Getting Started CRM – Customer Relationship Management software, usually called CRM, can keep your customers happy and boost your sales. The right one makes it easy to track who is buying from you and where they are in the sales cycle.

Getting Started CRM – Sound good? Here’s an overview to help you get started with this essential marketing tool.

What Is CRM? – Getting Started CRM

The product you are selling is your franchise or business opportunity. As with any product, to get people to buy, you need to track leads, nurture them and eventually convince them to do the deal.

Customer Relationship Management software helps you efficiently manage your customer contacts. Your sales go up and your costs go down. You sell more franchises, more business opportunities, and your bottom line gets healthier and more profitable.

With CRM in place, you save hours on tiresome tasks, while getting more accurate results. Data entry, cross-indexing and pinpointing the contacts you want to target are much simpler.

It takes a fraction of the time, compared to doing it by hand, and the results you get are much more precise. With the right CRM in place, you work from a single dashboard to accomplish a wide range of tasks quickly and effectively.

Close More Deals – Getting Started CRM

After switching to a CRM, the number one result companies report is an uptick in deals that successfully close. More sales mean a stronger bottom line.

Here are 5 ways that a CRM helps you make sales:

1. Less data entry. Most CRMs are now “smart-cloud” enabled. That means they sync every data entry, even if it is made on a smartphone or tablet.

2. Better analytics. Just check your dashboard to see the metrics that show up-to-the-minute performance. This means you can make informed decisions quickly, all based on real-time data.

3. Stronger customer relationships. The CRM software makes it simple to stay in touch with your customers and provide them with customized information. Its database contains critical intelligence about each prospect’s preferences and history.

4. Track where they are in the sales cycle. Timing is key to making sales. With a CRM, you never have to guess where each person is in the decision process, so you can present information tailored to his situation.

5. Track emails. So many emails end up in the spam folder. With a CRM, you can find out if your prospect has received the email and has opened his email.

Save Money – Getting Started CRM

CRM software handles so many tasks, and so efficiently, that it saves you time. Time = money. This is especially true for small business owners, who were so many hats. Many say they have recouped their costs in just a day or two!

Here’s a look at 4 ways a CRM can save your company money:

1. Less administrative work. The more time and energy you spend on mundane tasks, the less you have for doing what you’re good at running your business and making sales.

2. Data at your fingertips. When you have to spend hours finding the right information to make a sale or tweak a marketing campaign, you lose money. With a CRM, you can find the info you need in seconds.

3. Nurtured leads. You never have to worry about a prospect falling into the cracks. A CRM tracks everyone and everything, dependably and efficiently.

4. Track emails. Do you know if your prospect opened his email? What if it went into the spam folder? With a CRM, you get this information automatically, no more guessing.

With a CRM in place, you can track and manage your leads and nurture your prospects quickly and consistently. That leads directly to more sales. The CRM lets you use your time in the most efficient way possible, freeing you from mundane tasks. This lets you use your time on more profitable goals.

Boost SEO/SEM Results – Getting Started CRM

Using the metrics from your CRM dashboard, you can see how effectively your current Search Engine Optimization, SEO, and Search Engine Marketing, SEM, efforts are doing. The more current your data, the quicker you can make changes to your website, content and other marketing efforts.

When your marketing efforts are constantly improving, you get better results and more sales.

Manage Your Leads – Getting Started CRM

Sales leads are the lifeblood of your business. When you manage them productively, you make more sales. The better you nurture your leads, the more recurring sales you make.

That’s why CRMs are so popular. They streamline lead management and do a much more effective job of it than trying to track this data by hand. Just check your dashboard to find out who is responding to your emails, how many appointments you have in the pipeline, and how close you are to making your sales goals.

Choose the Right One – Getting Started CRM

But how do you choose the best CRM? There are hundreds on the market, with a host of features and in a wide range of prices.

Thankfully, most offer a free trial, often without even requesting a credit card. This lets you test drive the CRMs that sound most suitable.

But before you do that, you need to figure out what makes a CRM suitable for you and your business. Each biz opp is different. Your goal is to find the CRM that is closely tailored to your requirements.

To help you decide, Business Opportunity found the most comprehensive report available to help owners of franchises and biz ops. Check out this FREE white paper. It can guide you through the selection process.

When checking out CRMs, be sure to avoid these all-too-common mistakes:

Mistake #1. You aren’t clear about your current CRM process. Before you start your search, be sure to write down how you track leads now, what works and what doesn’t.

Mistake #2. You don’t know what you want the CRM to do.

What would the perfect lead management tool actually do? Write it down.

Mistake #3. You fall in love with just a single feature on a certain brand of CRM.

Don’t choose a CRM just for a one, lone feature, however attractive it is. Look at the whole package before making a decision.

BizOpp Makes It Easy for Advertisers – Getting Started CRM

Did you know that Business Opportunity offers free CRM integration? If you use the SalesForce CRM, you can now save hours of time and manage your leads quickly and efficiently.

This is a free service, courtesy of Business Opportunity. We want to make your life as easy and prosperous as possible.