Before CRM

Many businesses, particularly SMEs, start their business with a physical list or book of contacts with their names and phone numbers, and would have typically stored this information and data in a document or a spreadsheet. If these customers or prospects were contacted, any correspondence that you'd had with them might have been written down or even typed up on separate document. This process is not only inefficient and frustrating for both parties, but it is ultimately not the most profitable way to run a business.

How CRM helps your SME business

In order to remain competitive, SMEs need to think about how they can run their business more efficiently and effectively. Implementing a CRM system allows for any correspondence to be stored in one centralised database, and should be accessible to your entire team. Most CRM systems will allow you to choose what access you'd like to give each employee within the system, so you can ensure they're able to get to information that is relevant to their role or department.

A CRM should give you business control through the full sales cycle - from Marketing, Sales Lead Management, Quoting, Ordering, After Sales Service, and Business Intelligence. We've outlined some examples below of how our solution, Prospect 365, can benefit key roles within all organisations:

• For Marketing, they can target businesses with pinpoint accuracy, for example email customers that bought X but not Y, and then see how much business their campaigns are generating.
• For Sales, they can more easily manage and keep track of all their opportunities, send quotes and review their customer's buying patterns.
• For Customer Service, they're now able to better manage all customer after sales calls and issues, whilst allowing others in the business to see the full picture.
• For Accounts/Finance, they're able to leverage the benefits from our unparalleled integration to some of the UK's leading accounts packages. They're able to share customer's sales history, credit limits, stock and pricing, allowing them to run the accounts department.
• For Managing Directors and CEO's, a centralised information system like Prospect 365 allows them to keep their finger on the pulse and manage KPIs by department or for the business as a whole.