Today’s CRMs are an essential component of any successful business. The relationships you have with your customers and your ability to adapt to their changing needs are what informs the way forward. A good CRM makes it all possible, giving you and your team the tools needed to manage key relationships at scale.
Choosing the right CRM is just the beginning. Planning its implementation is critical! Without a well-thought-out roadmap, you might wind up in the ditch.
Switching To A New CRM: Things To Consider
CRMs are among the most powerful and complex business platforms available today. Part software, part business strategy, it’s a core solution that drives significant ROI.
But it’s not as simple as just downloading the software and adjusting a few settings. Statistically, almost three-quarters of all CRM implementations fail, and it’s usually because of poor adoption. Your effort must be measured and measurable, with milestones to indicate progress, and this is where your roadmap comes in.
Why Switch? The Benefits of CRM
Just about every company of every size uses a CRM. Today, third-party cloud SaaS applications dominate, creating new layers of complexity that require agile, integrated solutions. As such, it’s no longer a viable approach—especially in the enterprise—to think that teams can operate or grow without a modern CRM.
Today’s CRM offers the following benefits:
- Improved Customer Relationships. From nurturing leads to onboarding, retention, and loyalty, your CRM can help you manage and automate every aspect of the customer journey. A CRM helps you retain good customers and reduces churn with features like automated customer support and behavior tracking so you can better understand and solve your customers’ problems.
- Democratized Information. Detailed customer information is available to all team members, enabling sales and marketing alignment and improving communication at every touchpoint. For example, if a customer has interacted with the company’s social channels, phone support, or other team members, the CRM keeps records of those interactions, informing efforts going forward.
- Increased Productivity. CRM automation enables quality interactions at scale. Team members can accomplish more in less time, potentially serving more customers and sending value back to the bottom line. Repetitive tasks are automated, ensuring that no leads or tasks fall through the cracks.
- Improved Internal Communications. When employees are connected to a centralized platform, it is easier for them to work together towards a common cause. Each team member has access to previous customer conversations, enabling an omnichannel customer experience.
- Powerful Analytics. CRM software contextualizes data, delivering actionable insights and metrics that are easy to understand. Track your marketing campaigns and apply insights on customer demographics, click-through rates, and other interactions to inform and improve future efforts.
- Improved Segmentation. Segmentation is essential to the success of your campaigns, but when you’re managing hundreds or thousands of customers, it can be a little overwhelming. A CRM automatically segments your customers based on the criteria you set.
Of course, these are just a few of the benefits the right CRM delivers. If you can define what aspects are most important to your organization, narrowing down the field of potential CRMs will be that much easier.
The Challenges: Plan for Success
One of the most significant barriers to CRM success lies in onboarding. Choosing the right CRM for your needs is the first step, but implementation is just as important. Ultimately, the solution you decide on should be able to grow with you, whatever the future has in store.
Working with an experienced CRM implementation team like WayPath reduces costs and accelerates time-to-value. We work closely with you to understand your specific needs, goals, and trajectory for the future, leveraging a broad range of experience across multiple platforms to ensure a successful CRM implementation. Together, we’ll develop a roadmap that gets you exactly where you want to be so that you can enjoy all the benefits of today’s CRM technology.
Reach out today to learn more. We’d love to show you how we can help.
