Top Benefits of CRM in Small Businesses

As mentioned in the first article “Conceptual Overview of CRM“, of this 3 article series, CRM is a futuristic tool. This article is the second in the series. The benefits of CRM can be gauged on both tangible and intangible attributes. There is an unprecedented advent of valuable newer technologies on the business horizons. Furthermore, the scalability of business operations beyond the traditional geographic boundaries, has called for rapid usage of technology in business processes. Being at the forefront of revenue generation cycle for the organization, the Sales and Marketing department are the most innovative and agile departments in the organization.

A research conducted by the Nucleus Research Firm in November 2011, highlighted an interesting proposition for why organizations should invest in CRM. The research findings indicated that “Customer Relationship Management (CRM) applications continue to deliver high return on investment (ROI), with an average benefit of $5.60 returned for every dollar spent”.

Additionally, the research also highlighted that the investment also commands a significant ‘staying power’. The factors behind these key findings by experts were, Social Media, usage of online tools, marketing analytics and mobile capabilities of the application.

A research conducted by CSO Insight in 2011, published in congruence with Microsoft Corporation provides vital information on key areas where CRM has been of value to organizations. The following figure depicts the quantified breakup of various attributes as highlighted by their research:

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The benefits of CRM for a Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) are exemplary. The cost effectiveness and the flexibility offered by the modern day CRM’s can be used to the greatest advantages in respective fields of Marketing and Sales Operations.

Marketing

Requirement Gathering

• Complete track of the customer requirements as per established formats
• Analysis tracking and management of requirements
• Escalation to customer/ department heads

Pre-Sales

• Reduce time for making proposal
• Synchronized version tracking
• Proposal/ Quotation reports

Market Research

• Automated survey management
• Periodic surveys and analysis
• Marketing intelligence

Marketing Campaign Management

• Manage campaign cycle & reports
• Track customer response to campaigns/ surveys
• Analyzing and tracking campaign Return on Investment (ROI)

General Marketing Activities

• Track High value customers
• Single access to all collaterals
• Detailed demographic analysis

Sales

Sales Activities Tracking

• Sales call planning, management and information
• Sales pipeline management
• Detailed record of all conversations/ communications with customer

Sales Reporting Systems

• Sales strategy implementation
• Manage, categorize and customize prospect/ opportunities/ accounts reports
• Systematic sales lead qualification and analysis

Budgeting and Forecasting

• Accurate and strategic planning for future business
• Track commissions & allocations to dealers/ channel partner agents
• Seamless budgeting & forecasting for sales and marketing

Sales Order Management

• Seamless order cycle management
• Oder processing ratio analysis
• Order escalations and measures

Post Sales System

• Shipment analysis & customer feedback
• Invoice generation & GR updates
• Tracking customer-wise shipment

Customer Service

Leverage Customer Insight

• Track customer service schedules
• Manage & learn from customers
• Track customer preferences

Customer Contract Monitoring

• Save time for contract creation
• Avoid legal implications
• Time & resource rationalization

Invoice

• Tracing all invoice activities
• Invoice flow monitoring
• Sales team invoice support

The benefits of CRM can move beyond the traditional contours as explained above along the tangible framework. It may also extend itself to the intangible horizons as well. In the next article, we will have a close look at which technologies would be most suited for CRM implementations for SMEs.