CRM is a very cool tool, one might say, a multitool among software. Let's see how it works. Isn't it a sudden theme for 2020?
Well, I don’t know that you don’t ride this! This is not some Cybertruck.
It seems that a lot has been said about CRM - at least we have more than 120 articles already. But every time there are those who do not know what CRM is and believe that it is something like nitrous oxide for a car or adrenaline in the heart during resuscitation (which, by the way, injections into a vein, and injections in the heart have long been practiced only in melodramas ). In short, they believe that the CRM system is obliged to them to bring the business to an IPO and at the same time it should work itself, quietly and, of course, free of charge.
So, it is worth writing the simplest instructions for using CRM, which is more suitable for small businesses, but can form the basis for the implementation of a CRM system in a company of any size.
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CRM?
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Working with clients is available to a manager of any skill level in any CRM system. This is the foundation that forms the company's valuable asset - the customer base. Receiving information about the client, the user enters it into the CRM system once and then saves a lot of time by referring to this record: he calls by one click, sends mail without copying e-mail, automatically substitutes details in documents, contracts, commercial offers, etc. etc. Pay attention to this fact and here's why. Often, opponents of CRM appeal to the fact that CRM takes time, because you need to enter data into it - and this argument works for inexperienced beginners. However, entering the data once and using it is always incomparably more efficient than copying information from Excel each time. This is so obvious and logical that it's even embarrassing to discuss.
The CRM system is smart: it not only knows how to store information about customers, but also helps to work. So, for example, by TIN it pulls up other details of the enterprise from the federal register of legal entities, by BIK it finds a bank and you no longer need to enter its correspondent account, city and this is the name "Volgo-Vyatka bank of Sberbank PJSC", etc. Trifle? On one fact - yes, but 10 already norms, for 20-25 per day - complete delight and a defeated routine!
After the client is created, his details and information about him are entered into the system, the client's card becomes the basis for all subsequent interactions with him:
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Also, all significant actions of the company's operational activities are associated with the client: all events, including related business processes, tasks for this client, transactions, sales, resale, etc. That is, while you and I see that CRM systems perform their main function - they provide collection and systematization of operational data, or in other words, informational and operational support of customer relationships.
Quite frankly, these opportunities are often the first and only thing a small business needs. Therefore, it is very cool when a CRM vendor offers some kind of "minor edition" with which to start - for example, we have RegionSoft CRM Standard and Standard Plus. Starting not from a fully implemented project, but from a basic system - let it be great to save money and in the process of real work figure out where to grow further and how much to expand the capabilities of CRM.
Working with employees is the foundation of security
When companies try to implement a CRM system, they rarely think that CRM is not only a program for managing customers and sales, it is also a powerful tool for working with employees (we are talking about CRM systems, not corporate portals ). How do employees usually work? They do the work, the manager controls the work, the colleagues interact with each other, communicate, transfer cases, etc. Based on the results of work, employees receive a salary, which usually consists of a salary, piecework and bonuses. In this case, the often piece-rate component and the bonus depend on the implementation of the plan.
CRM allows you to structure all information related to employees, and also collects a set of indicators that transparently, in the language of numbers and facts, will tell you about how the employee worked in the reporting period, where are the weak and strong points in his work with clients, how much he is effective, etc. Some of the functions are worth dwelling on.
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The separation of access rights solves most of the problems, the rest of the security issues already need to be solved individually. For example, cloud systems have fewer security mechanisms than desktop ones. If you do not install fancy and expensive add-ons to cloud CRM, all security will be, at best, limited access by IP addresses or two-factor authorization alone (in which it is as easy as shelling pears to dictate a code from an SMS). Desktop CRM can be protected with internal tools, at the server level, using a hardware key, etc.
In any case, when working with CRM, it is advisable to create security rules for employees. This is especially true now, when employees can actively seek new jobs and use the "extensive base of industry contacts" (and in fact, stolen information) as a competitive advantage in the labor market.
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Employees should not perceive the CRM system as a threat, as a duty and as a tool of tight control. They just have to work in it, use as many opportunities as possible and thereby make their life easier and create a good basis for the automation of the company. This idea is absolutely utopian - there is no implementation without even the slightest resistance. And this resistance plays into the hands of the entire implementation process: if you manage to attract the most vicious opponents to your side, then the tool is really necessary and useful. However, if the "resistance movement" has a commercial interest (leftist, its clients, sales bypassing the company, etc.), then it will not be possible to convince it - you will have to turn on the "security service mode" and understand the true reasons.
Integrations that shouldn't be and should be
Integrations are a very interesting thing. As a rule, customers who have already heard about CRM immediately ask for "integration with 1C", but they cannot always explain why they need such a bundle, but they do not even know which version and what configuration of 1C they use. In fact, for each CRM, a lot of integrations are assumed, the number of which is limited only by the technical capabilities of the system itself and external services. But this is the case when more does not mean better. It is worth dwelling here in more detail.
Cloud services have a lot of integrations. It is profitable for them to build a business in this way: inside CRM there is basic functionality and there is an API, other web services have APIs, with which it is beneficial to partner in terms of sales and promotion. At the same time, you do not need to develop some of the important modules. The CRM developer and his partners have a win-win situation, only users who will need to pay monthly for all these add-ons, plugins and integrations (some quite necessary integrations cost from 15,000 rubles per month, that is, from 180,000 annually), and also carry an undefined information security risk, as not only does cloud CRM use a third party - a hoster, but also the addon developer uses his own hoster. And if CRM systems are mostly hosted reliably (alas, not always, even well-known ones),then hosting for a small developer of the add-on you need may not be important. So this is already 5 sides of risk: on the side of users, a couple of CRM + its hosting, a couple of add-ons + its hosting. Of course, the risk increases with the addition of each subject of the relationship.
Therefore, it is better to choose a CRM system that carries on board all the vital functions for you, and integrate only with those systems that you really cannot do without integration.
What integrations are undesirable (in the subjective opinion of the RegionSoft CRM development team)? You may have a question - how so, "undesirable", because the more opportunities, the better. Above, I talked about the cost of additional integrations and the associated risks, but there are also functional problems: the application may not work, not support any of your processes or documents, fail in terms of triggering. Therefore, it is better to have some vital modules in the CRM system.
- Task management - so that tasks have clear internal links with other entities of the CRM system.
- Mail management - mail in CRM should work like clockwork. It is ideal if it is a native built-in mail client integrated with a client card, and not an external plugin with unstable work.
- Creation of primary and closing documentation must be implemented within CRM. If a CRM system uses API to access Google Docs, then be prepared for the fact that your documents are no longer as securely stored as you would like.
But, in fact, it is better to have a built-in warehouse, a native telephony solution and some cool interface for interacting with services. It is safe, technically justified and, importantly, much cheaper than maintaining a zoo of add-ons over CRM.
What is CRM revision about?
If you have a bunch of requirements ready, put them aside and try using the CRM system in the form in which you purchased it. Most likely, most of the requirements have already been implemented. Refinement of a CRM system is a complex and often expensive process, so you should not approach the system as some kind of blank, which first needs to be upgraded, refined, pumped and then used. Moreover, any modification should be implemented already in the process of use.
So, what improvements are there?
- Setting up is essentially not a revision, but filling CRM with data and setting up the main functions necessary for the activities of the company and each employee separately. It can be implemented independently by means of the user interface or by the vendor.
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As you can see, for the entire article, we have never written that CRM will increase your sales by 50%, that it will replace 12 employees and save on staff, that it will bring the business out of the crisis, that it is actually completely free, that it will bring order in business and will be implemented in 2 days or a week. Because if this is what you expect from CRM, then you should go to Harry Potter or to Goodwin - perhaps they will conjure something like that. In real life, these promises are all lies.
But if you start working with a good tool, your dreams will come true - you will see for yourself how calmer and more confident the work of employees has become, how clients have reached out to you, and how routine has ceased to press and eat up all working time. The main thing is to take the first step and not be afraid of automation - if you only knew how many it helped out in this crazy "quarantine" of ours, how many remote teams retained their working spirit. CRM is undoubtedly an anti-crisis solution beyond any advertising pathos.
If you have doubts and want to know how good your business processes are, we are ready to conduct a free audit of them until August 31 and offer CRM mechanisms for their automation (usually such an audit costs from 15,000 rubles). Our experts will conduct a series of interviews with your employees and answer your questions. Considering that the experience of experts in business and automation is over 20 years, it's just fun and useful to talk to them.
