If you plan to install CRM software or upgrade the existing one, you should know about these five key features.
CRM software stands for customer relationship management. It is software that enables businesses to retrieve, analyze, and collect essential information related to their customer base no matter big or small.
We are aware that working with customers is not an easy task. Managing contacts, diagnosing and solving problems, and ensuring the customers’ satisfaction at the same time is challenging.
We know how much the burden that the customer relation teams carry. But the good news is that with software like CRM, the process becomes quite convenient.
CRM solutions can offer much more than acting as a digital Rolodex and organizing contacts. It can carry the burden on its shoulders for sales and business processes.
With that said, in this article, we have listed five key features of CRM software that you must be aware of. So without delaying further, let us dive into these fantastic features.
Dashboards and Reports
CRM software offers some sterling business intelligence tools. With this software, users can look at statistics from an engaging and high visual perspective using customized dashboards and reports. These features offer an easily accessible(from various portals) platform and real-time data updates. It can be extremely beneficial for management to use these customized reports made through CRM software to make data-driven decisions. Therefore, it will be adequate to say that an investment in CRM software is an intelligent investment in your company’s future.
Email Client Integration
By automating the workflow, CRM makes life much more comfortable. Inside the user interface of your CRM, you can gain the organization and automation of a dedicated email client.
Stop depending upon IBM notes or outlook, for that matter. Instead, look for CRM software that can serve your purpose by doing double duty. This means that when a customer calls for support, your reps can conveniently look at the previous info or interaction and give the best care possible.
Moreover, the Email client integration feature of CRM also aids in keeping your sales rep productive and organized.
CRM File/Data Storage
If you want to utilize the data in the best way possible, you need to save it properly. Here is where the proprietary method of data storage comes in. The proprietary method is a crucial feature of CRM that enables users to pull up the data efficiently. Further, to prevent security breaches and data losses, CRM software also safeguards backup and protects essential data.
Contact Management
CRM software is designed to help and connect with customers in the most efficient manner. It provides several incredible features, including a sales pipeline feature to track potential leads. The CRM software does not only assist in managing customer contacts by providing follow-up reminders and a calendar. But it also retrieves and records all the applicable data of customers. It can also create tickets for your service department and help share and develop clients’ insights between departments.
If you implement this software properly, it can do wonders for your business. An interesting fact is that CRM solutions perform exceptionally well when it comes to customer retention. They are known to improve the retention rate by 27%. Is it not that amazing?
Analytics
Sometimes it becomes hard to see the critical trends. But with CRM software, this will no longer be a problem, as the analytics feature has got you covered. The analytics feature of CRM locates patterns in the purchasing behavior, analyzes current leads and sales trends, etc. CRM analytics offer insight into the data of your customers. This data is, of course, vital because it enables you to make better decisions about the types of services and products you give to your customers.
It also sheds light on future opportunities for your business.
Further, you can also predict trends and do sales forecasting by using CRM analytics.
In a CRM, you should look for these specific analytics:
- Simple to read and understand customer segmentation
- Clear and precise data of profit and loss
- Informative and useful website analytics that depicts the web use of customer
Final Thoughts
No matter which size your business is, CRM software is useful by all means. However, it is essential to choose an effective platform that can scale with your needs. So do not forget to look for the features mentioned above before buying CRM software.
Do check this blog out too:
5 Customer Retention Strategies That Work