CRM is a powerful tool for small, medium, and large businesses alike. However, not all CRM solutions are created equal. Depending on how your company is growing, you’ll want a different set of features to help your team succeed.
In this post, we’ll cover eight CRM features that fast-growing teams need to enable.
1. Custom fields
When you’re a small team, you can often make do with the standard fields that come with your CRM. But as you grow, you’ll likely need to collect more information about your leads and customers to support smoother business communication, improve context across teams, and ensure more personalized and effective interactions at scale.
For example, you might want to create custom fields to track the size of a lead’s budget, the number of employees at a prospect’s company, or the date a customer’s contract is up for renewal. Instead of trying to track this information in a spreadsheet or other tool, you can create custom fields to store this data directly in your CRM.
This makes it easy for your team to see all the information they need in one place. It also helps ensure you’re collecting consistent, accurate data about your leads and customers.
2. Workflow automation
One of the most valuable features of a CRM is workflow automation. This allows you to set up triggers and actions that will automatically occur based on a certain event or condition.
For example, you could set up a workflow to automatically send an email to a lead after they visit your website and download a piece of content. Or, you could set up a workflow to automatically create a follow-up task for a sales rep after they complete a call with a lead.
By automating repetitive tasks, you can free up your team’s time to focus on more important activities, like building relationships with customers and prospects.
This is especially important for teams implementing examples of omnichannel marketing, where leads interact with your brand across email, website, social media, and sales touchpoints.
3. Data import/export
Data import and export tools allow your team to move data in and out of your CRM. This can be incredibly helpful when you’re onboarding your team and need to import a lot of data at once. It’s also important for backing up your data in case your CRM crashes.
Data import/export also makes it easy to move data between your CRM and other tools, like marketing automation software or an email marketing platform.
For example, if you’re running a targeted email campaign, you can use data import/export to pull a list of contacts from your CRM and import it into your email marketing platform. This allows you to send targeted emails to your contacts without having to manually enter each contact’s information.
4. Bulk email
Bulk email is a great way to reach a large number of leads at once. You can use this feature to send out newsletters, promotions, or other marketing materials to your leads.
You can also use bulk email to send out personalized messages to your leads. This is a great way to show your leads that you care about them and that you’re paying attention to their needs.
With bulk email, you can also track the performance of your email campaigns. This will help you to see which leads are engaging with your emails and which ones are not.
This will help you to focus your efforts on the leads that are most likely to convert.
5. Mobile access
Mobile access to your CRM is a must-have for salespeople who are on the go and may not have access to a computer. But, mobile access is also important for sales managers and other team members who need to be able to quickly look up customer information, monitor team performance, and access other CRM features from their phone or tablet.
When evaluating CRM software, be sure to check if the mobile app has all the same features as the desktop version. You should also consider how easy it is to use the mobile app and if there are any limitations on the number of users who can access the CRM from a mobile device.
6. Sales forecasting
Sales forecasting is the process of predicting future sales based on historical data. It helps sales teams set goals, allocate resources, and make strategic decisions about the future of their business.
Forecasting is a critical component of sales management, and it can be time-consuming and complex. However, with the right CRM tools, sales teams can automate much of the process and get accurate, up-to-date forecasts with just a few clicks.
There are many different methods of sales forecasting, but most of them involve analyzing past sales data and looking for trends. With a CRM system, sales teams can easily access their sales data and run reports to identify patterns and make predictions about future sales.
7. User permissions
Most CRMs allow sales managers to set user permissions. This is a great way to ensure that your team members only have access to the data they need to do their jobs.
For example, you may want to restrict certain users from being able to edit contact information or delete records. With user permissions, you can set up custom roles and permissions for each user in your CRM.
This is especially important for fast-growing teams, as it can help to prevent data breaches and other security issues. By limiting access to sensitive data, you can protect your business and your customers.
8. Integrations
Integrations are one of the most important features of a CRM because they allow your team to connect the tools they are already using to the CRM. This can save your team a lot of time and help them be more productive.
For example, if your team uses an email marketing tool or digital business card app, they can connect it to the CRM and sync their email lists. This will allow your team to see which leads are engaging with their email marketing campaigns and which leads need to be followed up with. Or, if your team uses a referral program tool, such as ReferralCandy, they can integrate it with the CRM to automatically track referred leads, attribute conversions, and give sales teams full visibility into which prospects came through trusted recommendations.
Integrations also allow your team to connect the CRM to other tools, like their customer support software, accounting software, or even an anonymous employee feedback tool giving teams a more complete view of internal and external insights. This can help your team get a more complete view of their customers and make it easier for them to collaborate with other teams in the company.
Find the CRM that helps you grow
When it comes to scaling your business, you need a CRM that can keep up. Not all CRMs are created equal. Some are better for small teams, while others are designed with larger, high-growth teams in mind.
Look for a CRM that offers the features listed above, as well as integrations with other tools you use, to help you scale your business. With the right CRM, you can streamline your processes, save time, and focus on what you do best – growing your business.
Conclusion
A CRM can be a powerful tool for your team, but only if you make sure your reps are using it. These features can help you increase productivity, save time, and close more deals.
