CRM definition: what are the functions of a CRM and how to implement it in the company?

Customer relationship management would be a challenging task were it not for the existence of a tool capable of centralising and coordinating all the actions and interactions that characterise it.

In this article, we will introduce you to CRM: definition, importance, functions and characteristics. We will also review the advantages of CRM in the company to optimise processes, increase productivity and keep your customers happy.

Find out why you should not wait any longer to implement a CRM solution.

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What is CRM and what is it for?

What is CRM?

CRM - Customer Relationship Management - refers to two distinct concepts:

1. The business strategy aimed at satisfying customers and building customer loyalty throughout their life cycle.
2. The computer programme or software for implementing a customer management system.

What is CRM in marketing?

In Spain, this management method is known as relationship marketing. Its main objective is to establish a close relationship with the customer in order to build customer loyalty. This objective can be achieved thanks to the fact that CRM enables you to:

• Automate and standardise processes associated with marketing, customer service and sales.
• Make more attractive offers to your customers thanks to a better understanding of their needs.
• Improve customer service.
• Increase sales and therefore increase your company's performance.

CRM: features and functionalities

Now that we have seen what a CRM is and its global functions, let's look in detail at some essential characteristics.

The functioning of a CRM is based on the articulation of a series of functionalities:

1. Operational and technical

Operational functionalities include:

1. Reports and dashboards that facilitate the visualisation of statistics and sound decision making.
2. Mobile CRM, which allows teams to receive notifications and alerts at all times. In short, it makes it possible to take your CRM with you wherever you go.
3. Integration with email and customer contact details.
4. CRM database, from which to ensure the storage, protection and backup of files, to prevent loss or theft.
5. File synchronisation and sharing, through the facility to download your emails, upload information to the cloud and transfer files.
6. Data access control, by allowing you to control the access of certain collaborators to certain information, depending on their tasks and missions.
7. Test environment to try out new system functions before implementing them.
8. Integration with other software, thus increasing the operability of your CRM system by adding the functionalities of different systems.
9. Customisation of options to ensure greater flexibility and adaptability to the specific needs of your company.
10. Integration with social networks to manage all communication channels from the same place and facilitate the collaborative work of your teams, from different points of contact.

2. Salespeople

Sales management in a CRM includes the following processes:

1. Strengthening the sales force by automating recurring activities, which allows significant time savings.
2. Centralisation of sales data, which facilitates the management of information by allowing it to be segmented into blocks.
3. Sales performance management, identifying the strengths and weaknesses of your sales team and improving their performance.
4. Sales quota control, by verifying which products sell more than others, thus reducing losses.

3. Customer support

Customer relations are optimised through CRM thanks to functionalities such as:

1. Contact management, through segmentation and personalisation of your contact list.
2. Automation of customer support, providing support through FAQ pages, chatbots, among others.
3. Customer satisfaction tracking, by being able to see and work on each case separately, making sure that each customer's needs are met.

4. Marketing

At the beginning we talked about the usefulness of a CRM in everything that has to do with the marketing of a company. Let us now look more specifically at the functionalities that help to optimise this process:

1. Sales metrics (analytics), through which data collected from social networks, surveys, web traffic, etc. is analysed.
2. Team and customer management, by being able to quantify and identify the customers with the greatest potential for loyalty.
3. Lead management, which allows you to identify who are the best customers to follow up with, according to a series of demographic and psychographic factors.
4. Sales forecasting, through which you determine whether your sales results match your efforts.

Structure of a CRM: sales, customer and marketing

There are different CRM modules within a CRM solution or platform. Each of these modules can bring together different tools and functions. The organisation of a CRM system varies according to the needs of each company. The basic modules are: sales, customer and marketing.

1. Sales module

It is oriented to automate the activities of the sales team. From this module it is possible to

• Register all commercial tasks,
• follow up the interactions with potential customers,
• control the flow of sales and their status.

2. Customer module

Allows to efficiently manage and provide assistance to the Customer Service Department. This includes and collects:

• All personal and contact information of each customer,
• history of incidents, complaints, purchase record, among others.

3. Marketing module

Its objective is to analyse all the information from the previous modules in order to carry out segmentations and marketing campaigns aimed at developing customer loyalty based on their behaviour and characteristics.

It facilitates:

• The monitoring of campaigns,
• the centralisation of all the tasks and events of the Marketing Department.

Types of CRM

There are different types of CRM, which can be classified according to their functions, their installation or their development. These are listed below:

1. Operational CRM

This CRM system includes all company processes that involve direct contact with the customer. It allows you to manage the operation of the marketing, sales and customer service departments.

2. Analytical CRM

The functions of an analytical CRM system are based on storing all customer and sales data and thus making decisions regarding products and services and identifying sales opportunities. At the same time, this CRM tool is used for reporting results.

3. Collaborative CRM

Allows integrations of different customer communication channels, such as e-mails, calls, social networks, etc.

4. Local CRM

In this case, the company purchases the licence to use the software and install it on its own server. This makes the company responsible for its administration, maintenance and security.

5. CRM in the cloud

In the business world, CRM has also been able to benefit from SaaS (Software as a Service). In this sense, all information is stored in the cloud, which teams can access, no matter where and when they are.

6. Open source CRM

Open source CRM offers companies the possibility of modifying the source code, with the aim of customising the functionalities and making modifications based on their specific needs.

7. Proprietary CRM

Unlike open source software, the source code is owned by the software provider, which entails certain technological restrictions in terms of modifying or distributing the solution.

Finally, in terms of classification, it is perhaps pertinent to differentiate between ERP and CRM, as these two systems are sometimes confused. What should be retained from each solution is:

• CRM ( Customer Relationship Management):
  • Optimises business processes,
  • focuses on the customer experience,
  • seeks to improve the relationship between the company and the customer.
• ERP ( Enterprise Resource Planning):
  • Optimises business processes,
  • focuses on internal process flow,
  • seeks to improve operability and business efficiency.

Advantages of CRM software systems

Management software is a tool that can be used on a daily basis to:

• Enrich the information available on customers.
• Structuring and homogenising customer management.
• Unify the management model and the internal functioning of the company.
• Optimise sales processes and the sales cycle .
• Centralise the information provided by the customer.

A CRM platform improves communication between employees and with potential customers, as well as customer satisfaction, as it offers personalised attention. It also improves the analysis of data and trends, thus facilitating decision-making.

In short, it provides a unique and privileged view of the customer from all perspectives: marketing, financial and commercial.

What is the best CRM system for my company?

There are a multitude of programmes and modules for implementing a CRM system. For the selection procedure to be effective, it is advisable to follow a series of steps:

• Stage - 1: Conduct an economic analysis of your company including a study of the current customer relationship situation, competition, industry situation and supplier relationship management.
• Stage - 2: Define business objectives. Generally, this is about acquiring new customers and building customer loyalty.
• Stage - 3: Synchronise CRM processes with the company's market strategy. This stage identifies the most important activities and builds the necessary tools that automate the associated tasks.
• Stage - 4: Design or choose the business software that best meets the business needs identified in the previous stages.

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CRM software: meaning for the business

Many companies are afraid to purchase CRM software because they relate all the functionalities they offer to a high level of complexity. However, software developers have strived to make these tools easy to use, even for those small and medium-sized companies that do not have a well-developed technical department.

You have already seen that there are plenty of options. The different types of tools that we present to you range from paid solutions to free or free trial CRM. The advantage of this is that it allows you to familiarise yourself with the tool before you have to invest in it.