Customer Relation Management (CRM) System Funnel

A CRM system is system used for managing a company’s interactions with current and future customers. It often involves using technology to organise, automate, and synchronise sales, marketing, customer service, and technical support. There are many software based systems available depending on what you require, and many systems are free or at least have a free version. I use Insightly, which has a free version. It keeps a record of all my prospects, contact details and any associated tasks. There is also an excellent feature, which allows you to produce reports, and in which will record exactly the records we discussed before.

Funnel

Another feature of a good CRM such as Insightly is that it will allow you to visualise and track your Sales Funnel. If you can imagine a funnel shape, you place your suspects in the top of the funnel and as they proceed through the sales process, from Telephone Call through to Sale Closed. At each stage, you will have fewer prospects you are actively working on. For example, you may have 1,000 suspects, 100 you are actually on contact with, 10 you have under discussion and 3 you are pushing for a close. The more you put in the top, the more you get out the bottom. In addition, the more adept at selling you become, the more sales you will make.

Data

Aside from the sales stage, your system should allow you to keep all the necessary details of you prospect:
name
address
phone
email
contact details
Your system should also allow you to keep detailed notes about each contact you have with the prospect. This is your market intelligence and is not only good practice but could also make the difference in you winning business or not.

Reminders

Another great feature of Insightly and other good CRMs is the feature, which allows you to assign tasks to a customer, with reminders. In this way, you can put your prospects on, for instance, a three monthly call. This means that you will call them every three months until they buy from you. You will then start to build up a relationship with that prospect, so that when they are ready for your product or service, you will be front of mind.