The Best CRM Practices That Every Business Needs to Know and Follow To Get the Most ROI

Ok, so you’ve sifted through a long list of CRM software suggestions, tried and tested many of them, and now you’ve finally made your choice. But how do you know if you are making the most of it? If you have a large, spread-out team, can you trust everyone to make use of the right features?

The first step after picking a CRM is to familiarize yourself and follow certain practices to ensure that you take full advantage of the software.

Here are some golden rules to follow for incorporating CRM into your business.

Analyze data regularly

Regular data analysis helps arrest issues at the earliest. For instance, if you find that you are not profitable at a particular time, then your data should tell you why.

Customize your analytics and reporting to identify what is working and what isn’t. Monitor inventories, deliverables, and processes to pinpoint what your customers seek and if you are delivering solutions appropriately. It might be worth investing in AI-powered CRM systems that give you intelligent data analytics and MIS reporting tools capable of giving you up-to-the-minute information. They consistently learn from your inputs and help you stay on track with the least manual effort.

Set up automation where possible

There’s no doubt that automation is the way forward. A 2021 Zapier report shows that 88% of SMBs believe automation allows them to compete with bigger firms, and 34% found it reduces time spent on administrative tasks.

That means more time spent on crafting highly effective marketing campaigns, growing lead pipelines, and delivering memorable customer experiences. Automation can be as simple as setting reminders and notifications or as detailed as devising customized workflows for your teams. Customer support requests no longer need to be monitored manually as they can be automatically forwarded to the concerned agents. This can considerably reduce customer churn, and you won’t miss a deal again.

Train your teams periodically

True, most companies provide detailed demo walkthroughs and free trials to ease you through CRM implementation and setup. Many are quite simple and can be integrated into your business right out of the box. But that doesn’t mean you can skip training your team.

Every department will require a unique set of data and need to implement workflows distinct from each other. A customer service team’s workflow will be very different from, say, that of the marketing department. As you discover more aspects to the CRM, integrate more third-party tools, and recognize changing business needs, your employees need to keep up, as well.

Training involves crucial change management. For instance, marketing teams will need to be up to date with list building, event management, etc., and data teams will benefit from upskilling themselves in implementing the latest data practices. Training teams to use the right set of tools and customize data extensively helps in more accountability and ownership, vastly improving the overall customer experience. And training doesn’t stop with a single session. Regular training sessions are the key to an accomplished team.

Simplify workflows for more efficiency

Use a CRM to integrate different types of business goals like providing customer support or inviting more customers to sign up for something through smooth workflow processes. Set up time-sensitive triggers for email reminders or to send out last minute discount offers. Simplify and customize your most critical workflows for more transparency. What’s more, this makes it easy for anyone across departments to adapt to, should a situation demand it.

All of this means more efficiency, which inevitably leads to an increase in ROI.

 

Define a solid CRM strategy

Whether a CRM is primarily for sales or marketing or for both, having a CRM comprising your primary goals is extremely important. What do you hope to solve? What do you want to accomplish? Identify your pain points and that of your customers’, define KPIs and how you’ll measure them, and create a plan to achieve them. Break down the big picture into small milestones and outline the kind of metrics you will need to measure them. This way you can always ensure steady progress all the way to completion.

Conclusion

A CRM is like a large machine that needs care and maintenance. Invest your time in it by following these basic but essential practices, and it’s bound to reward you manifold.

---

Wouldn’t it be amazing if you didn’t have to worry at all about repetitive, mundane tasks like file updating? Metroleads takes a load off your mind with customized, automated workflow capabilities way better than IFTTT. Get in touch for a demo today.