What Is A CRM?
CRMs (or contact relationship managers) are databases that compile your contacts and their contact information. This is useful for many reasons, including:
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Ease of access.
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Ability to create targeted lists for specific campaigns.
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Ability to filter your contacts by criteria like age, marital status, employment status, and more.
As you can imagine, CRMs are essential to business processes and day-to-day communications.
Why You Need a CRM Solution
CRMs aren’t just great news for businesses owners—they’re very useful for managers and sales team members too! Customer relationship management for small businesses introduces crucial time-saving convenience to your processes, and by using a CRM system to store and manage your contacts, you streamline your sales processes and boost your customer service.
An organized list of contacts lets your sales team easily reach the people who love what you do, meaning your business can pursue leads and close deals that much faster.
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By using a CRM solution like SimplyCast’s for workflow automation and sales pipelines, you can reach your contacts with the click of a button.
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Use lead scoring methods to evaluate each lead’s level of interest based on their engagement and interactions with your marketing campaigns.
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Decide whether to contact your entire list or just targeted clients!
As you can see, a hard-working CRM that’s easy to use and doesn’t break the bank is a game changer. The right software opens up a whole new world of sales marketing using targeted campaign automation.
Customer Relationship Management for Small Businesses
One might assume that only big businesses with lots of contacts can benefit from a CRM, but this couldn’t be further from the truth.
For a small business, CRM software can save time and offer a competitive edge in customer service. Good customer support is vital to businesses of any size, whether they’re an independent operation or a large conglomerate.
The best CRM for a small business is an inexpensive CRM. Note that “inexpensive” doesn’t mean “cheap”! An affordable CRM should be able to fulfil your business’ needs and compete with higher-priced alternatives in terms of features and functionality.
Don’t restrict yourself or “make do” based on the size of your budget—be discerning and seek out an affordable CRM that will do right by you and your business.
Not sure what to look for yet? SimplyCast is here to help, and that’s exactly what this blog is all about!
Finding the Best CRM for Small Business Owners
SimplyCast began as (and is still) a tight-knit family of passionate and driven individuals. Our advice to small businesses considering a CRM service is to decide which features and functionality you need from your customer relationship management tools before committing to a specific one.
To help you decide which CRM tools work best for your customer interactions, we've looked back on our journey and compiled a list of our contact management must-haves:
Capacity and Ability to Scale
With this, don’t compromise! Whether you've been in business for years or are just starting out, the first thing you should compare between CRM tools is how many contacts each can hold.
A good CRM for startups should remain a good CRM for businesses a few years down the line. We have full faith in you and the longevity of your business, and you deserve a CRM platform that offers you the storage you need to succeed. That’s why you should choose your marketing tools based on your long-term plans.
That doesn't mean overpaying for storage you're not using—rather, you should look for an easy-to-use CRM system that can be scaled up or down to meet your needs.
Who wants to start over with a new platform every time their business grows?
Your chosen CRM platform should allow you to pay for the storage you need as you need it and accommodate your expanding list of contacts.
Easy Data Entry
When you're running a business, the resource you're always lowest on is time. Nobody wants to sit down and manually enter details for every single business contact into a database when those hours could be better spent elsewhere. This is especially true when considering CRMs for small businesses.
We recommend a CRM that lets you upload details for many contacts at once—preferably one that lets you collect all your customer data in a spreadsheet file and then automatically maps it once the file is uploaded.
Suppression Management
A CRM's job is to keep you in touch with your contacts. The right tools should inform you in real time if your contacts opt out of your communications and prevent you from, e.g. sending them newsletters.
This vital piece of technology ensures you comply with anti-spam legislation, saves you from potential monetary penalties should you fail to comply, and prioritizes the customer experience; even should they unsubscribe.
Data Management
Once your contact data is in the system, modifying it should be effortless.
Two qualities will tell you if a CRM has good data management:
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The right CRM is with you for the long haul and should offer you the freedom to update customer information as needed.
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Your CRM should work for your business and not the other way around. You should have the option to group your contacts as you see fit.
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For example, you might prefer to group contacts by their progress along the sales pipeline for your marketing campaigns, improving your sales forecasting by giving you an accurate visual of customers you are closest to closing a deal with. As a result, you can better customize your correspondence with them.
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Lists are a great way to keep your contacts organized, especially when contacts can belong to multiple lists without the need for duplication. These lists should include filter options that let you access the exact contacts you need, exactly when you need them.
Still Looking for the Best CRM for Small Businesses?
SimplyCast knows what it takes to run a successful small business. That’s why we’ve designed the perfect inexpensive CRM package to help you stay connected:
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Stores and manages your customer information.
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Suppression measures prevent communications with those who opt out.
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Comes packaged with an engagement automation platform complete with all the communication tools you need to engage with your business contacts.
If you would like to try out the best CRM for small business owners, click the button below for a demo with one of our experts and sign up for a 14-day free trial!
Now you know a great, affordable CRM that does everything you need, why not check out what other helpful tools exist to help small businesses thrive? We've got a list of the most underrated tools for small businesses; find out how many you've been using!
