Business owners have long known that process automation is indispensable. No warehouse accounting or accounting reports are kept without the use of an automated system. There are applications that allow you to quickly place an order and send it to a specific address. It is convenient to do this from a mobile phone or other gadget. The manager receives the main documents in finished form, it remains only to process them. But for some reason, relationships with customers are still not kept as automatic accounting. This can be said about small and medium businesses. This is where CRM systems come in handy.

You can often hear from business consultants how many business owners do not build relationships with clients in an automated system. For there are CRM systems that set up customer records and help develop your own business by simplifying work.


What is a CRM system and how to work with it?

If in a company each manager keeps track of customers in a way that is convenient for him - he records phone calls on paper, keeps the number of orders in an Excel spreadsheet, etc., then what can such an approach lead to? In addition, the manager may forget to record new calls, the employee may fall ill / go on vacation / quit. How to be then with the lost information? This can lead to serious negative consequences for the company.


But there is a way out - a high-quality CRM system will help to generate, take into account and save everything.

If you decide to use the system, then here is what awaits you:

  • The company will have a standardized system of contacts;\
  • Owners will be able to control the quality of the sales department;
  • The statistics of work with leads is displayed;
  • It is possible to plan based on the analysis of the overall work of the company's employees.

CRM-system is a software designed for companies that conduct trading activities. It helps to increase the level of sales, optimizes the work of the marketing department and improves the quality of customer service. In general, this approach has certain advantages that you should definitely take advantage of.

Benefits of CRM.

Many businessmen unanimously claim that not a single small and medium-sized business can do without this system. Even if your company employs three people, this approach will help to identify gross shortcomings in the work, which, perhaps, lead to the fact that the company does not grow.


We highlight the following advantages of the system:

  • CRM accumulates information about everything related to customers: calls, messages, orders. Therefore, no potential customer will be lost. All incoming contacts are recorded, which allows you to understand that the funds invested in attracting new customers are well spent.
  • The owner will be able to control and manage the work of his employees. You can often find that in small organizations, managers independently record their work with clients somewhere, while not having any common base.
  • The client base and statistics are being formed. Any information about each client is available in a few clicks. Based on this data, the entrepreneur will be able to think over the steps for development in order to increase the volume of his business.
  • Launching new ideas to attract new customers and work with previous ones. Developers are concerned about how their business owners can properly communicate with customers. Developers direct their activities to help entrepreneurs.

But always remember that all data is open and available to all employees of the company. Therefore, information must be carefully controlled. Keep in mind that the implementation of such a system will require financial investments.


What are CRM systems?

These systems are divided into several types:

Boxed - such a system is installed on your server and is under your service. Therefore, you should take care in advance that you had your own server, free space on it and an IT manager who will control the operation of the system.

Cloud - you can buy a license to use the system, which is located on the developer's server. You will not be tasked with keeping the server up and running. The whole process lies with the developer, you just have to use his services.

Before choosing, pay attention to the terms of reference for CRM. It must meet your expectations. If your specialist does this, then it will not be so complete and detailed, since there is no deep knowledge in the development of this system. If the developer himself takes care of compiling those tasks, then it will be easier for you to navigate how convenient this option will be for you.

What to look for when choosing a CRM?

First, define the list of functions that you put in front of the system. If you put call processing in the first place, then check that the system supports integration with telephony. If you focus on leads, then CRM should integrate their CMS.

In general, you should be guided by your tastes, what exactly do you want to get from CRM. If a specialist offers you a certain option that has all the features you require and a suitable price, then you can agree.


What can be in your CRM system?

  1. Telephony integration. In a good way, any option should work with telephony. You should be able to understand the situation with incoming and outgoing calls. If your managers manually enter all information about calls, then this is not reliable.
  2. API integration. For any company, it is important to use programs that integrate applications, keep records, draw up documents, etc. The selected version of the system should be able to interact with 1C, IT telephony and other services that you use.
  3. Ability to build tasks. The system should offer tools that help to take into account the interaction of employees. The entire process of the overall work of your employees should be recorded in CRM. In addition, you can configure the system so that tasks are set automatically.
  4. Import data. You need to understand how to enter data. The speed and ease of loading data into the system is important. The most practical option is to highlight the transfer of information from an Excel spreadsheet.
  5. Contacts and contractors. Reference books should be user-friendly. The difference is whether you work with individuals or legal entities. This will depend on the nesting level. When in the first case one level will be enough, and in the second - several will be needed, since different employees call from one company, and there should be a separate line for each of them.


Epilogue.

The purpose of this article was to clarify what a CRM system is, why you need it, and how it will help your business. Implementing the system is no more difficult than any other software.