5 Benefits of an Automated CRM Service

Although the idea of automation may be daunting, an automated CRM service is meant to be a tool that boosts efficiency rather than a complete replacement for human representatives.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) automation is the process of automating customer service functions, which allows businesses to track their progress and engagement with clients and customers. An automated CRM process streamlines sales and marketing operations, helping businesses save time and energy while still building and maintaining relationships. Here are five ways an automated CRM service can benefit your company.

1. Data Collection

An integral part of an automated CRM software is data collection. CRM systems gather, update, and organise customer data in real time, allowing companies to effectively track their most loyal customers, which stage of the sales process prospective customers are in, and more accurately segment the market. This means more time for your staff to work on other projects, prioritise in-person customer interactions, or just take a well-deserved break. CRM automation is the perfect cost-effective solution to the tedium of data entry.

2. Personalisation is Key

CRM automation can converse with and cater to customers based on their unique needs. Has your business ever sent out a mass EDM or newsletter that your leads didn’t bother to open? With CRM automation, your business can send targeted, personalised messages and offers that cater directly to the needs of both current and prospective customers. These “drip campaigns” send or “drip” a series of automatic emails to leads based on specific timelines, user actions and habits, or stages in the sales process. In today’s business climate, a personalised approach means that much more to your clients.

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3. Planning Ahead

CRM data can automatically generate lead source reports which provide insights regarding the marketing channels driving the most customer engagement, whether it’s online marketing, direct marketing, or email marketing. Analysis of lead sources and purchasing habits allows businesses to better understand their customers and thus prepare more accurate forecasts and projections, and plan out strategies to attract and retain customers in the future. CRM data can also be used to map out your own efforts as well as industry trends that your business can leverage in planning to ensure growth.

4. Synergy With Marketing Automation

CRM software typically allows you to integrate CRM automation with marketing automation. Basically, the relationships that you forge through marketing are nurtured and sustained with CRM going forward. Marketing and CRM work in tandem to build a robust and long-standing relationship with your customers, ensuring success in the future.

5. Customers You Never Knew About

It is understandable that businesses focus more efforts on an established clientele, since those are the customers that they understand and know most intimately. But marketing and customer relations have evolved. CRM software actually allows your business to discover visitors on your website that you never expected by logging data about your website’s visitors. While you might not know who the visitor is, CRM data does provide you with a detailed idea of the nature of their company.