Competition has exploded today and business are into bandwagon era where every business think, that they require a crm software
Businesses – startups and enterprises alike – are looking for ways to get an edge in the market. The simplest way to get this edge is to get more customers. This advice is as simple as being told to eat food when we’re hungry. The question for most businesses is, “how to get more customers?”
One tool that can enable businesses to achieve this goal is a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software. Optimal use of CRM software can double your revenue and profitability without additional resources.
Yet, a lot of businesses believe that they don’t need CRM tools. This is visible not only in a large number of companies that still haven’t adopted the tool, but also its poor adoption rate within many companies.
Yes, there are certain types of companies that don’t need CRM software. In fact, their lives are so simple that they don’t need any technology. If one or more points apply to your business, you’re one of them.
1. You see customers as a means to an end.
Most businesses have razor-sharp focus on their competitors. They rarely focus on what the customer needs, because customers merely are a means to grab more market share and all they want are discounts.
Such business leaders believe that they already know what their customers want without talking to them, and that they don’t need a CRM tool to service their customers better.
But you must remember one thing: What we think is the truth today is actually a truth for around 10-15 years ago. There’s a huge difference between what customers need today and what they needed 10 years ago.
Think about yourself. How many tools you use today are the same as they were 10 years ago? Your smartphone is faster than the computer which sent the first rocket to the moon. Your laptop has more processing speed than the supercomputers of the 90s. Then can you expect customers to want the same things as 10 years ago?
Customer perceptions and behaviors have undergone massive change in the last decade. For this reason, you’ll find that products that were your cash cows may now have turned into laggards. Customers that were previously your most profitable ones may not be buying from you anymore. Your sales team is spending too much time on the field with no results to show.
And you’ll not get to know about any of this until its tool late.
2. You don’t care about customer service.
This is an extension of the previous point. If you don’t care about what your need, you won’t care about servicing them.
Sure, you might say that your business wants to delight customers, that you’re already providing a superior customer experience. But if actions don’t follow your words, then customer service is an afterthought for your business. And you don’t need a CRM solution.
But you must remember what this means. It means walking away from money and growth. Estimates state that in the US alone, companies lose over $62 billion in revenue because they cannot provide a good customer experience.
The most profitable customers are repeat customers. And you can only make customers purchase from you again (and even share referrals) if you deliver on your promise of quality in product and service. Otherwise you’ll spend all your resources in acquiring (and losing) new customers.
3. You’re satisfied with the status quo.
Let’s imagine that you have a handful of well-paying customers, business is steady, there is little scope for improvement, and the management is happy with how things are.
This sounds like a dream. Why would you need a CRM solution to interfere with a business that’s already working so well? And you’re right. You don’t need any new technology to rock the boat.
But what will follow is complacency and a “false” state of security. “False” because new and existing competition is always snapping at your heels, waiting to disrupt you. This complacency will frustrate high-performing who will leave the firm, and the ones who will stay back are the low-performing ones that you don’t need. You will not be able to track how accountable people are, or whether they’re doing any work at all or getting paid simply for doing nothing.
Then one day, your existing customers will leave because they find a better option in the market. What will you do then?
4. Your product is simple.
If your business sells less than three products that fulfill simple needs of customers, you might feel like you don’t need a CRM solution.
But not using a CRM tool will lead to two drawbacks.
One, you do not have simple tools to nurture new leads and convert them into customers. Alongside, sending out promotional messages to existing customers is difficult.
Two, you’ll have to wait for customers to find you. In a world where businesses are fighting over every scrap and proactively searching for customers on social media, in exhibitions, online and more, waiting for customers to come to you is a self-destructive strategy.
Summing Up
A CRM software keeps you informed about customer buyer behavior, keeps your people accountable, and gives you deep insights into how you can improve your business.
Without technology, you cannot function like a business of the 21st century. And a business that lives in the past cannot succeed, or even survive, in the present and the future.
5 Comments
Anonymous
Visitor Rating: 5 Stars
Ujjawal Dubey
Absolutely perfect.
CRM will be helping as an assistant to keep both ‘the customers and the business’ updated.
21st century is going to be the era for CRM
Parag Apte
Today no one can afford not to have a system for monitoring your customer behaviours and way you deal with them irrespective of what industry you belong to…
Rajendra Khale
Very appropriate!
You might not be using CRM for whatever reasons but your competitors are; and that puts them at advantage.
Appreciate your innovative ways to create an awareness about CRM in general! Keep it up !
Pragnesh Gandhi
It was not a couple of minutes but I read it thrice. Amazing, superb and must for every sales person.
Waiting for more to enlighten us .
EVIE JOHNSON
Well said! but CRM software offers the best solutions for any type of business by streamlining and synchronizing its separate departments into one unified, precise and easily handled software system.