From sharing information to capturing leads, here are our top 5 tips on using CRM to increase sales and grow your business:
Your customer relationship management (CRM) software can be used for much more than just managing relationships. Used in the right way, it can make you more efficient, more profitable, and ultimately more successful. Find 5 top tips below on how to make the most of your CRM system, and find out why using a CRM for sales could make you better at your job all round.
1. Share information across your team
There are no benefits to siloing your data, but when it comes to sales, it can become even more detrimental to withhold information. Picture the scene. You’ve been practicing your chilli recipe for the big cook-off for weeks now, and when the big day finally arrives your colleague throws in an extra chilli or two, ruining the magic. That’s exactly what can happen to your prospects should one of your team not be aware of the recipe you’ve been cooking up. Entering all relevant information on your CRM and sharing it accordingly across the team means that everyone can be up to speed with the progress of your prospecting so that there are never too many cooks in the kitchen – and sales can be completed.
2. Monitor the sales cycle closely
Keeping an eye on the sales cycle at all times is essential for maintaining relationships and a powerful way to increase sales growth. If you find that your current close rate isn’t quite what you’ve been expecting, then implementing a smart monitoring system may help you to increase your sales. Your sales CRM can be used to monitor each stage of the sales process, reminding you of what has and hasn’t been done, and what needs to be done next – a great way to improve sales going forward. Though a stringent approach doesn’t work for all sales styles, if you find yourself working on a number of leads at any one time – keeping up to date and monitoring each sale will help you stay on track and contact the right people at the right time.
3. Track social media presence
Dusting off your social stalking skills and getting them back into good practice can be a great asset for salespeople looking to understand their lead a little better. With the ability to track leads, conversations, gain insight on customers as well as a company’s most commonly heard queries – you can really get under the skin of your prospect. Simply by browsing their social media profiles and instructing your CRM to track social presence you’ll never miss a thing. As creepy as it sounds, automatic tracking and browsing of your prospect’s social presence means that you’ll understand their needs better, which in turn will result in a better offering, and a higher likelihood of you closing that sale. If you feel that weird about it, just sit back and let your customer relationship management software do all the work.
4. Prioritize important requests
One of the major benefits of CRM is task management. It’s one of the best ways to remain on top of the most important actions that come your way. If you can prove yourself to your customers by managing their account in the most efficient way possible, up-sells and cross-sells will immediately become easier. Your CRM can automatically prioritize and notify you of any immediate actions that need taking, so that you can continue to maintain and develop the rapport with your customers to increase sales growth.
5. Capture leads
Capturing leads from your CRM is one of the simplest ways to increase sales growth, as long as you’re reactive. Monitoring form fills means that you can be notified of any interest to a given landing page. This gives you the opportunity to follow up with a phone call when necessary. Your customer relationship management software can be tailored specifically to your needs. E.G. You can be notified when and where someone has entered your site, giving you all the ammunition you need to approach the prospect with a focussed pitch worth listening to. However, response time is a delicate thing. Approach too soon and you won’t have reached peak engagement time, wait too long, and you’ll have lost all interest. Pick your moment and run with it.
Using CRM to increase sales can be done in a number of ways. Utilizing CRM solutions can make your sales efforts even more successful than they are already. Making you more confident, successful and profitable.
sales-i is a leading CRM solution for manufacturers, wholesalers and distributors. To find out more, look at our solution.
