5 signals you need a CRM and how to add it to your business

First things first, what is a CRM?

We define CRM as a concept, something much more robust and valuable than a simple sales software used by large companies.

CRM is defined as Customer Relationship Management. It is a concept that incorporates software, methodologies, processes, and a change in thinking.

A CRM  serves as a platform for establishing customer relationships. A well-implemented CRM helps you follow up, manage tasks, automate processes, analyze information, and make better business decisions. All from a single application and from any device.

 

Benefits of a CRM

Implementing a CRM solution correctly helps you to connect better with your customers and establish more valuable and lasting business relationships.

In the beginning, most companies can simply use Excel to record customer information and sales orders. But as your business grows, these practices become inefficient.

 

5 warning signs, to detect your business needs a CRM:

 

 

1 – You don’t have a single centralized source of information:

Storing information about your prospects and customers in multiple locations puts you and your sales team at a disadvantage. You lack a single, multi-device view of information for each contact, customer, order, or business interaction.

 

2 – You have little or no visibility into what’s going on in your sales team:

You don’t have up-to-date, real-time information on how your employees are interacting with customers and prospects. If you don’t know what your salespeople are doing, you won’t be able to help them succeed.

 

3 – It’s difficult to generate and share reports:

It would be ideal to generate reports about your sales progress and compare them to your projections. But creating reports manually is so tedious that you probably won’t have any, or they generate very little valuable information that you can share with your team.

4 – You don’t have a mobile solution:

Your salespeople are on the road, meeting with prospects and gathering valuable information. But all this new data is stored in handwritten notes or files on personal computers that are not transferred to a centralized location, and important details are lost, especially when a salesperson leaves the company.

 

5 – You lack a plan to scale quickly:

Did your company grow from 2 to 20 salespeople this year – are you sure your current processes will evolve? If you are sure, are you concerned about maintaining productivity as you grow? Are your current systems ready to support the growth of 3 to 30 contacts per day?

If you or your team is concerned about any of these signs, don’t despair: it’s time to think about implementing a CRM solution.

 

One additional tip if you decide to implement a CRM:

 

There are multiple CRM softwares on the market, many of them very good (Salesforce, HubSpot, Odoo, Zoho, etc), some at affordable prices, some inaccessibly expensive, some even free. But remember, the software is only one element, and many times it is not even the most important element. Implementing a CRM is a process that takes experience, consulting, and a change of mentality.

At ADWEB we have been implementing CRM solutions and consulting for 14 years to help businesses sell more. If you are interested, we will be happy to help you. Here you can schedule a free diagnostic appointment.