The five steps in the CRM process are a collaborative effort between Marketing, Sales and Support departments. To help you understand how each team works together, we will go through how each step works in practice. We will cover not only how each part of the process can be completed with a CRM tool but also who is responsible for each step.
The first step in acquiring new customers is to introduce them to your business. The Marketing team generally takes on this task using a number of measures:
When it comes to completing these steps, CRM software contains a wealth of information. The tool can show patterns in past leads and customers to give marketing teams a clear picture of their target audience. Beyond understanding similarities in demographics, marketers can also analyse sales notes in their CRM technology to understand what led to conversions in the past. By understanding what resonated with leads, marketers are better equipped to create effective campaigns.
Introducing your brand to a potential customer is just the beginning of the CRM process. From there, you have to encourage them to learn more about your business and engage with it.
Depending on how your company is structured, this lead acquisition step could be a marketing or sales team responsibility — or both.
If your CRM technology comes equipped with a lead enrichment tool, like Reach, lead acquisition is unbelievably simple. All the tool needs is a lead’s email address to instantly reveal detailed information about the person. With customer data, you can personalise your outreach with the lead to start the relationship off on the right note. Not to mention, you can save tons of time by not needing to research leads yourself.
You have successfully engaged with your leads and they are interested. Now it is time to turn those leads into customers.
To do so, sales reps must first be skilled at identifying how interested leads are and, specifically, whether they are interested enough to make a purchase. A CRM is very helpful here. The historical data from past successful sales can be used to identify lead-qualification criteria. These criteria can be added as “attributes” to your CRM’s lead-scoring tool to help reps identify opportunities with the highest probability of a sale.
If leads do seem likely to make a purchase, reps must then be able to nurture them further and build their trust enough to convert. One way to do this is for reps to send leads case studies, white papers and other resources that may sway their decision.* *
Reps should also use their CRM platform to set reminders and tasks to follow up with interested leads. After all, studies have shown that “63% of consumers need to hear a company’s claim 3–5 times before they actually believe it.” Use your CRM’s dashboard to help you remember to follow up to ensure that no opportunities are missed.
You have successfully converted your lead into a customer. Great! But the CRM process does not end when a customer converts. In order to grow as a company, you need to retain customers. How do you keep the customer coming back? With excellent service from Support.
According to Zendesk’s 2020 Customer Experience Trends Report, customer service is the biggest factor that determines a consumer’s loyalty to a brand. Conversely, poor customer service can cost you customers and negatively impact your reputation. Support teams must be able to deliver superior support whenever, wherever, and however their customers expect it.
With the right CRM, your agents have the customer information and resources they need to resolve a customer’s issues quickly and effortlessly. This allows for a stress-free and efficient experience for both the customer and the support agent.
When we think of a returning customer, we imagine a shopper continually coming back to the same business to buy the products they know and love. But there is another key way existing customers provide value — by upgrading to more expensive products.
How do you convince customers to switch products? Personalised recommendations via email are a great place to start. You can use your CRM to organize customers into smart lists based on similar purchase histories. You can then create custom email templates that send relevant product releases to entire lists of customers at once. This way, you can be sure the promotional deals or releases you send are reaching the people most likely to buy them.
If your business is service-based, you may find upsell opportunities through check-in calls. Set reminders in your CRM to regularly reach out to repeat customers to ask how they are doing and whether there is any way you could improve your service. Their needs may very well have changed since the last time you spoke, and they may be ready for an upsell.
With a CRM process, the customer lifecycle no longer feels abstract. The right CRM enables you to create a deliberate, personalised experience that naturally drives leads through your sales pipeline.