CRM Explained for Beginners | Accelo

The biggest acronym to hit business technology has provoked many questions, the first two being—“What is sales?” and “How will it help my business?” 

• What is a CRM?
• What is an Example of a CRM System?
• Email Integration
• Automated Workflow
• Reporting
• Project Tracking
• Dynamic Scheduling & Forecasting
• Internal Collaboration
• Top 5 CRM Platforms
• Conclusion

What is a CRM?

CRM stands for customer (or client) relationship management, and is a business strategy that focuses on customer prospecting, retention, and management.  

What is an Example of a CRM System?

CRM has evolved from excel spreadsheets to full-featured software solutions thought up by various tech companies. From Salesforce to our own web-based software, typical features of a CRM include:

Email Integration

CRM’s will integrate with email clients, such as Outlook or Gmail, to keep track of all relevant client emails.

Automated Workflow

Workflow processes are made easier and more readily available within sales. Clicking on a specific company will show you their contact details and relevant information. Visibility is key here: when working with a client, a news feed is generated with all real-time activity.

Reporting

Visualize data and activity through reports and dashboards. What’s not to like about seeing what your company is up to at any given moment? View the amount of work your team accomplishes by the day, week, or team-member.

Project Tracking

Create and track the status of a project within your sales. By recording the amount of time you spend working on a particular project, tracking capabilities makes it easier and faster for projects to get done.

Dynamic Scheduling & Forecasting

Know everything that goes on within your company and estimate the time it takes to work on projects. A calendar view of your workload can help you understand or adapt to different management teams for dynamic scheduling.

Internal Collaboration

This is one of the most innovative capabilities of sales applications. More than just facing clients on one’s own, collaborating with a team can help leverage knowledge about that client.

Top 5 CRM Platforms

1. Monday.com
   A project management tool that enables organizations to manage tasks, projects, and team work. 
2. Pipedrive
   Pipedrive lets you see exactly where each deal stands and have loads of smart and easy-to-use features.
3. Freshworks
   Freshworks allows you to get a 360° view of your prospects and customers with the combined power of salesforce automation, marketing automation, chat, and telephony - in a single solution.
4. Capsule
   A SaaS web application that lets you easily track conversation, know the history and deliver more personal experiences. 
5. VCITA
   Get a birds-eye view of your clients’ history, appointments, payments, invoices, documents and conversations with VCITA.

Conclusion

In terms of all the different sales being built today, they fall under two types: industry-specific, or customizable. The former creates features catered specifically to client-facing teams such as sales, marketing, customer support, real estate etc. The latter has the capability to perform any and all client cycle processes.

Whatever you may decide, just make sure that your sales is functional, analytical and collaborative.