|
The
Top
10
Benefits
of
Customer
Relationship
Management
Systems
It
may
be
time
to
consider
migrating
from
contact
management
to a
full-featured
CRM
(Customer
Relationship
Management)
solution
if
your
organization
could
benefit
from
one
or
more
of
the
following
CRM
advantages:
1.
Centralized
Data
–
Access
one
centralized
database
for
a
complete
view
of
all
customer
interactions,
from
sales
and
marketing
to
customer
service
and
support.
As
your
organization
grows,
this
enables
all
of
your
employees—whether
they
are
responding
to a
billing
inquiry
or
conducting
in-person
sales
calls—to
have
a
complete,
up-to-date
view
of
each
customer.
2.
Marketing
Automation
–
Utilize
robust
marketing
automation
tools
to
segment
customers
and
prospects,
automate
campaign
activity
scheduling
and
follow-up
activities,
and
track
response
rates.
Workflow
capabilities
for
lead
routing
ensure
that
no
leads
slip
through
the
cracks.
And,
revenues
can
be
tied
to
specific
campaigns
so
it
is
easy
to
analyze
campaign
ROI
to
increase
marketing
efficiency.
3.
Customer
Service
and
Support
Solutions
–
With
service
and
support
solutions,
your
organization
can
track
and
resolve
customer
questions,
issues,
and
technical
support
inquiries
for
a
high-quality
customer
experience.
In
addition,
Web
Customer
Portals
empower
customers
to
find
the
answers
they
need
by
allowing
them
to
view
add
or
edit
service
and
support
tickets.
4.
Advanced
Account
and
Opportunity
Management
–
While
contact
management
applications
may
allow
for
company
or
account
hierarchies,
they
do
not
provide
the
ability
to
track
leads
from
campaign,
through
the
opportunity
cycle,
to
close.
Advanced
opportunity
management
allows
for
tracking
by
probability
of
close,
products,
lead
source,
status,
and
competitors.
In
addition,
proposals
can
be
created
for
each
opportunity
which
include
products,
pricing,
and
discounts.
5.
Robust
Forecasting
and
Reporting
–
Accurate,
timely
revenue
forecasts
help
sales
close
more
deals,
bring
higher
profits
to
your
company,
and
align
expenses
with
revenue
growth.
Forecasting
also
allows
critical
visibility
into
future
product
and
service
demand
trends.
With
a
CRM
solution,
opportunities
can
be
segmented
by
account
manager,
region,
or
probability
of
close.
Management
can
analyze
historic
trends
to
gauge
individual
or
team
effectiveness
and
guide
strategic
changes
such
as
territory
realignment
or
redistribution
of
marketing
funds.
6.
Automated
Workflow
–
Automated
workflow
enables
an
organization
to
automate
business
rules
and
processes
across
departments
and
employees.
Some
examples
include
auto
lead-capture
and
distribution,
as
well
as
configuring
e-mail
workflow,
escalation
conditions,
and
notification
routing
when
these
conditions
are
triggered.
7.
Scalability
–
CRM
solutions
for
mid-sized
organizations
are
designed
specifically
to
scale
with
growth
and
changing
business
requirements.
A
CRM
solution
is
equipped
to
handle
a
variety
of
scalability
factors
that
affect
database
performance,
including
number
of
users,
records,
attachments,
and
documents.
8.
Configuration
and
Customization
Capabilities
–
Contact
management
solutions
are
adaptable
at
the
end-user
level
and
allow
for
some
layout
and
database
changes—however,
CRM
solutions
enable
organizations
to
expand
and
customize
data
tables
and
other
areas
of
the
application
globally
to
meet
their
business
needs.
A
CRM
solution
should
be
able
to
adapt
to
your
organization’s
unique
sales
and
customer
interaction
processes.
9.
Integration
–
Integration
with
existing
legacy
databases,
accounting
applications,
and
other
company-wide
business
management
solutions
is
critical
for
any
organization.
CRM
applications
provide
robust
integration
with
the
products
organizations
use
every
day—providing
employees
and
management
with
a
complete
view
of
all
customer
interactions
means
they
can
make
more
insightful
business
decisions.
10.
Advanced
Security
–
While
sharing
knowledge
is
critical
to
an
organization’s
success,
the
security
available
in a
CRM
solution
allows
an
organization
to
control
the
fields
and
views
that
various
individuals
and
teams
can
access
and
modify. |
