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The demands of the digital era have put CRM at the top of every executive’s mind. Now more than ever small businesses need a CRM to work properly and allow them to grow. These 12 features make it easy for any business with less than 100 employees
The “crm features list pdf” is a document that lists the top 12 CRM features and functionality small businesses need. The document also includes links to more information.
CRM software provides a number of tools to assist organizations in bettering their connections and interactions with prospects and customers. To make the most of your CRM software investment, we’ve highlighted the 12 most important features and functionality small companies should look for when purchasing CRM software. These are the following:
- Contact management is a tool for keeping track of, recording, and managing information about your business connections.
- Account management: Aids in the automation of complicated sales processes and the tracking of contact interactions.
- Routine summary reports of sales data or sales representative performance are provided through reporting and dashboards.
- Sales automation saves time by automating repetitive processes and components of the sales process, such as data management, outgoing calls, and follow-up marketing.
- Customer database: This database organizes and maintains your company’s interactions with customers.
- Lead management: Assists sales teams in organizing and prioritizing leads so that the proper contacts and clients are pursued.
- Email marketing: Allows you to engage with prospects and consumers through individual or bulk emails, as well as monitor the outcomes of your campaigns.
- Sales forecasting: Predicts future sales or revenue based on historical and current data and trends.
- Document management: Gathers, uploads, saves, and distributes files and documents in a centralized area that is accessible to all relevant team members.
- Cross-platform compatibility: Your CRM may be used on a variety of platforms, including desktop and mobile.
- Customizations: Allows you to define custom fields for reporting or pipeline stages customized to your company.
- Integrations: Allows you to sync your data with third-party applications and tools to expand your CRM’s possibilities.
With samples from some of the top CRM software for small companies, here’s a deeper look at how these functions assist your business:
Management of Contacts
The contacts tab in Zoho CRM is where you can manage your contacts (Source: Zoho CRM)
One of the most important functions of CRM software is contact management, which allows you to generate, save, monitor, and organize information about your prospects, leads, and customers. Names, addresses, phone numbers, social media profiles, and corporate information are all included. While a basic spreadsheet may be used to record the data, a CRM system allows numerous users or departments to access it at any time.
The contact management tool is particularly important for sales reps who require a quick review of their lead before beginning a conversation. To customize their encounters, they may simply bring up the contact entry from the CRM and make a note of the key facts. This helps to enhance the entire customer experience by making the consumer feel appreciated.
Contact management tools in Zoho CRM include:
- You can contact with prospects and customers through email, live chat, and phone via multichannel engagement.
- Customer tickets and pertinent sales data are synced using two-way help desk software integration, allowing your support staff to give constant customer care.
- Email analytics can tell you what the optimum time is to send emails, how many people read them, and which templates get the most replies.
- You may make outgoing calls right from your CRM using the one-click native dialer.
- Logs of meetings
- The Social tab allows you to manage client involvement on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter.
Check out our guide to the finest contact management software for additional information on contact management features and services.
2. Account Administration
The opportunity management tab in Salesforce Essentials (Source: Salesforce Essentials)
Account management is a post-sales process that focuses on maintaining customer connections, keeping business, and pursuing new prospects. You may manage many contacts and establish accounts and territories by including account management tools into a CRM. It also aids in the estimation of each company account’s prospective worth.
After a transaction is completed, the account management function is critical for continuing the sales process. It allows you to log conversations and monitor various indicators to assess an account’s health and decide whether your consumer is pleased with your product or service. Then you utilize that knowledge to meet their wants and look for a way to upsell or upgrade them.
Account management features in Salesforce Essentials include:
- From a single location, you can get a complete picture of your customers’ actions and conversations.
- You may use the opportunity management function to keep track of all the information of your transactions, such as stages, quotations, and goods.
- Keep track of tasks and customer interactions.
To find out which solution is ideal for your company, read our guide to the best account management software.
3. Reporting & Dashboards
Freshsales’ sales dashboard (Source: Freshsales)
Users may utilize CRM reports and dashboards to get the data and analytics they need to improve customer interactions. A summary of sales operations, new leads, sales pipelines, and key performance metrics are usually included (KPIs). Visualization tools such as charts and graphs are used to convey the data.
CRM reporting solutions enable you to make better informed business choices based on up-to-date data. This information aids in the detection of business trends as well as the identification of your company’s strengths and limitations. Furthermore, you may utilize accumulated data to monitor your marketing initiatives and understand where your clients are most engaged. You’ll be able to choose when to provide promotions or solutions depending on where they are in their customer journey this manner.
4. Automated Sales
Workflow automation is a feature of Pipedrive (Source: Pipedrive)
To complete transactions quicker, sales automation removes manual and repetitive phases in the sales process. Some processes, including as appointment scheduling, sending tailored emails, workflows, pipeline management, and follow-up actions, may be automated. By automating the sales process, you may boost your team’s efficiency, guarantee that no obligation is overlooked, and enhance client satisfaction by cutting response times.
When a transaction progresses to the next stage, the CRM’s sales automation tool creates follow-up activities and transfers responsibility of the stage to another team member. It also develops sales offers for you every time you add a new contact. If you want to meet with a prospect, for example, you can simply email them a link to your calendar and let them select the most suitable time period for them.
The following are some of Pipedrive’s sales automation features:
- A sales assistant driven by artificial intelligence (AI) provides you with individualized advice and automation ideas.
- Streamline the sales process by automating monotonous operations.
- To save time and concentrate on high-priority activities, automate customized email delivery throughout particular pipeline phases.
- With the Smart Contact Data function, you can prequalify leads in a matter of seconds.
Our list of the finest sales automation software gives you a breakdown of the most useful tools for improving your sales process.
5. Database of Customers
In HubSpot, there is a customer record (Source: HubSpot)
A customer database aids organizations in organizing and managing relevant consumer data and interactions. It gives you access to all of your sales and marketing data in one location. Data search, storage, import, and export are all made easier with this CRM function. Personal information about your customers, lead sources, points of interaction with customers, purchase history, and degrees of engagement are all stored in this database.
You can utilize the data to figure out what your customers want, who your best customers are, and how well you’re selling. Your CRM system generates reports based on all of the acquired data, which is subsequently saved in the customer database.
The client database in HubSpot has the following features:
- Up to 1,000,000 contact and corporate records may be created.
- Directly from the contacts tab, send emails, conduct outbound calls, track sales actions, book appointments, and create deals.
- Outgoing emails from Gmail and Outlook are immediately logged in the contact record.
A list of the top customer database software has been prepared. Find out which option is ideal for your company by reading this article.
6. Management of Leads
The lead management tab in Zoho CRM (Source: Zoho CRM)
The systematic process of gathering leads (possible customers), monitoring their actions and behavior, qualifying them, and nurturing them with the appropriate amount of attention in order to turn them into business possibilities is known as lead management.
The lead management component of a CRM system assists firms in organizing and prioritizing their leads in order to avoid missed follow-ups and boost engagement.
The automated capturing of lead data in your CRM system is the first step in the lead management process. The program then keeps track of the lead’s actions and behavior, such as the web sites they view and the discussions you have with them. The leads are then assigned to appropriate salespeople or departments based on their geography, interests, and other criteria you choose.
When your organization makes contact with a lead, the lead qualifying and scoring process begins. Leads are examined at this point to see which ones are worth following up on. Those that express an interest in your product or service will be moved to the lead nurturing cycle, where they will get multichannel interaction through email, SMS messaging, or social media. They are sent on to the sales management team once they are ready to sell.
Learn which solution can best help you improve the use of the lead data you acquire by reading our guide to the best lead management software.
Email marketing is number seven.
Email campaign customizer for HubSpot CRM (Source: HubSpot CRM)
You may send individual or bulk emails to your leads and customers from inside your CRM system if it has email marketing capabilities. Email templates, email automation, and email campaign monitoring are also available. Customer data obtained by your CRM and their location in the sales funnel are used to tailor the emails sent out. This improves client engagement and leads to increased earnings.
Standalone email marketing software, such as Mailchimp, is available, but it can also be combined with CRM software to get the most out of client data. Other systems are synced with the CRM app’s lead and customer information. Then, for planned calls or follow-up emails, it sends automatic notifications.
Check out our guide to the best CRM software for email marketing to see which system has the greatest mass emailing options for your company.
8. Sales Predictions
Forecasting sales in Freshsales (Source: Freshsales)
On a weekly, monthly, quarterly, or yearly basis, a sales forecast estimates when sales opportunities will be closed. It also enables firms to identify and minimize possible risks based on a continuing trend. Most contemporary CRM firms use artificial intelligence (AI) to sift through enormous volumes of data and make suggestions and predictions based on the information provided.
Freddy Insights, a Freshsales AI-powered assistant, analyzes patterns in customer behavior and sales trends. It also creates income estimates based on data and makes recommendations for how to effectively engage with your prospects and customers. Forecasts encourage your staff to work harder if they seem to be falling behind on their estimates. If there is a rising trend in opportunities, it may also be used as a foundation for recruiting extra workers.
Freshsales is a great place to start.
Document Management (nine)
Smart Docs is a Pipedrive tool that allows you to organize, monitor, and share your papers. (Image courtesy of Pipedrive)
Document management in CRM software allows you to record, store, monitor, and distribute electronic documents. Proposals, contracts, and digital images of your company data are examples. This functionality also enables relevant team members or departments to view documents from a central area without having to leave the CRM app.
You no longer need to manually scan papers and distribute them with other team members if your CRM has a built-in document management capability. You may also control who gets access to certain files and who has the authority to change them. Because client data can be quickly pulled from your CRM, this functionality allows for shorter response times and increased staff productivity.
Cross-platform compatibility is number ten.
Zoho CRM is a mobile CRM application (Source: Zoho CRM)
Because most organizations utilize a variety of operating systems, cross-platform interoperability is critical. As a result, while searching for CRM software, cloud-based programs that support many operating systems, such as Windows, Linux, and macOS, are the ideal option. The availability of iOS and Android applications is also critical, particularly for sales teams with a large number of remote and field employees that want access to their CRM through mobile devices.
For firms that only utilize Apple devices, a CRM system like Daylite is strongly suggested. This program works with Apple’s Mail, Calendar, and Reminders and runs natively on macOS and iOS.
Pay a visit to Daylite.
11. Personalizations
Contact management that may be customized (Source: Bitrix24)
Each CRM has its own set of customization possibilities. Your sales cycle, lead score factors, opportunities, and the sorts of contact information you preserve are the most critical. Most CRM software enables you to add new features or change current ones to better suit your company’s requirements. Sales and marketing tools or modules that you may switch on and off based on your individual company requirements are also included in customization.
If you provide marketing services or resell third-party solutions to other businesses, check out our white-label CRM software guide to discover which providers have the best deal for you. This form of CRM is very configurable and can be tailored to your clients’ requirements.
Consultants, businesses, and digital agencies searching for a low-cost white-label CRM system to integrate into their own products would love Bitrix24. It has a partner program where you can earn 50% profit commission on subscriptions and 100% profit commission on value-added services.
Open source CRM software is a wonderful alternative for those searching for free or low-cost CRM solutions that are also highly configurable.
Integrations (12.)
CRM QuickBooks integration method (Source: Method:CRM)
The smooth link between your CRM program and third-party software is known as CRM integration. These connections enable you to expand the capabilities of your CRM software and fill in any holes in its functionality. When you connect your CRM to Trello, for example, any changes you make in one program will be instantly updated in the other. Some CRM systems enable you to connect dozens of applications, while others impose a restriction on how many you may connect.
Conclusion
There are many various kinds of CRM software on the market, each with its own set of features and capability. When selecting CRM software for your organization, it’s critical to weigh its features against your budget and business requirements.
Freshsales is the ideal solution for small companies searching for a CRM with comprehensive features and reasonable rates. Every business size may benefit from its sales, marketing, and customer service programs. You may also join up for a free 21-day trial to see how the software’s capabilities might help your company.
Freshsales is a great place to start.
The “crm features and benefits” is a list of the top 12 CRM features and functionality small businesses need. It includes all the important functions that are needed for any business to be successful.
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