According to an infographic from CloudWave, 75 percent of businesses don’t have a process for nurturing leads (ouch!). While nurturing leads may not be top of mind for you, at least not in the way current client projects are, it is a business necessity. Because, like a caterpillar that turns into a beautiful butterfly, leads have the potential to become profitable customers. All they need is time, patience, the right product or service, and a strong business relationship. One of the easiest ways to manage these relationships is to use a customer relationship management (CRM) system. These tools aren’t just for sellers; agencies and freelancers can equally benefit from using a CRM in their daily business activities. We’ll walk you through what exactly defines a CRM.
how it can benefit your business, common terms you’ll see in CRM products, and a list of five free CRM tools you should consider using going forward. Quickly navigate to the following sections: What is a CRM system? Benefits of using a CRM system CRM Glossary Venezuela Email List Free CRM tools What is a CRM system? As a business owner or freelancer, you’ve probably heard the term CRM before. In general, CRM refers to the strategies, best practices, and tools that a business can use to foster relationships with existing and potential customers. This includes all the information necessary to maintain these relationships: data and documents that are important to building the overall customer story. A CRM system (or software) is a portal where you can store all this valuable information.
Manage Your Time
A basic CRM gives your business the ability to: Import contacts and identify them as leads, prospects, or accounts (we’ll see the definitions of each later). Add tasks, which is like a to-do list (email, call, contract renewal), to each contact. Upload documents to a respective account (such as contracts and invoices). Track outreach efforts to customers and leads. Assign contacts to different people in your organization. Benefits of using a CRM system If you’ve never used a CRM, or have been relying on a manual system to organize your prospects, customers, and important sales documents/contracts, there are many benefits that come with implementing a CRM, including but not limited to: 1. Establishment of a pipeline Know which projects you’ve completed, which ones you’re currently working on.
And which projects are ahead of you (which may or may not have a signed contract). This information will let you know, financially, how your business is doing and will let you know whether or not you should be looking for new business that particular month. 2. Manage your time You may already have a time management solution, but nothing is as effective as a CRM. Depending on the system you choose to use (some have more project management capabilities than others), a CRM can show you an overview of what you (or your co-workers) are currently working on, how many cumulative design hours you’ve spent on a project to date (and how many were dictated in scope), and allows you to prioritize which projects you should work on next.
Understand Your Customers
Understand your customers A CRM gives you access to a constant stream of customer information and timelines, allowing you to optimize your marketing efforts around these demographics, psychographics, and micro-moments. This information also opens up the opportunity to sell specific products or services to customers, based on the data you’ve collected in your CRM. 4. Improve customer relationships Happens. Sometimes, when business is good and work is too plentiful, some clients may take a backseat due to the scope of their work, their budget, or their schedule. It can be easy to lose sight of nurturing these relationships because you focus on the here and now. CRMs can solve this situation. Set up tasks in your CRM that will allow you to remember to interact with your existing customers.
