It seems like an obvious question, but there are still plenty of companies that aren’t making the investment. Yours might be one of them.
That investment is CRM, or Customer Relationship Management, and a study by Nucleus Research reveals that for every $1 invested in CRM, the average return is $5.60.
That’s a 560% increase!
If you could put a dollar in a machine and have it spit out $5.60, wouldn’t you do it?
What if that machine was CRM?
If you’d make that investment in a heartbeat, why wouldn’t you make the investment with CRM right now, no questions asked?
Probably because CRM is a much more complicated investment than what those numbers provide.
The numbers aren’t wrong, by any means, but the way to assure that your investment reflects those numbers is harder than stuffing one government-printed bank note into an oversized beverage dispenser and seeing more government-printed bank notes coming out the other end.
In order to make the investment work, you have to do a few things:
1. Find the right CRM.
Without a doubt the most important step, finding the right CRM will affect either negatively or positively every other step after it; it won’t ever have a neutral effect.
The CRM will either work for your team or it won’t, and a lot of that has to do with how simple the software is to personalize, set up, and use daily.
Try to find a simple CRM that will allow you to use your own, existing process, and provide all the tools you need for digitizing and making your process as efficient as possible.
2. Implement the CRM and train your team. Nothing’s worse on a CRM investment than a poor implementation because of a lack of effort or organization.
CRM is supposed to help you get organized, but it can’t organize everything for you. The software provides the schematics, you just plug in what you need and teach your team how to take advantage of the software benefits.
There is generally plenty of help offered to help you be successful with your CRM implementation. Phone and email support, documentation, training videos, getting started guides, and more.
Take advantage of all of these materials and provide ongoing training and help for your team to make sure they’re getting the most out of the CRM so you get the most out of your investment.
3. Use the CRM consistently and to its fullest.
Being trained on your CRM isn’t enough to get that 560% (or, potentially, more) increase.
You’ve gotta use it every day and in every way.
Now, some features just won’t be necessary; if those features don’t work for you, you can leave those out.
But be sure you discover every nook and cranny, making sure that you are well versed in the features offered and that your team is taking full advantage of the power of the CRM.
Every feature that you employ to save time is saving you money, making your investment more worth it every day.
4. Review and evaluate performance, make goals to improve.
A CRM is almost never a set it and forget it deal. You have to review it’s effectiveness, decide if the process you set up is still proving successful, or if you can test a tweak that might make a positive difference.
Is your staff into it? Is there anything they need to get trained on?
Does a team member have a suggestion on how to improve the process in their daily routine? Sometimes not being out there on the front lines means you are out of touch and a first-hand testimony can help you find a better way, improving morale and productivity simultaneously.
If the CRM stars are aligned, it’s like printing money
We’ve all wanted that magic mint that prints money from the comfort of our own home.
Effective use of simple cloud CRM is that magic mint, allowing us a huge return on a pittance of an investment.
