Why Your Organization Needs CRM System?

To function successfully every organization needs to generate leads for their sales people. A constant intake of new prospects and customers ensures stability and profitability of the business enterprise. 

However, lead generation and obtaining new prospects is not simple and it is not cheap. It includes multiple activities such as; identifying, connecting, contacting, monitoring, engaging and converting suspects to qualified leads and qualified leads to customers. 

Let’s explore the effectiveness on this process in relation to your CRM system:

Step 1: Develop strategy, budgets, timelines and goals:

Suppose that your company decided to implement a modern lead generation process by hiring a lead generator or employing a lead generation company: We always suggest you hire professionals or get a marketing consultant to build and monitor your lead generation strategy and implementation.

Step 2: Market Research and Identifying your target market:

Locate suspects, individuals or businesses which may be in need of your products or services.

Step 3: Database, Database and Database:

Obtaining, or building the database of suspects: You can purchase a list of prospects which meets criteria of your target market or build it by using LinkedIn and other social media, business networking, and referral networks. This is where the importance of your CRM system comes into place. A CRM system will allow you to classify prospects based on certain criteria which you would like to keep track of over time.

Here are some examples:  First name, last name, company, phone, email, first contact, next step, uses the product, LinkedIn connection accepted, introduction message delivered (email, LinkedIn, Google Plus, telephone call), initial response, lead status, etc. 

The ability of your company to track and manipulate these fields of information will insure transparency and the success of your marketing process.

Assume that you start this process in Excel or Google Docs. It may be sufficient at the beginning, but very soon the spreadsheets will become unmanageable and ineffective. You will feel buried in the of information you are collecting.

But wait, here it comes: Step 3: Converting and monitoring:

In sales, being in the right place at the right time is critical; you missed it? You lost it. Without an effective CRM system you WILL be constantly losing this point in time and your investment in generating leads, social media, telemarketing and other activities will go wasted.

CRM technology may seem complex, expensive and hard to implement and learn, but it is essential you invest in this technology for your business to succeed. With open source technology there are many products which are affordable, customizable and very effective.  Products such as Vtiger CRM do not require individual licensing fees and are easy to implement and use. Do your research and hire a local CRM company to implement a CRM that suits your needs and budget.