The important thing about a CRM, in addition to managing information about our customers vs. the moment of our relationship with them, is that it brings quality to that relationship. It brings that quality to the extent that we can access at any time to all the information about it, based on different criteria (time, type of service offered, etc).
Watch this video with the keys why you need to incorporate a CRM:
The data speaks for itself regarding the benefits of having a CRM:
- According to G2, the average ROI of a CRM integration is 13 months.
- Nucleus Research indicates thatfor every USD 1 invested in a CRM, a return of USD 8.71 is obtained.
- It has also reported an increase in sales of over 30%, a cost reduction of 26.4%.
- In addition to these benefits, equipment efficiency is improved.
Functionalities of a CRM
In terms of functionalities, there are some that are presupposed to any CRM:
- Facilitate the incorporation and management of leads and their follow-up throughout the sales process. Having an opportunity is good, but knowing how likely it is to materialize and in how much time is much better. And this is what a CRM allows. If it also helps you make decisions, it is an essential tool.
- Opportunity and sales management. Having consistent data to prepare your annual sales forecasts, comparing them with previous ones, is a great advantage and a fundamental change when it comes to understanding your business.
- Personalized communication in real time. Communicate what you want to communicate when you want to communicate it to whom you want to communicate it. Personalizing this important aspect is a great advantage and greatly minimizes the time attributed to campaigns, follow-ups, etc. Regardless of whether or not we have a marketing plan, having an organized communication with leads, prospects and customers is that differential point.
- Record of relationships or interactions with customers. You can always know what happened in meetings, what was said in calls, when the last meeting was, when the next call is, and other activities related to the interaction with your customer.
- Data, data, data. Information is the power to make decisions. The good thing about having a CRM is that it takes care of the data and you take care of analyzing it. The depth of data is almost infinite, you can get all the cross-references you want, plus in the near future artificial intelligence (AI) will be applied to the data which will help in defining possible scenarios as well as making decisions based on them.
Reasons why you need a CRM
- Order: having all the information in one place is synonymous with order and order is synonymous with efficiency.
- Unified sales process: having a sales team where everyone sets their own way of doing things is crazy. Sales is clearly a standardized process, which allows for customization and different sales styles.
- Learning: the power of history is immense, as it allows us to know what works and what doesn’t, what sells the most, what sells the least, etc.
- Control of the sales funnel: no lead will be left untouched, no opportunity undeveloped, no customer uncontacted in an optimal timeframe. From prospecting to closing: every situation has its own action.
- Process automation: which is the same as focusing on added value and selling.
- Optimization of information: avoids over-information and the lack of it, providing each profile with the information it needs to perform its work and to understand and interact with that of others. In this way, it improves collaboration between different areas or departments that are part of the sales process.
- Time management at different levels: from the management of sales tasks, establishment of minimum actions to be developed (calls, visits, etc.) to internal and coordination meetings. Being able to do this in a single tool, without having to leave it to consult tasks or commitments, contributes a lot to the use of time in tasks of value for sales.
- Focus on the sale and not on how to get the data or where it comes from: the technology works, it may take some initial adjustments because each company has its own unique characteristics, but it works. This takes a load off our shoulders and gives us time for value, which we insist on so much. It gives us time to sell more and better.
- Profitability and other important data: In short, the management of prices, discounts, orders and others, based on the margins and profitability that we establish, is going to allow us to decide on prices and dedications in a more objective way, with the data on the table.
- Conscious selling: sell more and better, with an ever-increasing base of qualification and knowledge of potential customers. Adapting to customer needs is something we talk about a lot, and a CRM helps us to make it happen.
Should you use a CRM?
Of course! Any company with a portfolio of customers that requires close contact with them or a database of commercial prospects should use a CRM. As we have seen before, at the very least, it will eliminate administrative processes and improve sales processes andcustomer relations. For this reason alone, it is worth it.
Do not worry about the size of your company, in the market there is an offer sized for each customer segment. From self-employed or micro SMEs at affordable prices, to large corporations with customized prices. More than the size, it is about thinking about the use we are going to give and what it implies the incorporation of a CRM:
- Companies that already work with several independent tools (databases, spreadsheets, etc.) can opt for a scalable solution that integrates all the functionalities and data they already have. The advantage of the change is clear: everything in the same place with 24/7 availability. Scalability is very important in this case.
- Companies with very established processes, with different roles within the sales process (Customer Management, Business Development…). In this case, maintaining this sales process and its funnel, as well as facilitating contact with the customer and/or lead through different channels, is fundamental. A massive data dump and only see them sorted and accessible, is only the most visible advantage.
- Companies that need to integrate this part of sales with other complex applications, for example, finance, operations, etc. These companies are used to this type of applications, so change management occurs in a more natural way, although they need a certain degree of integration.
How to choose the right CRM for you
Selecting a good tool, whatever it is, involves a decision-making process for which you may need expert guidance. However, there is always a basis on which to start considering the tool:
- Why and what you need a CRM for. We have given you some hints so that you can make that decision and have it clear in your speech from now on.
- What you need from a CRM. Make a list of requirements among which should be:
Scalability: at your pace
Flexibility and adaptability: your way
Integration (if any): with your historical
Usability: without complications - Search, compare …. Analyze several providers in terms of functionality, implementation times, suitability to your needs and price. Request demo environments to make a real and objective comparison.
- Think medium and long term. As with any tool that we implement, we must think in the short, medium and long term, the effort it will take to implement the CRM will be worth it.
- It values prices well – profitability. The business models of the companies that market CRM are usually diverse, so sometimes the comparison is not easy. We recommend you to be careful and understand the pricing to avoid future surprises.
How much does a CRM cost?
Features, configuration and installation are some of the key elements that change the costs of each CRM.
Usually CRMs are managed under a monthly or annual subscription model, in which you pay a fee for the use of it in that time. Usually there is also an initial cost for configuration, training and integrations.
You can find free versions. Premium versions start from 12 €, up to 34 € or 45 € with more complete functionalities and integration options with other technologies.
Our recommendation is to start at an average price of 34 € where most of the tools release many of the basic and indispensable functionalities.
Why Pipedrive?
The important thing about a CRM, in addition to managing information about our customers vs. the moment of our relationship with them, is that it brings quality to that relationship. It brings that quality to the extent that we can access at any time to all the information about it, based on different criteria (time, type of service offered, etc).
Watch this video with the keys why you need to incorporate a CRM:
The data speaks for itself regarding the benefits of having a CRM:
- According to G2, the average ROI of a CRM integration is 13 months.
- Nucleus Research indicates thatfor every USD 1 invested in a CRM, a return of USD 8.71 is obtained.
- It has also reported an increase in sales of over 30%, a cost reduction of 26.4%.
- In addition to these benefits, equipment efficiency is improved.
Functionalities of a CRM
In terms of functionalities, there are some that are presupposed to any CRM:
- Facilitate the incorporation and management of leads and their follow-up throughout the sales process. Having an opportunity is good, but knowing how likely it is to materialize and in how much time is much better. And this is what a CRM allows. If it also helps you make decisions, it is an essential tool.
- Opportunity and sales management. Having consistent data to prepare your annual sales forecasts, comparing them with previous ones, is a great advantage and a fundamental change when it comes to understanding your business.
- Personalized communication in real time. Communicate what you want to communicate when you want to communicate it to whom you want to communicate it. Personalizing this important aspect is a great advantage and greatly minimizes the time attributed to campaigns, follow-ups, etc. Regardless of whether or not we have a marketing plan, having an organized communication with leads, prospects and customers is that differential point.
- Record of relationships or interactions with customers. You can always know what happened in meetings, what was said in calls, when the last meeting was, when the next call is, and other activities related to the interaction with your customer.
- Data, data, data. Information is the power to make decisions. The good thing about having a CRM is that it takes care of the data and you take care of analyzing it. The depth of data is almost infinite, you can get all the cross-references you want, plus in the near future artificial intelligence (AI) will be applied to the data which will help in defining possible scenarios as well as making decisions based on them.
Reasons why you need a CRM
- Order: having all the information in one place is synonymous with order and order is synonymous with efficiency.
- Unified sales process: having a sales team where everyone sets their own way of doing things is crazy. Sales is clearly a standardized process, which allows for customization and different sales styles.
- Learning: the power of history is immense, as it allows us to know what works and what doesn’t, what sells the most, what sells the least, etc.
- Control of the sales funnel: no lead will be left untouched, no opportunity undeveloped, no customer uncontacted in an optimal timeframe. From prospecting to closing: every situation has its own action.
- Process automation: which is the same as focusing on added value and selling.
- Optimization of information: avoids over-information and the lack of it, providing each profile with the information it needs to perform its work and to understand and interact with that of others. In this way, it improves collaboration between different areas or departments that are part of the sales process.
- Time management at different levels: from the management of sales tasks, establishment of minimum actions to be developed (calls, visits, etc.) to internal and coordination meetings. Being able to do this in a single tool, without having to leave it to consult tasks or commitments, contributes a lot to the use of time in tasks of value for sales.
- Focus on the sale and not on how to get the data or where it comes from: the technology works, it may take some initial adjustments because each company has its own unique characteristics, but it works. This takes a load off our shoulders and gives us time for value, which we insist on so much. It gives us time to sell more and better.
- Profitability and other important data: In short, the management of prices, discounts, orders and others, based on the margins and profitability that we establish, is going to allow us to decide on prices and dedications in a more objective way, with the data on the table.
- Conscious selling: sell more and better, with an ever-increasing base of qualification and knowledge of potential customers. Adapting to customer needs is something we talk about a lot, and a CRM helps us to make it happen.
Should you use a CRM?
Of course! Any company with a portfolio of customers that requires close contact with them or a database of commercial prospects should use a CRM. As we have seen before, at the very least, it will eliminate administrative processes and improve sales processes andcustomer relations. For this reason alone, it is worth it.
Do not worry about the size of your company, in the market there is an offer sized for each customer segment. From self-employed or micro SMEs at affordable prices, to large corporations with customized prices. More than the size, it is about thinking about the use we are going to give and what it implies the incorporation of a CRM:
- Companies that already work with several independent tools (databases, spreadsheets, etc.) can opt for a scalable solution that integrates all the functionalities and data they already have. The advantage of the change is clear: everything in the same place with 24/7 availability. Scalability is very important in this case.
- Companies with very established processes, with different roles within the sales process (Customer Management, Business Development…). In this case, maintaining this sales process and its funnel, as well as facilitating contact with the customer and/or lead through different channels, is fundamental. A massive data dump and only see them sorted and accessible, is only the most visible advantage.
- Companies that need to integrate this part of sales with other complex applications, for example, finance, operations, etc. These companies are used to this type of applications, so change management occurs in a more natural way, although they need a certain degree of integration.
How to choose the right CRM for you
Selecting a good tool, whatever it is, involves a decision-making process for which you may need expert guidance. However, there is always a basis on which to start considering the tool:
- Why and what you need a CRM for. We have given you some hints so that you can make that decision and have it clear in your speech from now on.
- What you need from a CRM. Make a list of requirements among which should be:
Scalability: at your pace
Flexibility and adaptability: your way
Integration (if any): with your historical
Usability: without complications - Search, compare …. Analyze several providers in terms of functionality, implementation times, suitability to your needs and price. Request demo environments to make a real and objective comparison.
- Think medium and long term. As with any tool that we implement, we must think in the short, medium and long term, the effort it will take to implement the CRM will be worth it.
- It values prices well – profitability. The business models of the companies that market CRM are usually diverse, so sometimes the comparison is not easy. We recommend you to be careful and understand the pricing to avoid future surprises.
How much does a CRM cost?
Features, configuration and installation are some of the key elements that change the costs of each CRM.
Usually CRMs are managed under a monthly or annual subscription model, in which you pay a fee for the use of it in that time. Usually there is also an initial cost for configuration, training and integrations.
You can find free versions. Premium versions start from 12 €, up to 34 € or 45 € with more complete functionalities and integration options with other technologies.
Our recommendation is to start at an average price of 34 € where most of the tools release many of the basic and indispensable functionalities.
Why Pipedrive?
Pipedrive: a value proposition
In view of the above, we invite you to get to know Pipedrive, a CRM that contains all the features we have seen, plus others that imply an interesting added value.
Pipedrive is a CRM that is very simple to access, easy to customize and use, very intuitive and above all focused on the sales team in its relationship with the Marketing team. This is a very important and differential feature. Nowadays Marketing and Sales need to be totally aligned, in strategy and in action. That is why it is very important that both processes go hand in hand in a CRM. Even if you don’t have a Marketing department, you can automate some of its most common processes (mailing, campaigns, segmentation, etc.).
Pipedrive allows you to work on what is valuable to increase your sales: strategy, processes, business intelligence and decision making. All of this, moreover, adapting to your team and not the other way around.
Pipedrive could be your best ally since it is the CRM tool with the best perception and value in the market in the SME segment. In fact, Pipedrive has been recognized as the best CRM in the market in 2021, for the second consecutive year. You can also consult various statistics such as the trust radius index for SMEs (smb) where Pipedrive comes out as the best valued.
Try Pipedrive for free!
If you want to try Pipedrive 30 days free of charge, enter this promo code in Pipedrive when you create the account: pdp-imanta. And to create the account, follow this link. You can also contact us to help you choose or accelerate the use of Pipedrive if you are already using it.
Pipedrive: a value proposition
In view of the above, we invite you to get to know Pipedrive, a CRM that contains all the features we have seen, plus others that imply an interesting added value.
Pipedrive is a CRM that is very simple to access, easy to customize and use, very intuitive and above all focused on the sales team in its relationship with the Marketing team. This is a very important and differential feature. Nowadays Marketing and Sales need to be totally aligned, in strategy and in action. That is why it is very important that both processes go hand in hand in a CRM. Even if you don’t have a Marketing department, you can automate some of its most common processes (mailing, campaigns, segmentation, etc.).
Pipedrive allows you to work on what is valuable to increase your sales: strategy, processes, business intelligence and decision making. All of this, moreover, adapting to your team and not the other way around.
Pipedrive could be your best ally since it is the CRM tool with the best perception and value in the market in the SME segment. In fact, Pipedrive has been recognized as the best CRM in the market in 2021, for the second consecutive year. You can also consult various statistics such as the trust radius index for SMEs (smb) where Pipedrive comes out as the best valued.
Try Pipedrive for free!
If you want to try Pipedrive 30 days free of charge, enter this promo code in Pipedrive when you create the account: pdp-imanta. And to create the account, follow this link. You can also contact us to help you choose or accelerate the use of Pipedrive if you are already using it.