Do you like it when a salesperson interrupts you with a phone call and tries to pitch something you don’t care about? Of course not. And guess what – your customers don’t like it either.

Customers expect to be in charge of their buying experiences, and they expect to be treated like humans during that experience. Whether you’re marketing B2C or B2B, you’ll lose customers and sales if you don’t pay attention to what’s welcome and meaningful to them.

4 Ways on How CRM transforms sales:

1. It’s much more than a database.

Studies have shown that three out of four customers say they spend more money when they have a positive experience with a business. A CRM ensures that’s what they get, every step of the way. How?

CRM allows you to capture every interaction your business has ever had with a customer, then sort and analyze that information however you want. Your sales team will know each contact’s preferred method of communication, how they’ve responded to contact in the past, what their needs and interests are regarding your products/services, and customer service issues you’ve helped them with – a 360-degree picture of who they are and your relationship with them. Even if you could put all those columns in an Excel spreadsheet, it still wouldn’t give you the full-bodied functionality of a good CRM.

2. It will automate the more mundane interactions with customers.  

This may seem to contradict the first point, but it doesn’t. For instance, when you integrate a CRM system with drip-style engagement emails sent to segments of your list when moving them along the sales process, you’re saving time and still getting data on how customers are responding. You’re spending less time making more small contacts, leaving you with more time to follow up personally – leading to better results.

3. It’s all mobile.

Your sales team can access a CRM anywhere they are, in real-time, so they’re never talking to a customer ‘blind.’ How do you think a customer feels when a sales rep obviously doesn’t know what’s going on in the relationship? It’s not good for customer relationship building. Need numbers? A Nucleus Research report found that a CRM system’s mobile and social media connection capabilities increase sales staff productivity by 26.4%.

4. It gives you a growing body of business intelligence.

You’ll learn more about your sales and your team’s sales cycle. What’s working? What’s not? How long does it generally take from initial contact to lead to an opportunity to close? Who’s doing well and can mentor teammates if necessary? With CRM data, you’ll see trends, make forecasts, and establish benchmarks (KPIs) more strategically. As a source of business intelligence, CRM is a business asset that gains value the longer and more accurately you use it.

Your team’s buy-in is critical. Most salespeople want to be free to build relationships, not get bogged down in administrative details – and they may be afraid that’s what will happen with a CRM. But today’s CRMs automate so much and can be customized for individual users and teams, so everyone and everything functions like a well-oiled machine. Get an expert consultant to show them how their jobs will be better with a CRM and how the tools will support their sales success, and they’ll become fans and gain the satisfaction of more closed sales.

Using a CRM accounts for revenue increases of up to 41% per salesperson – you can’t afford not to use one. Read more about CRM’s ROI here.

When you’re ready to explore how to transform your sales by adopting a CRM system, or if we can help you find information about systems, contact us. We welcome hearing your story and goals.