So many businesses, big and small, are now using a CRM to better engage with their customers and help retain their relationships with their clients. However, there are also many companies who choose not to use a CRM to manage their client database. Whilst each method may work well, the choice can make it hard to know which route to take.

So, we’re taking a closer look at the positives and negatives to using a CRM and discover whether it’s something you really would benefit from having.

Pros

Enhanced Customer Service

All your customers’ details, their needs and spending habits are all in one place. This allows you to quickly access all their necessary information as soon as they contact your company- with a click of a button all the information you need is right before your eyes. This helps with reducing wait times – both yours and your clients’. Your time is just as valuable as your clients and neither you or the customer should be waiting around.

Furthermore, all your clients activity is tracked, meaning you have a full insight into spending habits and usual activity from each of your clients. This allows you to interact with your customers on a more personal level – providing a better quality of service. Your clients can be categorised into their related sectors allowing for targeted marketing, segment analysis and re-marketing campaigns. For example, automotive companies won’t be receiving marketing mail about utility companies and so on.

All in all, CRM allows you to provide a more personal level of interaction with your clients, which means higher customer satisfaction. By highlighting anniversaries, usage warnings, unusual spending habits, this gives your client an impression that they are valued, leading to an increase in sales and higher customer retention.

Improved Reporting

In your monthly meetings the most frequently asked questions tend to include;

‘How are our quarterly sales forecasts looking?’

‘What’s in your current pipeline?’

‘How is our performance by each sales representative?’

By tracking all of this information and more in your CRM, you can gain the answers to the most common and even the most obscure questions with one click of a button and have instant reports and analysis ready for your boss.

The automated reports also remove the the increased chance of human error in creating figures. Due to the tracking, everything you need will be ready to go so no need to rush through your Friday afternoon making sure all your reports are up to date as your team and managers can access this whenever they deem necessary due to the fact it pulls from the existing information held within the CRM. This allows for reporting to be more accurate than ever before as well as being easy to use and accessible for those who need it.

Maximise cross-selling

A CRM can assist with cross selling- you can offer products to customers that compliment or improve the current products or services they are already using. This is enabled by the fact that all teams have access to the client database in CRM and the accounts within, therefore other teams can spot opportunities within different accounts and compare it with the pattern of spending and the products and services purchased, so they can clearly see which other products and services will work well and can be integrated with what they already have.

Improved Efficiency

Due to the fact all interaction with your client is tracked, CRM provides a very efficient way to store any communication between you and your customers. Every phone call, email, order, invoice, pending actions, tasks and notes are tracked and stored on your clients account in your CRM. Therefore all the information you need is easily accessible in seconds. No more random dated files in your computer drives and scrolling through until you finally found what you were looking for or if it was a case of scouring through spreadsheet after spreadsheet looking for the information you need, only to finally find out that someone else is in that file and you can’t edit the record as it’s ‘Read Only’.

CRM keeps everything contained and stored efficiently, but most of all, various teams i.e. marketing, sales, technical etc. can access the record at any time in order to amend or update as and when it is required.

Cons

The Human Component

With the installation of the CRM, all processes then become automated. Although this is easier for your customers and yourself, clients may potentially notice the lack of human interaction. Not everyone likes dealing with automated machines, or receiving obviously automated email campaigns.

Security Issues

Due to how CRM keeps all of your clients data in one primary place, this could be a potential threat to your business and any other business using a CRM for that matter. It all boils down to whether or not your data is encrypted and your system is extremely well protected. If there is any sort of breach within your system every ounce of client data instantly becomes compromised, therefore it’s essential for backup systems and encryption safeguards to be in place. This is especially more relevant with the upcoming GDPR – however a CRM system is much less likely to be affected by a leak than a spreadsheet for example.

Technical Wizardry

For your CRM to run as smoothly as possible, you will need excellent technical support along the way throughout your usage. Not all web-based CRM providers are able to implement this and some that can provide it, will charge a higher price. Also, if the data is not backed up regularly, you will risk losing everything within your CRM system.

Sensitive Data Could Be At Risk

There have also been instances where fraudulent web hosting firms have been known to either use or sell on sensitive client information. So picking the right CRM provider and purchasing the correct package with excellent technical support is paramount.

Why Your Business Needs a CRM

In conclusion, a CRM is a wise choice. There are pros and cons with every business decision but CRM makes your business more efficient and can substantially increases your revenue.

You need a CRM because all businesses, big and small, are looking for competitive advantages within a varied client environment.
You need to engage the interest of customers, especially customers who seem to be ignoring the old methods we used to market and sell to them.
You need a CRM in order to accurately and quickly predict you revenue, whether it be by week, month, quarter or the year.
You need CRM to alleviate risks.
You need CRM to contribute towards continuous improvement.
You need CRM in order for your business to thrive.

Already have a CRM and want to maximise your use of it? Check out our CRM solutions here.