Advantages of Selling with CRM Software
In today’s fast-paced and increasingly remote world, we need to lean on technology to keep our businesses relevant. In sales and marketing, we need tools that allow us to handle the volume of opportunity that the economy presents to us. We take advantage of more opportunities when we have the tool kit necessary to handle several deals or projects at once.
When it comes to sales and marketing, the best performers across industries rely on customer relationship management software (CRM software) to handle deal volume. When well managed, CRM software can exponentially increase the rate at which opportunities turn into paid customers. Additionally, well-managed CRM software allows a salesperson or sales department to manage more deals at the same time. This means bigger opportunity pipelines with a greater chance that each opportunity will become a paying case for the company.
CRM software works by making it easier to input and access customer data then use that data to make decisions on what activities are more likely to win a deal or retain an existing client. To ensure that CRM software is being used optimally, sales and marketing teams need to make it central to their day-to-day activities using the platform as a dashboard to drive their decisions as they make calls, send emails, give presentations and negotiate terms.
Clear Benefits to the Bottom Line
There are a number of areas where CRM software allows sales representatives and marketing professionals to work more efficiently. These include:
- Consistent Follow-ups
It is said that a customer needs to have between 12 and 20 interactions with a brand before he or she commits to making a purchase. CRM software reminds sales reps to reach out periodically to individual prospects and even integrate with popular email marketing programs like MailChimp and Constant Contact to send regular marketing emails to prospects in the sales team’s pipeline. By using CRM software, a single sales professional can interact with hundreds or even thousands of prospective customers while making each prospect feel cared for and remembered. The sheer volume of daily “reach outs” made possible by a CRM ensures that many more prospects will get the interactions they need with a company’s brand to make a buying decision faster.
- Fast Data Retrieval
With hundreds or even thousands of prospects in a company’s universe of opportunities, it is a good idea to be as organized as possible. Electronic data gathering and retrieval need to happen smoothly and quickly. A prospect may call you at any time and ask to discuss a proposal or make a counteroffer. With dozens of conversations happening each day, how can we make sure that the data can be accessed quickly from anywhere on any device and made ready for discussion at any time? The answer is good CRM software with both desktop and mobile app versions that can pull up data while a sales rep is in the office or on the go.
- Pipeline Visualization
Decisions, decisions. What should a sales rep work on next to maximize the value of their time? The answer could be to bring in more prospects by networking, writing a proposal to a prospect whose needs are already known or negotiating a deal with a prospect who has already received a proposal. Good CRM software includes a screen view option that uses kanbans for each prospective deal showing new opportunities on the left and more mature opportunities on the right. As each prospective deal progresses from sales stage to sales stage, the kanban for it can be clicked and dragged to a new column to the right of where it was previously. A salesperson or sales manager can thus see where the biggest clusters of opportunity are in their pipeline at any given time. Using that information, they can determine what activities are likely to provide the highest return on time investment, allowing them to work with optimal efficiency.
- High Return on Investment
CRM tools are one of the highest value items in a sales department when compared to other tools. According to a study conducted by Dynamic Consultants in 2020, the value of CRM software for the average company is over $30 per dollar spent on the platform. While more complex CRM software such as Salesforce is costly to set up and maintain, many simpler systems like Pipedrive are easier to use for the end-user and often provide a better return on investment.
“Good CRM software includes a screen view option that uses kanbans…”
- Employee Satisfaction
Using the right CRM software makes salespeople happier, better organized and able to exceed their sales targets at a higher rate. Sales performers who “live in their CRM” report higher commissions and better closing rates than those who underutilize the software. Ultimately, what makes a salesperson happy is when they make their targets and yield the highest commissions they can, given their activity levels. The right CRM software brings this success within the reach of a determined sales performer and, in turn, increases their job satisfaction exponentially.
- Customer Satisfaction
Customers are happy when company representatives remember them, their concerns and the details of their case. More and more companies are using CRM software for customer service purposes (rather just for sales and marketing). This means that the customer “touches” continue after the sale, keeping customers happy long after they have made the decision to buy.
Pipedrive Implementation
Calipso Business Development is a proud implementation partner of the Pipedrive CRM solution for small, medium and enterprise-sized businesses. Highly effective right out of the box, yet customizable for any industry, Pipedrive is sales software made by salespeople for salespeople. It incorporates all of the elements that we at Calipso feel are necessary for a sales and marketing organization to establish a track record of success. Are you looking for CRM software for your organization, we can do a free analysis to see if Pipedrive would be right for you. Reach out to us today at (202) 681-9263 or via our contact form to learn more or get started.
