Your customers are your most valuable asset. As your business grows, so does your customer database and all of the information that comes with it. A CRM is crucial for making sure that all of your customers’ details live in one central place, and allows you to create and nurture relationships with your customers. Aside from being a hub for storing information, a CRM can accurately measure, and provide comprehensive reporting, on all activities that contribute to attaining revenue goals, so that business owners know where to focus their sales and marketing efforts to generate the best ROI.
A popular CRM that focuses on the power of inbound marketing is HubSpot, and we just hit Diamond Solutions Partner status here at ALYKA. Diamond is one of the top brackets of HubSpot’s agency partners tier programme, and we’re WA's first and only Diamond Solutions Partner and one of 12 Australia-wide. Read more about our journey to becoming HubSpot Diamond Solutions Partners.
Why do I need a CRM?
At ALYKA, our search for a CRM started with the realisation that we needed a better understanding of our customers’ needs and build better relationships with them. To do this, we needed a system that would give us visibility over our customers’ journey with us. This would play a key role in structuring our agency for future growth. Whilst this is one area that highlights the need for a CRM, there are many more signs that you would benefit from implementing a CRM into your business.
- Difficulty keeping track of customer data - too many spreadsheets that are making the process of tracking your customers overwhelming and complicated.
- Multiple systems to store data - jumping around between systems is inefficient and can cause information to get lost in the process.
- Lack of sufficient tracking of marketing activities - not knowing which of your marketing efforts are generating the biggest return and which are a waste of time and money.
- Too much time spent on manual tasks - CRMs can automate several steps of the sales process, giving your sales team time to focus on revenue-generating activities.
- Leads falling through the cracks - Losing potential customers due to lack of nurturing.
If any of these issues sound like we’re describing your business, the next step would be to research CRMs so that you can choose one that is right for your business. Here’s a few things to help you in the process:
- Understand your business goals - before digging into research, identify what you are hoping to achieve as a business and how a CRM will help you get there. Taking a step back and understanding your goals means that conversations around CRMs will always come back to “will this CRM help me to reach my goal”.
- Research your options - once you know what you’re looking for in a CRM, you can start looking at what systems will fulfill your needs. Some of the most popular CRMs include HubSpot, Salesforce and SugarCRM. It comes as no surprise that at ALYKA, we’re big fans of HubSpot, as it offers the perfect solution to achieve our business goals of building better relationships with our customers, and accurately measuring ROI.
- Implementation and training - what level of support does the CRM offer? Initial onboarding and ongoing maintenance of a CRM is a huge task. What resources do you have in-house and what support do you need? As a Diamond Solutions Partner, we’re equipped with the resources, tools, and knowledge to help our customers grow better with HubSpot. Make sure that your chosen CRM offers a level of support that matches your needs.
It’s a great idea to understand how your business is currently performing in the digital world before getting started with a CRM, to give you an overall picture of your digital strengths and weaknesses. We’re currently offering complimentary Digital Maturity Index™ (DMI) reports that are designed to measure your organisation's performance and activity across multiple digital pillars. Our DMI survey will take approximately 5 minutes to complete, then you’ll be sent your personalised report with feedback on areas that you’re excelling at, and areas that could do with some focus. Click to get started with the DMI calculator and see how you measure up in the digital world.
