Cloud based CRM software solutions are available nowadays in abundance.
In fact, there are so many easy to use CRM solutions in the marketplace that we are spoiled with too many choices.
As a matter of fact, there is a wide variety of both proprietary business growth applications and open-source software solutions which can be adapted to accommodate most business models and budgets.
Effective sales organizations are 81% more likely to be practicing consistent usage of a CRM or other system of record - Aberdeen Group Click To TweetIn the modern times, cloud based CRM solutions are so common that leading CRM platforms like Salesforce and other Salesforce Alternative CRM solutions mostly used by startups and small businesses are now expected to reach more than $80 billion in revenues by 2025.
This is because none can deny the fact easy to use CRM is one of the best and cutting-edge business growth technology and tools that can have a significant impact on sales, marketing and support activities of any business.
However, it has been observed by us as the creator of one of the best CRM for small and medium businesses that not all sales teams make the maximum use of the capabilities of this technology.
Now, even though with all CRM solutions you can seamlessly contact fresh leads, follow-up with the existing ones, check the progress of your deals, with this lead management tool, but CRM as a business growth technology can do much more, right from personalization of customer experience at a granular level to elevating the productivity of customer service channels for your brand and company.
In fact like any other technology solutions in the marketplace CRM software solutions are also only as effectual just as much you use them.
Therefore in this article let us deep dive and look at what capabilities and features are sales professionals still unaware or failing to use in their easy to use CRM software:
All leading CRM software applications in the marketplace can be leveraged to segment the customers in the CRM database at a granular level.
Now, by gathering and thereafter analyzing data based on specific subgroups, your sales teams your sales reps will be well-equipped to create highly effective marketing strategies and tactics for revenue growth.
Which are the features you must look for in a customer segmentation tool at a granular level?
Segment Customers As Per Their Engagements
Using a cloud based CRM you can easily zero in on your target audience based on their level of engagement with your brand.
Now CRM is a software that can group these levels according to the user activity on your business website and social media web page, click-through rates and more.
Therefore, whenever any customer fails to engage with your marketing campaigns, CRM helps you to adapt your approach.
For example, if you find a decline in your click-through rates it will tell you if your customers dislike receiving direct emails and so you can reduce the number of emails that you send or shift your focus to other types of marketing outreach.
Segment Customers Based on Previous Purchasing Behavior
Once you buy CRM you can even segment your customers on the basis of the products or services they have purchased from your brand and make product or service recommendations for cross-selling your offerings accordingly.
Moreover, whenever any customer abandons your shopping cart, you can use SFA (Sales Force Automation) in your CRM to automatically send your fence-sitting customers an email to re-engage them.
Additionally, this type of granular segmentation can also be achieved across channels whereby you can target potential customers in your CRM database with relevant ads while they browse through other websites, a marketing approach that will negate the requirement to send emails that are often perceived impersonal by the customers and thereby gets deleted.
Forecast and Retarget Existing Customers
All this information gathered in the CRM database during each of these exercises can be used for forecasting and retargeting your customers.
This is because past behaviors of the customers is an excellent predictor of the future buying patterns and your customer’s response to your campaigns, which is important info that can aid your teams to develop highly personalized and effective campaigns that can get converted at different touch-points.
Hence irrespective of whether you are collecting data from your business website, in-store purchases, customer service departments, make sure to use easy to use CRM to segment these customers based on their shared patterns of activities.
Now, if your information related to your customers is incorrect, it is natural that you will be wasting time and resources creating personalized experiences that will not appeal to the target audience. Therefore, always remember to select the right tools that integrate seamlessly with your cloud based CRM platform (like Zapier, PieSync, and others) that will reduce the amount of time you spend on transferring and analyzing data from multiple end-points and channels for your business growth.
In modern times AI (Artificial Intelligence) has come a long way along with Chatbots that is capable of delivering superior and authentic customer service experiences.
Hence nowadays it has become almost necessary to leverage Chatbots, as the differences in the marketplace between competitors are narrowing and thereby buying decisions are dictated by real-time customer experiences.
Smart Algorithms Enhance Customer Service
In modern times as the expectations of the customers are also much higher, hence it is no longer possible to deliver enhanced customer experiences with just human efforts.
Therefore, now adopting intelligent algorithms for smart customer care automation is also another cheap option to keep the conversation going between your brand and your customers in real-time, 24/7.
Smart Algorithms Boost Operations
Chatbot features, when integrated with the right cloud based CRM, can do a lot more than customer service to the consumers of your offerings.
This is because Chatbots can also be used by businesses to increase productivity and operational efficiency for business growth.
Chatbots can remind your employees of scheduled meetings apart from answering simple questions without disturbing your employees with whatever activities they are engaged in.
Find below the key benefits of using a Chatbot for your business:
All the data that is generated both externally or internally can be leveraged effectively to better allocate the sales resources of your company.
Use GPS in Your CRM App to Connect in Person
There are several CRM applications that use GPS (Global Positioning System) features that can be leveraged by easy to use CRM to lead your sales reps right to the prospect’s doors, which will not only aid in identifying potential leads in your selected demography, but it will also help provide a map and direction to their locations.
Modern cloud based CRM software solutions can be even used to create healthy competition within your organization.
For example, your staff-data stored in the CRM can be used to analyze a leaderboard and benchmark performances.
This is because, by leveraging on gamification using your CRM tool you can not only easily boost productivity but also increase sales, and therefore increase your businesses’ bottom line.
Conclusion
Therefore, when all the different features of any modern cloud based CRM like Salesforce or any other Salesforce Alternative CRM are used properly, your entire organization can reap the benefits of this business growth technology, create new revenue models, reduce operational costs, increase sales and thereby boost efficiency of your business for providing world-class customer experience that always promotes rapid revenue growth.