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So you want to know if a CRM is a necessary investment.

Maybe you’ve heard some recommendations, seen some adverts or been looking around for ways to improve your business.

Whatever your reasons, this software is on your radar, but you need to work out if it's actually something you want to invest in.

Before we can get into that question, first let's clarify what a CRM is. The letters C, R and M are an acronym for Customer Relationship Management - three words that convey little more meaning than the abbreviation they come from.

In more clear terms, a CRM is a type of management software that allows a business to better organise its admin and coordinate its team(s). We explain all this in more detail in our article on what is a CRM.

Still sound like something you could be interested in? Here’s some more information.

Who does not need a CRM?

There are plenty of people who don’t need a CRM.

To list a few there’s Donald the Duck, Rocky Balboa and Harry Potter. But in all seriousness, most businesses would benefit from having a digital system in place.

As a general rule, the larger the business the more important it becomes to have a system to manage your processes.

As a small organisation, it’s easier to get away with managing your operations with a few Google Docs, a calendar and some Excel spreadsheets, but as your business gets bigger this can quickly become unsustainable or at the very least highly inefficient.

Any company that is customer-facing or sells either a product or service will benefit from a CRM and the earlier you can implement it the easier life will be.

6 signs you need a CRM

Investing in technology for your business is always a good idea. However, some businesses can be slow on the uptake, only looking for solutions once things have got bad enough to force their hand.

It’s far better to be proactive than reactive. To do this, look out for the following red flags:

1. You're struggling to keep up with your record-keeping

If you’re finding it increasingly difficult to keep track of your records or it takes a long time to find the information you need, then this is a sign you need to make a change.

Some businesses still use pen and paper to manage their work, leading to lost documents, confusion and other issues.

2. Your business is experiencing significant growth

It’s great that your business is growing, you must be doing something right. But also, if your business is growing, then this means that you’re also increasingly putting pressure on your existing processes.

At some point, something is going to give and you don’t want your customers to take the hit. Investing in software early allows your business to adapt to growth seamlessly, without causing chaos amongst your team.

3. There’s a lack of communication between your team(s)

If messages aren’t getting through or there are misunderstandings between members of your team the likelihood is that it’s not their fault, but as a result of poor communication.

If you haven’t set up effective communication channels and a robust and user-friendly process for sharing information, then things are going to get missed.

By putting a CRM in place makes it easy to share information across your team and cut out miscommunication.

4. Customers slipping through the cracks

If customers are getting missed, then you know something is up.

Whether it’s slow replies, incorrect delivery or even customers getting completely forgotten, if the customer is suffering because of your poor processes it’s high time that you invested in customer relationship management.

5. Reporting and analytics issues

Are you tracking your business metrics? How detailed are these metrics? Are you using them to inform the decisions you make about your business?

If you’re not effectively capturing this data or failing to use it to its full potential, then you need a CRM.

With a system in place, you will gain a better understanding of how your business works and what improvements you can make to increase efficiency.

6. You have a disproportionally large administrative team

Having a large admin team isn’t a problem in itself. But what’s more concerning is if you have a large team of office staff relative to those actually delivering the product or service.

This would suggest that your business is operating at a low efficiency. With the right software, one admin member can manage far more work, saving your business money and allowing you to grow more quickly.

How can a CRM help me?

Customer Relationship Management software can help in several different ways, but most fundamentally it will save your business money, meaning bigger profits. This is achieved by increasing efficiencies throughout your business.

Take an example from a ÐÔÊÓ½ç user.

Swift Heating were spending over 10 hours replying to customers every month. Once they signed up to ÐÔÊÓ½ç’s software they reduced this time from 10 hours to 10 minutes! That’s nearly 10 hours saved and that’s only in one area of their business.

Since implementing ÐÔÊÓ½ç, Swift Heating have tripped their turnover and have now become a million-pound company.

The thing is, this isn’t unusual.

There are many different component parts that make a business work. Many of these are simple, repetitive tasks, but, over time, they can start to add up.

By using a CRM you can automate and streamline many of these processes saving a lot of time and freeing up your team to focus on the more important jobs.

Is CRM software worth it?

As this article has sort to show, clearly a CRM can provide a lot of value, especially if your business is suffering from multiple inefficiencies.

However, you may still question how worthwhile this is in the long run and if a CRM would work for your business.

Whether this software is worth it is ultimately down to you. Every business is unique, but there are also many different types of CRM, many of which are customisable to your particular needs.

Spending money on a CRM that doesn’t align with your business is not a worthwhile investment. For example, many businesses think that custom-built software is the best way to go when in reality it is expensive, costly to maintain and not well-optimised.

Mistakes like this can cost your business and may lead you to assume that a CRM isn’t worth it. The reality is you simply haven’t chosen the right solution.

CRM software is worthwhile when you take the time to research a product that can achieve your desired outcomes and give you a good return on investment. This doesn’t necessarily mean the cheapest option, often the cheapest is a false economy, but a solution that suits your processes.

To help you choose the right solution we put together an article on how to implement a new CRM effectively and ensure it works for your business.

Which CRM should I use?

So you now realise that not all CRMs are made equal, but the question still remains, which software provider should you invest in?

Well, the answer depends on you, different businesses have different needs. If you want a more general solution that has a focus on data tracking and collaboration across teams something like might be a good idea.

If your focus is more on marketing and sending out communications via email and other channels then might be a good fit.

If you’re a big business with a large budget and the time and motivation to invest, then something like might work for you. However, do bear in mind that a solution like Salesforce takes considerable set-up and takes a while to implement. So make sure you do your research first.

If you’re a service business or work in the skilled trades, then you might want to look at a more specialist solution.

Within this industry, there are a number of different providers such as Commusoft, ServiceM8 and Tradify. All of these solutions offer different price points and variations in features, however, at ÐÔÊÓ½ç we feel confident that our software stands above the rest.

For a comparison of some of the different CRM options available to field service businesses, check out our article on some of the major field service software providers.

ÐÔÊÓ½ç

What makes us at ÐÔÊÓ½ç different, aside from the premium software and unique features, is our game-changing scale program.

With the scale program, ÐÔÊÓ½ç’s CEO, Matt, will sit down with you and put together a plan that will map out how our software can be implemented to create massive efficiency savings in your business.

Essentially, Matt and his partner Luke, will research, adjust and implement the software for you so that you’re guaranteed to get the maximum value possible. This is also an ongoing process, which means you will get a continued level of support you won’t receive anywhere else.

You can find out more about what ÐÔÊÓ½ç offers on our website.