If you are like most businesses, you start off utilizing spreadsheets to plan, report, and track leads, sales, and every aspect of your business. One of the many challenges with spreadsheets is that not everyone can view and edit them at the same time. Inevitably, vital information gets lost—which can lead to everything from internal communication errors to lost leads, and unnecessary bottlenecks.
These are just a few reasons why you need a CRM for your small business!
What Is a CRM?
Short for customer relationship management, CRM software provides a variety of tools to organize and manage your business. There are a variety of software options to choose from, most of which offer similar features and functions in one or more of the 3 following categories.
Operational—sales automation, marketing automation, workflow automation, and service automation.
Analytical—data mining, hyper-targeted buyer persona building, and multi-channel analytical processing.
Collaborative—multichannel communication management, consumer interaction management, and relationship management.
How Difficult Are CRMs to Use?
Like any new software, you and your team will need to invest a bit of time learning your way around. That being said, they are designed to be intuitive and easy to use. When properly set up, they walk you and your team through a natural workflow. Better yet, the workflow is streamlined, simplified, and automated.
So, in addition to saying goodbye to your spreadsheets, you will minimize bottlenecks and optimize time and labor dollars. The insights you will gain are powerful!
What Type of Insights Will You Access?
Another reason why you need a CRM is to take your insights to a new level. Once you connect your CRM to your digital channels, it will gather, analyze, and compile your insights. While each channel you use provides its own analytics, the ability to view them all in one spot and both individually and as part of a whole helps you to better understand your customers, customer engagement, customer journey, and more!
What CRM is Best for Small Businesses?
You have countless options to choose from, both free and paid. Free tools offer minimal but meaningful functionality, with the hope of converting you to a paying client.
Some of the top CRMs include:
Salesforce—a paid industry-leading solution that you can easily scale as your business grows. A free trial is available.
Freshsales—ideal for sales teams that are also in need of a built-in phone system. They offer a free solution with limited functions.
HubSpot CRM—provides marketing tools, content management tools, and more. They offer a free solution with limited functions.
Zoho CRM—ideal for streamlining workflow and operations with easy-set-up automation. They offer a free solution with limited functions.
Apptivo—designed specifically as a contact management solution for solopreneurs. They offer a free solution with limited functions.
Agile CRM—provides solutions for sales, marketing, and customer service in their free plan.
Bitrix24—empowers you to manage projects and sales in one platform instead of two. They offer a free solution with limited functions.
Check back to the TEK REMEDY blog soon for additional small business tips!
Keyword: why you need a CRM