Any business owner would agree that the relationship between employees and customers is a crucial factor in the growth of a small business. Another term for this is customer relationship management (CRM) . This refers to the practices, strategies and technologies small businesses use in order to collect and manage customer data for a better customer experience. When used appropriately, CRM can aid in customer retention and increase sales.

CRM software is designed to compile and consolidate data on customers—this includes personal information, purchase history and preferences—from every point of contact they may have with your small business, including the phone, your website, mail, and social media. Using this data, CRM systems provide many advantages to small businesses, a few of which are as follows.

Automation for Small Businesses

Most businesses have a lot of tasks or processes that require deadlines. Many of these tasks are routine and monotonous (i.e. weekly and monthly reports), requiring valuable time and effort from a limited number of employees; time that could be spent on other important projects. CRM software helps to automate those processes so that your employees can be free to spend their time elsewhere.

Some businesses use their customers’ birthdays as part of their marketing strategy. CRM software can send you a calendar alert or even automatically send out the birthday greetings and promotions for you. This specialized technology can also track employee performance and productivity so that the business managers don’t have to do it manually.

Better Customer Service in Small Businesses

Customers want to experience the best service possible. Some people may even scour the entire country just to find the right service provider for them. In order to be the kind of business they are looking for and compete with bigger companies, you need to be able to anticipate your customers’ needs. CRM software can help you accomplish this by analyzing your customers’ data in order to give you tips on their preferences and spending habits, thus making it easier for you to provide appropriate recommendations.

Having a CRM system in your small business can also help improve the response time between the customers and the employees. For instance, when customer sends your business a query, CRM software can help you create quick, customized pitch documents very quickly. Before the potential client has the chance to contact another business with their query, you will have already responded with a detailed pitch. When this happens, customers will be satisfied and will come back to you again and again. You have served them well, therefore their loyalty is yours.

Effective Planning & Communication for Small Businesses

There are times that tasks can pile up until they get out of hand. Your employees may get overwhelmed by the to-do list on their plates and either fall behind on deadlines or prioritize the importance of the tasks inappropriately. With the use of small business CRM software, employees will be able to keep track of pending tasks, organize them or have them organized by a manager, and even communicate with managers if they have questions or if there will be delays.

There are many great CRM systems available to your small business. Trello is a free web-based application that you can use to tag items with labels, comments, attachments, due dates, and checklists. Bitrix 24 is another free platform that is especially geared towards small businesses, offering a unified work space for your team. And Sprout Social is a management tool that is based in social media that will help you plan posts in order to grow your small business social media presence.

Utilizing CRM software in your small business will surely aid you and your employees to spend your time at work more effectively. Some small business owners may be skeptical about incorporating new software because they feel it will interfere with the organic feel of their interactions with customers, but these business systems are put in place not to replace business and customer relationships, but to strengthen them.

CRM software is here to improve the quality of work that we do and to aid us in delivering the best service to our customers. But of course, small businesses must be careful in choosing which software to implement. Not every CRM system works for every business. The best option, whenever searching for CRM software for your small business, is to find experts who can help you with this process. At Tuxedo Impressions LLC, we specialize in discovering the unique needs of small businesses and incorporating CRM systems to enhance their workflow and profit margin. If you need help in this area, feel free to contact us today.

In the comment section below, let us know if you use a CRM system in your organization, what it is, and how you have benefited from using it.

~ Maria Kristine, Team Tuxedo Impressions LLC™