Part 2: Who actually uses CRM Software?

An easy answer to that question would be to say "Any business with customers would use CRM" - but it is not always straightforward as that. Here are the type of businesses that could stand to benefit from using customer relationship management systems.

• Any businesses that have a sales team - As customer relationship management can help salespeople to identify various trends in their customers behavior it can assist them when selling products, up-selling or cross-selling. Additionally, CRM software enables sales teams to keep up to date notes on prospects to increase the likelihood of closing deals.
• Any businesses that use any form of marketing - When using a good business CRM solution businesses can use sales information from customers records to finely tune their marketing campaigns. Statistics have shown that targeted marketing is much more profitable than flooding as many contacts as possible with marketing campaigns. Doing this not only wastes money, but it is also ineffective and inefficient.
• Any businesses that create quotes and invoices - Having a built-in invoicing tool in CRM software programs that is used daily can really speed up the quality and invoicing process. Using just one software program to do everything in a business can increase productivity dramatically. No more switching between applications to complete tasks - your entire business can be managed from a single location.
• Any businesses that want to show their customers that they are a priority - Customers like to feel as though they are wanted, and using CRM can do this. For example, even if a customer telephones a business and get through to the wrong department the person they speak to, can use their CRM to find that customers details and transfer them through to the correct department in seconds. This increases customer satisfaction by helping them resolve issues faster and more completely. It might seem like something small to a business, but when it happens in reality to customer it will stick with them and give them a better customer experience.
• Any businesses that want to increase efficiency - Using just one CRM solution means that a great deal of time is saved each day. CRM software helps you be more efficient in multiple areas, whether it's with click-to-call functionality, integrated project management, detailed customer and prospect notes, integrated marketing automation and lead scoring, CRM helps businesses of all sizes to cut down on costs and maximize their lead database.

As you can see there are number of reasons why any business would choose to use customer relationship management, and there are more. Using CRM provides numerous benefits to both businesses and customers and that is why every serious business has implemented some CRM application.

Trying to get by on spreadsheets and sticky notes is a thing of the past. With today's levels of connectivity, businesses are expected to react and act at the speed of light. CRM can be your Starship Enterprise, taking your business into warp speed.