Custom CRM Solutions: 3 Ways to Tell Your Business Needs CRM

custom crm solutions 3 ways to tell your business needs crm

Many companies still rely on obsolete methods of managing their customer information. They use unorganized spreadsheets or even worse, they rely on their contacts they keep stored in their email software. If you and your staff are relying on these methods, it is time to consider a CRM (customer relationship management) solution.

Custom CRM solutions are more than just software.

They allow you to identify your customer’s needs and wants, where they are in the sales process, as well as helping to provide excellent customer support. CRM can also help you and your staff streamline sales, support, and marketing processes. Below are a few signs that your business is in need of a CRM solution.

Multiple Employees Speak with Your Customers

Chances are you have more than one employee who interacts with your customers. A fast way to annoy your customers is by having them explain their issue from the beginning each time they have to speak with a different person. Without a CRM, it is difficult for each employee to know what has already been addressed with the customer. With a CRM, your staff has access to the customer’s history, from their first interaction to their latest one.

There are Multiple Spreadsheets for Storing Customer Information

Spreadsheets are useful for organizing and storing data. However, they can get out of hand quickly when numerous people are editing the same spreadsheet. Not only that, what happens when your employees begin creating new spreadsheets for themselves that contains important client information? A CRM provides one central location for employees to update customer accounts.

Employees are Leaving and Customer’s are Left Hanging

Employee turnover happens for every business and it is devastating to lose sales and/or support representatives. They are often your customer’s primary point of contact. Once an employee leaves the company, it is difficult for their replacement to develop relationships with customers and prospects without important customer information. What happens if these details are in spreadsheets that cannot be located? A CRM keeps customer data in one place and the data is seamlessly transferred from one employee to another.

A custom CRM solution is an ideal choice for any business in order to develop better customer relationships. You and your employees are able to stay organized and focused on generating more sales. Your customers receive improved customer service and will continue to use your services.

Contact us today and learn how a custom CRM solution can benefit your business.

9 Questions to Ask When Considering Custom CRM Solutions

9 questions to ask when considering custom crm solutions

custom CRM solutions

Seriously, customer relationship management (CRM) software can make all the difference. Custom CRM solutions are bigger than they have ever been, and we’re not using hyperbole on this one. So the question then becomes: “Do you have it?” Or perhaps more importantly “How do I get it?”

Ask these NINE questions

What size business is the CRM software built for?

Custom customer relationship management (CRM) software built for small businesses has basic features at an affordable price. The advanced, pricier models are feature-rich and highly customizable. It’s best to go with custom CRM solutions that can grow with your business.

Is it really user-friendly?

The idea of custom CRM software sounds complicated, but it doesn’t have to be. If you can navigate a web browser, you can use this software. Also, look for a vendor that provides training for employees.

What features are available to help me with sales, marketing and other aspects of my business?

You need to know exactly what comes with your CRM system. Some features may cost extra. The features you want to look for are sales force automation, marketing automation, inventory management, multiple database, support, security management, and calendaring.

How customizable is the software?

Some custom CRM solutions only offer a few customizable features, while others are more sophisticated. Before you buy, it’s good to note how your business plans on using the CRM software. That way you’ll be able to customize the specific features you need.

How easy is it to integrate with other systems I already use?

The best option for compatibility and accessibility is an online CRM solution. This requires no software to download and can be accessed through a web browser. Not only do you want compatibility, but you want the perks that make life easier.

What limitations are there to using the software?

You need to know if you can work offline, if mobile apps are available, and other limitations of the software. These are not naysaying facets. It’s just good to know, what to expect.

What is the actual cost of the software?

Sure, there is the initial cost. But are there any additional fees? What if you need to add more users or want more features?

What type of security features does the CRM system have to protect my data?

Your custom CRM system should have a security management plan. Should disaster strike, you want to know you’re protected. An online CRM solution is safely stored, reliably hosted and securely backed up automatically.

If I need help, what type of customer service is offered?

Don’t just pay for the software and walk away. It’s good to have support included in the service. But if support isn’t offered at the start, what does that say about the company?

If you are on the fence about trying an online custom CRM solution, sign up for a free trial. Also, there’s a free PDF about CRM for you to look over.

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And if you have any other questions or concerns, contact us. We’re always happy to help you get started. Thanks.

4 Benefits of Custom CRM Solutions

4 benefits of custom crm solutions 2

custom CRM solutions Custom CRM solutions are geared towards increasing business productivity. With marketing technologies, you can take control over the customer lifecycle and increase your customer loyalty. Here are four benefits of using custom CRM solutions.

Increase customer engagement

CRM solutions provide sales representatives with more tools to do their job. Rather than relying on their memory and intuition when speaking with clients, they can refer back to their file.

The more data the software collects, the more you learn about individual clients. Your sales representatives can then use this information to increase customer engagement.

Establish customer loyalty

An important aspect of CRM solutions is alerting users when a customer returns. Since he’s now worth more to your business as a repeat customer, it’s up to you to establish customer loyalty.

You can do this by calling him personally, sending him an email, or even meeting him in person. The main thing is that you know you have to up your efforts to take advantage of the opportunity.

Improve communication between sales representatives and other departments

All departments are encouraged to use and refer back to CRM data. We’ve already said that sales representatives can use the information to increase sales, but marketers and customer service reps can also benefit from it. CRM solutions are most effective when used by the entire business.

Learn more about your target audience

And finally, CRM solutions can help you pinpoint the wants, likes, preferences, and habits or your target audience. You can detect certain patterns in their behavior and try to incorporate that aspect in your sales process.

Your marketing team can also use this information to create a more targeted campaign. The more you know about your target audience, the better you’ll be able to appeal to their needs.

To talk more about custom CRM solutions, or anything else, please contact us. Thanks.

Customer Relationship Management for Small Businesses

customer relationship management for small businesses

CRM diagram

What to Look Out for When Getting Started

Using Customer Relationship Management software for a small business is an essential tool now to help bring a better sense of organization to your customer information. When using a version that uses the cloud, you can make it work like a data center to gain updated information on your customers to bring better customer service. But can CRM become too complex for some companies?

It some regards, it can be, though that all depends on what you want it to do. In a company using CRM technology for the first time, it’s much better to go simple.

Why Simpler is Better

Forbes says that a good CRM software should always be simple considering you only need a few basic elements to make it work. These elements are  essentially basic information on customers, follow-up data and figuring what kind of monetary gain could potentially be made. Anything more complicated than that isn’t really necessary and can potentially confuse employees who have no experience with this software.

You also should make sure everyone in the company uses it as a background for every lead that’s been gathered. Everyone can be on the same page this way and bring a unity to the company in knowing which customer prospects are the strongest.

Utilizing Easy Integration

When seeking out CRM software, you have to make sure it’s going to integrate with your other software. Can it easily transfer information from the CRM software to another program without causing disruptions? Hiring a consulting IT firm can be your best bet in helping you decide if CRM can easily fit in with your company’s systems and style.

Enabling CRM for Mobile

Your biggest incentive for getting CRM software is training your employees to use it on mobile devices. This also brings a simplicity in its use, even if you have to test first to make sure the software is workable this way. Many of them are mobile compatible now, and using CRM data while on the go is helping to shape businesses for the better.

Particularly because CRM is a part of cloud technology, getting real-time reports on customers can also bring an advantage when you have a sales team on the go. It’s just one way to prove how the cloud is the new backbone to evolving businesses into marketing powerhouses.

We can help you bring CRM to your own business here at AE Technology Group. With our attention to understanding a business first, we’ll analyze to make sure any IT solutions we offer are the right fit for your company.

Contact us and we’ll introduce you to iceCRM, our top cloud-based CRM software that helps you organize only the data you really need to make the best marketing decisions.

CRM Customer Relationship Management Benefits

crm customer relationship management benefits

Business is all about customers, and not only developing but also maintaining a rapport with them. As such, a customer relationship management software developer is vital for any organization. There are major benefits that accrue from an effective CRM among them reduced costs and high customer retention, all which lead to an increase in returns.

With CRM software, information technology consultancy is basic. Many firms are struggling to get the right IT consultants to better their CRM and gain a competitive edge in the market. This is to ensure that a firm is using the right software and in the right manner. IT consultants are the people to turn to when systems crash. They evaluate the cause of failure and address it accordingly. This ensures continuity in businesses.

Hiring a CRM software developer saves businesses from closure resulting from data loss. These firms have disaster recovery strategies through which their clients can get all the data they had in their systems prior to the occurrence of a peril. They have data centers that provide a backup of vital company details, including list and contact information of prospects and current customers, suppliers and investors.

As Wiki has it, “the cloud is transforming IT infrastructure…” This new networking paradigm allows businesses to filter any content that is available for its web visitors. Partnering with a competent cloud hosting service provider ensures that an organization will get a cloud cluster, something that is vital when it comes to scaling and reconfiguring in order to address its project needs. With cloud networking, organizations are assured of connectivity to the Internet over any physical infrastructure, and this gives them unlimited access to their database.

Another service that CRM software developers provide is IT support. This is more or less like IT consultancy, and it also works towards ensuring that a firm’s IT systems run effectively. With this service they can install, move or even change any IT machinery in an organization. The highly trained and experienced engineers also provide anti-virus software to guarantee safety of systems. Information technology support ensures optimization of not only software but also hardware performance.

The above are just part of the list services that a customer relation software developer can offer you as a business. By the end of it all, the aim is to make the most out of CRM and achieve set objectives.

Contact us for more about the services we have in store for you.