Now that the weather has finally picked up into some sort of spring-like conditions, naturally people look to do a bit of spring cleaning and organising and businesses are no different.
Many are under the impression that customer relationship management systems are synonymous with Excel or worksheet software applications. This is not the case! Find out what CRM products really involve and how they can help you stay organised and in a state of constant spring cleaning.
CRM systems are a major tool used by businesses to help manage a company’s interactions, communication and knowledge management. Technology is used to:
- Organise contact records
- Keeping track of company projects as they progress
- Identify and organise areas for sales
- Marketing operations
- Forecasting and more
The CRM software market is making healthy strides and it is very likely that your competitors are using the benefits of a CRM. According to a recently prediction by analyst firm ‘Forrester,’ the CRM software market will exceed $15 Billion by the year 2014. The growth since 2007 has been substancial as the marketing was worth half of this figure in 2007 and makes positive strides from the 2012 valuation of $11 Billion.
What are the reasons for this growth?
The focus has shifted slightly from attracting sheer volume of sales to a larger degree of customer retention. The economic climate in the past years lead to an initial slowdown of spending meaning firms focussed on keeping their existing clients happy. CRM systems help to keep track of all customer interactions and information, from when they first made contact with the company, to where they went on holiday.
Now that there is now more scope for new business in 2013 CRM systems will play an important role in keeping the business ticking over whilst keeping track of all opportunities in one centrallised system.
There are thousands of CRM products on the market these days such as Maximizer CRM and Gold vision to name a few. The CRM systems that suit you solely depend on your business needs and the complexity and nature of your business. Make sure you do your homework into the features and testimonials and then gauge which system is right for you via a free style. Look into the complexity of the CRM and decide whether you need training. This is where systems such as Maximizer become useful as Maximizer CRM training is widely available.
Do not just rely on an excel Spreadsheet, take advantage of the benefits of CRM and see your business flourish under proper organisation.