CRM as your Business Operations Tool
A CRM technology is a Customer Relationship Management tool that tells you what is going on within your business and with your clients so no balls are dropped. It helps you manage your business, collaborate with other team members, manage clients and prospects, and monitor the workload. At any given time, it can also show the sales pipeline, guide staff through standardized procedures on repeatable tasks, manage projects, and monitor the type and level of client communication and servicing. In summary, the CRM’s purpose is to help your team keep everything on track and moving forward.
Everything should be logged and organized in your CRM to manage the daily operations of the business. Not only does documenting everything in your CRM help you work more efficiently, it also helps when it comes to training new hires or delegating work to others. Your CRM should be so detailed that it could act guidebook to your business should anyone become ill, disabled, or unable to work.
The major elements of a CRM are:
- Contacts and Classifications
- Sales Opportunities and Stages
- Workflows (standard, repeatable processes)
- Reports
- Outside integrations (data flows to/from other software programs)
If you wish to optimize your current CRM, or seek a more robust system, you should review your wants vs. needs, research alternative CRM software using our template of criteria, and share your findings and plan to obtain a high ROI and adoption.
Benefits
The CRM platform helps companies maintain a centralized database for sales, client communication, tasks, projects, and operations. When set up and utilized properly, it:
- Reduces operational management time
- Ensures nothing is forgotten
- Improves proactive client communication
- Delegates the appropriate work to the appropriate person
- Increases productivity
- Provides management data to identify and help eliminate bottlenecks and hurdles
Exercise
Download CRM TIPS for best practice use ideas and the CRM research template to help you assess your wishes and needs.
BONUS!! If you are a Redtail CRM user, watch the video below and then download the instructions to install the Outlook Email-to-Redtail Task tool.
Reflect and Prioritize
Building out your CRM initially takes time and effort, but the payoff it worth it. Using a CRM platform will free the managers and employees’ time so they can work at their highest skill level, focus on projects that scale up the business, and increase revenues. You will be able to focus on your highest priorities, uncover bottlenecks that hurt the health of the business, and know that nothing will be forgotten or fall through the cracks.
Please remember to add any new epiphanies and ideas to your Master Plan of Ideas and Initiatives.