3 Ways CRM Can Boost Your Inside Sales

This article was originally published on Tenfold’s Blog

CRM (Customer Relationship Management) has been around a long time, yet its presence in the market continues to expand. According to a Gartner report (as summarized by TechEye), 2014 CRM revenues increased 13% from 2013.

The reason that eCRM Solution has increased in popularity is simple: it works. Companies are making more money by integrating CRM into their phones and computer systems. Here are three reasons why CRM is so effective in boosting inside sales:

1. Data Entry for Call Logging No Longer Drains Staff Time

Effective CRM eliminates the need for data entry — especially the manual entering of call logs. A good CRM will automatically log your calls and link each call log to the correct contact. This can free up time for your employees to type in quick notes in the CRM’s profile for that contact instead of worrying about maintaining call logs. This, of course, will reduce the busy work of employees and allow them to do more product work — like make more calls!

2. Easier, More Personalized Follow-Up

The click-to-dial ease of CRM and the all-in-one-place consolidation of customer profiles can make follow-up easier. Employees can see the streamlined comfort of the CRM structure as a motivational factor to reach out with more initiative and consistency.

Examiner.com provides an example. When you send quotes to large amounts of customers (or even moderate amounts) it can be cumbersome to keep track of who needs follow-up. If even just one quote doesn’t get a follow-up, this can be a missed opportunity, as Examiner.com explains: “Many of those quotes can turn into sales simply by calling the customer or emailing them as a result of the organizational system of the CRM. Opportunities that could have been lost has been addressed and turned into sales.”

And while we’re on the topic of follow-ups, here’s a crucial tip to help you improve in your follow-up effectiveness: always have a reason that you’re calling, and always state that reason in the beginning.

As SalesHacker.com wrote: “I am on a personal crusade to get ‘touching base’ and ‘checking in’ out of the vocabulary of sales professionals. [Those phrases] mean there is no reason for your call so there is no reason for me to speak with you.”

3. Powerful Analytics Help You Refine Your Strategy

In addition, a comprehensive CRM system can benefit your company the way an MRI machine benefits a patient. With its analytics, CRM can give companies a detailed, big picture overview of the health of the company’s sales team. Companies can pinpoint calls that fail and use the detailed information and context of each call to diagnose what went wrong.

The analytics in Tenfold’s CRM take your inbound and outbound call data and summarize it for you in a graph that shows the number of calls that took place to and from each sales lead over a length of time that you set.

Companies can also use CRM to view when their sales people make their calls and appointments and how long each call and appointment lasts. This provides crucial information that will show you where employees need to improve. Tenfold’s analytics graph can also rank your agents in helpful categories such as highest number of inbound calls or outbound calls.

The Importance of an Easy-to-Use CRM Interface

CRM can have many features, but if the interface is burdensome, every time an employee uses their CRM, it will feel like a chore instead of a blessing that makes life easier.

It’s crucial to have a CRM that integrates everything — from activities and notes to call history and analytics — and then organizes it for you in an easy-to-grasp, smoothly flowing interface.

Tenfold’s CRM is feature-rich, but it also has a wonderfully smooth interface. Contact us to learn more about CRM solutions that can help you boost inside sales.

Salesforce Software for CRM: What It Is and How to Best Use It

This article is originally published here

Dave Orrico, Vice President of InsideSales.com’s Enterprise Sales, once said: “The No. 1 key to success in today’s sales environment is speed. The first salesperson who delivers the most valuable information to their customer or prospect wins the game. The best sales professionals rely heavily on tools like salesforce.com to provide that competitive advantage for information acceleration.”

It does sound like Salesforce software is the fix-all for all your sales woes, right? It might be. Salesforce is possibly the most popular cloud-based CRM system in the market today. It is best known for its CRM solutions, which include Sales Cloud, Marketing Cloud, Service Cloud, Analytics Cloud, and App Cloud, among others.

However, Salesforce and your success with it really depends on how you use its features. A CRM system will inherently benefit your business, regardless of size. According to studies, a dollar spent on a CRM system gets you $5.60 back. Sales practitioners know this; and thus, the CRM market is projected to be worth $37 billion this year.

This demand is not about people getting on the bandwagon. It is a testament to the importance of a reliable CRM system, such as the Salesforce software, to your sales and overall business operations.

Introduction to Salesforce

Salesforce, the company, is best known for revolutionizing the CRM industry through its innovative use of cloud computing. Because of its efforts, it has made CRM affordable for most businesses.

There are no set-up fees nor hardware/ software requirements needed. You won’t have to maintain nor upgrade your CRM system. You can add users, features, and capacities when needed. It is accessible from multiple devices, anywhere you are.

Salesforce has made CRM within reach; there’s practically no reason to miss out on making the most of it.

What Is The Salesforce Software

Salesforce software actually refers to the company’s comprehensive CRM solution. This integrated product allows you to organize and manage all prospect and customer interactions. It provides you with sales automation tools and analytics tools, among others.

The Salesforce software is made up of Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Marketing Cloud, Commerce Cloud, Analytics Cloud, IoT Cloud, App Cloud, Health Cloud, Financial Services Cloud, Force.com, and Chatter. Let’s look at some of these.

Salesforce Sales Cloud

This Salesforce software application tracks and manages contact information and interactions. It is where you manage and nurture leads, and set up select marketing automation features. Likewise, you also get assessments and reports regarding your marketing campaign.

Salesforce Marketing Cloud

This is where you manage your marketing channels, from setting up and personalizing email marketing to managing your mobile messaging and setting up and personalizing web content. You can also manage social engagements and set-up cross-channel customer journeys.

Salesforce Service Cloud 

This is the customer support aspect of the Salesforce software. Through it, your team can keep abreast with your customers’ history, conversations and issues. It helps your customer support team personalize interactions and solve problems faster.

Salesforce Analytics Cloud

You turn to Salesforce Analytics Cloud when you want to see how you’re doing. Get accurate performance insights, and use this information in making crucial operational decisions. Let data drive your sales and marketing.

As Dave Elkington, CEO and Founder of InsideSales.com, said: “You have to generate revenue as efficiently as possible. And to do that, you must create a data-driven sales culture. Data trumps intuition.”

How To Best Use Your Salesforce Software

The Salesforce software is designed for the prospect and client management process that pushes you towards increased returns and business growth.

Improve pipeline marketing.
The Salesforce software can help you at all stages of the pipeline—from gathering and qualifying leads as well as turning them into opportunities. Because it lets you effectively manage prospects and customers, you can minimize lead leakage, automate follow-ups, and track where your leads are in the sales funnel.

You can potentially make the most of the opportunities that come your way through efficient contact management and data-driven user engagements.

Develop effective and repeatable sales cycle.

The use of the Salesforce CRM can provide you with useful insight on your client’s journey. You gain information on their commonalities, pain points, and motivations. This can then guide you in developing content and follow-up strategies that are responsive to their needs. This helps you move people through the sales funnel faster. Use the analytics apps to see leading sales drivers and areas for improvement. Tweak where necessary, then repeat.

Build effective teams.

The Salesforce software improves communication across different teams in your organization, wherever these teams are. From marketing to sales and support, members get access to the same comprehensive pool of data. They are empowered with information that personalizes conversations and helps address issues more efficiently.

Compete at the same level as other businesses.

Regardless of how big or small your business is, it has become requisite to implement a reliable CRM system if you want to compete at the same level as the rest. Don’t be left behind. Make sure you stay on top of your customers and prospects and get the most from the opportunities that come your way.

Author:- 

Dan Sincavage

Dan is a Co-Founder of Tenfold and currently serves as the Chief Strategy Officer. Dan oversees the Tenfold sales organization, manages strategic partner relationships and works with key enterprise accounts to ensure their success with the Tenfold platform.