Monday, February 3, 2014

CRM Management Software for Small Businesses

There are several ways in which CRM management software can help small business create and maintain healthy and productive relationships with their customers. Only 20 years ago, use of CRM software in small business was extremely limited. Fourteen years into the 21st century, and the situation has changed drastically. CRM management software is recognized as an essential tool in the repertoire of any successful business.

Why use CRM management software?
Our economy is predominantly a service economy. The need to make sure the customers are satisfied is crucial for the survival of businesses. Yet, many businesses do not have the time, money, and energy to address their customers’ needs individually. It is here that CRM software comes into picture. A smart CRM software makes it consumer engagement easier.

Three advantages

(a) More responsive

A recent study showed that nearly two-fifths of customers want their businesses to reply within six hours of their email. CRM makes it possible. It integrates with your website and other tools to allow you to achieve a level of responsiveness that your customers will appreciate. This responsiveness is essential to customer retention.

(b) Less expenses
Traditional methods of taking care of customers are call centers and emails. This creates additional expenses; in form of wages, costs and facilities. CRM management software helps businesses save on this overhead while still allowing them to maintain a working customer service plan.

(c) Central database
A business has to take care of several customer needs such as appointments, feedback processing, and attention to outstanding requests. A CRM software for small business makes these and other service tasks easier by keeping all this data in a central database; where it remains easily accessible.

The advantages of CRM software do not end here. One can add discovery of more market opportunities, improved team, and enhanced customer satisfaction into the list.