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Get ahead of the pack with the right CRM


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Ask anyone who’s trying to grow their business without missing a beat, and they’ll tell you that the most important relationship they have is the one with each customer. Each customer is special, with their own preferences, purchase history, and payment structure. Of course, you want them to feel special regardless of their purchase size or frequency, that their business matters. And you’ve gone to great lengths to nurture and cultivate those relationships. From remembering birthdays, offering special pricing and discounts, to special payment terms and a good ole hand shake, you’ve really taken care of them. Bravo!

But as your business and customer list both grew at a rate beyond even your most positive projections, the ability to maintain, slowly gave way to chaos and redundancy. That master spreadsheet you've been using as your business rolodex to hold all your customer information, is no longer manageable, if you're even managing it at all. And what about your marketing, sales and service engagements?

The truth is, it takes more than just delighting customers if you want to stay ahead of your competition. And while maintaining your valuable customer information may not be the highest priority for every business, one thing’s certain: if you don’t, then you’ll certainly fall behind.

It takes a CRM

You don't need a bunch of customer service reps, or data entry specialists. And you definitely don't need those spreadsheets! It takes none other than a solid CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system to efficiently and effectively manage every aspect of your customer relationship.

Back in the day, you probably saw a CRM system and thought “It’s fancy, and we really don’t need it, yet”. The verdict then: not a viable option. Fast forward to now and a solid CRM system is even more important than before, but the right CRM is a combination of powerful, robust, flexible and cost effective. What this means: a solid CRM is a powerful tool that can help your growing business effectively manage events, deals, price breaks, special rates and payment history, and all customer financial data without draining your wallet. Net Result: Separation from the pack. While your competitors are still wading through spreadsheets, trying to catch up with their customers, you’re proactively notifying your customer base, providing them with special reminders on everything from deals, price breaks, payment terms and ordering history.

Gravity Software in The Record

A clear view

How do you cultivate strong, meaningful relationships with every customer? Make each customer feel special and significant by actually learning about each one. No last-minute briefings by your staff before a call or meeting. Instead, get to really know each customer by monitoring your interactions. A properly implemented CRM system like Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM (aka Microsoft CRM) allows businesses to be more intelligent. Here are 9 good reasons why growing SMBs should use a CRM like Dynamics 365 CRM:

  1. See the full sales history, recurring purchases, and special orders on one easily accessible page, with a few clicks.

  2. Link social media accounts and connect to customer profiles for easy online connections. A great CRM will integrate the varying aspects of your business, instead of just acting like another semi-useful tool.

  3. Customize fields, organize donor-related documents to stay on top of every interaction. After all, it’s your database. Set it up, your way.

  4. Assign customer types depending on your relationship (individuals, households, etc.). Like we’ve always stated, every customer is different.

  5. Effectively Monitor and Coordinate Email subscriptions: Ensure that you’ve explored every means of correspondence and communication with your customers.

  6. Track and Analyze Purchases: Dates, frequency, amounts, deals, special pricing and price breaks.

  7. Effectively and Properly Address Client cases: Address specific concerns in a timely manner.

  8. Cultivate and Improve Potential Future Business Relationships: Know where your business stands at every step of the lead cultivation process.

  9. Streamline Marketing Campaigns: Know who you’ve reached out to at every step of each campaign.

360 Destination Group eliminates redundancies with Gravity Software

What About Financials?

If you want to take your business a step or two further and really separate from the rest of the pack, consider having your Financials and CRM fully integrated on one platform with only one database to manage. Do your Due Diligence and take a look at Gravity Software® (Gravity). Gravity is a robust cloud-based accounting solution written on the Microsoft Power Platform (aka Dynamics 365). Financials and CRM are fully integrated and in the cloud. By implementing Gravity’s business financials and Dynamics 365 CRM system, your business will reduce costs while increasing operational efficiencies across the board.  Learn more and schedule your online demo today! My business is connected. Is yours?

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