Online CRM Will Increase Productivity

Online CRM (Customer Relationship Management) can give you an added efficiency that your clients will appreciate.  What do you have to do to please your customer, no matter how difficult they may be?  Pay attention!  If your mind is on spreadsheets, other leads, “putting out fires in other departments,” or stroking your employees, you might not be able to keep those clients.

Wouldn’t you like to spend 90% of your time on your customers and 10% of your time running your company?  You will eventually be able to proportion your time if you go to online CRM.   Here are a few ideas to counteract your preoccupation with running a company:

• You cannot afford to put a “rabbit fence” around your obligations to your clients and ignore them. They deserve your undivided attention, and you have to find a way to please them.  One way you can do that is to find a web based subscription platform that supports CRM, as well as your spreadsheet, sales, employee services, project management and timelines.  Buying a box of software that does not integrate all of your business needs will slow you down with double entries or programs that do not fit well together.  

• Look for a pay-as-you-use, economical, month-by-month online CRM subscription plan with no contract, no set-up fees and includes a trial period and unlimited users.

• For a good online CRM, your customer management section should track your clients from the first lead, through quotes, support and final sale of products and services.  You should share progress with your employees and clients by giving them a special password to be able to follow the project through agreed-upon deadlines.  You, your employees and your customers must be able to access the project from any Internet location.

• Many day-to-day tasks should be automated, such as drag-and-drop calendars to set deadlines, book meetings and appointments, Gantt charts, RSS feeds and alerts; and get detailed invoices from timesheets, projects and products.

• Everything you do in your business is related.  Every tool in your arsenal should be simple to use.  Why waste time on classroom training or instruction?  If you are paying your staff to learn a complicated method of training out of a manual, they aren’t out bringing in leads or sales.  Make sure your business software includes employees, contractors and clients in collaboration on every project from start to finish.  

These combined tools will provide real time insight.  Online CRM should give you an on-demand overview into how your business is functioning so that you will have more time for your customers and leads.  Every customer request should be answered in a timely manner.  If you are dealing with other external problems you won’t be able to form a cohesive “team” consisting of your clients, your employees and you, that flows easily into a good relationship.  Remember, you won’t be able to sustain a company without customers, so make the most of your time pleasing them and they will come back again and again.