Why having mobile CRM is so important
It’s no secret that we all love our smartphones. Some of us can recall the days when we used to carry around a Palm Pilot device in addition to our mobile phones so that we could have access to customer information while on the move. Thankfully those days are long gone now that modern smartphones can serve both these purposes, and many more of course. Our trusty Palm Pilots could also only provide us with whatever information had historically been synched to them, which was the closest we could get to real-time information at the time. The internet, wifi, 3G and Bluetooth have put paid to those anachronistic practices as we now enjoy previously unimaginable and unencumbered access to all the data that we could possibly wish for in proper real-time. It makes sense then to embrace this wonderful technology that the world’s IT and communications boffins have made available to us in order to make our lives more efficient and help us gain the competitive edge in how we conduct business.
The traditional desktop-based Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system is a very powerful tool and has evolved over more than two decades of fine tuning and adding features but it becomes pretty much redundant once we leave our desks, unless of course we are tethered to a PA who can look up the information for us that is. Even then no PA wants to be at our beck and call 24×7. An alternative solution has been to snychronise all the data to a laptop computer but we all know how impractical it is to wait while these devices boot up in order to allow us to extract information from them. Granted, boot up times have been reduced with faster chips, solid state drives and more efficient operating system software but laptop computers still remain bulky devices that are often left in the boots of our cars when we are on the move.
Gone also are the days when we would inform a business prospect that we would “mail them in the morning” because competition being what it is these days, someone else will likely have beaten you to it and by the time you got around to communicating with your prospect your competitor could well have invoiced them for the business already. Even if the sales cycle is fairly lengthy, it’s the early bird that catches the worm when it comes to demonstrating to a prospect your ability to provide them with a quick turnaround and superior service. After all, this is what they will be expecting should they choose to do business with you and they would like to see an example of it before they commit to spending their money with you. With mobile CRM you can engage with your prospect there and then, capturing all of the relevant details to enable you to service their requests as quickly as possible. And if you are not able to provide them with the information that they are seeking immediately, should this not be your responsibility, you can then very easily have the right person do this, knowing that they will be armed with all of the relevant details to do so by accessing what you have just captured in the same CRM system. Empowering your sales team by equipping them with a mobile CRM not only gives them the resources to perform their jobs to the best of their ability but it will also help increase productivity, customer satisfaction and revenue for the business as a direct result. Management can also stay on top of what is going on in the business and assist wherever they see fit to do so as they will have a view of all of the information that the sales team is generating each day.
Access to important information
By providing sales people with mobile CRM the data captured is a lot more accurate as it is gained directly from the source – the prospect or customer – and in doing so there is a reduced likelihood of making mistakes in capturing information and a greater chance that more relevant information will be captured. It is also in the sales person’s best interests to ensure that they capture as much information as possible to give them the best chance of ensuring that a sale can be concluded.
Mobile CRM can also provide sales people with immediate access to important information such as a customer’s buying history, the prices they pay and their particular needs and preferences. With this critical information the sales person can be better prepared going into meetings and show the customer that their business means a great deal to them. Having mobile CRM can also shorten the sales cycle as the amount of to-ing and fro-ing that is generally associated with working a sales opportunity can be reduced substantially with the right information at one’s fingertips.
Every business is different of course and has its own unique requirements, which is why the mobile CRM solution also needs to be customized to provide the required information needed when out of the office, such as customer-specific pricing, available inventory, preferred products or services and any other necessary information in addition to the customer’s contact details.
Mobile CRM can also be used to generate orders for customers so that the turnaround time required to service the customer can be shortened, which in turn leads to happier customers and repeat business from them. To see more on what Mobile CRM can do for your business take a look at www.maxcloudcrm.co.za and give Camsoft’s friendly support staff a call should there be any queries that you might have.