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AI / Big Data

Importance of CRM Systems for Modern Businesses

The modern day organisation faces a major concern that its predecessors did not: massive, widespread globalisation. Large businesses are past the days where their sole customer base existed in their home country; in order to stay competitive, bigger companies must expand overseas while still managing their customer base on their home turf effectively.

Blitzscaling

This shift towards global markets turns out to be much more difficult than it seems. How do you operate in markets with different norms and values than the one in which you’re comfortable? What is the best way to balance both domestic and global business opportunities? How do companies manage a massive customer base in a way that enhances customer satisfaction and retains their support?

To stay relevant in a market that never stops changing, companies must master the skill of “blitzscaling”. This term was coined by Robert Hoffman to describe the process of achieving rapid growth in large global markets, and is a tactic utilised in some of the world’s most admired companies (Sullivan, 2016). These companies must move fast, because if they fall behind in this new globalised economy, they are already beaten by potential competition from anywhere in the world. As the world becomes an increasingly global market, this competition is only intensified as it becomes easier to operate in any locale.

Importance of CRMS

In order to stay alive in a hyper-competitive market that expands globally, customer relationship management (CRM) platforms were created to effectively maintain customer data. Although these platforms began as simple programs to control marketing communications, they have evolved to become a complex, cloud-based approach that are used by 87% of businesses (Taylor, 2018). The modern-day CRM provides companies with a single place to store all customer information, allowing for an easier way to view and analyse customer data even when the market becomes increasingly complex.

Although there are seemingly hundreds of benefits to a comprehensive, cloud-based customer management system, there are three major advantages of employing CRMs, especially for large businesses.

  1. Streamlines data processing

Institutions have traditionally spent large amounts of employee time collecting and managing information associated with business activity, such as filling out forms or generating sales reports. Customisable CRM platforms eliminate these tasks by automating everyday processes. Employees can then concentrate more time and effort on creating new customers and maintaining current ones. On top of that, automated CRM systems protect against accidental human error in data entry and ensure that all information is stored in a standardised format.

  1. Creates a comprehensive view of customers

By creating a single spot for employees to track customer information, a business can holistically understand customers by analyzing data from various departments over time. Instead of using separate, individual systems to haphazardly record customer information, cloud-based CRM systems develop a sole location to store extensive data that all relevant users can access. Additionally, this comprehensive look at the customer serves as a golden source of data that can be used throughout an organization’s lifetime. This thorough look at a client allows businesses to generate a more informed approach to their interactions and prevents employee misinformation.

  1. Increases speed of sales processes

Businesses can close sales faster by employing structured sales processes through CRM platforms and tracking the sales lifecycle. Companies that implement structured sales processes see 28% higher revenue growth (Jordan & Kelly, 2018), and tracking this process through a CRM system lets businesses closely monitor this vital information. By further customising your sales process over time in a CRM platform, you can determine the most effective action course and apply it to any customer you are working with.

Conclusion

As markets become more interconnected and customers become too numerous to effectively self-manage, CRM systems are increasingly necessary to manage client transactions. Although these CRM platforms have endless benefits, they are especially helpful in automating everyday tasks, providing a holistic view of customers, and speeding up sales processes. In a global market characterised by high competition from around the world, CRM systems help businesses manage a large number of customer interactions and continue making sales.

Lexi Sisko is currently attending the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, pursuing majors in both Economics and Sociology. Her interests include the intersection between economic policy and social repercussions, the disruption of financial technology on brick-and-mortar financial institutions, and the future of AI.

Image: Pexels

References:

Jordan, J., & Kelly, R. (2015, January 21). Companies with a Formal Sales Process Generate More Revenue. Retrieved from Harvard Business Review: https://hbr.org/2015/01/companies-with-a-formal-sales-process-generate-more-revenue

Royal, M., & Stark, M. (2015, February 19). The most admired companies are more global than ever. Here’s why. Retrieved from Fortune: http://fortune.com/2015/02/19/wmac-globalization2-0/

Salesforce. (n.d.). The 6 Biggest Benefits of CRM. Retrieved from Salesforce: https://www.salesforce.com/hub/crm/benefits-of-crm/

Sullivan, T. (2016, April). Blitzscaling. Retrieved from Harvard Business Review: https://hbr.org/2016/04/blitzscaling

Taylor, M. (2018, October 29). 18 CRM Statistics You Need to Know for 2019. Retrieved from Super Office: https://www.superoffice.com/blog/crm-software-statistics/

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