CRM (Customer Relationship Management)
CRM systems are crucial in modern business to help companies build and maintain strong customer relationships. CRM systems centralize customer data to enable sales teams to understand customer preferences and purchase history and lead to personalized and targeted sales strategies. These systems also streamline the sales process, enhancing efficiency and productivity; while providing valuable insights that aid in identifying new opportunities. Ideally, an effective CRM system plays a central role in increasing customer satisfaction, retention and contributing to long-term business growth and success
CRM is both and important tool and resource for a lubricant salesperson. Fully understanding how to use CRM and integrating it into your daily routine may take time, but once you are using it consistently the benefits become apparent. CRM is an important tool for the management staff as well. It allows them to create sales reports based off of the information entered and get a better understanding of opportunities they may not be intimately involved in. It is crucial to accurately enter information into CRM systems to ensure there isn’t duplication or confusion for both yourself and the management team.
CRM “The Tool”
- Able to input customer information to track their progress along a sales cycle
- Customer and opportunity organization
- Separate different opportunities within the same organization
- Can log phone calls, emails and specific customer information that can be accessed later
- Documents and pricing sheets can be stored within opportunities
CRM “The Resource”
- Provides a single place where all customer information is stored
- Allows you to reference old opportunities and prospects to use as case studies
- Allows you to quickly navigate multiple opportunities without confusion
Getting Started with CRM
1. Data Types
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The first step to operating a successful CRM interface is understanding the different classifications of information.
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Leads– leads are prospects that could turn into a business opportunity
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Accounts– accounts are companies
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Contacts– contacts are specific people within a business
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Opportunities– opportunities are converted Leads that track the sales timeline and describe the scope of potential business
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2. Creating a Lead
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The second step in your CRM journey is understanding how to create a Lead.
- When creating a lead, you should start by clicking the “+” and then click “create lead”
- Enter the Contact and Account information.
- Include as much information here as possible, this will make contacting your lead in the future much easier
- Click “Save”
3. Creating an Opportunity
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To convert a Lead to an Opportunity:
- Click on the Lead you would like to modify and click “Convert”
- When a Lead is converted to an Opportunity it will automatically create a Contact and an Account based on the information entered.
- Select the box that reads “Create a new Opportunity for this Account”
- Enter Opportunity names as: “Account Name-product opportunity”
- Click on the Lead you would like to modify and click “Convert”
- Opportunities can also be created directly from the Opportunity tab, where you will have to enter the Account name, Contact name, and other pertinent information.
- This is helpful when there is a new opportunity for an existing customer or account.
4. Updating Your Pipeline
- Staying consistent and updating your sales timeline regularly is pertinent to properly understand the customer journey
- Add a description or any relevant notes about the opportunity in the description and notes sections as they come up.
- You can create call logs from important conversations or schedule future calls by clicking:
- Open Activities > Add New > Call > Log a call or Schedule a call
- Ensure you report the final status of the opportunity (closed won, closed lost, closed lost to competition)