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CRM

© Business.com Media, Inc. All rights reserved. | 888.441.4466

Table Of Contents

• Introduction: What is CRM for Startups? – Page 1

• CRM Adoption Statistics. – Page 2

• Principles for Working CRM in Small Business. – Page 3

• Small Business Success with CRM. – Page 4

• Summary. – Page 5

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Getting and Using CRM Tools for Startups

In today’s tech business world,

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is

getting a lot of attention from executives looking to

motivate sales teams, consultants trying to boost

business outcomes, and even those out in the

business journalism sphere.

Recent news about CRM shows how

enterprises in diverse industries, including a

large number of small businesses, are using

these types of tools to boost market share, to

get good return on investment for business

processes, and to reach other general business

goals.

What is CRM?

The kinds of tools and services characterized as

Customer Relationship Management products are

typically IT setups that provide an interface that

pulls in customer information. Some call them

“Customer Intelligence” tools.

Generally, CRM tools help businesses to compile

details about customers. This may include

identities and contact information, as well as

purchase histories and other bits of data that may

help the business connect with customers and

make sales. Many CRM tools also have a visual

interface – for example, a multi-media CRM

resource might pop up on a computer screen or

Voice-over-IP telephone screen when a call is

established between a customer and a

salesperson. The sales professional can use the

visual details from the CRM to communicate better

with the customer.

There is also a kind of spinoff of this category of tools

called CXM or Customer eXperience Management

tools: here, these tools often focus on micro-

managing what a customer encounters within a

business’s physical or virtual territory, including over

the phone and online.

Some experts also distinguish between CRM options

that either have, or don’t have, a social media

component. With so many customers using platforms

like Facebook and Twitter, CRM tools can

incorporate these platforms in their functionality in

order to help businesses migrate data in and out of

these social media worlds.

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For small businesses that service lower numbers of

individual clients, why are CRM resources

important? One reason is that, regardless of the

size of a customer base, CRM helps a business to

react to customers better and quicker, in those

moments when “inside information” is key in

negotiating over products and services, or making

a deal.

More recently, some experts have bemoaned the

disconnect between CRM adoption and actual

usability or integration, especially in smaller

operations where business owners may not be able

to rely on a big or sophisticated IT department.

Columns like this one in ITBusinessEdge show that

the majority of businesses have not fully integrated

their CRM solutions, and that an astounding one

third of them still have workers entering data by

hand, rather than relying on automated, modern

systems.

“35% of businesses still

process customer data

manually”

This staggering statistic sheds light on many

customer data processing inefficiencies small

businesses are falling victim to. Manual processing

and a lack of automated CRM tools leaves room for

error, wastes time, and fails to make use of available

data.

But what can you do as a small business owner, with

a tight wallet? Luckily, there are various small,

budget-friendly options for those without a lot of

capital.

CRM Adoption Statistics

A Gartner study for 2012 showed an increase of

over 12% for CRM vendors, where companies

reported revenues of $18 billion. A lot of this growth

is expected to go on through the next few years .

Small businesses are likely to use differently

scalable options over Salesforce, which is popular

among the ‘big players,’ but with the availability of

different branded CRM options, there’s something

for everyone.

CRM Market Share by Vendor

SalesforceSAPOracleMicrosoftIBMAdobeOther

Source: Forbes

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Principles for Working CRM in Small Business

While automation is essential

to prevent redundant hand coding of customer

information, there are also other top-level principles

that help small businesses to really use CRM the

right way. These include the following:

• Make Sure CRM ‘Interferes’ the Right Way

• Make Sure CRM Captures the Right Data

• Build a ‘People Plus Tech’ Solution

Make Sure That CRM ‘Interferes’ the Right Way

It’s important that CRM tools are accessible in the

specific ways that will help salespeople or any

other business employees.

This means they need to be linked to the most

common methods of communication with

customers, whether that’s on the telephone,

through social network platforms like Facebook, or

through other kinds of media. Employees also need

to use these tools in order to make them effective.

Make Sure That CRM Captures the Right Data

CRM solutions are generally useless to businesses

unless they really provide the information that will

help drive sales or enhance relationships with

customers. Small business leaders need to make

the tough decisions about which types of data will

be collected, and how they will be used.

Build a ‘People Plus Tech’ Solution

People need to be involved. Companies can often do

better by providing more in-depth ‘show and tell’ of a

CRM interface, and building robust training

schedules that will support an experienced and

knowledgeable staff. Some of the best businesses

micromanage training according to specific

techniques like those used in agile programming, for

example, quick ‘scrum’ meetings where individuals

can ask questions and give input. This aspect of

CRM use is very important for small businesses

where a smaller and more tenured workforce may

need specific guidance on adoption.

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Small Business Success with CRM

With the right systems in place, many small

companies have reported dramatic growth and

return on investment with CRM. But how does a

centralized customer information system translate

into an increase in sales and revenue? According

to Forrester, here are 3 reasons why CRM can

increase small business sales:

In addition to amplifying your sales potential with

additional insight into customers’ wants and needs,

an integrated CRM platform will ultimately cut costs.

You’ll be able to reduce direct selling costs, remove

unproductive administrative tasks and slim down on

ineffective marketing expenditures by exposing

unresponsive customers.

A newly streamlined CRM system can also improve

IT efficiencies. You can lower software licensing,

maintenance and customization costs, while also

introducing easier training and adoption techniques

for end users.

In assessing the best ways to build a better IT

support structure, startup or small business

leaders can think about how others are using

scalable CRM to promote quicker growth, a more

capable small office and an agile set of business

processes.

Companies like Zoho and Batchbook are affordably

great for entrepreneurs and startups on a small

budget.

The cost of adopting an efficient CRM tool can not

only cut costs and wasteful processes, an integrated

customer management system can also take your

small business to the next level.

• Access to customer information and

requirements allows for instant action

• Reps can make targeted new sales by

knowing more about customers.

• Able to target existing customers with

more relevant offers

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Startups need to manage

customer relationships too.

Thanks and come back soon.

Getting your hands on an updated CRM system and utilizing its

various features will help you develop and maintain the most

crucial customer relationships.