Regardless of the size of your business or industry, a customer relationship management (CRM) system can form the framework of your business; helping manage much of the day-to-day and streamline your operation across departments. Yet, those who already operate with CRM software will know that the platform’s functionality goes way beyond storing and synchronising information. Used to its full potential, your CRM can be a powerful marketing and sales aid solution; helping teams operate more efficiently, identify new opportunities, and ultimately, win more business. Leasing is critical to helping businesses expand without cash flow concerns. Johnson Reed’s services are therefore of prime importance to businesses buying or selling any equipment. This sales process can be vastly improved for both client and supplier through use of a modern CRM and we wanted to shine a light on one of our strategic partners who make this process a slick machine for us and companies in all the industries we operate in. Specialising across CRM, marketing automation, lead management and email marketing, Gold-Vision are our trusted CRM provider at Johnson Reed, and we’d certainly be lost without it! We speak to Jiggy Patel, Gold-Vision’s head of customer experience, to get her top tips on optimising your CRM, generating sales and driving growth.
1. Data Access
“Whilst data access is one of the basic functions of CRM, it’s often underestimated just how powerful this can be,” Jiggy explains. “The input of data is often identified as the most tedious aspect of CRM, but it’s important to take a step back and look at the bigger picture. “As standard, CRM software makes data readily-available and easily-manipulated to get key information and insights in seconds. By taking the time to store and build this information, sales teams can log the sales cycle and start to identify valuable patterns and behaviours to establish why a sale has been successful, or not. This is invaluable, but entirely dependent on capturing accurate and comprehensive data in the first place.”
2. Automated Lead Scoring
Effective time management is a vital requirement for every role, but it’s not always as straight-forward as working your way through a to-do list! For salespeople with multiple prospects to nurture at one time, it can be challenging to determine where time is best-spent. Gold-Vision’s automated lead scoring function helps you prioritise and concentrate your efforts on the leads that are more likely to convert to boost productivity across the whole team and achieve the optimum results.
3. Email Tracking
Whether you’re looking to reconnect with a prospect six months later or pick up where a colleague left off, recalling background information is essential. By choosing a CRM with automated email tracking, you can find all this information in one place to quickly and easily bring yourself up to speed. “Gold-Vision integrates harmoniously with your mail provider and automatically tracks and stores exchanges under the customer’s file,” explains Jiggy, “Becoming reacquainted with the individual case and picking up on specific points from previous conversations can help you initiate a much warmer introduction and naturally move the process on from there.”
4. Maps and Routing
Whilst phone conversations and emails can and do convert prospects, a face-to-face visit creates a longer-lasting impression and helps to reinforce those vital customer relationships. Taking a long round-trip for a customer visit? Gold-Vision’s maps and routing function (integrated with Google Maps) identifies the optimum routes to make those days on the road more productive.
5. Seamless Integration
“No two businesses are the same, so why should their CRMs be? Gold-Vision’s versatility is key to its success and allows businesses to create their own bespoke platform to fulfil their individual requirements.” explains Jiggy, “A truly effective CRM can easily integrate and communicate with your other essential business software, whilst being accessible on-the-go.” Workplaces are becoming increasingly reliant on technology, and we’re outsourcing more and more of our day-to-day activities to software, whether it’s an accounting programme or quotation tool. Alongside its ability to integrate with a wide range of software, Gold-Vision can also be accessed by sales teams remotely, delivering the right information at the right time.
6. Clever Marketing Insight
Your CRM is constantly gathering data, aka. marketing gold dust! This information can be used to identify valuable trends and inspire new campaign ideas and business opportunities going forward. “Our additional email marketing programme, Gold-Vision Connect, feeds all information and reports from campaigns back into the main CRM, promoting seamless communication between the sales and marketing departments and streamlining the all-important lead handover process,” Jiggy explains.
7. Setting Targets
Every sales person strives to beat their targets, and most sales departments will admit to having a little healthy competition between themselves too! Gold-Vision constantly updates deals, sales pipelines and opportunities, and can provide quick real-time reports for those all-important team meetings and updates. This easy tracking helps employees remain focused and organised, reducing time spent on admin tasks and leaving sales to do what they do best – sales! “Once businesses have experienced a truly effective CRM, they’ll never go back! Alongside its convenience and organisational features, it helps sales and marketing practices become much more effective,” Jiggy explains, “Businesses can use the data and insights gathered to evolve strategies, become more efficient as a team and continually improve and progress as a business.”
