What is CRM?

CRM or Customer Relationship Management is a business process in which companies manage their relationships and contacts. Although the term CRM has customers, CRM does not limit itself to just customers. CRM aims to address whenever an individual is in touch with the company. To explain, individuals may be one of the following;

  • Mail Subscribers
  • Sales Leads
  • Sales Opportunities
  • Customers
  • Advocates
  • Employees

CRM defines the guidelines for interaction between companies and customers as a field. Also, it provides the necessary organization and tracking tools required.

Essentially, with a CRM, it becomes impossible to ignore a customer. CRM allows you to deal with leads systematically minimizes neglect of any particular lead. CRM tells you when to contact your leads, what you should say, and how to say it.

Additionally, CRM also had internal benefits. With a CRM, sales teams can track their activities, goals, and targets, and managers can monitor various sales teams’ performance at a glance.

CorporateStack understands that buying CRM software can be challenging to do. In this post, we try to explain what could be the best option for your company. However, you may still have additional questions. We encourage our customers to contact us with any questions, and please email us at info@corporatestack.com.

Brief about CRM History

Customer relationship management dates to the 1970s. Initially, businesses used a survey to evaluate customer satisfaction. As computer technology developed, companies used spreadsheets to categorize and analyze data and create a list of customers, which became the basis for database marketing.

In the 90s, CRM evolved as more prominent tech companies, such as Oracle, got involved and created CRM software solutions, including sales force automation and customer services.

With the advances of the internet, the early 2000s saw CRM migrate into cloud technology, which means that users could access it online from any computer.

Benefits of CRM

Before discussing the benefits of a CRM, we need to differentiate between CRM Tools and CRM Strategy.

CRM Strategy: Processes that the company uses to structure and standardize how CRM technology is used.

CRM Tools: Software where CRM-related information is primarily stored. Depending on the software, various features may be available for companies to use.

To utilize CRM best, you need to choose software that encourages a strategy through its tools. Furthermore, most CRMs are built with a customer-driven process in mind, and CRM shouldn’t be viewed as something additional that needs to be done.

Some of the direct benefits to businesses of using a CRM are:

  • Cultivate leads
  • Develop new relations
  • Make customers feel valued
  • Improve/Refine existing relations
  • Retain customers for more extended periods
  • Structure company processes efficiently
  • Expand sales
  • Provide satisfactory customer service