Scary or hopeful business future? Agile Acceleration

Business Strategy:  CRM for Agile Acceleration

The past year has been one of the toughest in memory for many if not most business owners. The economic downturn due to pandemic has been swift, sharp, and widespread across all industries. The time frame for recovery is debated daily, but one certainty remains: Many companies today face the toughest economic times they’ve seen. The margin for error is slim.

With the economic landscape so centered on survival, is it wise to plan for future growth?

Our instincts tell us to switch to defensive mode: cut all strategic projects and wait until things improve. But retreating could prove to be more detrimental in the long term. New opportunities exist for companies that invest wisely in information technologies, because if anything the need for digital transformation is greater than ever.

CRM can be your best business move at a time like this, when chosen and implemented well.

With CRM, your business can:

1. Deliver the exceptional and personalized service your customers crave during these challenging times
2. Increase your customer revenue share through highly focused business development programs
3. Extend the reach and effectiveness of new business initiatives as you adapt to changing markets
4. Achieve significant cost savings and on-going productivity improvements.

Cost vs. Value

Cutting costs in ways that don’t hinder growth is a formidable challenge at the best of times, but during a downturn, it can seem almost impossible.  To meet these goals, small and medium sized businesses need to look for practical solutions that will help them drive productivity and increase effectiveness across their operations.

Companies with a strategic mindset see the value in turning to business software and CRM applications specifically to drive the kind of operational improvements needed to survive and accelerate out of the downturn.  By optimizing revenue-creating activities at a lower cost to your company, CRM is uniquely positioned to add value during the most challenging market conditions.

Why CRM

First and foremost, CRM helps you maintain revenues from your current customers by ensuring that you are delivering exceptional service and safeguarding their loyalty. A successful CRM system is also an appreciating asset that captures knowledge of the customer to help you make critical and smarter decisions.

CRM also enables you to unearth latent revenue opportunities within your customer base for complementary products and services.  It allows you to leverage these opportunities and proactively grow your revenue share through highly focused business development programs.  You’ll be able to implement true customer lifecycle management instead of sporadic interactions. Consistent, exceptional, and personalized customer will lead to a better future for all of you.

Solutions like Creatio Low-code CRM and its business process management platform allows you to extend the reach and effectiveness of your business sales and marketing programs.  On-going process improvements, productivity enhancements and significant cost savings are readily accessible with CRM solutions available today. Specifically, Creatio CRM is built on its award-winning business process management structure to integrate customer facing processes with internal ones for seamless workflow across departments. Because it’s low code, it is highly adaptable as those processes are refined, and it replaces the need for many other solutions. 

In a downturn and going forward, CRM enables you to:

1. Grow your revenue with your existing customer base
• Understand the true cross-sell and up-sell opportunities with your customers.
• Reduce your cost-per-lead by delivering highly targeted marketing communications to specific customers or customer segments.
• Cut the time and cost it takes to resolve service issues without compromising an exceptional service experience that keeps loyal customers.
  
  
2. Capture new businesses at a far lower cost-of-sales than was possible previously
• Ensure that your sales team is focused on the opportunities that are most likely to close.
• Reduce your cost-per-lead by delivering highly targeted and consistent marketing messages to specific prospects or market segments.
• Ensure that you are getting maximum return from every marketing dollar you spend with marketing accountability.
• Support consistent processes, with clear key performance indicators (KPIs) which create solid discipline and greater predictability for sales and service personnel.
• Minimize paperwork, errors, task repetition, and cost in your administration.
• Provide individualized tools and valuable knowledge to empower your business development staff in a way that will increase their productivity, engagement, and effectiveness. 

Why Now?

Your customers and potential customers are facing cost pressures, too, and they have changed their purchasing patterns accordingly.  They may be spending less than before, plus they are looking for even greater value for their money.  They are being far more selective about purchases and suppliers. As a result, you will need to work a lot harder to earn and keep their business.

The truth is, the cost of doing nothing is too high.  Investing in systems and technologies is essential to remain competitive. 

Is your CRM all you need it to be to rise to the challenge now and in the future? Use this resource to help you assess its effectiveness and readiness.

Move from Scary to a Hopeful Business Future with the Right CRM

Wondering how you can make wise tech decisions to improve and move forward? We’re here to listen to your situation and answer questions about CRM. Contact us today.