As in any professional area, marketing has a series of strategic tools to help the company's results, among them is the CRM. Acronym for the term Customer Relationship Management, which in Portuguese can be translated to Customer Relationship Management, the resource can help a lot in your business. Check out our content and find out what CRM is in marketing and what its benefits are.
In short, it is the set of strategies used to manage information from customers and potential customers with personal data such as name, address and cell phone, in addition to their activities and contact channels with the brand, which may include visits to the website, emails, as well as payment histories and other relevant references.
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Optimization of manual processes and much more
With a CRM platform in hand, you and your team avoid wear and tear on both the client and the company, which can thus optimize manual processes and efforts to solve problems.
According to a survey by the American company Salesforce, from these software it is possible to obtain an increase of 37% in sales revenue, as it finds more leads, closes more deals and maintains more customers, which consequently helps in the expansion of the company.
Customer satisfaction and ROI (Return on Investment) in marketing were other points calculated by Salesforce, which observed respective growth rates of 45% and 43%. The reason customers are happy is that the dialogue with the brand ends up being more personal, relevant and up-to-date.
Therefore, they generate great business opportunities and customer loyalty. That is why they are considered one of the most powerful tools in the search for financial stability for the brand.
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CRM types
There are two main types of CRM available in the market, Local and Cloud. Also known as CRM On-Premise, Local is maintained on a physical server in the company, where you need to install the software on the server or on a specific computer.
On the other hand, Cloud CRM does not present as many barriers to use and maintenance. It can be accessed from different locations and devices (smartphones or tablets), at any time of the day, it has a minimal initial investment, updates are automatic and it safely follows the company's growth.
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beyond the question what is CRM in marketing, also know its applications
- Operational
At first, the system assists and uncomplicates all the company's operations. We can say that it embraces the after-sales, customer service, support, financial and legal teams, to name a few.
- Analytics
Being fundamentally a data gathering tool, CRM software is also an analytical resource. This means that the reports created by the platform are translated into valuable metrics for making strategic decisions.
- Collaborative
CRM solutions allow professionals and sectors to work collaboratively, which is very important for teams that depend on each other's work, such as marketing and sales departments.
- Strategic
Finally, a CRM tool has a strategic function. The collected data allows a careful analysis of consumer behavior and its relationship with the company.
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What is the difference between CRM and ERP?
It is not difficult to confuse CRM and ERP tools. However, the ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) is a type of basic software for companies, which is focused on the fiscal and accounting control of the organization, managing the cash flow in a calculated way. While CRM is consumer-oriented, with customer-related information, as discussed earlier.
However, it is natural that many CRMs also fulfill the role of an ERP. Most platforms can be integrated.
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CRM integration with other systems
Continuing with the topic of integration, CRM systems can be integrated with social media, financial, e-mail marketing, data collection and online service management tools, which are strengthened when combined with customer management. Most features are more effective when synchronized, which makes this practice not only recommended, but also encouraged by professionals in the field.