MS Dynamics CRM – Does it really help Turbo Charge Your Salesforce and Marketing?

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Few days back I was just thinking over, as to if the CRMs were so very effective at driving sales, and so the commission attached to it, why does every sales person detests it? It is one of those tools that makes everyone’s job a lot more easily and hence empowering them to earn more in form of commissions. After all we all love earning more and more money – conveniently.

Observations and experiences of sales people are at times convincing and not at times, one more question that raises eyebrows is that why do CRMs have lowest LTV as compared to any other enterprise application? (LTV is basically the money you anticipate making from any customer across the life cycle.) If compared to other accounting applications with LTV of over 20 years, CRM hails an LTV of just a bit more than 4 years, is it due to the reason that CRM Solutions do not deliver what they promise?

MS Dynamics CRM

If CRMs were not that very effective why increasing number of businesses, keep changing their CRMs so very often or upgrade it to the next level – regularly. These frequent changes and upgrades also come in at a cost – and businesses also like making money – but they are smart to use tools like Microsoft Dynamics CRM to enhance their operational and process efficiencies – resulting in increased ROI.

A specific set of people (they might not have used a CRM and if used, but with limited access) who are of the opinion that there is no direct correlation between CRMs and increased sales figures would want to stop the paid hype and exaggeration.

However; my experience of all these years helps me form an opinion that great sales people are actually savvy at tracking prospects and leads and tracking sales progress – their individual – team and overall as well. And for this they use a spreadsheet – they have developed on their own – for themselves, the so called “Personal CRM”. These spread sheets may seem to be very impressive, but these data facts were hardly shared with the management – in fact were guarded as confidential by the sales personnel.

No or limited visibility was always the cause of frustration and unrest among the rest of the organization. Executives curious to know where the organizational sales and their personal count stood, felt being kept in dark by the management and their sales leader.

Here I am not just trying to defend any one team or group, however; I deeply felt the need of putting across a detailed list of benefits that how does having a Microsoft Dynamics CRM really turbo charges your sales and business-overall – for the benefit of one and all.

Sales Team can Conveniently Track Prospects?

CRM is the effective tool been offered by organization to their sales team to track prospects – close sales – generate appropriate referrals and also manage existing customers. The business is bound to experience increased ROI by implementing a CRM application which will be of help to track sales activity – followed with lead generation and status of existing customers and sales activity as well. This is what I call “empower yourself with benefits of CRM through Data Management”.

Foster leads – Efficiently and Effectively

Think of a situation where you are equipped with adequate data management outcomes that help you to gauge the probability of a prospect getting transforming to a confirm sale. Amazing – isn’t it? We all know that qualifying leads is a very tricky situation and it costs you a lot of time – money and manpower to foster leads that may never end up to be a sale. A CRM software Solution is all ears to you and your customer’s needs – while it handholds you to take a deep dive into customer data, existing and prospect, more efficiently and effectively. It in turn would save you a lot of time in the sales pipeline – and help you broaden the sales efforts.

Mobility aspect – Customers and your Marketing too…

If market gurus are to be believed – by 2016, 2/3rd of the workforce in any organization will have a smartphone, which also means that 40% of the workforce will be mobile. The increasing virility for mobile marketing and Mobile CRM is the proof of that it has become mandatory for companies – small, medium or big. CRM software solution providers are smart enough to help businesses to identify and maximize their inclination towards marketing opportunities – mobile sales as a result of appropriate data management to create more efficient and effective customer and prospect outreach support.

Social CRM – Your favorite and your clients too…!!!

Integrating Social Media with your CRM software solution and strategies is now known as Social CRM. Social media has been effectively delivering considerably for competitive businesses of all sizes – today. Social media is capable of boosting the brand awareness and promotes engagement with customers – existing as well as prospect. LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Google+ to name few, are the social platforms used extensively to communicate with customers and drawing increased business opportunities. This is a clear indication that adapting to CRM software solution that helps your marketing efforts through CRM tools, one may engage customers across the buying journey.

Customer Loyalty – The ultimate goal

CRM systems or CRM software solutions are the ones to give you an insight about your customers, which also means you have a clear picture of customers who are most profitable, the ones that can make big time purchases. Evolved CRM solutions are capable to help you:

  • Track marketing campaigns – successful
  • Aim and anticipate customer needs and trends – well in advance
  • Design and redesign sales tack ticks and strategies – that meet targeted audience needs
  • Identify customer churning and attrition
  • Improvise overall customer experience

By now you all would agree that CRM systems are one of those convenient ways of managing customers while focusing on their needs and expectations. No doubts; that this data-driven customer management enhances your business with increased number of satisfied and loyal customers.

To conclude, I would say that may it be any technology or approach; it will be effective only if the utilization and implementation is done rigorously. Here are some points that I would want to draw everyone’s attention to:

  • No second thoughts, but a business is capable of enhancing its sales without CRM, by mapping a plan including market development and integrating industry best practices – that may work to your advantage.
  • CRM system or Customer Relation Management is not an invention or a new way of selling better and bigger. It also does not create one of those infinite sales pipelines for your business.
  • CRM software does not endow super powers to your sales team.
  • CRM is like any other tool, it’s how and what purpose you use it for.

CRM – an approach that compliments your sales and marketing activities and, delivering value to your business.

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