Whether you have a small business or a large business, you likely have customer details, partner details, billing details and some kind of support details you need to track for your business. The question isn’t really what you are tracking, but how you are tracking, storing and even reporting on these details. Many people are storing these details in Excel spreadsheets, their email and documents saved on their computer. But I have a much better solution.
Introducing Customer Relationship Management or CRM for short. Using a CRM solution is one of the best ways to track all your business details. A CRM can store and track details about your Customers, Sales, Marketing, Project Management and Support Communications and much much more. The benefit is having everything about your business in one, easy to use application.
If you have a Sales Team, use a CRM to: manage accounts, leads and opportunities; manage the sales process and workflow; create check lists and milestones; report on the sales opportunities and projections – even from a distributed team across the country.
For companies that are Support focused, use a CRM to manage your customer communications, emails and phone conversations. Send out notices or reminders to your clients based on selected criteria. Track an incident or long-term project with the ability to involve several people, resources and due dates.
The great thing about a CRM solution is the flexibility to design it around your business. There are industry specific CRM solutions for Real Estate, Manufacturing and even Small Businesses and Retail that are designed around that particular industry. Just be sure to do your research on what the CRM provides, what is DOESN’T provide and importantly, total cost of ownership (i.e., server, computer, training costs, etc.). Some solutions come completely hosted for you so it’s just a monthly cost that you can budget.
In the end a good CRM solution will allow an organization the ability to have all their important details in a single solution, process and workflow that are designed around the business and accessible from anywhere. It will also have a mobile ready interface to allow retrieval and updates from anywhere including a client’s location. Finally a good CRM solution will allow you the flexibility to design it around your business, provide necessary details to your staff and run your business more efficiently.
Rob Gardner, founder of Santa Clarita Web & IT (escv.com), has worked with such brands as Verizon Wireless, AT&T, Honeywell, William-Sonoma, eFax, The Magazine of Santa Clarita, Newhall School District, The Boys & Girls Club and many others to help them achieve their online and business technology goals.
For more information or if you’re a business owner/manager and have questions or need assistance with your website or IT services, please call Rob Gardner at 661-799-9100 or email support@eSCV.com.