Growth. This is one word that makes us sit up and take notice. When you own a business, this is the one word that you should always focus on. When you make growth the centre of all your operations, you would be able to take stock of your efforts and resources in a very different way. It would not always be about the profits you make for that day, that month or that quarter. It would be all about the consumer base you have built and the brand you are building in the long run. Yet, what we all must understand is that growth means different things for different people and hence, the CRM software you use would also depend on what growth means to you.
Before we actually consider the various kinds of CRM software out there and why a small business would need a free one, you should understand what CRM actually means. CRM or customer relationship management is the culmination of your data handling framework and how it is aligned with the various functions to reach your business goals. Or how it charts your growth story, in a nutshell. Let us now understand how your definition of growth can shape your goals and have a bearing on the kind of CRM software that you choose for yourself and your business.
Here are few different goals that business owners would have around growth, and how each one would have a bearing on CRM:
- Organic Business Growth: This is one of the most important forms of growth that one could chase. Organic growth is growth that happens in a natural way without extra spend or an extra push from the business owner. This kind of growth is usually a slow yet steady one that sticks around on a more permanent basis. This growth fuels long lasting brand recall and brand loyalty as well. This kind of growth happens when you are in the process of creating products and services to cater to your specific market segment in the best possible way. The choice of a CRM system would depend on what kind of a market you want to enter and how you want to position yourself. The CRM strategy would be built on the basis of creating brand awareness more than anything else and a sales push would only come with pull marketing automation.
- Strategic Business Growth: As a business owner, you can either go into a market that is already established and try and sell products or services that the consumers have a taste for. Or, you could go into uncharted territory so that you can tap into a whole new market. The latter option is known as strategic business growth and it calls for a strategy based approach. This would call for strategized action to first create the need for the new product and to then create talk around the solution offered so that the new market and its customers can start warming up to the idea and the solution. This would also include long term growth plans that would require to constantly chart success from one market to another so that you are able to attain strategic business growth. With the right CRM software, you would be able to do so by organizing the data and leads accordingly.
- Partnered Business Growth: The business that grows on the basis of the partnerships as well as acquisitions where it gets added to existing brands, would ensure partnered business growth. This kind of growth depends on how well you collaborate and integrate the various features and stakeholders of each other’s businesses so that you are growth bound in a more collaborative manner. A well laid out strategy and plan that includes all the core focus areas of each partner would be the need of the hour here. Accordingly, one would have to design and employ a CRM software that would make for better and more efficient collaborations in such a scenario. The right CRM software would propel the growth prospects in this regard.
- Internal Business Growth: This is an important method of growth which would be fueled with the employment of the right tools in the right places. Automation would be the name of the game here since the various months tasks would be set into a specific system that can lead to long term growth. This is because a certain standard of operations would be set from the get go so as to make everything more streamlined and smooth sailing. This is especially for organizing businesses that are starting out with an eye on growth and scalability. This is where the right CRM software would be able to help.
The right CRM software would be able to promote all of the above by giving you a number of benefits. Yet, this does not have to be a particularly expensive affair since you can also avail free CRM for your CRM needs. Here are the reasons why a small and growing business would need free CRM:
- Building Relationships: As the name suggests. The CRM software would help you manage relationships with your customers and leads in a far more efficient manner than ever before. Using a free CRM software would help you do this at a zero cost overrun so that you can start out by engaging with the existing small audience before you grow and get more customers too.
- Automation: With a free CRM software, you will be able to automate all the tasks without spending a penny. This is good for a small team and you can upgrade to an enterprise centric plan that will help you bring in larger teams with more members.
- Better Engagement: Overall, you would be able to engage in a far better way with your leads, prospects and customers so that a sure shot conversion can be made. The free CRM software would give you the insights and data to do so.
Disclaimer: This content does not necessarily represent the views of IWB.