WHAT IS A CRM, AND WHAT IS IT FOR? (Mini Guide)

Customer and user management is one of the keys for a business to function. You must have a quality CRM that helps you manage all the data collected.

But just in case you are landing in this world, we will explain to you from the beginning what a CRM is and its uses.

WHAT IS CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT, OR WHAT IS A CRM?

What is Customer Relationship Management Definition: The acronym of CRM is Customer Relationship Management, which we can translate as managing relationships with our customers. They are those platforms that encompass and centralize the databases of the interactions we have with our clients.

It is an essential solution to maintain a fluid relationship with all our users' necessary data and a great tool to launch marketing campaigns.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

There is a large number of CRM platforms, and we will see some examples later. The objective of this tool is to group names, emails, telephones... all the data that we are willing to collect.

In this way, they are ordered according to the filters that we want to add, and thus we can have control of all the data either in alphabetical order, for reasons why they have known us, by date.

WHAT IS IT FOR?

Its main objective is to manage the company with the client, either to organize appointments, emails, marketing campaigns, or databases in general. It has many uses depending on the sector in which we work and the tool's purpose we want to achieve.

It is a good sales control system if we use a CRM with specific functionalities and the commercial departments are usually the ones who need it the most for their work.

The functions that Customer Relationship Management has are several, among which the management of data, sales, budget, income, or the organization of marketing campaigns stands out. But undoubtedly the most crucial end goal is to retain our customers.

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF A CRM

At the end of the post, it is time to draw conclusions and see if it is worth having a CRM for our company. For this, we are going to highlight the 4 main advantages and disadvantages:

ADVANTAGES

=>The relationship with customers: As we have seen, and as its objective indicates, it is a great formula to manage our database and collect all the information we have about our clients in one place. It is essential to approach them and create personalized campaigns and strategies if we work correctly.

=>Orientation of strategies: Thanks to all the planning that a CRM allows, you can deduce which campaigns and strategies suit your company. Each company is different and has different needs, so it is the best way to find out what your employees and clients can demand when working.

=>Increase sales: Undoubtedly, one of the great benefits and why many companies decide to work with a CRM is their sales. It is a great way to help us with sales and the relationship with our commercials, thanks to specific sales and marketing campaigns for each client.

=>Centralization of information: Normally, we have several channels, folders, and files to collect data, so finding a CRM to manage everything will help automate work processes and be more productive in our day-to-day lives.

DISADVANTAGES

=>The price: On many occasions, the price plans of some CRMs become barriers. If your company cannot allocate that budget, try trying some free ones and see how others work in their test plans to manage your clients in the best possible way to get to build your own.

=>Training: Although it is not always common, some CRMs need training and extensive information. To know how it works, sometimes you have to dedicate time, and not everyone is willing to do so.

=>Change: The change in the daily work model is not accepted by everyone in the same way, and some likely people are a little resistant to it.

=>Use: A CRM must be useful, and for this, being redundant, it has to be used. If you access any of them and pay the price to later not serve us, we will lose time and money.

But in general terms and looking at the results obtained, a CRM is always a good option as long as you review all the possibilities and objectives you want to find in them.                                                                                     

HOW TO KNOW WHICH ONE IS RIGHT FOR US

One of the company's main objectives is almost always to grow, and a good CRM helps to do that. There is an incredible variety of CRMs that we must consider before choosing one, considering specific characteristics of our company such as size, number of workers, number of clients, the type of business we run, etc.

The important thing is that, before we start growing, it will benefit us to have one already working to help us with aspects such as collaboration between team members, collect information from social networks, send personalized emails, and obtain a complete vision of our business.

WHAT TYPES ARE THERE?

ANALYTICAL CRM

This analyzes all the information in our customer database to get to know them and offer them business solutions suited to their needs.

These are its functions:

1. Analyze customer behavior to offer them a better service.

2. Design segmented commercial actions.

3. Evaluate and measure marketing campaigns and their effectiveness.

4. Structure in databases all the information from customers.

OPERATIONAL CRM

It automates customer-facing processes (Front Office),including sales management, marketing, and customer service.

And it also integrates the Back Office, which are the operations behind the company, such as accounting and finance.

The main functions of the operational CRM are:

1. Interact with our clients and establish trust and loyalty.

2. Manage marketing, sales, and customer service functions.

3. Obtain all possible customer data to know their needs and offer them an appropriate product or service.

What do we get out of this? Well, have the confidence (thanks to the interaction) and enough data to create a marketing campaign that is the bomb.

COLLABORATIVE CRM

The most characteristic of this CRM is the interaction it maintains with customers through different communication channels such as email, telephone, chats, etc., managing to establish a link with them and know their needs.

In this way, we manage to centralize the information and customer data and organize them based on our objectives.

Its key functionalities are these:

1. Create multichannel communication between all departments of the company, as well as interact with customers.

2. Improve the relationship with the company's clients.

By: Brey White