The essential functions of a CRM

In your search for customer relationship management software, it's important to carry out an analysis of the software package's functionalities in order to opt for the tool that will be involved in each phase of the sales cycle, and that will integrate functionalities covering three distinct areas: sales force, marketing and customer support.

See all software Customer relationship management

What are the main criteria for choosing CRM software?

The essential functionalities of a CRM are as follows:

• Contact management includes customers, prospects and partners. This feature allows you to add contacts and organise them better online, so that you can access your contacts easily, sort the data or import or export them to an Excel file. Contact management also makes it easier to run e-mail campaigns.
• The sales stage: this function gives you an overview of the sales processes underway and enables you to schedule them according to the way your business operates. This function facilitates sales activity through a number of stages: firstly, the CRM software helps you to gather information about your target audience, then it prepares the prospecting process to encourage contact with the prospect and the proposal of products and services. The next stage would be sales follow-up by calling the prospect back and making appointments, with the aim of successfully negotiating and concluding with a contractual commitment. The sales module also manages duplicates and the catalogue of products, services and prices for greater sales efficiency.
• The Daily Dashboard gives you all the key figures for your business, to help you make the right choices and take the right decisions. In practical terms, this is a summary of your statistics by sales agent, sales, projects, customers, prospects, etc.
• Document Management is designed to save sales reps time by providing them with document templates for commercial purposes: proposals, standard e-mails, contracts, surveys, contact forms, etc. This function also makes it possible to centralise all files in one place, with the option of sharing them.
• Reporting: CRM software incorporates a powerful reporting function that generates refined summaries of customer relations: marketing, expectations, sales, etc. The aim is to ensure that objectives are achieved or not.
• Marketing & analysis : this module is one of the essentials when it comes to choosing a CRM system, enabling you to study the behaviour of potential customers and prospects. The aim is to get to know them better so that you can send them personalised promotional offers. This function manages mailing, e-mailing, faxing, SMS, competitive intelligence and statistical analysis.
• Miscellaneous services: this module differs from one publisher to another and manages the commissions allocated to sales representatives, copyright, the multilingual and multicurrency nature of the CRM software, as well as the personalisation of parameters.

See all software Customer relationship management

CRM software is essential if you are to implement a sales strategy that will give you a good understanding of your customers, and thus help you to acquire and retain them. To do this, you need to select the software that best adapts to your customers' expectations, in terms of anticipating their needs and providing them with the best possible personalised offer. It is important to take into account the functionalities mentioned above when choosing your CRM software. It is the ideal tool for building customer loyalty at the lowest possible cost, and for increasing sales in the long term.