Which business is not growth bound and which business does not have its own share of big data to handle? With the concentration of all things online and the visibility of so many opportunities, big data has become a living, breathing part of every business and its lifecycle. Hence the need for CRM. So what is a CRM platform really? Let us have a quick look to understand this better!
- Customer Relationship Management: When we talk to a customer or when we register a grievance or a suggestion that our customer may have had, what happens to the information? And what happens the next time a customer calls and is faced with a new person at our business end – someone who may have no knowledge of this previous interaction? Can you understand how frustrating it may be for the customer and for the sales or call centre executive at the other end to find this information and then act on it? Now this is only one example. There are many others. For example, when you have on boarded a new customer, would you have your team members manually send out each welcome email with the details like name and others details of the customer? These are just a few examples that can make your scratch your head. So what is the solution? Well, this is where CRM steps in!
- Information Management: The very first job of a CRM platform or a software is to manage the information of the customer. This pertains to the contact information as well as the information and records of the interactions that the business may have had with the customers. In the database that is built for the individual customer and then integrated with the various functions and tasks that can propel the system to call up this information, you get the benefit of seamless information management which can lead to further benefits for you and your business growth.
- Team Bandwidth and Collaboration: When it comes to the collaborative efforts within the team as well as freeing up the team bandwidth so that they can take their focus away from monotonous tasks and instead focus on more creative and engaging tasks to move the conversion to the end of the sales pipeline, a CRM tool is your best bet. Not only can you avoid duplication and a complete miss of tasks, but you can also free up the time of the team members so that they are able to recognize and turn their attention to the opportunities that look promising enough. This also leads to better collaboration within the team since each task is so well defined and demarcated that there is no confusion about who is to do which task and at which prompt by the CRM software at play.
- Stay in Your Budget: When you are a growing business especially in the year 2020 and onwards, you would want to maximize each opportunity that comes your way, from any part of the globe. In fact, having a presence globally is one of the foremost things that you would want to build as a part of your growing business ideals. So what would you do. Unfortunately, not all small and medium sized businesses have the bandwidth or the budget to do that – in fact very few actually do. So, it would be best to use a CRM system that can take care of a number of tasks so that you are handsfree and you pay only for that one system or software instead of paying a number of employees and softwares to do the same number of tasks. And needless to say, this will also give you a more professional presence as you go about your job of building a more credible and professional looking brand online.
- Marketing Automation: What the modern CRM software does is that it integrates all your marketing functions along with the CRM so that information can seamlessly meet effort when it comes to driving reach and engagement for your business to grow in all quarters.
So what would be the top 5 CRM platforms that you should consider when you are setting up your business and making new business goals for the year 2020? Here’s a quick look!
- EngageBay: This is one of the top CRM software and there is a good number of reasons behind its status. To begin with, did you know that EngageBay has won a number of awards and has been ranked as one of the best in its segment, with over 12000 satisfied customers who come back time after time for their CRM and marketing automation needs? EngageBay does not merely take care of the CRM side, but it also integrates marketing automation across a number of areas including email marketing, SEO, social media and much more so that information, leads and marketing can all meet in a single affordable pricing model for you and your team!
- HubSpot: HubSpot is one of the oldest CRM platforms that has evolved in the past ten years and it has been known as a pioneer in this space. With time and competition from other upcoming CRM systems, it has evolved even further to including marketing automation for its customers. Yet, the challenge for many small business remains the pricing model which does not make it affordable at all.
- SendinBlue: SendinBlue is one of the oldest email marketing automation services that also brings in a careful integration of all things CRM. Yet, this is not one of the top tools for the simple reason that it does not cover other aspects of digital marketing like social media and others. So a business would have to buy into a number of platforms for all these individual needs, which would make it quite expensive in the long run.
- PipeDrive: This is another CRM platform which brings in an email element for marketing automation.
- FreshSales: This CRM platform provides analytics that run across your various campaigns to test reach and engagement.
In keeping with the above analysis, it would be safe to say that EngageBay is one of the best platforms for CRM since it seamlessly integrates a number of features in an affordable pricing model.
