Monday, July 14, 2014

Use the Right CRM Reporting Tool to Populate Your Database



In many ways, having a successful business boils down to providing excellent customer service. When the customer is happy, it reflects well upon your brand. One of the tools successful businesses use to boost their brand is customer relationship management solutions (CRM).

If you are still using your CRM solely to manage your leads, you’re missing out on valuable portions of it that can help you keep your clients happy. The newer school of thought is to embrace every aspect of the CRM solution to boost your entire business. Specifically, when the CRM is properly utilized, companies can establish longer-lasting relationships by building up customer loyalty. The goal is to have your clients identify your brand on many different levels, and using CRM to help you gather and crunch the data that can help you achieve this.

Rather than spend an inordinate amount of time squeezing your CRM to get the most new customers you possibly can, take a moment to consider embracing the customers you currently have to offer them more; you’ll get more in return. For instance, when companies work really hard to bring in new clients, they’re essentially neglecting the opportunity to increase the loyalty of existing clients. When you use your CRM to capture data on your current customers, you can use that data to enhance your interactions and build products around what they want even before they know they want it; the data can be that insightful.

Your customer data reveals a wealth of information. If you have tracked a customer long enough, you’ll see a trend in their buying habits. You’ll know how long they wait between purchases, the average amount of the purchases, what products they gravitate toward and which ones they never even consider. You’ll even know what time of the month and what time of day they close on a sale. You’re basically learning their limitations, which can help you determine how to approach them for future sales. This limits the time you spend pushing a product on the wrong people while creating upsell opportunities for the right people.

The best way to gather this valuable information is often the least pursued by companies using CRM – the salesforce. Your sales reps are out in the field, talking to your valuable customers day in and day out. They have developed relationships with them and have key insights that can make a database extremely valuable. The problem is, most companies don’t give them the tools they need to send this information back to the company and into the database.

When armed with the right CRM reporting tools, your salesforce can send back sales reports from the field in a matter of seconds, preferably less than 60. If the solution is easy to use, you’ll see a consistent flow of sales reports populating your database.

Front Row Solutions knows how the salesforce works and what they are willing to use when it comes to reporting tools. We have designed our mobile app around those preferences and included email calendar integration so everyone can be on the same page and a follow-up is never missed. Check us out and see how we bring value to our clients’ sales department.