But what exactly is CRM?

[kumartk]

Before you continue to believe that a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) is just a database that we fill with the names, phone numbers and addresses of our leads , let me inform you that although it is a computer program or software that is responsible for managing the information of our clients and the activity we have with them, a CRM is more than that.

According to Serge Gaiseniuc, director of Selestia Paris (French fashion company), more than software, it is a completely dynamic management model, that is, a set of strategies based on comprehensive knowledge of the client.

Your details, phone number, availability, needs, desires, current situation, availability to listen to proposals from a new company offering a service, among other information.

“It is essential to fill out a database in which I collect all the necessary information kenya phone number list about my clients. Using Excel spreadsheets or paper notes made me waste time and valuable information in the past. With CRM, I know that I have a powerful tool,” says the entrepreneur.

It is true. Remember that customers are a company's most valuable treasure. Its potential asset. Therefore, it is a priority to collect and carefully guard as much information as possible about this "treasure". That is where our CRM comes in.

According to Carlos Yansuf, speaker, influencer (creator of the viral phenomenon of the Kermit the Frog meme) and expert in Web Marketing Mexico), many companies, during their beginnings, distribute customer details across many different sites.

“Everything stays in the brain of the company director, in the emails of the people in charge of the sales area, in the notebook of the secretary or the sales assistant. The information leaks through various sources. What we recover ends up in an Excel list and… there are various oversights such as missing data, calculation errors,” he explained in an interview with Brevo.

Meanwhile, Alfonso Oviedo, business planner manager for the American company Herbalife (for the region of Mexico) told Brevo that without the use of a CRM and “with information collected from everywhere,” a company's team wastes time that could be gained in the conversion of leads and potential clients.

“If we have information everywhere, a company's sales team, for example, will be less reactive when initiating a sale. Remember that every salesperson must be ready to answer questions like 'Who are our potential clients? How do we get in touch with them? What are their mobile phone numbers? What do they like to do? What do they buy from the competition? How do they interact with our content? Do we see them in our business portfolio? How did they present themselves during their first contact with our company? Has that contact already taken place?'… If we don't have that information, we are losing the opportunity to materialize a good business ,” he stressed.

Oviedo points out that CRM is a software that helps us connect the company with clients and prospects. “More than creating a database, a collection of people and phone numbers, CRM pushes us, motivates us, helps us create ties, relationships and business.”

And that's how it should be, because everyone in a company needs context about the needs, desires, and current situation of each client or prospect. Day by day, or week by week, as a company we must know where to resume a conversation with a lead or potential client.

But what if we can't remember where we left off with a lead in the deal ? It's precisely these kinds of problems that a CRM solves. Yes. With a central place to organize all of your leads and customers' details, it's easy for a company's team to gain insight into the status of the business and each customer relationship.

“For example, a good salesperson in a health food boutique knows if their customer likes almond or oat milk, with vanilla or lavender. They call the customer by name, ask them how they have been, if the product they are currently consuming works for them, if their family also consumes health food products. A good salesperson knows everything about their customer at the level of needs, desires, emotions and even personal relationships. All this information is invaluable for creating bonds and making the customer come back,” Alfonso points out.