Tag: Easy to use CRM Database

Utility Of CRM Database In Your Lead Management Software Tool For Business Growth

It is not only large companies that can benefit out of easy to use CRM software, lead management solutions can also be especially important for small and mid-sized organizations. This is because maintaining a CRM database in the right way is an excellent means for keeping track of your entire customer related information and processes and so it forms the basis of any customer relationship management system.

It is not only large companies that can benefit out of easy to use CRM software, lead management solutions can also be especially important for small and mid-sized organizations.
This is because maintaining a CRM database in the right way is an excellent means for keeping track of your entire customer related information and processes and so it forms the basis of any customer relationship management system.

64.2% of businesses view CRM tools as impactful on their bottom line - LinkedIn(2018) Click To Tweet

What is a CRM database?

To tell the truth, a CRM database in a lead management system does not vary much from the common database that we have in our smart phones and desktops.
Nevertheless, the main idea of buying database management software is to store data, which can be accumulated from different sources, so that all employees and departments in your organization can access the same information from a centralized repository that reduces the time spent in digging out information and diminishes errors in their workflow.

To maintain a proper customer database after you buy CRM , the database needs to have several characteristics to make it useful and functional.

Firstly, all the information in the database should be saved correctly without any spelling mistakes.
Secondly, there should not be any duplication of data since each customer data needs to be clearly identifiable with an ID as a unique identifier created by the CRM tool.

Why is CRM database in lead management software important for businesses?

Small and midsized organizations often struggle with the large amount of data, which are generated from all types of sources. For organizations, those who do not maintain customer database using easy to use CRM software, in worse cases have to save their data on individual computing systems and hard drives.
Hence, it is not surprising, under this circumstance, communication between the sales, marketing, billing and customer support departments can be a problem when data is not consistently saved for use of all departments. Therefore having a universal storage for customer-related information and other relevant business data can solve numerous problems in your company.

Here are some of the advantages of maintaining a well-maintained customer database in a CRM system:

Data cleansing made easy: Although in an ideal scenario data cleansing is not at all necessary, but the cleansing of data becomes much more complex when every department within an organization has their own set of data.

Hence using a centralized CRM database, helps in cleansing customer data, when it may be required, that can be universally supported by all working in the organization.

Useful system integration: Communication with the leads, prospects, and customers in day-to-day business is often done using a variety of software. However, when an easy to use CRM system is integrated with other business application tools like Outlook and Gmail for emails, QuickBooks for accounts, Evernote for note taking and others, all important information of your conversations with the leads or customers can be directly saved in the centralized database of the CRM system. Hence, when any employee in your organization wants to contact the same customers, they can access the readily existing data in the CRM system, which is the most cutting-edge business growth technology that significantly reduces the possibility of data redundancy in the organization’s customer database.

Data security: Concerning security CRM database, helps in centrally storing data, which remains safe and it is easier to manage the integrity of the stored data. Moreover, the privacy of the data is also enhanced in the CRM database, as companies have to comply with privacy regulations (like GDPR) when they deal with customer data that is stored in their servers.

Conclusion

Therefore maintaining a proper CRM database in your easy to use lead management software, not only aids in boosting customer relationships, but it also improves the ability to cross sell, improve your businesses’ efficiency in providing world-class customer support, increases team collaboration, boosts staff satisfaction that in return increases profitability and revenue by saving cost leading to business growth.

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The Definition Of Customer Success In This Era Of Big Data

Even though the realm of customer success is an explored territory for more than a decade, however, it is only in the recent years the technology-based industry has recognized the value of CSM (Customer Success Methodology) initiatives. This is because the combination of SaaS (Software as a Service) and Big Data has created a perfect breeding place for maximizing customer relationships with the help of customer success programs, which has nowadays become analytics-driven and quantifiable that makes predictive modeling of customers possible using an easy to use CRM software.

Even though the realm of customer success is an explored territory for more than a decade, however, it is only in the recent years the technology-based industry has recognized the value of CSM (Customer Success Methodology) initiatives along with the growth in adoption of easy to use CRM software.

2% increase in upselling leads to a 28% increase in valuation - Goldman Sachs Click To Tweet

This is because the combination of SaaS (Software as a Service) and Big Data has created a perfect breeding place for maximizing customer relationships with the help of customer success programs, which has nowadays become analytics-driven and quantifiable that makes predictive modeling of customers possible using an easy to use CRM software.

Moreover, in the SaaS space which is presently flourishing with enterprises and consumers, CSM has become most essential, since SaaS businesses model can only work if their customers are times and again attaining their business objectives successfully.

This is because, in the old software world, the cost of acquiring a customer was recovered over a single transaction when a contract was signed, and so vendors of software solutions were not concerned whether their offering(s) was making the customers successful and hence as long as organizations kept signing deals, ‘shelfware’ (software) kept on being sold, irrespective of how customers react on the shelfware solution once it is out of their hands.

But in modern times, shelfware(s) does no longer exist in this fast-paced SaaS world.

Therefore, if a company is not finding value from its SaaS purchases today, it can (and certainly will) terminate that contract at the end of the billing period- irrespective of whether the billing cycle is of a year, quarter or a month.

Hence today in the SaaS space while happy customers mean a growth in business, unhappy customers can similarly lead to corporate collapse which makes CSM extremely important for SaaS businesses.

Now what does customer success look like in the SaaS space and what are the factors that signal a data-driven, and successful CSM program?

Well, the answer to this question is right below:

Low Churn Rates

Customer Churn is almost a killer in the SaaS space, and therefore customer success programs must address this cursed phenomenon first and foremost for finding business growth.

This is because even a small reduction in the churn rate for any SaaS business can lead to exorbitantly high returns.

For example, even just a 2% reduction in churn can lead to 20% higher multiples in valuation.

Therefore, after implementing a CSM program the clearest indicator of its success and effectiveness can be measured by viewing lower churn rates which can be easily monitored using an easy to use CRM software.

High Upsell/Recurring Revenue

The very opposite of customer churn is not acquisition, but its ‘retention’ for SaaS businesses.

This is because it is a well-accepted fact that the cost of acquiring a new customer (especially an enterprise-level customer) can take around 18 months to recoup, and therefore existing customers in SaaS businesses become more and more profitable once you have overcome their acquisition costs.

Therefore to become successful in SaaS, the recurring revenue from your existing customers must be of greater value than any new customer for finding rapid business growth.

Moreover, CSM programs should also aim at up-selling and cross-selling to their existing customers, which will also translate to increased revenue in the long haul.

According to a report published by Goldman Sachs:

“2% increase in upselling leads to a 28% increase in valuation.” – Which is just one more reason why SaaS companies those that excel in customer success should focus on retention of their customer base and hence use easy to use CRM to aid in their CSM programs.

Change from “Firefighting Mode”

Although this is not a quantifiable metric, nevertheless this is an indicator of CSM done right which can usher a shift from “firefighting mode” to proactive customer management in the company.

Even though most CSM programs are conducted to fight some form of churn, but real customer success, when it is done correctly, does not just douse the fire, it also acts as a proactive department in the organization that squashes customer-facing problems before they escalate and loops the VOC (Voice of the Customer) into the organization in a meaningful way.

Shift in Organizational Behavior

Perhaps the biggest and the most important of impeccable CSM program is a radical change in the behaviors of the employees in any organization.

This is because customer success is not the domain of any single department in any company since it can impact other aspects as well of the organization, which includes lowering the cost of acquiring customers through advocacy.

According to certain studies just a 12% increase in brand advocacy can easily double an organization’s revenue and growth rate.

Conclusion

Therefore in a gist, companies that are seeking to attain true customer success for their businesses must adopt CSM throughout their establishment, since irrespective of whether any department is directly involved with the customers, in the end, everyone in your business benefits when customers continue to do business with your brand.

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Unbeatable KPIs And Sales Metrics For Modern Sales Teams

In the present day’s highly competitive business landscape, small businesses and startups find it increasingly difficult to compete without the ability to find data-driven decisions, and therefore, sales metrics and analysis provided by modern technology like best small business CRM software solutions make it easy. In 2019 it has been observed that most small businesses are moving to an all-in-one easy to use CRM solution like ConvergeHub and others because they provide marketing, sales, support and also accounting modules all on the same platform.

In the present day’s highly competitive business landscape, small businesses and startups find it increasingly difficult to compete without the ability to find data-driven decisions, and therefore, sales metrics and analysis provided by modern technology like best small business CRM software solutions make it easy.

In 2019 it has been observed that most small businesses are moving to an all-in-one easy to use CRM solution like ConvergeHub and others because they provide marketing, sales, support and also accounting modules all on the same platform.

Effective sales organizations are 81% more likely to be practicing consistent usage of a CRM or other system of record- Aberdeen Group Click To Tweet

Which means that all data and information from every department within the organization can now be stored in one central CRM database that in turn help increase the accuracy and volume of the data and metrics at your disposal, allowing businesses to make enhanced data-driven decisions.

Key sales metrics to measure and analyze

A converged all-in-one CRM software like ConvergeHub (which is also the most popular QuickBooks CRM solution in the US markets) help track loads of sales metrics, which we will cover now that modern sales teams should leverage and embrace to drive more sales resulting in growth of their businesses.

  • Month-over-month total sales

Keeping track of overall sales by reps, every month, is not a new concept, as sales teams have been doing it since ages and it is still one of the most important sales metrics even today.

Best small business CRM software like ConvergeHub provides robust CRM reporting that allows you to easily keep a tab on how each of your sales reps are performing with regards to sales, against their monthly benchmarks.

Using CRM data once you find that your rep’s total monthly sales volumes are plummeting, you can easily identify the reason behind the drop, and use the information in the CRM database to help improve your sales rep’s performance and get them back on course.

  • Sales funnel flow

Another true and tried sales metrics that are critical to the success of modern sales teams is sales funnel flow that helps managers to view which sales-reps are moving leads through the sales funnel at an expected velocity and those who are falling back.

The great thing is that as data collection and analysis takes place automatically in most best small business CRM software solutions like ConvergeHub, you can easily check your CRM’s dashboard and simply check how many leads each rep have in their funnel.

This kind of granular details allows sales managers to find bottlenecks at any particular stage of the funnel and if needed makes changes to fix the issue and allow leads to flow smoothly through the funnel once again.

  • Conversion rates

Sales reps receive MQL or Marketing Qualified Leads from the marketers, for those leads that have shown a propensity to buy and are therefore ready for sales outreach.

However, once the marketing teams pass an MQL to the sales, they can get converted into a customer or even fail to do so.

Hence, by measuring your businesses’ conversion rate by taking the number of leads that you have converted to customers and dividing it by the total number of Marketing Qualified Leads you have received from the marketers you can easily find if your conversion rate is low or at-par with your businesses’ expected growth.

Low conversion rate could signify that your marketing teams are qualifying the leads too early, or your sales reps are not effective at closing deals, which can be analyzed easily by the sales reporting features provided by most easy to use CRM software platforms like ConvergeHub.

  • Outreach activities completed

Every sales rep engage in prospecting outreach, which consists of sending cold emails, making cold calls, etc.

Logically speaking, the more prospects your sales teams meet, the more likely they are likely to convert them to customers.

This is the reason why it is important to track the number of cold prospect emails, and the number of cold calls, done by the reps and set an outreach benchmark and measure each rep’s outreach against that to identify those reps that require support to improve their efforts.

Using best small business CRM like ConvergeHub, your reps can use inbuilt sales email templates to expedite their email sending process, or use auto-dialer and pre-recorded voice mail drop features to make more calls in less time.

  • Opportunities lost

Finally, the last but another most important KPI that needs to be considered is to track the number of opportunities that got lost, as well as the ratio of opportunities created to the opportunities lost for each of your sales reps in your sales team.

Since, if you find that your reps are creating lots of new opportunities but are also losing most of them, you need to look into it and understand the reason behind that.

In most best small business CRM software platforms like ConvergeHub, you can easily customize the CRM’s dashboard that can help sales managers and reps check in daily and find the right insight they require at a glance.

As a pro tip, you can use the call recording feature found in most easy to use CRM software platforms to record each sales calls made by individual sales reps so that your managers can listen to them and spot the weak points in the rep’s approach and instruct them to improve upon those areas.

Conclusion

Although most of these sales metrics and KPIs may not be new, nevertheless these are all tried and true parameters to be analyzed that can help modern sales teams to thrive and help grow their business by using information collected in the CRM database to make strategic and informed decisions for increasing productivity and bring faster revenue growth.

Therefore, by constantly measuring sales metrics and KPIs, you will see more deals won with data in front to validate those winning decisions, without making unrealistic expectations by overlooking the information stored in your easy to use CRM database.

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