If your business uses multiple apps and software to manage your customer relationships, the complexity of the system is likely costing you time and money. And are the results really there?
An integrated platform that compiles both customer
relationship management (CRM) and marketing automation is a great way to expand
your customer base and boost your relationships. By bringing together and
analyzing all your data in a single system, you can draw the conclusions that
were missing from your promotions, your loyalty programs and all your
communication campaigns. You can also access sophisticated demographic
profiling tools, automate your work methodologies, accelerate the sales journey
and retain your customers.
The fusion of sales and marketing strategies: a
powerful tool
If the boundary between sales and marketing has practically disappeared today, it is because customers in the digital age no longer seek information in the same way. The modern customer expects to find the product or service they need almost immediately, and to receive equally prompt customer service.
CRM software therefore offers a new way of managing commercial relations. For this, your CRM platform must include the necessary functionalities to encourage the customer throughout the buying journey — from acquisition to retention and loyalty — as well as in all its forms of interaction (digital and human). , in the form of an efficient and smooth workflow.
Many SMBs rely on multiple traditional software to
manage their digital business and advertising operations, but these activities,
intertwined with each other, must be able to rely on a central platform, a
uniform point of control: the relationship management platform. customers and
automated marketing.
Marketing intelligence is no longer reserved for large
multinationals
With an integrated CRM/automated marketing system, you no longer need to be a pro to analyze and use your data. The important thing is to efficiently capture information in a single source, capable of feeding a cycle of advertising activities and informing decisions in order to:
- save time and improve team productivity by bringing all data together in one place,
- reduce costs by combining all software into a single subscription
- speed up familiarization and shorten the purchase journey by simplifying the user experience
- boost lead generation and repeat customers by optimizing every step of the buying journey
The benefits of an integrated CRM and automated
marketing solution
1. Capture more leads and grow your prospect list
Your web pages show heavy and regular traffic, but you don't know who your visitors are or how to convert this traffic into sales? Our first suggestion would be to create forms on your site aimed at capturing your visitors' contact details in exchange for useful and free content. Does that sound complicated? It is very simple, however… Just ask your visitors to subscribe to a newsletter to create a connection with those who are interested in your site. However, small businesses and sales teams too often forget the effectiveness of this kind of tool.
Marketing automation software is a great way to create
and manage a lead capture form, as well as immediately record data and
integrate it into your database. This data simplifies follow-up activities by
phone, email, or in subsequent campaigns. Capturing this critical information
and keeping it in one place enables monitoring and analysis of all business
interactions and observing trends and results in real time and across all
existing or prospective customers.
2. Automatic Lead Development
To drive positive engagement with your prospective customers, it is not enough to have accurate and correct information. It is then necessary to ensure a follow-up of the leads which passes by timely communication and by appropriate tariffs. This is what is sometimes difficult for small businesses whose limited resources can stand in the way of this type of engagement and conversions. This is where integrated CRM and marketing automation solutions come in. By allowing you, for example, to schedule email campaigns once and for all and let the software take care of the rest:
- send follow-up messages to your prospective customers
- notify you when a contact reaches a pointnt of interaction that requires your intervention
- monitor and track engagement through your CRM platform
- display relevant information on an intuitive dashboard.
Without integrated systems and automated workflows, your sales journey is slowed because you spend too much time managing data, and less time nurturing leads and closing sales. To improve your marketing strategy, fuel your pipeline and increase customer satisfaction, you must first stop wasting your time exporting and importing lists between incompatible platforms.
By combining customer relationship management and
marketing automation in one platform, it becomes easy to send follow-up emails
based on personalized criteria and activities. It's a way to effectively
nurture leads and convert prospective customers in your sales funnel faster.
3. More accurate forecasts, and a higher conversion
rate
Inaccurate or incomplete customer data often leads to an unsatisfactory customer experience and can impact your statistics and forecasts. In the absence of data, it is more difficult to seize opportunities and it is not uncommon for a customer to pass you by.
An automated CRM and marketing system unites all sales
and marketing interactions under one platform and documents every contact and
follow-up activity to provide you with real-time statistics, trends and
results, across the entire customer journey. purchase or for each communication
campaign. Not only is it a way to boost lead generation and form more accurate
forecasts, but it also allows you to retain existing customers. Every member of
your team can act on constantly updated customer data, whether it's contacting
customer service with a problem, asking a question about a need, or following
up after a first contact.
4. The value of a customer is multiplied tenfold
throughout their lifetime
After acquiring a customer, it is important to regularly stimulate their interest by reminding them, through excellent customer service and relevant communications, of how important they are. Marketing automation tools are used to simplify this process by triggering pre-programmed campaigns, reminding you to make contact by phone or submitting forms based on past purchases. This way of using automated marketing is extremely individual and stimulates personal relationships with each customer.
SMBs are too prone to using incompatible sales and
marketing software, and as the business grows, it becomes difficult to provide
regular and consistent monitoring based on too scattered data. An integrated
solution should be scalable and give you a 360 degree view of your customer
lifecycle to improve their experience from start to finish.
5. Growth through retention
Customer data is not static: it necessarily changes during the life cycle of a customer. Contact details, personal preferences, products used or services requested, all must be updated in order to provide your sales teams with the information they need to improve their service and build customer loyalty.
For example, automated marketing software can schedule
reminders to contact customers who meet certain criteria (such as purchasing a
specific product, or subscribing to a publication). A financial adviser, for
example, can use this type of software to automatically send an email to
clients he has not seen for a long time to invite them to come and do the
annual review of their budget. Unless he prefers to use it to invite his
prospective clients to a free webinar on pensions and retirement. He may choose
to send an email to prospective clients whose age and investment portfolio
(information obtained in the lead capture form) correspond to certain criteria.
After the webinar, salespeople will engage with attendees to boost the sales
funnel by offering financial solutions or investments based on those same
customers' goals and past decisions (captured through CRM software, of course).
).
Conclusion
In summary, the goal of an integrated CRM and
marketing automation system is to enable your business to do more, with fewer
resources. Communicate and stimulate existing and prospective customers without
increasing your staff or working longer hours.