It’s easy to think of small businesses as scrappy underdogs when they’re stacked up against the deep pockets of national and multinational competitors in their industry, but the truth is there are plenty of ways for small businesses to use size to their advantage. The little guy (or gal) is seldom tied down by bureaucratic decision-making processes, they are generally able to adapt to market changes more quickly and – when it comes to customer relationship management (CRM) strategy and technology – they can really flex their muscle.
Large corporations tend to view CRM as a bridge between disparate internal departments. Sales, human resources, product development and organizational leadership are among the divisions likely to utilize its company’s CRM technology, and each team has its own set of goals and requirements. Enterprise-level CRMs have the lofty task of accommodating the various needs of multiple employees working within different departments – and that quest to please and provide for the needs of everyone can be a recipe for middling results.
Fortunately, small and midsized businesses don’t have this problem, providing a significant edge when it comes to engaging in successful customer interactions that lead to sales.
Here’s how a small business can use its adaptability, flexibility and mobility to its advantage.
The adaptability advantage
The CRMs employed by large-scale corporations attempt to provide a little bit of everything. Instead of the technology adapting to the business’s specific needs, it’s designed to be used by everyone and for a wide range of functions. They offer macro predictions, lead conversion models, and provide a complex web of automation between teams. It all sounds impressive, but the truth is such systems are almost always cumbersome and too bulky for small and midsized businesses. Most importantly, they aren’t designed to adapt to their unique needs.
Small business owners are better served by using a CRM that reflects the specific set of needs and challenges of their company, and one that can be customized to meet those requirements.
For instance, a small business owner looking to improve sales and customer service should find a CRM solution that can be built around those functions, specifically addressing the needs of those business functions, given the business model and industry. The CRM should be adaptable to focus on capturing information related to your exact needs.
Small business-focused CRMs that can be adapted for ease of use yield great benefits – particularly for sales teams. InsideCRM found that 55 percent of sales reps named ease of use as the most important feature of a good CRM.
Flexibility is your friend
A CRM’s main purpose should be to help a company successfully meet its needs and goals. To accomplish this, it must be malleable enough to serve small businesses across a multitude of industries.
The post It’s Time to Prioritize Adaptability in Your Small Business’s CRM appeared first on Statii News.
source http://news.statii.co.uk/its-time-to-prioritize-adaptability-in-your-small-businesss-crm/
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