How CRM boosts your sales

 There is no question that CRM is essential for a company. Operating in a customer-oriented way has become a permanent part of the business world. Without a focus on your customers you cannot (continue to) compete well within your market.

A CRM system supports customer-oriented working by integrating multiple processes such as: relationship management, customer service, marketing and even project management.

But a CRM is still the most used for the sales process. In this blog we will discuss how CRM can support your sales process and boost your sales.

CRM helps with the entire sales process

How can software help me with sales? Isn't that possible? CRM certainly can do that. Look, the software will not make the calls to the customers itself or will not go to an appointment with a customer. What a CRM system does is provide support during the sales process. The software does this from the beginning to the end of this process.

The beginning: CRM software provides insight into customer interests

After the marketing department has found potential customers for you with the help of CRM software - more about this in the blog about CRM and marketing - the system recruits leads and helps to get to know your customers better. The software does more than just list the name and address details for you. It provides insight into the interests of a lead or customer.

But how?

In addition to demographic data, the CRM system also keeps track of the emails that a customer has opened. For example, if you send an email with an offer for a pair of jeans and the customer opens it, it will be saved in the CRM.

This is also tracked when the customer clicks on the link that goes to your website. Should the customer continue to look around the website and view other items; you guessed it: CRM stores it. All in all, it provides a complete picture of a customer and because the sales department has a good insight, the chance of a sale increases.

CRM software provides a complete picture of a customer

Which customer is hot?

Sales employees want to spend their time as efficiently as possible and achieve the best possible result. It then helps to have simple insight into who is worth following up, and who is not yet warm enough. A CRM system with lead scoring takes a lot of work off your hands. By giving a score to an interaction a lead has with your company, such as an opened email or a download of a white paper, it is mapped out which lead is hot and which is not yet sales-ready. This increases the chance of sales and leads to better and more targeted follow-up.

How do you qualify a lead?

Based on the lead score, you can qualify the leads using the CRM system. With extensive selection criteria you can determine which contacts are qualified leads. Lead qualification is based on personal data, specific interactions and the already mentioned lead scores.

Broadly speaking, there are two ways to qualify a lead:

• the SPIN method (situation, problem, implication, emergency)
• the BANT method (budget, authority, emergency, timing)

Both methods help you gain insight into the lead's pain points and practicalities such as budget and timing. When your leads qualify, you can automatically keep them up-to-date with CRM. This way the sales department knows who to contact.

CRM software records customer response to offers

All leads are stored by the marketing department at a central point, where every employee can access and add information. There is also an overview of when, for example, the customer was last approached. This prevents a lead or customer from being called with the same offer or the same questions by different employees. This saves you time and money and prevents irritation for the customer.

Here you can explore crm and invoicing software

CRM ensures good communication between and within departments

CRM software also ensures that there is clear communication between the marketing department and the sales department. The marketing department has already obtained a clear picture of leads with the help of CRM software and has recorded this with the CRM software.

Suppose a lead comes in, then you can immediately assign a sales employee to the lead. The sales department can then read up on the collected information.

The faster action is taken, the greater the chance that you will actually bring in the sales

Now it's the sales department's turn to convert these leads into sales. For them, the faster they take action, the greater the chance that they will actually bring in the sales.

From research shows that often leads rapidly (within 24 hours) followed by the sales team. Leads then quickly become 'cold'. So keep the lead warm. Because the lead is in the CRM system and you can constantly follow the lead, you increase the chance that the lead will remain warm and eventually become a customer.

Manage sales documents quickly and efficiently

If a product is sold to a customer, the CRM software will help you quickly and efficiently prepare and send an invoice . Moreover, you no longer work with separate documents, all invoices and quotations are stored in one central point.

Quotations can easily be converted into an invoice in a few clicks with a customer's approval. Saves a lot of time and the chance of input errors is minimal. There are also beautiful templates in the CRM for quotations and invoices, which in turn ensures a professional appearance. If an invoice has not been paid by a customer, CRM software automatically sends a payment reminder.

CRM ensures a more streamlined follow-up process

Leads from the site can be automatically imported into the CRM. An account manager can then be linked to a customer and a workflow can be started. A workflow? Yes, a workflow ensures that the account managers follow a fixed series of (sales) promotions. With workflows you automate and streamline business processes so that they run as efficiently as possible.

Example of a sales workflow

When a lead has been generated, it can be called by someone from support. The conversation can then be summarized in the CRM. When the commercial employee has permission from the customer for the next step, the sales department can get to work.

This happens in a fixed order with each lead. This way every lead goes through the same process and every lead is treated equally. Incidentally, you can segment leads into groups so that you can set up a separate workflow for each (lead) group. This makes your sales process flexible and more effective.

Automating your sales process can dramatically improve sales efficiency. The processes always follow a fixed structure. This allows better monitoring of the lead time and makes it clear who is doing what and when.

Handy notifications: never miss opportunities again

CRM also helps salespeople or account managers to set priorities after a sale. They are reminded of calling and follow-up appointments. This way they don't have to think every day about who should be called or emailed. Everything is in CRM, which saves time and effort. Because CRM software keeps track of all communication with customers, and sellers know exactly when to contact the customer, they can, for example, offer new products or services or replace them. This way you don't miss sales opportunities with existing customers or you avoid forgetting a follow-up action.

Sales forecast

When this has been done satisfactorily, CRM software will help you prepare sales forecasts. Do you expect sales to increase or decrease? Then you can process this with the CRM software. You can also clearly view the forecast figures and see to what extent they are achieved. Are the numbers behind the forecast? Then you, as a manager or salesperson, know what to focus on in the short term.

With CRM software you can see whether forecasts are being achieved

The CRM software also keeps track of the sales figures. This way you can find out who sells the best and how long it takes to convert a lead into a sale. Is this conversion taking too long? Then you know who to be with and where to focus your attention. In this way you can also determine whether, for example, further training or additional training is required for the sales staff.