CRM integration: how marketing automation improves customer relations
CRM integration to improve your customer relations: does that sound too far away? Well, the automation of your processes and the link established between the marketing and sales departments, in particular, make it possible to obtain qualitative and dynamic data. The ultimate goal? To define and establish an optimal customer relationship, based on perfect customer knowledge.
How can a CRM solution be easily integrated? What results can you expect? Your proactivity and optimised use of your tools will help boost your sales performance. Find out how CRM integration can help you make the most of your CRM software.
What is CRM integration?
To put it simply, CRM integration involves aligning your tools, particularly your website and marketing tools, with your CRM. The aim is to enrich the latter with data collected on your prospects and customers.
It also enables you to put in place processes to standardise, rationalise and streamline the flow of information before, during and after the sale. Your working methods are also automated and standardised after the sale, from invoicing to support, including customer contact and follow-up.
Take advantage of marketing automation to enhance your CRM.
The other advantage of CRM integration is that it means that your CRM software is no longer just a static collection of customer data. Automation automatically fills in relevant information in your customer or prospect files.
By integrating with your website, you can collect data from a contact form, for example. In this simple example, you can quickly see the benefits of CRM integration:
- A prospect downloads a white paper from your website and enters their details;
- your marketing automation software retrieves and analyses the data entered;
- The prospect is evaluated and given a score ("lead scoring");
- the integration between your marketing automation software and your CRM automatically creates a prospect file in your CRM, by filling in the fields with the data specified by the prospect on your website;
- your sales force can finish filling in the lead sheets, select the hottest prospects and contact the people in question, knowing the history of interactions between the prospect and your company.
You can spot business signals more easily and process them more effectively.
CRM integration in line with your CRM strategy
The benefits of successful CRM integration
Successful CRM integration is an undeniable asset for your business and gives you a real competitive edge. Data centralisation improves the volume and quality of data collected by your teams. This data is then analysed and used by your sales force:
- the overall volume of customer data increases,
- the volume of data per customer also increases
You'll be able to obtain qualitative, dynamic data to boost your sales and establish solid customer relationships.
What benefits can you expect from successful CRM integration?
- Customer or prospect files contain more information.
- Prospects are better qualified.
- You know your contacts better; you're better able to answer their questions and provide a solution to their needs.
- You can segment your prospects more effectively.
- You know which prospects to prioritise and which can wait, etc.
- You can concentrate on the most interesting prospects and save time.
Monitor your CRM strategy
For effective CRM integration, it's vital to have established a precise CRM strategy in advance, one that meets the requirements of your company's overall strategy.
For example, having put in place a multi-channel approach, or even better, an omnichannel approach, can give you a clear idea of which channels to use to source data from your prospects and customers. So you know which integrations to favour, with which tools, and how.
Among other things, it appears that integrating mobile into your strategy has become an imperative if you are to adapt to customer behaviour and remain competitive (Source: Markess).
RGPD and the use of data
Data is at the heart of CRM and marketing automation integration issues. Since the entry into force of the RGDP, the General Data Protection Regulation, on 25 May 2018, compliance and use of data must be central issues when implementing CRM strategy and integration.
Companies need to look at the use of data from all their tools. They collect data from many sources:
- email marketing (newsletters)
- contact files
- databases
- Excel files
- websites, etc.
The use of this data, which is then integrated into the CRM, must comply with the conditions of the RGPD. Some CRM software packages, such as Simple CRM, directly integrate a module for auditing data and implementing an RGPD policy.
Compliance with the RGPD also involves managing rights and securing data. In other words, who can see and do what with the data in the CRM? Appointing a Data Protection Officer (DPO), a person responsible for steering your company's RGPD policy, is the first step in ensuring compliance.
In the event of non-compliance, the fines provided for by the law can amount to up to 4% of annual worldwide turnover.
Connecting sales and marketing: the key to CRM integration
The aim here is to take advantage of marketing automation and lead nurturing techniques, which enable you to identify prospects and then nurture them until they make a purchase. To do this, you can rely on :
- omnichannel campaigns
- account-based marketing
- emailing
- mobile phones
- social networks,
- digital ads (targeted advertising),
- your website,
- predictive content.
💡 You'll find all these levers at monday.com CRM. Its CRM is as comprehensive as it is effective, enabling you to improve commercial relations with your customers by focusing on customer loyalty and sales growth, thanks in particular to the automatic integration of your marketing and sales tools (Gmail and ERP) on the platform. So every time a new user registers on your site, a personalised welcome email will be sent!
The synergy between marketing and sales boosts your sales performance and reinforces the positive dynamic of collaboration between these two departments:
- sales staff are aware of the hottest prospects and maximise sales ;
- the marketing department benefits from sales data and measures the return on their actions.
Don't forget to update your data!
The aim of bi-directional integration is to create a virtuous circle between marketing and sales, so that both reap the benefits of this interconnection. Automatic synchronisation of data between marketing tools and CRM software makes it easier to enrich leads with every interaction, whatever tool is used.
Once the data has been integrated, a data update policy needs to be devised and implemented. This policy makes it possible to rationalise and automate the updating of data or the extraction of data from other tools (from your website to the CRM, for example).
CRM integration means harmonising semantics between tools to ensure optimum transmission of information.
Data at the service of your customer relations
Once you have a clear vision of what customer relations are and the CRM strategy you want to adopt, CRM integration comes naturally to feed your CRM software and :
- automate data sourcing
- automate the creation of prospect and customer files,
- promote lead nurturing,
- segment your prospects and personalise your messages,
- optimise your chances of closing a sale thanks to customer knowledge.
This applies to all CRM software, from the best-known such as Salesforce or Microsoft Dynamics, to the lesser-known, more suited to VSEs and SMEs.
CRM integration increases the volume and quantity of data you have at your disposal. You can show your customers that you know who they are, and build loyalty by providing precise solutions to their needs. In short, a high-performance CRM integration boosts your sales performance and improves customer relations.
Article translated from French