Market Pulse: Which Are the CRM Features Every CRM Should Have?
CRM tools are more than just a contact book. They are the cornerstone of modern business operations and can do so much more than a digitalized Rolodex for your prospects and customers. When properly equipped, a CRM can also help you boost sales, increase Customer Experience (CX) levels, nurture leads, and more.
We recently conducted a poll on LinkedIn asking our network which are the most important CRM features every CRM should have. Here’s what we found out:
Forecasting
Incorporated forecasting features are essential to every CRM. Instead of using third-party forecasting tools or manually managing spreadsheets and reports, forecasting features help you deploy out-of-the-box key metrics and commonly used KPIs. For instance, Sugar Sell’s Enhanced Forecasting feature lets you analyze forecasting and revenue data such as win rates, sales velocity, pipeline health, and more. By leveraging helpful pre-built dashlets, you can save time and resources and make decisions that accelerate your business.
Forecasting features also offer a historical view of your metrics, helping you understand past and current performances. With the right tool, you can use forecasting to accurately predict future trends based on historical and third-party data and information. Use time-bound data to both enable more informed decisions and gain valuable insights to make data-driven decisions that move your business forward.
Forecasting features also enable you to be proactive in your sales endeavors. You can use these tools to track performance metrics in real-time, so you have all the necessary insights when you need to act quickly to close a deal, for example. Or, when the situation demands, you can quickly identify the root of any potential problems and business challenges, so you can act promptly and confidently.
Sales Automation
With the right sales automation features and tools within a CRM, you can accelerate your sales cycle and increase your win rates. Sugar Sell’s out-of-the-box sales automation features help you automate and accelerate your sales without spending time and resources on manually tackling some of the most critical sales processes. Our platform automatically captures data and presents it in context to everyone who needs it. Sales reps can focus on the most promising prospects and customers, so they can spend more time selling. Intelligent guides and playbooks help accelerate sales cycles and time to close while improving conversion rates.
Sugar Sell’s proactive alerts, root cause analysis, and KPI monitoring features help you make more data-driven decisions with analytics that show you what works, what doesn’t, and how to replicate your wins. With sales automation features embedded in your CRM, you can get a more accurate picture of your customers thanks to its data enrichment features. Sugar Sell compiles internal information with crucial information pulled from external data sources for a complete and complex view of your customers, needs, and preferences. Here are some areas all CRMs should be able to automate:
- Lead, Opportunity, Account, Activity, and Contact Management
- Pipeline Management
- Intelligent Lead Prioritization
- Advanced Forecasting and Pipeline Insights
- Business Process Management
- Subscription Management
- Guided Selling
- Account Management
For many businesses, account management is the key to running a successful business. The purpose of this process is to properly define a solid relationship between your business and customers, nurturing relationships, and building customer loyalty. Account management features are essential within your CRM for multiple reasons:
Streamlined business processes – Organizations that provide products or services can improve their efficiency and save their customers money by implementing streamlined business processes. These processes may be tailored to meet the specific needs of individual clients, resulting in the best possible outcomes.
Quick and personal support – Ensure that you grant every customer direct access to a Key Account Manager (KAM) instead of having them navigate through a call center. This approach fosters the development of a close and personal relationship between you and your customers, resulting in a more seamless and rewarding experience, building customer loyalty.
Insights into customer needs – Account management features also offer your business more insights into customer needs. Such features give everyone in the organization complete context for each customer interaction and insight into what next steps are more appropriate for each account in your portfolio.
What do you think of these features? Are these the only ones a CRM needs to help businesses level up their sales? If you’re curious as to what other key features, functionalities, and benefits you should be getting out of a well-rounded CRM, check out our interactive guide, SugarCRM Platform Suite Overview.
Or are you interested in learning which other features Sugar deploys for sales, marketing, and customer support automation? Get in touch with our team!
