CRM for small business: the secrets of successful implementation
Imagine yourself in a room, for example, in an office. The windows are stuffy, the windows are tightly closed, and the pleasant smell of coffee and perfume in the morning turned into torture. But you work, despite the headache and bad mood. As they say, you can live. Now imagine that you opened the windows or turned on the air conditioner - a pleasant coolness, clean air, an increase in working capacity, and a good mood. All conditions for successful work.
This analogy is not accidental. Small business without a CRM system can live, work and earn. A small business with a CRM-system can work better, earn more, live better. And that's why.
If we turn to the letter of the law, then a huge number of companies can be attributed to small businesses: up to 100 people in terms of number, annual revenues limit values: micro enterprises up to 60 million rubles, small enterprises up to 400 million rubles. It is obvious that in the ordinary mind, even professionals and entrepreneurs of an enterprise with such revenue are not considered small.
In the vein of the same talk about CRM-systems is to focus primarily on the number of personnel - up to 100 people. Of course, it is much easier to manage such a number of people than 500 or 2000, but at the same time, most managers and employees of companies, even 10-20 people, are dissatisfied with the organization of processes and interactions that take place within the organization. In turn, problems within the company invariably affect customer relations:
Meanwhile, it is for small businesses that customers are the main value, meeting the main goal of the company - making a profit. Relationships with customers are subject to a variety of factors, some of which are simply difficult to influence (for example, the active actions of competitors or changes in the financial situation of the client). But you can always minimize all negative factors when working with a client, including those related to relationships within the company (loss of data, documents, lack of additional sales, loss of loyalty programs, etc.). CRM-system, introduced in the company, should be aimed precisely at solving these problems.
In fact, any interaction with a client in order to receive money from him in exchange for a service (product) is a sale. Each company has its own arsenal of sales techniques - time-tested strategies, techniques and tricks that lead to the successful closing of the transaction. Each experienced sales person has such an arsenal and rarely ... the whole company: something is forgotten, something is lost with the departure of people.
The experience of our RegionSoft CRM development team shows that the first thing that the implementation of a CRM system can help is the accumulation of knowledge and sales techniques. A good customer knowledge base, multiplied by the accumulated experience of the staff, is a technology that works for the result. And it is in the effectiveness lies the whole philosophy of CRM.
Thus, the introduction of a CRM system will inevitably entail the solution of many problems that, in their totality, hindered the intensive development of business. With regard to the high cost of investment in solving these problems, it is advisable to compare the costs of implementing the system with spending, for example, on entertainment or, more objectively, assess the price of implementing a CRM solution in connection with the salary of employees. Taking into account the fact that you pay once for the project (not counting the possible fee for updates at the request of the client), and the CRM system works for you for many years, this investment is extremely profitable and easily pays off due to the growth in the volume of clients and the efficiency of customer base management .
The introduction of a CRM system affects everyone in the company, especially if it is a small business operating as a single organism. This process should be thoughtful and planned, gradual, in order to avoid a number of implementation problems, such as sabotage by staff, non-use of the program, erroneous and incorrect data entry, inability and unwillingness to use the full range of functionality.
Sometimes it happens that after the introduction of the CRM-system is not used, because everyone is accustomed to work in their own way. This is a deadlock, one cannot allow oneself to abandon the automation of a business already at some stage, because this will be an obvious way back, and not by one step. When implementing a CRM system, it is important to observe a number of conditions:
You have installed a CRM system - consider that an important, reliable and very capable employee has appeared in the office. Accordingly, the system will require certain actions to make the work as comfortable as possible.
CRM-system should be developed. It is not only about the updates offered by the vendor. First of all, the solution needs to be developed as a customer database and knowledge base. Business automation is always a set of actions aimed at the result, and in the case of small and medium-sized businesses - to streamline processes and make a profit. If you initially set up a CRM system correctly and store as much valid data as possible in it, it will soon become a powerful information tool for management, sales and marketing.
CRM-system should grow with the business. If you expand your staff or change the direction of your business, try to maintain a relationship with your solution. Be sure to contact the developer who, if necessary, will be able to install additional licenses or change the software revision. It is this flexibility that makes it easy to scale the business regardless of the volume of changes.
The Russian mentality is largely based on distrust and there are objective historical and social reasons for this. And the more distrust arises when it comes to any investment in your business, that is, the potential costs. From experience we can say that the introduction of a CRM system quickly pays for itself due to the performance of each employee and the increase in the number of satisfied customers. Therefore, if there are doubts, it is worth a try, especially since there are various possibilities to fully test a CRM solution without paying for the cost of the entire project.
The introduction of a CRM system is a move up the ladder to a new stage in the life of a business. This movement is not always simple and short-term, but always effective. And after the introduction of a CRM system, there is certainly a moment when it’s already hard to imagine how you could have done without it before.
This is a crosspost of our article.
This analogy is not accidental. Small business without a CRM system can live, work and earn. A small business with a CRM-system can work better, earn more, live better. And that's why.
Small business - goals and values
If we turn to the letter of the law, then a huge number of companies can be attributed to small businesses: up to 100 people in terms of number, annual revenues limit values: micro enterprises up to 60 million rubles, small enterprises up to 400 million rubles. It is obvious that in the ordinary mind, even professionals and entrepreneurs of an enterprise with such revenue are not considered small.
In the vein of the same talk about CRM-systems is to focus primarily on the number of personnel - up to 100 people. Of course, it is much easier to manage such a number of people than 500 or 2000, but at the same time, most managers and employees of companies, even 10-20 people, are dissatisfied with the organization of processes and interactions that take place within the organization. In turn, problems within the company invariably affect customer relations:
- managers cannot “divide” clients and, as a result, satisfy all their needs with quality and on time;
- coordination of documents takes a long period of time;
- tasks are forgotten;
- the links of one process chain can fail - and now the whole process is collapsing, the client is dissatisfied with the omissions in working with him;
- collective responsibility of mistakes and mistakes on each other and so on comes to the place of everyone’s personal responsibility.
Meanwhile, it is for small businesses that customers are the main value, meeting the main goal of the company - making a profit. Relationships with customers are subject to a variety of factors, some of which are simply difficult to influence (for example, the active actions of competitors or changes in the financial situation of the client). But you can always minimize all negative factors when working with a client, including those related to relationships within the company (loss of data, documents, lack of additional sales, loss of loyalty programs, etc.). CRM-system, introduced in the company, should be aimed precisely at solving these problems.
CRM for small business: a series of the right decisions
In fact, any interaction with a client in order to receive money from him in exchange for a service (product) is a sale. Each company has its own arsenal of sales techniques - time-tested strategies, techniques and tricks that lead to the successful closing of the transaction. Each experienced sales person has such an arsenal and rarely ... the whole company: something is forgotten, something is lost with the departure of people.
The experience of our RegionSoft CRM development team shows that the first thing that the implementation of a CRM system can help is the accumulation of knowledge and sales techniques. A good customer knowledge base, multiplied by the accumulated experience of the staff, is a technology that works for the result. And it is in the effectiveness lies the whole philosophy of CRM.
- The CRM-system supports free and at the same time formalized communication of the company's employees — customized connections and processes, reminder systems and task setting minimize the risk of “shifting” questions and breaking corporate corporate hierarchy.
- CRM tools make it possible to create, filter, manage tasks, prices, products, documents, meetings in a few clicks. All the huge lists of notebooks and Excel find a pleasant interface and powerful functionality.
- The CRM-system “is able” to accumulate data and, on their basis, to build reports that, in the context of several periods, will provide experience and new ideas for customer management and organization of the sales cycle. Important helpers are the sales funnel, the ABC analysis tool and other reports reflecting the real state of affairs in sales, due to the fact that they are not based on desk research and forecasts, but on real data.
- CRM solutions can reduce the sales cycle, largely due to the fast and well-coordinated work of all departments and, for example, the rapid formation of a package of all documentation in a few clicks.
- Building business processes within a CRM system is an effective method of building relationships in reality: when there is a real electronic process map with responsible reminders, planning and reporting, all that remains is to move from stage to stage.
- If you have a website or online store, the CRM system will help you to collect leads directly from the site and from the user's account. This approach will provide an opportunity not to miss a single client.
Thus, the introduction of a CRM system will inevitably entail the solution of many problems that, in their totality, hindered the intensive development of business. With regard to the high cost of investment in solving these problems, it is advisable to compare the costs of implementing the system with spending, for example, on entertainment or, more objectively, assess the price of implementing a CRM solution in connection with the salary of employees. Taking into account the fact that you pay once for the project (not counting the possible fee for updates at the request of the client), and the CRM system works for you for many years, this investment is extremely profitable and easily pays off due to the growth in the volume of clients and the efficiency of customer base management .
CRM: how to choose and how to make friends
The introduction of a CRM system affects everyone in the company, especially if it is a small business operating as a single organism. This process should be thoughtful and planned, gradual, in order to avoid a number of implementation problems, such as sabotage by staff, non-use of the program, erroneous and incorrect data entry, inability and unwillingness to use the full range of functionality.
Sometimes it happens that after the introduction of the CRM-system is not used, because everyone is accustomed to work in their own way. This is a deadlock, one cannot allow oneself to abandon the automation of a business already at some stage, because this will be an obvious way back, and not by one step. When implementing a CRM system, it is important to observe a number of conditions:
- Management must be directly interested in implementation (for top managers, planning, monitoring and reporting are crucial).
- The company must have an expert-trained employee who is ready to answer all questions from internal users and patiently explain the specifics of using the system. In order for such a person (people) to appear inside the company, it is important not to save on training from the vendor’s side, especially since tuition fees constitute a small part of the cost of the implementation project.
- Work on the implementation should go in close connection with the vendor. In any case, the CRM company knows its system best of all and has conducted from hundreds to several thousand implementations, therefore, it is he who knows how to take into account all the features of a business, draw up the correct technical specifications, deploy the system taking into account the client's IT infrastructure.
- Do not neglect the modifications, if you need them - a system finely tuned specifically for your business will allow you to use all the functionality as efficiently as possible.
CRM as part of the team
You have installed a CRM system - consider that an important, reliable and very capable employee has appeared in the office. Accordingly, the system will require certain actions to make the work as comfortable as possible.
CRM-system should be developed. It is not only about the updates offered by the vendor. First of all, the solution needs to be developed as a customer database and knowledge base. Business automation is always a set of actions aimed at the result, and in the case of small and medium-sized businesses - to streamline processes and make a profit. If you initially set up a CRM system correctly and store as much valid data as possible in it, it will soon become a powerful information tool for management, sales and marketing.
CRM-system should grow with the business. If you expand your staff or change the direction of your business, try to maintain a relationship with your solution. Be sure to contact the developer who, if necessary, will be able to install additional licenses or change the software revision. It is this flexibility that makes it easy to scale the business regardless of the volume of changes.
The Russian mentality is largely based on distrust and there are objective historical and social reasons for this. And the more distrust arises when it comes to any investment in your business, that is, the potential costs. From experience we can say that the introduction of a CRM system quickly pays for itself due to the performance of each employee and the increase in the number of satisfied customers. Therefore, if there are doubts, it is worth a try, especially since there are various possibilities to fully test a CRM solution without paying for the cost of the entire project.
The introduction of a CRM system is a move up the ladder to a new stage in the life of a business. This movement is not always simple and short-term, but always effective. And after the introduction of a CRM system, there is certainly a moment when it’s already hard to imagine how you could have done without it before.
This is a crosspost of our article.
As part of the “Time Forward” campaign, which will be valid for three more days, until January 31, 2019, we offer a 10% discount on the purchase of any solutions made by RegionSoft . Write, call, we are ready to tell and show.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/438006/