Why CRM has been Less Considerable by a small group of Businesses?
For many business owners, the thought of implementing a CRM seems both fascinating and intimidating. On the one hand, there are many examples of CRM success stories of successful implementation these days. On the other hand, a poorly implemented system could cause more havoc than it’s worth.
In this article, we will see some common myths and assumptions that business owners draw about CRM- and why they are misguided.
1. Our business structure doesn’t need a CRM
The common misconception attached to CRM is, when anyone hears the term CRM, the first thing that comes to their mind is “sales”. However, “CRM” is actually an acronym for “Customer Relationship Management,”.
it’s clear and convincing why CRMs are so closely correlated to sales activities. Lead management, opportunity tracking, and pipeline visualization are key components of most feasible CRM solutions.
That’s the reason, some business owners made perceptions that CRMs are only beneficial to organizations with proactive outbound sales departments. But this is completely a myth. Let me explain.
Let’s assume you’re an owner of a small manufacturing firm that serves a handful of clients. Your business model is primarily focused on keeping the existing clients happy, Not on making new ones.
Sure, you get the occasional word-of-mouth referral, but that’s generally you think is manageable by using spreadsheets.
But In reality, CRM could still be very beneficial to your business. To demonstrate my point, let’s look closely at the three words comprising the “CRM” acronym:
Customer: You have customers, doesn’t matter the size. And, the customers you have generally send you new requests by email filling your inbox with many of them.
To stay number one in everything, you need an effective way to organize new projects without losing sight of ongoing responsibilities. And that you can’t be able to manage with your email and it’s a terrible to-do list.
A project-friendly CRM that integrates into your inbox could prove to be an effective tool for delighting customers with less effort.
Relationship: A list of ten or fifteen clients doesn’t sound indefensible. In reality, each client engagement is actually a twisted web of interpersonal relationships. Your initial point of contact isn’t your only point of contact.
For a single client, you may have dozens of relationships across many departments, such as accounting, finance, product development, marketing, and sales. Each relationship has a different story that needs to be recorded, especially if you expect the rest of your team to provide a consistent level of service.
Management: Managing team members with spreadsheets and other data repositories is inefficient and ineffective. Due dates can easily be overwritten without your knowledge. Project-related information from your inbox must be manually copied and pasted into little cells, creating additional confusion. What’s deficient is, it’s difficult for team members to see how things are connected when they are compelled to sort through rows of endless information.
Verdict: CRMs aren’t just for sales-minded organizations. Any business that serves customers, has client relationships and manages people and projects could likely take numerous benefits from a CRM.
2. Lack of budget or in-house expertise
Both of the excuses have a valid reason but let’s make it clear by elaborating the things. Let’s look at the budget first.
Budget: A decade or two ago, the budget was unquestionably a major roadblock to implementing a CRM system. In today’s cloud-driven economy, however, the budget is not of a problem anymore for companies small and large. Because of the fact that many CRMs offer a freemium pricing model along with the premium ones.
There are many options available for companies with a low budget that helps them enable their CRM without investing time in infrastructure or software. Moreover, inherent product design along with custom-tailored support have made expensive CRM consultants a thing of the past.
The budget should be balanced in relation to potential improvements in productivity. A CRM that helps you hit more deadlines, serve customers faster, and prevent revenue opportunities from slipping through the cracks is bound to generate a net gain for your bottom line.
In-House Expertise: No doubt, implementing an on-premises CRM would be thought as a major undertaking. But there are options available to choose between On-Premise and On-cloud CRM.
But, thankfully, Nowadays On-site too doesn’t require much time and effort it’s easy to implement them. But Cloud-based CRMs are much popular because of its scalability and hassle-free installation.
Verdict: When you estimate the costs and benefits of a cloud-based CRM, you’re likely to arrive at a positive equation. So to use CRM it is not necessary always to have In-house expertise and a lot of budgets.
3. “Our people aren’t tech-savvy”
In today’s world, this is just the misconception. because of the drastic increase in the usage of smartphones and smart devices.
Industry reports consistently show that the majority of adults in the whole world have at least one social media account. If your staff knows the usage of hashtags and figure out the related things, they can also figure out a CRM for sure.
Granted, some CRMs are more instinctive than others. As you evaluate for vendors, be sure to look for some important things:
1. Offers a modern and user-friendly interface.
2. Works as well on Mobile like on PC.
3. Provides seamless integrations with necessary 3rd party apps.
4. Allows users to easily click from one record to another without getting lost.
5. Automatically models your data into insightful charts, graphs, and reports.
6. Makes an immediate impact on your users’ productivity.
Summary: If you can demonstrate to users how a CRM will make them more advanced and successful, you’ll be amazed at how quickly they can pick it up.
Final Verdict:
If properly implemented, CRM technology could play a vital role in your company’s future success. Spend time to appropriately evaluate your needs and then seek solutions that drive efficiency, align with your goals, and build capacity.
We at Scideas offers CRM solutions for both ‘On-Cloud’ and On-Premise CRM. Visit Scideas to know more about our services and Contact Us for any query related to this.