Today’s CRM solutions have evolved into sleek, highly usable creatures that can be tailored to the needs of a startup and expanded to suit growth. Choosing a CRM platform in the early days of your startup, however, is critical since the more the company grows, the more difficult it will be to implement a solution.

Some of the reasons why startups should use CRM solutions today.

1. Good customer relationship management plots a path to growth

Sustainable growth should be in the minds of every entrepreneur when starting a company. There simply aren’t enough hours in the day to employ the full arsenal of techniques that can be used to attract the marketplace’s attention. However, as you grow, your lists of contacts, prospects, partners, and investors will grow, and without a good CRM for startups, you’ll lose track. The last thing you want to do is present potentially potential customers with a confused, haphazard image.

If you keep some customer information in a billing filing cabinet, other information in the customer support department, some in the notes of the sales teams and the rest in the head of the business owner, you will undertake a lot of duplicated effort that will open you up to errors, wasted time and customer churn. CRM solutions providers will automatically capture and convert leads from your website into new CRM database contacts, and convert customer relationship management data into other documents such as quotes and invoices.

2. You can use CRM to spot trends

By the time opportunities are visible to people, it’s often too late to take advantage of them. Companies are overwhelmed with data, therefore it is difficult to see the pea under the mattress. Customer behaviors are also changing, so conventional wisdom from a decade ago often no longer works.

CRM for startups allow you to identify the leads that have the highest probability of being converted into sales, so you can understand where you should focus your efforts. They will also give you a better understanding of customer behavior so you can gain insight into which customers are likely to buy and which could be in danger of switching to your competitors.

3. You can save time on reporting

It takes about 23 percent of your time to report. They do not generate revenue directly but they are a necessary part of the job of every entrepreneur. Reduced time spent on tasks like reporting is more time spent innovating, communicating, and selling.

Typical reports contain far more information than you need, so finding and aggregating it is wasted time. Modern CRM solutions offer reporting tools that allow business owners to configure data to create a snapshot of preferred key performance indicators in any way they want.

You don’t have to be a large, established firm to take advantage of CRM ‘s benefits. Instead, consider CRM as a solid foundation on which to build your startup and help it grow and prosper.

 

Starting a business is exciting, but many businesses can find it difficult to gain momentum once they’ve opened their doors.

Startups planning to expand their businesses should have a clear, actionable plan to foster growth, and at the heart of that plan should be their customers. Customers are the bedrock of any business, and putting them at the center of your strategy is the first step to developing a prosperous operation.

Here are five key ways that our CRM can help your startup thrive.

Improve productivity

Having data scattered across various systems and channels is a recipe for disaster — gaining a complete picture, or a ‘single source of truth’, is essential to efficiently manage your business. A CRM for startups centralizes all of your customer and sales information, meaning your salespeople have access to everything they need to do great work, all in one place. In turn, a structured sales process will help generate more revenue and ensures that your company’s service is consistent.

Tap into new markets

Breaking into new markets is one of the fastest ways to grow your business. Huge shifts in the way customers communicate and consume means businesses are having to update their acquisition strategies. Expanding your customer base today often means positioning your company so that your target audience can find you when they need your products or services. To that end, social listening is the most effective tool in a startup’s marketing arsenal.

A good CRM will include the features you need to master all of these approaches, developing customer awareness, and establishing your brand in the process.

Offer great service

Once you’ve found your customers, you need to work on keeping them. Repeat business is the most cost-effective way of generating revenue — it’s always easier to sell to an existing client than to a new prospect. A CRM tells a story with your customers’ data. Each client’s history is detailed within the platform, tracking every interaction they’ve ever had with your company. Without a CRM, it would be near-impossible to keep abreast of all of these touchpoints.

Knowing exactly how, when, and why a customer has engaged with your startup will allow you to tailor your service and marketing to each of them individually. No customer wants to be bombarded with generic messages; a CRM for startups lets you create a bespoke sales process, eliminating any potential duplicate or crossover messaging, building trust, and creating a better customer experience.

Analyze, evaluate, improve

The majority of CRMs have extensive analytical and reporting capabilities, so you can get an accurate, real-time overview of your startup’s health.

A startup can only move forward by looking for opportunities for growth, and the best way to find those opportunities is to take a good hard look at what your business is doing now. With a centralized hub for all your sales and customer data, you can see where you’re excelling, and identify areas for improvement, as well as ensuring any future decisions you make are informed and data-driven.

CRM can also provide much-needed scalability when expanding your business. Having a software solution that can grow with you means you won’t be met by any frustrating shortcomings, or time-consuming upgrades when your business is trying to meet additional demand.