With These 8 Steps, You Can Successfully Implement the CRM

1. What is a CRM system?
2. These are the advantages of introducing CRM for your company
3. 8 Steps to Successful CRM Introduction
4. Overview of the 10 best CRM systems
5. Conclusion: The magic word to success is consistency

Not for nothing it is said: "The customer is king". Because employees should attach special importance to contact with customers - especially in sales. Only if they are satisfied with your support and your services will they remain loyal to you in the future. To achieve this goal, you can use a customer relationship management system.

What exactly a CRM is, what advantages it offers you and your colleagues and how to successfully implement a CRM system in your company, we reveal in this article.

Subsequently, we present the ten best CRM tools that simplify your customer relationships management and make it easy for you to get your colleagues on board in this new process.

What is a CRM system?

A CRM system serves as support in the sales process and facilitates the maintenance of your customer relationships. Using such a tool, you can improve your internal business processes and profitably identify additional potential with existing customers or new customers. This means that you align your company to the fulfillment of the needs of your customers.

This allows you to actively shape your relationships with them, instead of simply leaving it to chance. This is possible because you systematically build and expand your relationships with your customers. Thus, you maintain them for a long time because you know their needs and take these into account when providing your services.

But how does a CRM introduction achieve this?

By documenting all customer information in detail at a central location. Since all colleagues can access this, you can personalize the approach to your customers and improve your customer service based on previously collected information. However, these advantages not only apply to your support team, but also to your sales and marketing colleagues.

Since all threads converge in the CRM software, you can also track the achievement of various CRM goals with this. In addition to consistent customer orientation, these may include an increase in efficiency in transactions, optimization of internal processes or systematization of contacts.

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These are the advantages of introducing CRM for your company

Why should you now tackle the project "Introduce CRM system"? Quite simply - the implementation of your CRM project brings various CRM advantages for your colleagues and therefore also for your company.

• A CRM system creates transparency: All employees can access the same information and customer data because they are stored in one central location. So if information is needed once, the concerns of the customers can be processed, even if once a colleague is not available. A Cloud-CRM thus also promotes the possibilities of agile and mobile working in your company.
• A CRM system relieves employees: Since each employee in the company can access all customer data at any time, colleagues can be relieved if, for example, they are on vacation or have to take care of other projects. Since every customer contact - whether by email, phone or personal conversation notes - is saved in the CRM software, all relevant information for processing a customer request is available at all times. Also CRMs enable a wide range of automation within the workflows, thus saving small, annoying manual tasks and allowing the entire team to focus on the important tasks.
• A CRM system provides insights into customers: Since all customer information is collected, a large amount of data is available to each employee. These CRM data can be used, for example, to select the right time for offers or follow-up actions. Reminders can also be stored if you want to remind your customers of a maintenance appointment or an annual inventory, for example.
• A CRM system ensures stronger customer loyalty: All the previously mentioned CRM benefits for your company are of course also benefits for your customers. Since you can provide them with quick answers and special services, this will have a positive impact on their satisfaction with your company. This in turn increases the likelihood that your customers will turn to you and your company again with their next request and may even recommend you to other entrepreneurs.
• A CRM system optimizes internal processes: Since all customer data, offers and activities converge centrally in the CRM system, you can identify various optimization possibilities for your company from this. You can, for example, measure sales figures, take into account feedback on products and services in your revision, improve your marketing ROI through targeted approaches, or map suggestions for improvements from your colleagues to optimize collaboration and customer experience with a CRM tool.
• A CRM system makes companies more successful: Through the data gained, exact forecasts can be made and reasons for successes and failures can be identified more easily. You can take this into account in future decisions and strategic orientations of your company and thus achieve more customers, turnover and profit. Since you know your customers and their needs, you also have a not insignificant competitive advantage, which you can cleverly play out.

These are the benefits of a CRM solution

8 Steps to Successful CRM Introduction

If you are convinced of the benefits of a CRM, now it's time to introduce the CRM. This goes through several phases and initially takes a lot of work, but will definitely pay off. Since some CRM errors can be made during the introduction of the CRM system, we have put together an implementation roadmap with the most important milestones for you. With this, you can successfully implement your new success tool in your company.

Step 1: Development of a CRM Strategy:

The process of introducing CRM begins with the phase of developing a CRM strategy. Such a strategy includes the goals you want to achieve and the values you want to convey to your customers during their contact with you. The CRM strategy is then implemented into the company strategy. This further underscores its importance in the company - because all processes within the company will be aligned with your customers in the future.

This initially requires a change in thinking on the part of all employees and project participants. To promote this, dispel concerns and encourage exchange among each other, a CRM manager is appointed, who takes care of the strategic and technical integration of the software.

Step 2: Identification of Key Users:

Since support from various departments will be needed during the course of the project, appropriate key users should be identified and appointed.

They work with the CRM management to develop the requirements for the CRM system and later act as test persons for the tool.

Step 3: Inventory of processes in the company:

So that you can choose the CRM tool that suits you, you first have to take stock in the company, in order to know your needs and requirements afterwards:

• Which departments have contact with your customers?
• What tools are usually used?
• How and where is information stored?
• Who can access this information?
• How does cross-departmental communication on customer issues work?
• Where and how are leads generated?
• How often and on what occasions are customers contacted?
• What data is available to your marketing for targeted customer approach?
• How is information from marketing campaigns forwarded and used?
• Where are there problems?
• What opportunities would your colleagues like to use, for which they have not had the opportunity so far?

You can spin this list indefinitely. The important thing is that you comprehensively capture the processes in your company and compare the actual state with a target state.

Step 4: Selection of the appropriate CRM tool:

Once you have all the important requirements for your CRM system together, in the fourth phase of CRM implementation, you can start looking for a suitable provider and choose a CRM that suits you. A wide selection can be found, among other places, on our software comparison portal OMR Reviews.

You should go through your requirement catalog step by step with the contact person from the respective company departments and set clear priorities. What is a must and what is nice to have? Perhaps the various CRM tool providers can also personalize functions for your requirements.

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Step 5: Training of colleagues:

Once you have decided on your ideal CRM solution, the next significant milestone is the training of your colleagues. Show them as future tool users the different CRM functions and inform them about the internal guidelines that go along with the introduction of the new CRM system.

In no case should savings be made on training opportunities, as they contribute significantly to acceptance and success and take away fears of the new and unknown. Therefore, take your time, offer different formats and maybe even bring the development company into the house. This minimizes the risks that could cause the implementation of the CRM system to fail.

Step 6: Acceptance of the new system:

Nothing condemns the project more to failure than a lack of acceptance by colleagues. Therefore, involve them right from the start in the introduction process. Let the key users talk to the various departments, take up their wishes and concerns and give regular feedback. Make sure that the data they need is available in the appropriate quality, that the processes work quickly and easily and that there are no frustrations.

You should therefore coordinate these points exactly during the introduction with your CRM team and the developers.

Step 7: Go-live of the system:

Now we come to the "real" introduction of the CRM system. The software is available to all colleagues and should now be used actively and comprehensively. How big you celebrate this milestone depends on you and the orientation of your company.

But it should definitely excite your colleagues, motivate them and arouse their interest. After all, they should use the tool and apply it in their everyday work. The key users play a special role here. They act as contact persons for the colleagues' questions about the functions and processes of the new solution.

So the motto is always: There are no stupid questions. Take away your colleagues' fear of making mistakes. Encourage them to try out the functions, ask questions and make suggestions for improvement. This way, you counteract the "Things used to be better" mentality and instead foster enthusiasm for the new possibilities offered by the CRM tool.

Step 8: Continuous further development of the CRM:

Since the requirements and needs of your customers are constantly changing, it may also be necessary to regularly review your processes. Through feedback from your colleagues, improvement potentials can also emerge. These allow the system a even greater benefit and your colleagues a better handling.

With continuous improvements, you can introduce your CRM software sustainably and successfully into your company.

A checklist can help you with the CRM introduction

Overview of the 10 best CRM systems

Implementing a CRM presupposes that you have previously decided on a CRM tool suitable for your company. To make your decision easier, we have compiled the best CRM sales software here for you.

On OMR Reviews you also get detailed user reviews and tool descriptions that you can include in your decision.

But now enough of the introduction. Here are our ten best CRM providers:

Salesforce Sales Cloud

HubSpot CRM

CentralStationCRM

Pipedrive

weclapp

TecArt CRM

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales

ClickUp

BSI Customer Suite

ActiveCampaign

All CRM tools reviewed by our users can be found on our OMR Reviews platform in the CRM category. If you are looking for specific comparisons between two providers, you will also find them there - such as Hubspot CRM vs. Salesforce CRM (or in our article about the comparison of HubSpot and Salesforce).

Conclusion: The magic word to success is consistency

The longer and more intensively you use your CRM solution, the more excited you will be about its benefits. Don't skimp on regular exchange rounds, feedback to the developers or adjustments in the company even after the CRM implementation.

For only when the CRM software fits well with your working day will you and your customers benefit from it in the long term.