I know many business people who take pride in using a spreadsheet to hold all of their contacts and customer details. However, most business people want to achieve more in less time and for less money and this is where CRM can help.

With this in mind, here are my top five uses for CRM in a business:

 1.     As a contact management tool

 Instead of spending time looking for Post-it notes with hastily scrawled contact details, put these contact details into your CRM tool. This means you can spend less time looking for crucial information and more time working.

 2.     As a central repository for customer engagements

Customers dislike repeating themselves and having the same conversations with people on your team. Get off this time-wasting merry-go-round and record information about customer meetings and conversations in your CRM. 

With an effective CRM tool you can attach any relevant information to a customer account and retrieve everything about your relationship with that customer in seconds.

3.     For sales automation

With CRM you can develop a visual of your pipeline alongside what stage prospects, leads and sales are at. This critical customer information is necessary for sustainable business growth, and it can help you gain a better view of your business in real-time.

 4.     To protect contacts

Salespeople tend to keep contacts and leads in their heads. This means if the salesperson is sick or leaves the company, they take their contacts with them. Remember, you’re not renting your salesperson’s contacts, you own them and they’re your most valuable asset. Putting contacts in CRM means the company benefits and not individuals. 

Keep your most valuable asset safe.

 5.     For cross-departmental collaboration

Sales know when they receive an email if they’re hearing from a valued customer or from someone who has been ignoring a bill.

This kind of cross-departmental collaboration makes it easier for your team to prioritise and manage customer relationships with greater efficiency. 

And finally…

CRM only works if users are accountable and everyone understands the underlying goal of using a CRM tool. Putting the right information in your CRM database is the only way to guarantee you get the right information out.