Customizing CRM Workflows for Small Business Sales
- Customer Relationship Management
Customizing CRM Workflows for Small Business Sales
Are you a startup founder wanting to replace your existing CRM? Or are you looking for a customizable CRM that is the right fit for your small business?
In any case, you want a CRM that:
- Will adapt to your specific requirements and streamline your sales process efficiently.
- Is cost-effective to ensure your money doesn’t go down the drain.
- Is simple and easy to use and actually improves the performance of your sales team.
The probability of getting a CRM that is 100% fit for your business is low because every business has unique needs.
But if you don’t choose a CRM carefully, you will end up wasting time and resources and still get a CRM that doesn’t have the features and integrations you need.
In this article, we’ll help you find a Customizable CRM that best complements your small business, so if you’re happy with the CRM you’re currently using, you should probably NOT read this article.
Why Choose a Customizable CRM?
No two businesses are the same; they could be working in the same industry, selling the same products, and yet their requirements and operational activities could be wildly different. Now building a unique CRM for every business from scratch is not feasible, especially for a small business or a startup, given the limited resources.
What’s the solution, then?
A Customizable CRM!
With a customizable CRM, you can optimize the system to align with the specific needs of your sales team, rather than forcing your sales team to adapt to a CRM with rigid pre-loaded features. For instance, let’s consider a company with a 5-step lead qualification process: Interested, Cold, Hot, Closed, and Lost. While a normal CRM will give a few fixed lead status options, a customizable CRM allows you to add any number of lead status options depending on your industry and requirements.
This level of customization ensures that your small business doesn’t have to compromise with its sales management process, allowing them to work more efficiently and ultimately convert more deals.
Essential Customizations that a Customizable CRM for Small Business Should Have
1. Lead Fields Customization
If you run an insurance company, you would want to know how many of your leads are married, are smokers, have diseases that your insurance company covers, sort your leads on the basis of the policies they are interested in, and so on and so forth.
This data will:
- Help you in identifying the most popular policies so you can plan your marketing strategies.
- Help you in identifying flaws in your sales process and the scope for improvement.
- Help you in understanding your customers so you can tend to their needs.
All this is possible through custom lead fields. It is the most customization that a Customizable CRM for small business should have. You can capture any and every information relevant to your sales process, and eliminate the need for storing and displaying it in messy Excel sheets or PPTs.
2. Workflow Automation
Workflows in a customizable CRM automate repetitive tasks and reduce manual effort so you can focus on other more important aspects of your business like improving your sales numbers, overlooking your operations, handling your finances, etc.
Automated workflows enforce consistency so that even if your team forgets to do those tasks on time, you won’t have to worry.
For example, you can set up automated reminders for sales to follow up with leads at specific intervals after initial contact.
Now think of this from the perspective of your leads, they will receive timely calls and messages from your sales representatives, all their queries get answered, and as a result, they feel valued and satisfied. Hence, they now will be more likely to purchase your product or service.
And boom! You’ve ensured tasks are done on time, gotten a happy customer, and boosted your sales.
Another example is, when you generate leads, you can set an automation to automatically distribute these leads to your sales reps without you having to assign them manually. Again, it helps you focus on more important tasks and the scope for manual entry is completely eliminated.
3. Templates
To keep in touch with your leads, you have to send 10s and 1000s of emails or messages every day, and most of these interactions are repetitive. Typing personalized messages every single time for the same purpose is not feasible, and that’s where custom templates come into play.
You can create standardized templates for various purposes so that you don’t have to worry about manually writing the same repetitive messages to interact with your lead. Saving you time, effort, and frustration.
For example, when your lead has a specific question about a feature of your product, you write and send them a personalized message on WhatsApp answering their queries. If you get the same question from another lead, you go through the same process again.
You’ll have to type the same message over and over again. But if you make a template for this, you will only have to write the message once. You can make various templates for different purposes, and when it’s time to send, you can just select the template based on the situation and send it over without any hassle.
4. Lead Filters
The creation of lead filters in a CRM is a powerful tool for lead management. It allows you to segment and target specific leads based on ANY imaginable criteria.
You can check sales numbers, assess the quality of leads, identify the stage of a particular lead in the sales process, evaluate the performance of your sales team, and a lot more!
For example, you can set up filters to identify which of your products is the most popular in the market right now. This information will allow you to:
- Evaluate the performance of your sales team, particularly the salespersons of the product which is underperforming – why is it underperforming and what you can do to change that.
- Understand why a certain product has more or lesser sales than the previous month – Is it the product? The market? A competitor? It helps you identify where you’re lagging and how you can tackle that problem.
- Understand if your marketing strategies are working, and change them if required.
These are just some of the uses of one of the filters. With a customizable CRM, you can create and add as many combinations of filters as you want. You can even save these filters so you won’t have to apply them again and again.
Picking the Right Customizable CRM for Small Business: What You Need to Know
Before buying a CRM under the influence of a YouTube video or a blog (You can trust ours :), you should research them yourself based on the following parameters:
1. Setup Duration & Customizability
You should ask yourself 3 questions when looking for a customizable CRM:
I) How much time does it take to set up?
Setup duration depends on the size of a business. Generally speaking, for a small business or a startup, it should take about 1-3 days to set up. If a CRM takes 5 days just to set up, it would mean that it is complex and would take even longer for your sales team to adapt. Even when a CRM is simple, adapting to a new software takes time, considering not all people in a sales team are tech-savvy.
II) Does it have the customizations I want?
You operate a small business or a startup, you don’t need 200 automated workflow options, 300 custom lead fields, and 400 custom templates. You’re good to go as long as you get the customizations you need
, otherwise, you’ll just be spending more money for customizations you don’t even require.
III) How easily can I customize this CRM to suit my needs?
A complex customizable CRM is a bad CRM. For example, you want to create automation (to automatically send a message to sales reps when new leads are added to the system), but applying that automation is extremely hard. You and your sales team require separate training sessions to just understand how it works. Moving forward, your sales team will probably not use it, at least not effectively.
Pro-tip: To figure out the answer to these questions, it’s advisable that you use a CRM’s free trial version.
So for small business, you need to find a CRM that can be set up quickly, has the customizations you need, and is easy to customize.
2. Price
Don’t think that a pricey CRM means it is a good option for you. Sure, price does matter, but what matters more is how suitable a CRM is for your business. If a CRM is cheap and aligns well with your sales process as well as caters to all your needs, you should buy it. Similarly, if a CRM is costly but aligns with your needs, you should buy it. Basically, price should be the least of your concerns when choosing a customizable CRM for small business.
3. Features
Don’t fall into the trap of, ‘This CRM has a lot of features and that is why I’m going to buy it.’ Instead, figure out what your problems are, see if the CRM has the features that solve the problems relevant to your sales process, and then make a decision. Go for a CRM that actually solves your problems rather than going after a fancy feature CRM.
4. Ease of Use & Mobile Access
Business nowadays happens on phones. Having a Mobile CRM basically allows you to perform all CRM functions while enjoying a vacation in Goa, sitting in your pajamas. It allows you to manage leads, check sales numbers, and track the performance of your sales team from anywhere. In fact, with a good mobile Customer Relationship Management tool, you don’t even need a full-time sales team working from an office, you can set up a completely remote sales team for your small business or a startup.
5. Customer Support
Bad Customer Support = Bad CRM. No matter how good a CRM is, if the customer support doesn’t reply to your calls for help, doesn’t train you on how to use the software, and doesn’t debug in case of any issue. They don’t even have the answers to any relevant questions that you may have on their website. Will that CRM be of any use to you? Absolutely not! So make sure to choose a CRM with good customer support.
But how do you figure that out?
- Firstly, you can continue reading this article where I have mentioned some of the best customizable CRMs and their support systems.
- Check customer testimonials and reviews on Google, Playstore, and software listing websites like Capterra, Techjockey, etc.
- Talk to existing customers, they’ll give you a holistic view.
- Pilot with a small team (2-3 users), experience the support system, and onboard the entire team once satisfied.
5 Best Customizable CRM for Small Business
Now that we’ve covered the why and how of choosing a customizable CRM, let’s dive into some of the best options for your small business:
1. TeleCRM
TeleCRM offers an excellent balance of customization, ease of use, and pricing. It’s designed to empower small businesses with the tools they need to succeed in sales and customer relationship management.
2. Bigin
Bigin by Zoho is a straightforward and customizable CRM that caters to the needs of small businesses. It offers essential features and the ability to tailor your CRM according to your business processes.
3. Monday Sales CRM
Monday Sales CRM provides a highly customizable CRM platform. You can adapt it to your specific sales workflow, ensuring a seamless experience for your sales team.
4. Pipedrive
Pipedrive is known for its simplicity and flexibility. It’s an excellent choice for small businesses looking for a CRM that can be customized to match their unique requirements.
5. HubSpot CRM
HubSpot CRM is a free CRM with strong customization options. It offers great features for small businesses to manage leads and grow their sales.
Still Not Convinced About a CRM?
If you’re still not sure about the benefits of using a CRM for your small business, consider booking a free demo with any of the CRM providers mentioned above. It’s an excellent way to explore the features and capabilities of these systems before making a commitment.
Conclusion
In the world of small business sales, having the right CRM can make all the difference. By choosing a customizable CRM that aligns with your unique requirements, you can streamline your sales process, improve efficiency, and ultimately boost your revenue. Take the time to research, test, and choose the CRM that best fits your business needs, and you’ll be well on your way to sales success.
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