How Customer Relationship Management Helps in Business Growth

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is a set of policies and strategies employed by businesses

...

to attract, convert, and retain customers. Entrep...

How Customer Relationship Management Helps in Business Growth
LETHABO MOODLEY Image
LETHABO MOODLEY
Updated: Thursday 20th of January 2022
Evaluation

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is a set of policies and strategies employed by businesses to attract, convert, and retain customers. Entrepreneurs know that customer retention is way more expensive than acquiring new customers. Thus, they rely on CRM software to convert their existing buyers into loyal customers who keep coming back for repeat orders.

Upselling to existing customers requires offering them a unique and special experience that allows them to trust the brand and spend more on its products. Thus, aspiring entrepreneurs looking for a business for sale in South Africa must understand the significance of CRM tools to boost their sales. As the name suggests, CRM aids in maintaining lasting relationships with buyers to boost revenue. So, here is everything you need to know about the use of CRM for business growth.

1. Enhance Customer Satisfaction

Customers are looking for unique and personalised experiences that make them feel special and significant. A CRM system allows the staff to identify the customers who are engaging with the brand on social media. It helps them to connect with the buyers and answer their queries without any delay. Customers expect instant communication, and if they don’t get their grievances addressed on time, they can leave behind negative comments and reviews, which can tarnish the image of the brand.

Fast and effective communication ensures the satisfaction of the customers, and CRM helps in achieving this feat. It also helps in understanding the nature of the complaint and bringing in the right people to offer an appropriate response. When the brand provides the desired support to the buyers, they are motivated to stay loyal to it because of the experience.

2. Improve Marketing and Sales Efforts

The goal of marketing is sales, and thus, they need to work together to synchronise the efforts. A CRM system allows the two departments to collaborate and share their ideas, data, and research to create winning campaigns and drive sales. It ensures consistency of the messaging and standardisation of service procedures throughout the buying process.

The tools reduce the time and effort spent in coordinating by storing all the customer information and interactions in records that can be retrieved by the teams later. With cloud-based CRM software, employees can access data from anywhere and at any time, and it keeps getting updated in real-time. Thus, everyone has the latest data and can use it to improve their customer interactions.

3. Automation of Repetitive Work

The pandemic has made businesses move towards automation as it reduces dependency on manual labour and eliminates the risk of errors. CRM systems help in automating time-consuming processes and make the function efficient and productive. The software sends reminders about following up with clients and sending emails on special occasions. It includes features like chatbots that help in sending an instant response to the customers and create workflows for sending quotes, tickets and recording customer information.

The best part about these tools is that they help in measuring the performance of the customer service efforts. It helps in the creation of dashboards that can be customised for the business to identify its strengths and weaknesses. Thus, the business can grab the opportunities and get rid of the redundant processes.

4. Getting Referrals and Leads

Customer Relationship Management helps in maintaining relationships with buyers who have shown interest in the products and purchased them. The brand can stay in touch with them to maintain visibility through various platforms like emails, SMS, in-store promotions, phone calls, social media interactions, etc. Offering discounts and freebies are an integral part of building their trust and devotion. Customer loyalty programs take the relationship a step forward and convert them into brand ambassadors.

They provide positive reviews and testimonials that help in generating more leads. In addition, they bring referrals to the business by promoting the brand through word-of-mouth publicity. New customers depend on peer reviews, and when they get the seal of trust from an acquaintance, friend, or family member, it makes them try the product.

5. Reduce Spending

With the data collected through CRM, the business can avoid wasteful marketing activities as they know how to reach customers. They can have effective two-way communication with them to make sure their needs are met so that they come back with repeat orders. The data accumulated from performance measurement helps in eliminating redundant tasks and boosting sales.

Automation reduces the need to hire more people for customer relationship management and data mining. The scalable and customisable software makes it easy to update and renew the procedures. It can be used by a remote working workforce, which further reduces the need to have an office set up and helps in enhancing coordination among teams that ensures zero miscommunication or mistakes. With such efficiency, it is impossible to waste the business capital.

6. Improve Business Services

The data collected through calls, messengers, emails, and face-to-face interactions with customers helps in understanding their needs and buying behaviour. The feedback received from the clients aids in improving the products and services that help in staying ahead of the competition and creating a unique selling proposition. The use of the CRM software further aids in organising and streamlining all the data and using valuable insights to refine the operations and offerings.

When the business owners are aware of the specific wants and needs of the customers, they can better serve them and enhance their performance. It helps in boosting active communication with the customers and engaging with them to make the most of the relationship.

7. Boost Profits

Without customer relationship management, the staff will not be able to focus on individual customers and their needs. They may forget to follow up, which can reduce the chances of upselling, cross-selling, and referrals. The CRM software has been proven to increase lead generation, sales, productivity, customer satisfaction and revenue.

Customer defection rate goes down considerably with the use of the tool as the buyers are satisfied with the service, product quality and incentives provided by the brand. They help in bringing more customers to the business, which increases sales and boosts profits in addition to the sales generated by the existing buyers.

Conclusion

A customer relationship management system helps in supporting the clients through their journey and aids in problem-solving. Thus, entrepreneurs looking for a business for sale in South Africa can use it to grow their venture and make the most of its features.

Author Info
Lethabo Moodley

A business expert, Lethabo Moodley is a management consultant who has been working across domains since 2005. His rich experience includes a Masters degree in business administration from the prestigious Gordon Institute of Business Science and Doctor of Business Leadership degree from Unisa Graduate School of Business Leadership. He has been actively working as a consultant with the biggest firms in South Africa and his contribution in the growth of these organisations is considered invaluable. He has saved a lot of small businesses from going bankrupt and has renewed the lost success streak of the big fish in the market. Business2Sell is delighted to have him onboard for his insightful blogs. 

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