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Sales technology automation is the software that drives sales pipeline management and communication. It’s crucial for business owners to automate their CRM systems, but what does it take? How do you find a solution that works with your company culture? This guide has everything you need to understand sales automation.
Automation of important sales and customer support operations is known as customer relationship management (CRM). It enables firms to effectively manage and monitor customer and prospect engagement activities. We’ll look at the differences between CRM and marketing automation systems in this post. We also go through the basic purposes, components, and advantages of CRM automation.
Marketing Automation vs. CRM
The key distinctions between CRM and marketing automation are the target users and the stage in the customer’s lifecycle at which they are used. By automating the lead nurturing process, marketing automation tools are utilized to attract new clients. Email template design, content delivery, campaign processes, and campaign analytics are all covered. Marketing automation tools such as Mailchimp and GetResponse are two examples.
CRM automation solutions, on the other hand, are designed for sales and customer service representatives. By automating data entry procedures, tailored email sequences, customer interaction logs, and customer care conversations, these technologies help you connect with more prospects and complete transactions. Salesforce Essentials and Freshsales are two CRMs that include these automation functionalities.
Some companies combine functions like sales, marketing, and service automation into a single platform. HubSpot and Zoho CRM are two examples of all-in-one CRM software.
Each CRM automation system has its own set of features that assist firms in managing and improving client connections. The five most important aspects of CRM automation solutions are shown below.
Management of Contacts
The contact record in HubSpot CRM (Source: HubSpot CRM)
A CRM automation tool’s contact management capability enables you to store and manage client contact information. A contact record contains the customer’s name, email address, phone number, business data, online activity, and purchase history, as seen in the figure above from HubSpot CRM. Easy access to this data allows your sales professionals to personalize their contacts with consumers and react to their problems more quickly.
2. Management of Leads
The sales pipeline dashboard in Salesforce Essentials (Source: Salesforce Essentials)
The lead management feature allows you to keep track of your leads’ actions and behavior to see whether they’re worth following up on. Salesforce Essentials, for example, validates leads based on factors such as geography, amount of interest, and buying power. This information will help you identify areas that need to be prioritized. It also assigns leads to your salespeople based on characteristics like region, industry, and possible transaction size.
3. Document Control
Smart Docs is a Pipedrive tool that allows you to organize, monitor, and share your papers. (Image courtesy of Pipedrive)
Invoices, sales pitches, requests for proposals (RFPs), and contracts may all be stored, managed, and tracked using a CRM’s document management system. Pipedrive’s Smart Docs feature is a great example. You may use the CRM software to design your own sales templates, transmit trackable papers, and attach e-signatures. It also makes all team-shared files easily accessible.
4. Incorporation
Popular Freshsales Marketplace integrations
CRM integrations with third-party software expand your CRM program’s capabilities and handle needs that aren’t included in your package. Integrating Freshsales with an accounting system such as QuickBooks, for example, enables you to examine your customers’ invoices directly from the CRM. When a contact makes a payment, you’ll get a notice.
5. Reporting & Analytics
Customizable reports and dashboards are available in Zoho CRM. (Image courtesy of Zoho CRM)
CRM reporting and analytics solutions allow you to make data-driven business choices and enhance your sales operations. You’ll receive a quick summary of your sales activity, case records, and transactions. This information helps you to rapidly spot issues and keep track of your objectives. Artificial intelligence (AI) is used by certain suppliers, such as Zoho CRM, to discover sales anomalies and forecast future patterns based on historical performance.
Automate CRM Components
CRM automation technologies may be used to automate a variety of operations. Here are a handful of the most often automated CRM components and features:
- Reports: Rather than manually inputting data to create reports, you may have your CRM produce them for you based on accessible metrics.
- Dashboards with key performance indicators (KPIs): You may tailor your sales dashboards to show just the information you care about, such as total sales and lead sources.
- Notifications: You may set up your CRM system to give you automated notifications when anything happens, such as a new task or a new contract.
- Set the system to automatically send an invoice to a client once they make a purchase.
- Lead Distribution: You may use the CRM system’s rules to allocate leads to sales reps based on a variety of parameters, such as region, industry, or product type.
- Funnel stage transition: You may automate the transition from one stage to the next if your sales pipeline contains numerous stages. This may be accomplished by establishing a change trigger, such as an email confirming a sales call or an appointment confirmation.
- Data synchronization is particularly beneficial for companies that employ numerous software systems. When a new lead enters your marketing automation system, for example, you may set up your CRM to generate a contact record automatically.
- Task assignment: When representatives complete an activity, the system may automatically provide them with a list of tasks. Sending follow-up messages following a sales call, reaching out to a contact on a certain date, or telling the manager of a high-value opportunity are all examples of this.
CRM Automation’s Top Advantages
In sales and customer service operations, CRM automation streamlines or eliminates time-consuming manual procedures. This allows your salespeople to concentrate their emphasis on more vital duties by freeing up time. The following are the main advantages of CRM automation:
Increased Sales & Productivity
Your sales agents will have more time to interact with prospects and complete more transactions if you automate manual chores like data input, data updates, and emails. Because CRM software can automatically allocate leads to the most qualified salespeople, lead distribution takes less time. As the follow-up process improves, you’ll be able to collect and qualify more leads.
Better Sales & Marketing Collaboration
One of the most important features of CRM automation is integration, which allows for smooth communication between your CRM system and other third-party applications. It also allows several teams to communicate on transactions and opportunities using the same dashboard. As a consequence, when another team member is absent, it’s simpler for one rep to take over a transaction or duty. Everyone gets access to the same consumer data and interaction records.
For instance, a customer saw one of your social media marketing ads and chose to contact you to learn more about your product and make a purchase. The sales staff may simply track which campaign brought the prospect to your organization by using a CRM. They may also access the consolidated customer database to see the history of their communications with the marketing and service teams.
Decisions based on data
Reporting, analytics, and sales forecasting driven by artificial intelligence (AI) provide you with a clear picture of your leads, deals, prospects, activities, and performance. These tools assist salespeople and executives in making informed decisions based on real-time data. Customer interaction tactics, agent promotion, sales campaigns, and company development are all crucial factors.
Customer satisfaction is higher.
Automated tracking of client contacts and the use of chatbots may help you quickly detect and resolve customer complaints. All of this adds up to a better client experience and pleasure. Customers become more loyal to your brand when they are pleased with the level of service they get.
Conclusion
By automating sales and customer support operations, firms may save time, complete more transactions, and boost customer engagement. Task assignments, alerts, reports, and pipeline stage transitions are just a few of the things you can automate. Increased productivity, enhanced conversion rates, smarter decision-making, and a higher customer satisfaction rate are all benefits of automation.
