CRM definition: what are the functions of a CRM and how to implement it in the company?

Customer relationship management would be a challenging task were it not for the existence of a tool capable of centralizing and coordinating all the actions and interactions that characterize it.

In this article, we will introduce you to CRM: definition, importance, functions and characteristics. We will also review the advantages of CRM in the company to optimize processes, increase productivity and keep your customers happy.

Discover why you should not wait any longer to implement a CRM solution.

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What is CRM and what is it for?

What is CRM?

CRM - Customer Relationship Management - refers to two distinct concepts:

1. The business strategy aimed at satisfying customers and building customer loyalty throughout their life cycle.
2. The computer program or software to implement a customer management system.

What is CRM in marketing?

In Spain, this management method is known as relationship marketing. Its main objective is to establish a close relationship with the customer in order to build customer loyalty. This objective can be achieved because CRM allows you to:

• Automate and standardize processes associated with marketing, customer service and sales.
• Make more attractive offers to your customers because you can better understand their needs.
• Improve customer service.
• Increase sales and therefore, increase your company's performance.

CRM: features and functionalities

Now that we have seen what a CRM is and its global functions, let's take a closer look at some essential features.

The functioning of a CRM is based on the articulation of a series of functionalities:

Operational and technical

Operational functionalities include:

1. Reports and dashboards that facilitate the visualization of statistics and sound decision making.
2. Mobile CRM, which allows teams to receive notifications and alerts at all times. In short, it makes it possible to take your CRM with you wherever you go.
3. Integration with email and customer contact details.
4. CRM database, from which to ensure the storage, protection and backup of files, to prevent loss or theft.
5. File synchronization and exchange, through the facility to download your emails, upload information to the cloud and transfer files.
6. Data access control, by allowing to control the access of certain collaborators to certain information, depending on their tasks and missions.
7. Test environment to try out new system functions before implementing them.
8. Integration with other software, thus increasing the operability of your CRM system by adding the functionalities of different systems.
9. Customization of options to ensure greater flexibility and adaptability to the specific needs of your company.
10. Integration with social networks to manage all communication channels from the same place and facilitate the collaborative work of your teams, from different points of contact.

2. Salespeople

Sales management in a CRM includes the following processes:

1. Strengthening the sales force by automating recurring activities, which allows significant time savings.
2. Centralization of sales data, which facilitates the management of information by allowing it to be segmented into blocks.
3. Sales performance management, identifying the strengths and weaknesses of your sales team and improving their performance.
4. Sales quota control, by verifying which products sell more than others, thus reducing losses.

3. Customer support

Customer relations are optimized from CRM thanks to functionalities such as:

1. Contact management, through segmentation and personalization of your contact list.
2. Automation of customer support, providing support through FAQ pages, chatbots, among others.
3. Customer satisfaction tracking, by being able to see and work on each case separately, making sure to satisfy each customer's needs.

4. Marketing

At the beginning we talked about the usefulness of a CRM in everything that has to do with the marketing of a company. Let's see now, in a more specific way, which functionalities contribute to optimize this process:

1. Sales metrics (analytics), through which data collected from social networks, surveys, web traffic, etc. is analyzed.
2. Team and customer management, by being able to quantify and identify the customers with the greatest loyalty potential.
3. Lead management, which allows you to identify who are the best customers to follow up with, according to a series of demographic and psychographic factors.
4. Sales forecasting, through which you can determine if your sales results correspond to your efforts.

Structure of a CRM: sales, customer and marketing

There are different CRM modules within the same solution or platform. Each of these modules can group different tools and functions. The organization of a CRM system varies according to the needs of each company. The basic modules are: sales, customer and marketing.

1. Sales module

It is oriented to automate the activities of the sales team. From this module it is possible to

• Record all sales tasks,
• follow up on interactions with potential customers,
• control the sales flow and its status.

2. Customer module

Allows to effectively manage and provide assistance to the Customer Service Department. It includes and collects

• All personal and contact information of each customer,
• history of incidents, complaints, purchase record, among others.

3. Marketing module

Its objective is to analyze all the information of the previous modules to perform segmentations and marketing campaigns oriented to the development of customer loyalty based on the behavior and characteristics of the customers.

It facilitates:

• Campaign tracking,
• centralization of all tasks and events of the Marketing Department.

Types of CRM

There are different types of CRM, which can be classified according to their functions, their installation or their development. These are detailed below:

1. Operational CRM

This CRM system includes all the company's processes that involve direct contact with the customer. It allows to manage the operation of the marketing, sales and customer service departments.

2. Analytical CRM

The functions of an analytical CRM system are based on storing all customer and sales data and thus making decisions regarding products and services and identifying sales opportunities. At the same time, this CRM tool is used for reporting results.

3. Collaborative CRM

It allows the integration of different customer communication channels, such as e-mails, calls, social networks, etc.

4. Local CRM

In this case, the company acquires the license to use the software and install it on its own server. This makes the company responsible for its administration, maintenance and security.

5. CRM in the cloud

In the business world, CRM has also been able to benefit from SaaS (Software as a Service). In this sense, all information is stored in the cloud, which teams can access, regardless of where and when they are.

6. Open source CRM

Open source CRM offers the possibility for companies to modify the source code in order to customize the functionalities and make modifications based on their specific needs.

7. Proprietary CRM

Unlike open source software, the source code is the property of the software provider, which entails certain technological restrictions in terms of modifying or distributing the solution.

Finally, in terms of classification, it is perhaps pertinent to differentiate between ERP and CRM, since these two systems are sometimes confused. What is to be retained from each solution is:

• CRM ( Customer Relationship Management):
  • Optimizes business processes,
  • focuses on the customer experience,
  • seeks to improve the relationship between the company and the customer.
• ERP ( Enterprise Resource Planning):
  • Optimizes business processes,
  • focuses on internal process flow,
  • seeks to improve operability and business efficiency.

Advantages of CRM software systems

The management software is a tool that can be used on a daily basis to:

• Enrich the information available on customers.
• Structure and homogenize customer management.
• Unify the management model and the internal operation of the company.
• Optimize sales processes and the sales cycle .
• Centralize the information provided by the customer.

A CRM platform improves communication between employees and with potential customers, as well as customer satisfaction, since it offers personalized attention. It also improves the analysis of data and trends, thus facilitating decision making.

In short, it provides a unique and privileged view of the customer from all perspectives: marketing, financial and commercial.

What is the best CRM system for my company?

There are a multitude of programs and modules for implementing a CRM system. For the selection procedure to be effective, it is advisable to follow a series of steps:

• Stage - 1: Conduct an economic analysis of your company including a study of the current situation of customer relationships, competition, industry situation and supplier relationship management.
• Stage - 2: Define business objectives. Generally, this is to acquire new customers and to build customer loyalty.
• Stage - 3: Synchronize CRM processes with the company's market strategy. This stage identifies the most important activities and builds the necessary tools that automate the associated tasks.
• Stage - 4: Design or choose the business software that best meets the business needs identified in the previous stages.

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CRM software: meaning for the company

Many companies are afraid to purchase CRM software because they relate all the functionalities they offer to a high level of complexity. However, software developers have made an effort to make these tools easy to handle, even for those small and medium-sized companies that do not have a highly developed Technical Department.

You have already seen that there are an infinite number of options. The different types of tools that we present to you, offer from paid solutions to free CRM or with a free trial period. The advantage of this is that it allows you to familiarize yourself with the tool before having to invest in it.