A CRM is one of the essential business softwares, irrespective of your business and size.According to Small Business Trends, a CRM system enhances customer relationships, increases sales and revenue, improves customer retention, automates communication and a lot more.So how do you find the right CRM for your small business?
Set your business objective
CRM Essentials said in phone interview with Small Business Trends, “Every business has its own specific challenges. So the best thing a company can do is have a very detailed understanding of what their main challenge is and what it would take to make sure that they can answer that challenge in a way that allows them to stay true to the way they want to engage with customers.”
Before you embark on your selection journey, get feedback and inputs from customer support, sales and marketing team stakeholders on what they want to achieve from a CRM solution. For instance, the marketing team would want a CRM that tracks the ROI of marketing activities; the support would want insights into the customer’s data to improve relations and retention, the sales team would want a CRM that helps identify industry trends to enhance sales strategy, and track and improve sales productivity.
Once you have gathered their requirements, prepare a checklist of what business challenge the CRM should solve, and what business objectives do you want to achieve with a CRM. This will help you during your CRM evaluation.
Nobody knows your business better than you, so know exactly what you want before you look for the right CRM solution.
Right functionality
Most CRM providers advertise their software to be the best in the market. But before you jump in and buy one for the brand name, wait for a second and think whether your business really needs a complex, feature-heavy, enterprise CRM just because it’s well-known in the market.
Your CRM has to help you solve your business challenge and move you closer to your objectives. And choosing a software that has the right functionalities is one of the most important factors in CRM purchase. So instead of choosing one that has too many functionalities which you won’t even use, create a checklist of the necessary features. For example, if you have a real estate agency, you will require a CRM that manages listing and inventories, captures leads from website, tracks deals across sales pipelines, automation, custom workflows and so on. Then make a list of CRMs and begin your evaluation process.
Affordability
Budget plays a crucial role in the purchasing decision. You need to calculate the long-term costs and analyze the benefits obtained from the new software. One way to be sure is to ask the vendor what additional benefits you get along with the pricing package. For instance, does the pricing package involve training, implementation, customization, and support, or do you need to pay extra?
Also, find out if the CRM software seamlessly integrates with your other applications without huge infrastructure changes. Make sure you get all your answers so that you don’t end up spending for add-on costs.
Scalability
Your business might be small right now, but as you grown and enter new markets, you might double your sales team and invest more in marketing activities to increase revenue. With the increased business requirement, you might require more from your CRM. Features like custom fields and personalizations, automated follow-up activities, setup approval processes etc will become vital to running your sales process smoothly. And it’s not feasible to transfer your data to a new program and convince your sales team to use it each time.
Instead look for a CRM that scales along with your business. There are a lot of CRMs that come with different pricing plans for different business sizes. So when your business grows, it’s easy to upgrade plans and yet retain the data.
Mobility
Salespeople, who are on the go, spend more time on their mobile devices and tablets than on their PCs. Therefore, it is imperative to choose a CRM with a mobile version that can be accessed on the field and even offline.
Some basic functions to look for in the mobile version are access to your customer database, appointments and deal pipeline, and real-time synchronization of data.
Ease of implementation and use
Your sales CRM software should be intuitive and easy to navigate for your salespeople to use it. The system should also be quick to configure, and easy to import and export any form of data without the help of consultants and endless hours of training. It is important that you choose a CRM that is flexible enough to sync with your existing sales process.
One way to find the right CRM solution is to test run the deployment. Many CRMs come with a free trial for a sufficient period, which you can use to the fullest to understand if the CRM meets your needs.
Good support service
It’s common to encounter glitches along the course of using a CRM. But when you do so, your CRM vendor should have a good customer service team who are quick to provide help. One way to be certain about this is to contact their support during your evaluation period. If the customer service is not instant and requires longer waiting time, there isn’t any point going ahead with that vendor.
Apart from providing user manuals, some of the vendors conduct free webinars, product demos, and certification programs. Use them to your advantage by enrolling in one of these programs to learn about the software.
Company Needs CRM
Let’s be real. No CRM software will readily fit your business like a glove. It will require some amount of customization before it becomes a perfectly fitted one. Buying a CRM software for your business isn’t a one-time purchase but a long-term relationship. And making a hasty decision while choosing a CRM will only cost you your time and money. But if you’ve found the right CRM, the time invested in research and implementation will be worth it when it delivers the benefits your company needs.