking the time to understand your needs and requirements and making recommendations on which solution would be the best fit for your individual circumstances.
Our manufacturing management solutions can help you overcome the continual challenge of customers requiring shorter lead times, faster response to orders and the need to specify and achieve precise delivery dates. In addition, we will provide full product training to help you get the most out of Cim software. Our talented experts will ensure your team have the tools to streamline and better your manufacturing processes.
With years of experience our fully-accredited team will transform the way you do business. Be able to free up the valuable time that you need to focus on achieving your business goals. To find out how gain complete control over your business with the CRM solution of your choice, call us on 0115 840 5075 or email enquiries@solutionsforaccounting.co.uk.
