Improve Your Customer Relationships with 2 Simple Changes

Improving your customer relationships begins when you use your CRM to the fullest. When organizations use CRM software properly, the impact is clear. Recently, Microsoft commissioned a study on CRM software that revealed several key insights.

Companies that leverage their CRM software experience:

• 5% increase in sales productivity
• 10% reduction in consultation time
• 40% reduction in customer service labor cost
• 50% overall increase in productivity
• 20% overall decrease in labor cost
• 2% increase in revenue

However, many companies skip two key elements that would greatly optimize their CRM process. Keep reading to find out how to improve your customer relationships with two simple changes.

1. Automate Lead Scoring

For an optimum customer experience, salespeople must keep up to date records on each contact. Typically, this includes a mix of both automated and manual entries. For automated entries, online sales and website conversions can be easily linked with a CRM. This bridges the gap between sales and marketing. Similarly, automated emails can be triggered and updated based on digital events.

For manual entries, salespeople must also keep record of any offline activity whether in a storefront or over the phone. This laborious process consumes a significant amount of time. Currently, 32% of salespeople report that they spend an hour or more entering data during each business day.

Ideally, your CRM software should relieve some of this manual entry burden through triggered events. Lead scoring allows the system to assign points to each contact, update their status and trigger communications. This saves valuable time, improving customer relationships.

For example, CRM email marketing can be used to qualify leads. After an initial website conversion, a lead can be entered into an automation with an immediate follow-up email. Based on the contact’s response, the CRM system will update their score. Often, these systems assign points based on customer activity. Opening an email, clicking a link, or replying to the email can each assign a set amount of points. Based on those points, the customer can reach a score that sets a status. Then, the next communication can be triggered using filters based on the lead’s score.

This process works for both prospective and current customers. Contacts can be sorted based on their status. Automated email systems can perform the bulk of the work and update the status as needed. This frees up salespeople to work the most profitable contacts while entering fewer data.

2. Shorten the Feedback Loop

As customers respond to your communication, your salespeople must engage them quickly. Otherwise, the likelihood of a lead turning into a sale lowers. Often, the breakdown occurs between sales and marketing as marketing qualified leads are passed to the sales department. Shorten the feedback loop by integrating both teams on the same CRM system.

Putting both teams on the same system can help your sales team meet their quotas. According to a Nucleus Research report, 65% of companies using a mobile CRM meet their sales quotes compared to 22% for those who do not use one.

Why? The feedback loop is much shorter when teams work on these systems. The sales team gets leads quickly, allowing them to follow up. The marketing team can see lead responses and improve the communication based on customer feedback. The end result creates a smooth transition from marketing to sales, providing a superior customer experience. With this responsive process, customers feel like the organization really understands and anticipates their needs.