Buying CRM Software? Here are Top 12 Things To Consider

CRMs have emerged as a groundbreaking tool for businesses in all sectors. Rather than struggling with the management of information across various spreadsheets or platforms, a CRM software acts as a centralized and reliable source for all your business operations, including your sales, marketing plans and activities, and all operations related to providing top customer service.

Working with CRM software, customers – illustrative photo. Image credit: Medienstürmer via Unsplash, free license

In this article, we have listed the top 12 must-have features in your new CRM software. Before proceeding to this list, let’s review what the letters CRM mean, and what are the main types of this important business tool.

What Does CRM Mean?

CRM, short for “customer relationship management,” refers to how your business cultivates relationships with both current and potential customers. This systematized approach leads to enhanced customer loyalty, better trust between partners, better savings and incresed profitability.

Customer relationship management (CRM) software plays a crucial role in your overall business processes, where the customer relationship management strategy is involved. This is done by facilitating operations organization, enhancing sales and conversion rates, and facilitating seamless collaboration among teams.

Working with business clients – illustrative photo. Image credit: Ronald Candonga via Pixabay, free license

Three fundamental CRM types

There exist three primary categories of CRMs, each designed to fulfill a distinct core purpose. Here below we provide a description of these software types:

• Operational CRM: this type focuses on streamlining and optimizing day-to-day business operations, particularly in sales, marketing, and customer service. It provides tools and features to automate processes, manage customer interactions, and improve efficiency. Examples of operational CRM software include Salesforce, HubSpot CRM, and Microsoft Dynamics 365.
• Analytical CRM: the second type involves analyzing customer data to gain insights and make informed business decisions. It helps businesses understand customer behavior, preferences, and trends, enabling targeted marketing campaigns, personalized offers, and improved customer segmentation. Analytical CRM tools often integrate with data analytics and business intelligence platforms. Examples include Zoho CRM Analytics, SAP CRM Analytics, and Tableau CRM.
• Collaborative CRM: the final type focuses on facilitating collaboration and communication within and across departments to enhance customer interactions. It allows teams to share customer information, coordinate activities, and provide a consistent customer experience. Collaborative CRM tools typically include features like shared calendars, task management, and team collaboration capabilities. Examples include Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Service, Zendesk, and Freshworks CRM.

Modern business office – illustrative photo. Image credit: LYCS Architecture via Unsplash, free license

12 Most Important Features to Look For in a New CRM System

A modern CRM system is typically defined by a set of well-known features. If you look for a new product of this kind to facilitate or improve your business processes, you should make a checklist consisting of these most important aspects that should be provided by your new customer relations management tool:

1. Working with data in a centralized way: CRM software should serve as a centralized repository for critical information. For example, it should include and coordinate sales pipeline data, customer relationships, and team performance indicators. This is critically important, because such a feature prevents data from being lost or scattered across different platforms.
2. Well-organized data: In addition to centralizing data, CRM software should organizee it in a well-structured manner. This allows easy searching and retrieval of customer information and business performance data.
3. Tools to increase productivity: With data centralized and organized, your team spends less time searching for information, leading to increased productivity and efficiency. Any additional features related to improved response times, time savings, and general all-kinds of productivity boosts is a must-have thing in your new CRM system.
4. Automation and even more automation: Usually, CRM software can generate sales reports automatically. This provides faster and more accurate insights into performance. But if your new software has more advanced automation features? There are no reasons why you should not test them in practice.
5. Enhancing customer service: CRM software should provide a comprehensive view of each customer’s interaction history, purchases, and preferences, as well as offer ways to analyze related data. This empowers your customer service team to deliver personalized and efficient service, resulting in higher customer satisfaction.
6. Data segmentation: This is another important analytical tool. Does your new CRM help you organize your contacts and other customer data based on specific criteria? It should, in order to enable targeted communications and prioritization of tasks.
7. Integration of internal communications: CRM software should integrate tools for internal communications. It should also simplify communication across teams, not make them cumbersome. For example, the software should allow team members to tag each other in tasks and updates, share tasks and collaborate on them. This ensures everyone stays updated on internal activities.
8. Forecasting functionality: Modern CRMs help interpret data and provide helpful insights. Better forecasting functionality allows for more accurate predictions of future business performance.
9. Enhancing customer retention: It is important to retain your existing customer base. Existing customers can benefit from a well-chosen CRM software through nice-to-have capabilities such as better ticket management, or sentiment analysis. Additional features such as faster communication also result in improved customer retention rates.
10. Proactive and prospective: CRM software should operate in a proactive way. For example, it should send notifications for timely follow-ups with prospective customers. It should provide insights about possible improvements of your business relations. This, in turn, improves your chances of meeting or exceeding sales targets.
11. Ways to increase sales: The software should provide or suggest ways to increase sales volume. These functions should work in a practical fashion, not just on a theoretical level. All the insights and organizational benefits provided by a CRM software can contribute to improved sales effectiveness. Increased sales is healthy for your business.
12. Top-level scalability and integration: Your business grows. Your business needs will also be different in the near future. You need your new software to be scalable and provide absolute compatibility with your existing tools, as well as other global-level products that you may need in next stages of your activities. By centralizing information and streamlining communications, CRM software reduces logistical hurdles and allows your operations to scale more easily. It grows alongside your business, accommodating increased needs.

Business, analysis – artistic illustrative photo. Image credit: Isabelavoliveira via Pixabay, free license

Final thoughts

Existing customer relationship management systems are filled with a plethora of features, each designed to enhance your business operations and customer interactions. But not all CRMs are made equal. While every organization may have unique needs, these 12 most important features discussed in this article are widely recognized as crucial for success. We hope they will help you in discovering the best CRM product to fuel the growth and prosperity of your business.