Five Ways to Utilize CRM
Management and Analysis of Prospects and Existing Customers
CRM allows for the management and analysis of both existing customers and prospects. With CRM, you can manage and analyze basic customer information, such as capital, number of employees, and industry type. By uploading your own customer data, you can also extract information on specific companies by filtering criteria such as usage amount, retention rate, capital, and number of employees.
Furthermore, because CRM tools allow you to check communication history with customers as well as the progress of projects and negotiations, they help facilitate project advancement and improve customer satisfaction by reducing missed follow-ups.
Creating Lists of High-Probability Prospects and Existing Customers
CRM systems are equipped with features to import and analyze not only existing customer data but also external data. By integrating data on non-customers based on the management and analysis results of existing customers, companies can identify and list high-probability prospective and latent customers to target.
For example, if it is determined that your service is utilized by companies in the service or construction industries with 10 or fewer employees, you can create a sales list with a high probability of conversion by approaching companies that meet the same criteria.
This allows for the sharing of high-quality leads with the sales department, enabling efficient sales activities that focus exclusively on promising prospects.
Streamlining Administrative Tasks
Because CRM systems allow for the centralized management and analysis of customer information and project progress, they contribute to the streamlining of administrative tasks.
Many companies that manage customer information across Excel, legacy systems, or multiple disparate platforms not only suffer from fragmented information but also struggle to fully leverage their customer data—a vital corporate asset—due to inconsistent data formats.
By using a CRM, you can consolidate cross-functional data (from Excel, Word, and other systems) into a single location. Furthermore, the ability to easily input and add data contributes to the overall streamlining of administrative tasks.
Accelerating the PDCA Cycle for Sales Activities
CRM allows for the visualization of customer interactions and progress, enabling the acceleration of the PDCA cycle in sales activities.
By visualizing customer interactions and progress, you not only clarify the next steps but also enable appropriate instructions for each stage, such as, "This lead has been stagnant for several days since the initial meeting; please follow up."
This helps move away from personnel-dependent sales processes where tasks are simply offloaded to individual sales representatives. By visualizing customer information management and deal progress, you can clarify the next actions and accelerate the PDCA cycle of your sales activities.
Strengthening the Sales Department
Utilizing a CRM also leads to the strengthening of the sales department. CRM allows you to assign sales representatives to each deal and monitor their interactions and progress at any time. This enables you to visualize deals that are not progressing well and provide timely follow-up.
Furthermore, if you store examples of successful approaches that led to orders and top-performing sales talk as knowledge within the CRM, even new sales representatives can achieve a high level of sales performance.
By leveraging CRM for real-time feedback and the sharing of top-performer knowledge, you can elevate the overall sales capabilities of your department.
Three Points for Utilizing CRM
Prioritize Selecting Tools That Are Easy for Field Staff to Use
While many CRM tools with various features have been released by different companies, you should choose a tool that your field sales representatives and administrative staff find easy to use.
A common failure is when management or the corporate IT department selects a tool unilaterally. While administrators who manage and analyze data are important, the primary users of the CRM are the field employees who update daily figures and deal progress.
Therefore, when selecting a CRM tool, have your field staff participate in demos to ensure you choose a tool that is user-friendly for them.
Perform Data Deduplication and Data Cleansing
When utilizing a CRM, you should perform data deduplication (removing duplicate entries or variations of company names) and data cleansing (removing inaccurate or irrelevant data) for the data being managed and analyzed.
If data is not maintained through deduplication and cleansing, the same company might be registered under both its formal and abbreviated names, leading to data inconsistencies and potentially reducing the accuracy of your analysis results.
While deduplication and cleansing can be done in Excel, it is common to use specialized tools to process data more quickly and accurately.
However, some CRM tools come with built-in deduplication and cleansing features, so if your company does not have an environment for these tasks, choose a CRM that includes data maintenance functions from the start.
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Start by Managing and Analyzing Your Own Customers
To maximize results using a CRM, you should begin by deepening your understanding of your existing customers. If you can grasp the timing of orders, customer status, and scale, you will find the optimal approach for acquiring new customers.
For example, if analysis confirms that "other company products or services are utilized within three months of an order," you can implement effective upselling and cross-selling strategies for new customers.
CRM is a tool particularly well-suited for strengthening relationships with existing customers and identifying prospects, whether they are active or latent, based on existing customer trends. Therefore, after introducing a CRM tool, put new customer acquisition on hold and start by analyzing your existing customers.
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