Question

What are the typical functionalities provided by CRM software? Please answer in 2-3 paragraphs.

Answer 1

Features of CRM Software:

1. Contact Management

This is the most basic feature that every CRM application has.

Contact Management helps business to collect and organize customer data efficiently.

It tracks leads as it progresses through the sales pipeline and make first purchase. It manages customer profiles, relationships and communication history.

CRM gives a complete picture of all customers.

2. Account Management

Account Management is another primary feature of CRM software.

It captures and organizes company or division or household information and manages relationship.

Keep in mind,

Account records contain information about the companies you do business with. But contact records contain information about the people you work with.

Often it creates confusion!

3. Quote and Order Management

When a customer is interested to buy product or service, sales person creates a quote with all details.

If customer agrees to buy it with specified price, order will be generated. If not, sales person either cancels the quote or revises it to meet customer requirement.

CRM automates and streamlines this process for business. It improves order processing capability, sales visibility and relationship with customers.

4. Opportunity Management

When business qualifies a lead, it becomes an opportunity.

An opportunity is potential revenue generating contact or account.

If business does not nurture contacts or accounts properly, it will lose selling opportunity.

Opportunity Management enables business to manage and monitor sales funnel and provides necessary info to complete the sales process.

5. Sales Process Automation

Sales process automation is one of the most important CRM features. It automates and streamlines various sales functionalities to standardize business processes.

Business can customize the application as per requirements.

It reduces human error, makes sales cycle shorter and improves lead to customer conversion ratio.

6. Campaign Management

Needless to say, campaign management plays an important role in any business.

Remember,

Marketing campaign is the very first step any business takes to reach potential customers with products and services. So, it must be flawless. Isn’t?

CRM leverages the efficiency of marketing campaign by marketing process automation. It reduces campaign cost, analyzes campaign data and forecasts future marketing strategy.

7. Customer Segmentation

Without proper customer segmentation, marketing campaign will never give you expected result.

Why?

Suppose, ABC company wants to launch a product for new born babies in Europe. So marketing campaign must target parents with new born babies or to be parents only.

And campaign will run only in Europe.

Now if the company runs a campaign for everyone around the globe, it will never generate enough leads.

Moreover, it will create bad impression.

So proper customer segmentation is important before executing any campaign.