CRM for Sales

The modern customer demands more from their supplier, leading to more complex and agile sales cycles, where the competition is always present.

The best sales CRM software will help a business manage the entire sales cycle (leads, processes and team performance), support all sales team roles (telesales, inside sales, customer account managers, and sales managers) and across all locations and in good time.

Keep in mind, that sales team are often the most reluctant users of CRM tools, so focus and simplicity is key in order to ensure optimal user adoption. After all, sales want to spend more time selling and less time learning to use new apps.

START YOUR CRM EVALUATION

Boost your sales team with CRM software

Sales teams want CRM features that help close deals with less administration and friction. Your CRM should be seamless, easy to use, and provide up-to-date data that saves time.

CRM software should simplify business for both sales reps and customers, allowing the sales team to connect with customers and prospects at any stage of the sales cycle through various channels like instant calendar access, email templates, task management, live chat, and social media integration.

A mobile-enabled CRM helps field sales teams manage tasks, emails, and meetings on the go, reducing admin time and improving prospect management.

Sales automation is a key CRM feature. Workflows guide the sales team through the process, adding data and ensuring compliance from leads to deal closure. Tasks and notifications are automated based on actions from salespersons, colleagues, or customers.

A typical scenario might be the leads qualification or handover from marketing process within the CRM, the outcome being better visibility of sales activity for the marketing team on leads nurtured and passed on, and the sales rep being made aware of their responsibilities to act quickly and provide a seamless customer experience.

Today’s CRM offers deeper customer insights by using historical sales data and other sources, helping teams learn, adapt, and forecast.

Predictive analytics that use machine learning automation takes the CRM one step further in suggesting next best actions, reducing churn risk and improving personalized selling to add business value.

Empower your sales leaders with CRM software

One of the biggest impacts on sales productivity and success is for sales management, who have to ask for status reports by email to the team, then manually update spreadsheets with that information about sales performance, which is quickly out of date and wastes valuable time for the business.

Sales managers need real time transparency to help review their team’s sales pipeline and KPIs, with the key feature of visual, configurable and easy to use CRM sales dashboards.  Additional sales reports and views on activity will provide sales management the tools and data they need, in order to focus on specific areas for improvement. The CRM should be updated in real-time for tracking versus targets, to help spot trends and resolve issues before it’s too late.

When reviewing CRM choices, the sales features in Customer Relationship Management software should cover:

Salesforce and pipeline management from marketing lead to sales opportunity with predictive forecasting
Sales stage automation from the start including full history and prospect information from marketing nurture and qualification at the handover and visibility for marketing and sales collaboration
Lead, contact and prospect management with leads scoring features for help in prioritization
Full quote and sales proposal support aligned to your business product catalog, with CPQ functionality if complexity is found within your pricing or offer structure, including customer preferences and suggestions for up-sell and cross-sell
Discount management with automated approval processes within business guidelines for more efficient and accurate customer quotations
Mobile enabled for sellers to update and view CRM in the field, with integrated contact features such as sending an email, scheduling the next meeting etc.
Personalized dashboards for sales personnel and business management to manage their pipeline and KPIs
Integration with calendars, documents and email to embed the use of CRM into daily business life

Guided best practice help via Sales Playbooks and templates for each step of the sales processes
GDPR compliance for best practice storage and easy access to prospect and customer data held in your business
Meeting note support with records kept of customer visits and shared automatically with colleagues (look for text-to-speech functions for field sales)
Sales insight to monitor performance and proactively provide sales analysis as part of daily collaboration tools. Dashboards based on user roles can serve up frequently used KPI performance views which can then be personalized by the user easily to help empowerment, coaching and upskilling
Social selling features that are integrated with the CRM software for relationship sales integrated with social media platforms such as LinkedIn to connect with customers and their business networks
Look out for Contextual selling for suggestions of next best step in nurturing customers and prospects. Artificial Intelligence embedded into CRM software supports this deeper level of customer insight to help build a single and enriched customer view

START YOUR CRM EVALUATION

AI and CRM for sales

Boost your sales productivity with AI-driven CRMs that streamline operations by automating data entry and analysis. This allows your team to focus more on strategic initiatives and customer interactions, rather than mundane administrative tasks. By seamlessly capturing and syncing customer data, AI capabilities enhance your productivity and efficiency within sales apps, offering:

Reduced Administrative Tasks: Automate routine tasks like data entry and follow-up emails. Focus on closing your hottest deals faster by saving time and prioritizing effectively.
Personalized Communication: Utilize AI to craft personalized messages for each customer.
Learning from every chat: Gain valuable insights from each conversation, learning strategies to secure more deals.
Efficient Record Keeping: Never miss a detail with AI taking notes during calls and meetings, acting as your ultimate memory aid.
Lead Optimization: Identify the most promising leads with AI, targeting those with the highest likelihood of conversion.