If You Are Not Doing This with Your CRM You Are Losing Money

CRM system is a powerful tool that streamlines customer service and drives sales. But, like any tool, it must be used correctly to be effective. Here are some best practices for getting the most out of your CRM system. Keep reading!

Train Your Team
Establish CRM Rules
Implement Data Standard
Keep Data Updated
Use CRM Data Mining
Customize Everything
Choose the Right CRM System
Conclusion

Train Your Team

Surprisingly, getting a team to use a new tool may not be so easy. Sometimes, team members don't want to start using a new system, especially if they're comfortable with the old way of doing things. They might see the CRM system as extra work, something that takes away their freedom, or something that's confusing and annoying. They might also not feel like learning new things or changing how they work. This is why you can't just start using a CRM — first train your team.

Start by providing information about the CRM system, so that everyone understands its purpose. Then, create a comprehensive onboarding program with step-by-step instructions and regular review meetings. This will help ensure that everyone is on the same page when it comes to using the CRM system.

Continuous training is also important — make sure your team members are regularly updated on new features and how to use them. Provide online resources or one-on-one training sessions, so everyone knows how to use the CRM system most effectively.

And of course, don't forget to provide your team with self-service resources. You might even create a chatbot for internal use that will answer frequently asked questions.

Establish CRM Rules

CRM rules are guidelines that define how your team members should use the CRM system — when and how to enter, update, and delete customer data, how to communicate with customers through various channels, how to assign and manage tasks and activities related to customers, etc.

It all starts with setting CRM goals. Then you should assign roles. Figure out who will use the CRM, how often, and for what jobs. Give your team members roles based on their job and what they need from the CRM. Also, decide who will look after the CRM system.
You should set up rules for how to collect, store, and use data in the CRM. Create guidelines for how to talk to customers, like through email, social media, or over the phone, and how often to contact customers and what kind of tone to use — yes, such stuff also relates to the rules for CRM use.

While creating CRM rules, keep in mind that CRM software should be a useful tool for your team, not a source of stress. So make sure your CRM workflow and all the CRM-related procedures are as simple as possible.

Also, The Right CRM Manager Makes All The Difference

Implement Data Standard

A data standard is like a rulebook for how to gather, save, organize, and use information in a CRM system. It helps make sure your data is complete, consistent, and trustworthy. Data standard also helps prevent mistakes, repeated information, and mismatched data, making it easier to analyze and report on the data.

For example, you may specify the data sources, formats, fields, labels, and categories that you will use for your CRM system. Don't forget about data quality criteria, such as completeness, accuracy, consistency, and timeliness that you will use to evaluate your data.

Keep Data Updated

Your data ages and expires. Because people change jobs and industries, move and retire, get married and divorce. Life never stops! For this reason, you should update your contact data more or less frequently than 90 days. Otherwise, you can't be sure your email messages aren't going to an unused email account. You might think a potential customer ignored your email, but they might have been interested if they had received it.

Also, avoid data loss from tech issues and mistakes. Don’t be lazy when it comes to backing up your data in different locations.

Use CRM Data Mining

When you are digging through all the customer information in your CRM system to find useful trends — that is CRM data mining. This way you can learn more about your customers, group them, guess what they might do or like in the future, and make your interaction with them more personal.

There are many ways to find these trends in CRM data mining: association, classification, clustering, sequential analysis, anomaly detection, and regression. Sounds complicated, right? That's why you should read this post to know more: Unlock Massive Sales with a CRM.

Customize Everything

Out-of-the-box CRM is useful, but it can do more if you customize it according to your needs. Keep in mind that you should adapt the CRM tool to fit your needs, not adjust yourself to fit the tool! Customization involves changing the layout of the interface (if possible), creating new fields for specific data points, integrating with other software, setting up automated workflows, etc.

Choose the Right CRM System

When choosing a CRM system, pay attention to these features:

Ease of use — its interface should be simple enough so that even people who are far from technology, but talented in other areas, can fully use all the functionality they need.
Collaboration — the software should allow your team members to work together with the same databases.
Integration — the system should easily integrate with other marketing applications that you use. And, if necessary, allow you to integrate other applications using the API.

Our TruVISIBILITY CRM has all these advantages. It is the core of the TruVISIBILITY Suite — an all-in-one marketing software platform. This means that CRM integrates with other online marketing applications that make up the platform, so you can not only manage your customer data, but also create rule-based and AI-powered chatbots, build websites with blogs, and launch email marketing campaigns.

TruVISIBILITY CRM is extremely user-friendly, so your team won't spend much time on training. Plus, it allows them to work together through access to the same applications and databases.

Conclusion

Now you know that using CRM effectively goes beyond just storing customer data. It's about keeping that data alive and updated, mining valuable insights, and customizing the system to fit your business needs. Focus on these areas, and turn your CRM into a powerful tool that drives sales, improves customer relationships, and propels your business forward!

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