Know what a CRM is, the benefits of implementing it, what are the functionalities offered by the leading CRMs in the market and tips to take into account before making a decision.
A CRM is not a new system, it emerged in the 90s as a tool for a salesperson to use strategies of capture, retention and loyalty with their customers. The main objective of a CRM is to manage customer relationships during all sales stages.
Using a CRM brings many benefits, it is estimated that the average return on investment of a CRM is $ 8.71 for every dollar spent1 and that a CRM can increase revenue by up to 41% per sales representative2therefore, The use of a CRM is essential for the growth of a company.
However, and as a result of a growth in the CRM market and its integration to the cloud, the offers in the market have grown bringing with it a wide variety of CRM, which can make the choice process difficult, this guide offers a comparison among the leading CRM systems in the market: Salesforce (Enterprise version), Odoo CRM (Cloud hosting edition), Zoho CRM (Professional edition) and Sugar CRM (Enterprise edition), in order to give an objective analysis to facilitate the process of choosing a CRM.
Managing prospects in a CRM
What is lead management in a CRM?
Prospect management refers to the generation and attraction of those prospects that are in the search process, cultivating and educating them, they are valued and qualified depending on the purchase characteristics and the type of need they have for when they are ready transfer them to the sales area with all their characteristics already defined.
What about CRMs regarding lead management?
All the CRMs analyzed in this guide comply with the basic aspect of a CRM, the storage of data and management of prospects until reaching the stage of "Won" or "Lost", fulfilling the functionality of assessing them and contemplating how long a sales rep should employ to convert the prospect into a customer.
What functionalities does each of the CRMs include in terms of prospect management?
Scoring prospects
It is a score that is generated to prospects according to their characteristics, it serves as a reference to the seller to know how important the prospect is.
Sales quotas for sellers
The creation of quotas for salespeople generates a control and a standardized measure of their sales ability. It is a goal that salespeople can aim for and serves as an inspiration to achieve those goals.
Deduplication
Elimination of duplicate data in your CRM (Example: Customer data)
Acquisition of prospects in a CRM
What is lead acquisition?
It is the process of capturing, filtering, improving and delivering prospects to the CRM system through web forms (Email, website, social networks, import of massive data).
What channels do the different CRMs support when acquiring prospects? (imported prospects, in website forms, via email, by website CTA)
Integration of forms or CTAs in emails
Acquisition of prospects through contact forms
Acquisition of prospects through CTA on website
Acquisition of prospects through massive import
Sales flow in a CRM
What is a sales flow?
A sales flow is about the steps a prospect takes to a business until they become a customer. It consists of a series of steps or stages which are oriented to continue the client's decision process (Opportunity, Qualified, Proposal sent, Won / Lost). If you are interested in learning more about what a sales flow is and how to manage it, we recommend our blog: Manage your sales processes with Odoo
How is the sales flow visualized in the different CRMs? (Kanban view, List view)
Salesforce
Zoho CRM
Odoo
Sugar CRM
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Can actions be generated within the sales flow of each CRM? (Calls, emails, meetings)
Quotes in a CRM
Can you create quotes within the CRM?
Do they allow you to create custom templates for quotes?
Different price lists
Sales orders in a CRM
Do they allow you to create sales orders?
Do they allow you to create invoices?
Reports in a CRM
The reports serve as an important source of information for decision-making, show the performance of your salespeople over time and important information about the leads won and lost.
Activities report
Sales flow analysis
Sales report
Commission report
Sales forecast
CRM prices
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Final considerations to analyze prior to choosing a CRM
A CRM is a very important decision and above all a great investment, but before starting to choose a CRM there should be several steps that you have to consider:
A structure and definition of the pre-sale and post-sale phases of your company. Each company has its own pre-sale and post-sale phases, these depend on the type of product or service that is handled, including the type of market to which they are directed. You can start by analyzing the customers you already have and drawing a guide on how they came to your company, for example:
What actions must a person take to be followed up by the sales area? If the person is interested in your product or service, is he considered a customer until a quote is generated, or is there another step before? Once the purchase is made, what actions did you take to retain them, and they would come back to buy from you?
Then, have well-defined the products and services you offer and their descriptions. What country do you sell it to? What kind of customers? Are your products or services grouped by categories?
And finally, define very precisely how your sales team is constituted. Does everyone sell the same thing? Are you going to divide it by region? Is your target market in one place? It is important to have your work team well-defined and the responsibilities that each one will have, this step is important, as it will help the organization and the correct functioning of the CRM.
The structure of your sales team, the products you offer and the stages your prospects take to become customers will greatly influence the CRM for your company.