Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is one of the most important software in any business. The logic is simple: customers are the king, and to serve the king you need better tools. In the recent years, most of the companies have moved towards CRM to manage their customers better. But, are you using CRM the right way?

CRM has an enormous potential inside it. Most companies use the software for basic needs, while in reality it could be used to perform powerful tasks. Here are some tips to get the most out of your CRM system:

1. Proper Training

It is not exactly a hack, but a better way to do things. Any tool is only as good as the person who wields it. While some people have the inherent enthusiasm to try out new technologies, most are skeptical. Also, migrating to a new technology is not always met with a positive response. As a business owner, you need to tackle the situation.

In many cases, businesses are not able to extract the best out of CRM simply because the employees are not comfortable enough with the software. This could be resolved via proper training. While most companies include an introductory session to CRM, you would need to be more thorough. 

In-depth training programs spanning over several months have proven to be quite effective. If you don’t have employees who can conduct such training programs, you could always search for some reliable CRM experts who can help you optimize the gains on this front. It might look financially excessive initially, but it pays off in the long run.

2. Personalization

Everyone today provides customer support, so it is pretty much the norm. Customers are well-aware of that, too. However, since the field is level, you would have to offer something special in order to be different and stand out in the crowd. CRM can help you do that.

Customers tend to favor those companies that offer a certain level of personalization. If you address a customer by name, know his contact number/mail address automatically, ask about the wellness of his family members, you can form a better connect with the customer. While this may not seem to be a great feat in itself, it can help you forge a lasting relationship with customers and win their loyalty.

This type of personalization is possible with CRM. CRM software contains detailed information about the customers, which you could use to bond with them. It could be something as small as addressing them by their first name, or something as crucial as gaining insights from their past interactions.

3. Appoint a CRM Responsible

Most organizations make it the responsibility of project managers to use and maintain CRM. It might look prudent in the short-term, but it has many drawbacks. First, it puts an additional burden on the manager. Second, CRM software doesn't get the attention that is required to manage such an extensive tool. Lastly, the project manager is not always completely aware of the capabilities of the software.

The best thing to do in this case would be appointing a CRM super-user, or a CRM responsible. This person (or team) would be responsible for managing CRM-related takes, maintaining and updating the software, and troubleshooting any issue. It ensures that your CRM is always optimized and free from bugs.

4. Maintain clear data

CRM software works on the foundation of data. The customer data you feed to it enables the software to manage customers and gain insights. Often, a wrong input of data can lead to disastrous results. It would lead to ineffective insights, and in certain cases, also lead to loss of customer base.

The strategy to tackle such issues would be to maintain clear guidelines regarding the data. You should specify the details that must be maintained for the CRM, like customer name, mail ID, contact info etc. 

The format must be clear and concise and must be followed by all employees. Strict adherence to guideline about data input would ensure that the CRM software works at an optimal level.

5. CRM and marketing

CRM is primarily used for customer relations. However, if you are smart enough, you can use it for effective marketing too. CRM comes with the capability to receive customer feedback and categorize it into positive and negative. This insight can be used in situations where a new marketing campaign has been launched.

The number of positive and negative feedbacks can decide whether the campaign was successful or not. Furthermore, the speed of the campaign's success could also be calculated using CRM, which would then serve as a benchmark for future marketing campaigns.

The combination of CRM and marketing can also help to weed out any marketing campaigns or strategies that are garnering negative results. This would ensure a quick response and may save you a lot of money.

6. Improve customer feedback mechanism

CRM is all about customer relations, yet most people use it only for managing the customer data. In reality, you can use it to introduce a whole new level of customer satisfaction.

CRM comes with the inherent ability to receive customer feedback. You can train your CRM software to perform certain tasks automatically, that would improve the client's feedback system, such as:

•    Sending an automatic response as soon as a feedback is submitted; this makes the user believe that his voice is being heard
•    Create a unique reference number for the feedback, so that it does not get lost in the crowd
•    Forwarding the complaints to appropriate departments based upon the nature of feedback
•    Offer regular updates to the customer regarding the complaints, which would assure him that your company is taking action on his complaint

Such steps might look trivial, but they go a long way in keeping the customer base intact and growing. You can go a step further and program the CRM to take further feedback from the customer. Regular conversations with customers help keep them engaged and build better brand loyalty.

Conclusion

CRM is essential for businesses today. The software allows you to manage your customers in a much better way. However, the potential of CRM is beyond what you were told. With a few tricks and innovation, you can utilize the CRM software to generate much more impactful results. It is also possible to customize the software as per the requirements of your organization.

CRM is a potent tool in terms of managing your customers. Use it wisely and unleash its full potential to grow your business.