What are CRM platforms and why do you need them?

Businesses are constantly looking for growth opportunities, expanding their customer base, and increasing their number of sales. That’s where customer relationship management (CRM) platforms come in handy in modern businesses.

Customer relationship management software is a centralized platform designed to help businesses manage interactions with prospects, customers, and partners throughout the entire lifecycle, from lead generation to post-sale support.

CRM platforms help streamline customer relationships, sales, and marketing processes, contributing to more data-driven decision-making. That’s why the Cybernews team has reviewed the best three CRM platforms currently available.

In this guide, I’ll discuss what are CRM platforms and reveal their main benefits. I’ll also explain what is CRM software used for, different types of CRM systems, and who should use a CRM system. Let’s delve into more detail.

Check the best CRM systems

What are CRM platforms?

If you’re looking for answers to the questions “What is a CRM system?” and “What does a CRM system do?” you’re in the right place. I’ll give you a brief overview of the CRM software meaning, so let’s have a closer look.

Simply put, customer relationship management (CRM) software, or, for short, customer management software, is a centralized platform that helps you manage interactions with prospects, customers, and partners. This means that all your activities, from lead generation to post-sale support, will be managed.

This is possible because a CRM system consolidates contact details, communication history, sales activities, and customer preferences into a unified database, enabling teams to access and update information in real time.

Furthermore, a CRM facilitates lead tracking, opportunity management, sales forecasting, marketing automation, and customer service, allowing you to personalize engagements and improve customer retention.

In addition, modern CRM solutions integrate AI-driven insights, workflow automation, and omnichannel communication, helping organizations streamline operations, increase efficiency, and drive revenue growth.

As a result, regardless of whether you use a CRM for B2B or B2C businesses, a well-implemented CRM system enhances team collaboration, enables more data-driven decision-making, and optimizes the experience of your customers across all touchpoints.

However, CRM management software wasn’t always like this. In the beginning, businesses relied on manual methods, such as journals, to manage customer information.

The first digital evolution began in the 1980s and ‘90s, when businesses started using simple contact management tools and database management systems, which eventually became Sales Force Automation (SFA) systems.

However, as technology advanced, CRM systems went from tracking simple sales to including features like omnichannel communication, marketing automation, and advanced analytics. Nowadays, a modern CRM acts as a comprehensive platform that integrates marketing, sales, and service departments.

5 different types of CRM platforms

There are a few different types of CRM platforms that will help you with salesforce CRM and any other activities, such as:

• Operational CRM: This software is a centralized CRM that focuses on your organization’s sales, marketing, and customer service. Due to this, it streamlines these processes by automating most of them.
• Analytical CRM: The next type of CRM management software is analytical CRM. More precisely, it helps businesses analyze customer data to improve decision-making.
• Collaborative CRM: As the name implies, collaborative CRM platforms help different departments in your company, such as sales and support, share customer information, and streamline data processing.
• Strategic CRM: If you want to manage and streamline long-term customer engagement and retention, then you should consider using strategic CRM software.
• Campaign management CRM: These CRM systems specialize in managing marketing campaigns and tracking ROI.

What makes the best CRM system?

My CRM guide continues by revealing the key qualities that make CRM system software stand out from the numerous tools on the market. So, this is what makes the best CRM system:

• User-friendly interface and navigation: As customer management system tools centralize crucial and vast data, they need to have a user-friendly interface and navigation. Basically, a good CRM should be intuitive and streamline your daily tasks, such as adding contacts and managing different deals.
• Robust automation tools for sales and marketing: Another aspect that makes the CRM platform the best is that automation tools are included. This is especially crucial for your sales and marketing activities so you can reduce unnecessary workload and focus on other important business aspects.
• Comprehensive analytics and reporting features: The best CRM system always comes with advanced analytics and reporting features. This means that it should be able to run multiple reports, allow you to customize your reports, and include as many analytics as possible that will give you in-depth information about how you can improve your processes.
• Scalability and customization options: Each reliable CRM should offer customization features so you can tailor the features according to your business needs. Also, it should have a lot of resources that will help you scale your business no matter how much it grows.
• Excellent customer support and training resources: The best CRM needs to have excellent customer support that’s available 24/7 and via multiple channels. Also, it should include training resources so you can figure out how you can use them, even if you’re a beginner.

Key benefits of CRM platforms

Now that you have a general idea about CRM platforms, I’ve decided to compile a list of all the advantages of CRM systems. Here are the top benefits of using a CRM platform:

• Improved customer relationships: This is possible due to the CRM’s proactive customer service interactions, like chatbots, and customer-centric automation, such as sending automated yet personalized messages to each consumer. Overall, you’ll provide your customers with a much better experience, which will easily lead to improved relationships and easier retention.
• Better sales forecasting and tracking: Due to the comprehensive analytics that CRM software offers, you can also take advantage of enhanced sales tracking. In addition, with those insights, you can make accurate forecasts, which will help you organize your workload and budget.
• Enhanced team collaboration: There are tools that will allow various departments to share data and insights with each other, streamlining the collaboration in your team and the overall organization. Instead of reporting to different departments, your team members can access all the information from the same platform.
• Data-driven decision-making: As I have already mentioned a few times so far, you should be aware that this is possible due to their streamlining capabilities. More precisely, CRM platforms simplify customer relationships, sales, and marketing processes, providing you with detailed information about each step of these processes.

Who should use a CRM? (signs that you need a CRM tool)

Due to what CRM software is capable of, its features, and all the benefits it offers, I can say that there are many industries in which CRM software comes in handy. However, according to my findings, CRM tools are the most beneficial for sales, marketing, eCommerce, and customer services.

Nevertheless, you need to identify whether you need a CRM. Let’s have a look at my list with all the signs that indicate you should use a CRM:

• You struggle with sales. If you plan to expand your business or launch new products, you need a robust CRM system. This is especially crucial if you struggle with your current sales operations. Luckily, CRM software helps you create leads by sorting, analyzing, and prioritizing different opportunities.
• You can’t build a customer profile. The CRM centralizes all customers’ scattered data into one place. Therefore, you’ll gain more visibility into crucial information and behaviors, which will help you create a strong and accurate customer profile.
• Your customer service needs improvement. A CRM will offer you an overview of your customers, empowering your support team to deliver excellent service. This is because it includes chatbots, digital assistants, and different communication channels. That said, your customers will be able to pick the support channel that fits them the most and get better service.
• You can’t identify your best customers. Knowing who your best customers are can be tricky. Luckily, the best CRM tool can quickly identify them, allowing your frontline employees to create better relationships with them and nurture their customer loyalty.
• You can’t keep the customer profiles up-to-date. CRM systems enhance your customers’ data by integrating with external sources. This ensures all account and contact information is accurate and up-to-date. More precisely, sales, customer service, and marketing teams can stay informed about changes.
• Your customer data is incomplete. Incomplete data is often an issue. That’s why CRMs automatically enter external account and contact information into your system, filling in the missing data and removing duplicates.
• Marketing and sales departments don’t work together. Miscommunication can also be a big issue. However, robust CRM software fosters collaboration across departments by sharing a unified data model. This eliminates misinformation, reduces customer frustration from repeated interactions, and ensures you provide consistent service.
• Forecasting is challenging. Ultimately, manual reports via spreadsheets are often inefficient and pose a significant risk of errors occurring. Luckily, CRM systems solve this by centralizing data, enabling quick, accurate, and real-time reporting and forecasting, freeing up your sales teams to focus on selling.

How do I choose the right CRM platform for my needs?

Choosing the right CRM platform for your needs can be tough. But by sticking to some crucial criteria, you can easily make the right decision. Currently, the best CRM platforms are Monday, Salesforce, and Pipedrive. But let’s see what you should consider before making the right decision:

• Define your needs. The first thing you should do is identify your primary goals. Think about whether you’d like to achieve sales automation, marketing automation, or improve customer support. This will be your first guideline during the selection process, showing you what type of CRM you should focus on.
• Consider your budget. Another important thing is to evaluate the pricing plans and hidden costs of the CRM tools. However, it’s crucial not to rush this decision and always go for the cheapest solution. You need to find a tool that balances both the price and the value you receive for it.
• Check integration options. Next, you must ensure that the CRM integrates with your existing tools. This way, you’ll establish seamless processing of any workload without needing to install or purchase other tools and waste time figuring out how they work.
• Look for scalability. One of the most crucial things is to select a CRM that grows with your business. That’s why you must check the resources and the pricing plans to see whether you can upgrade your subscription when the time comes.
• Test with free trials. Last but not least, you should choose CRM platforms with free trials. This will allow you to see which platform suits you best without spending your money.

Final word on what are CRM platforms

In the fast-paced business landscape, you may find it difficult to cope with tasks like handling customers, finances, and sales at the same time. That’s why businesses of all sizes should consider using a CRM platform.

CRM platforms streamline various sales, marketing, and customer service processes, allowing you to make informed decisions and build strong and personalized relationships with your customers.

However, it’s crucial to pick the right platform based on your specific business needs. So, consider scalability and integration options, define your needs, and evaluate your budget.

Hopefully, my guide can assist you in making the best choice when selecting the right CRM software for you, considering the Cybernews team has carefully evaluated these platforms and all they have to offer.

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