The best CRM platforms can revolutionize how a business handles customer data. By organizing and managing data on a convenient CRM platform, companies can provide the proper support to their sales, marketing, and customer support teams to improve their customer interactions and record these interactions for future purposes. Good customer service can improve brand loyalty immensely. Hence, the right Customer Relationship Management platform is a significant investment, and CRM should be used to achieve the best business ROI.
What is a CRM platform?
A CRM platform stands for Customer Relationship Management software platform. CRM platforms can organize customer data and manage it to help businesses leverage customer data into the most powerful tool in their arsenal. CRM platforms can connect departments within your business, such as marketing, sales, customer services, and more, to organize their efforts to provide customers by keeping in mind the importance of CRM experience. Cloud-based CRM platforms are the latest trend to take over the business world as we learn to cope with the hybrid workplace environment post-pandemic. Cloud-based CRM platforms enable businesses to scale up or down quickly by adding the desired number of users to their subscriptions.
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What Are The 3 Types of CRM?
Three types of CRM platforms can suit different types of companies.
Analytical CRM Platform
Analytical CRM platforms enable businesses to understand customer data based on customer interactions with the company. CRM platforms would allow businesses to understand customer data without needing an analyst. The success of an analytical CRM platform depends on your staff's consistency of use. This data can be leveraged to improve customer retention and efficiently direct sales and marketing departments by using a CRM platform.
Operational CRM Platforms
Operational CRM platforms cover the broadest range of functions by blending customer service, marketing, and sales into one power team within an organization. This can help streamline business operations and organize customer data based on sales, marketing, and customer support interactions via an omnichannel approach.
Marketing automation features of operational CRM platforms allow businesses to broadcast their products and services to different audiences based on data from the existing customer base. Sales automation and service automation features of operational CRM platforms enable businesses to stay on top of customer support with the help of a ticketing system.
The overall goal of an operational CRM platform is to create cohesion within the different departments within your organization.
Collaborative CRM Platforms
Collaborative CRM platforms are great solutions for businesses to share customer data among different departments and take a holistic approach to managing customer data. The interaction management feature of collaborative CRM platforms tracks and manage different customer touchpoints through all business channels. The point is not to spam customers yet and keep their interests piqued. The channel management functionality of collaborative CRM platforms helps businesses identify the best platform to reach customers based on their individual preferences.
What Are CRM Platforms Used For?
There are many CRM benefits for small businesses upon implementing a CRM platform
Better Knowledge About Customers
CRM platforms enable businesses to build long-term customer relationships by giving a 360-degree view of customer interactions. While managing customer contact details, CRM platforms also help identify customer preferences which can help your future sales and marketing efforts.
Customer Segmentation Data
Customer personas by CRM platforms help you get to know all faceless customers to make it seem like they are right in front of you. This enables your organization to take focused approaches to market to different customer demographics based on current data.
Better Customer Retention
CRM platforms ensure that you don’t miss any potential leads. Even if a customer didn’t show much interest initially, based on the marketing and sales automation features of CRM platforms, you could keep nurturing customer interest to convert more customers in the long run.
Anticipate Customer Needs
CRM platforms can predict customer needs based on data you already have about them. This allows your sales teams to cross-sell and upsell based on customer interaction histories and convert more sales to increase revenue. For instance, if a customer calls to complain about something, the best person to handle this situation can quickly take this situation based on what is already recorded on the CRM platform. This removes much guesswork for your customer support team and ensures that customers don’t grow more frustrated than they already are.
Better Communication
There’s nothing worse than being passed on from contact center agent to agent when calling a customer care center of a business. Using the customer interactions history feature of CRM platforms, companies can communicate effectively and quickly and offer customers the right solution.
Data Privacy
Your customer data can serve as a gold mine for your business. CRM platforms are highly secure solutions that will ensure the security of your precious customer data. Multi-factor authentication and user-based roles can help protect your data from falling into the wrong hands.
Collaboration Tools
Collaboration tools offered by CRM platforms ensure that different teams within your business have more transparency regarding customer interactions. This data can help your employees have a mutual understanding instead of clashing with each other.
Which CRM Platform is Best?
Freshworks
Freshworks CRM platform is a cloud-based solution that offers customizable solutions for businesses to manage customer data. Freshworks offers 30 software integrations, including social media and CRM integrations that support multichannel customer communication. The unique feature offered by Freshworks is a ticketing system that sorts service requests and distribution of said tickets among suitable agents to ensure that customer needs are taken care of.
Sage CRM
Sage CRM platform automates how you handle customer data, leads, and sales data. Its easy-to-use interface and dashboards ensure that your staff properly uses the CRM platform. Businesses can reduce operational costs and improve customer data accuracy to improve lead conversion and overall revenue using the Sage CRM platform.
Sugar CRM
Sugar CRM platforms are another popular CRM solution allowing businesses to build better customer relationships with their customizable CRM platforms. The Sugar CRM platform tracks the entire customer journey to create the most seamless experience for your customer and staff.
If a CRM platform is a suitable investment for your business, consult with our CRM software page to help you select the best CRM platform vendor for your business.
