12 Reasons Why Small Businesses Need a CRM

Abe Dearmer

Mar 01, 2022

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9 min read

CRM

No matter how small your company is, chances are you'd benefit from CRM software. Here, we investigate 12 ways that CRMs can help small businesses thrive.

This article explores 12 reasons why small businesses can benefit from using CRM (Customer Relationship Management) software. It explains how CRM tools help handle contact details, improve organization, streamline communication, enhance customer service, facilitate team collaboration, provide data for reporting and analysis, track staff productivity, identify trends and opportunities, offer remote access, save time and resources, and optimize sales and marketing strategies.

Key Takeaways:

CRM software effectively manages contact details and communication history, providing a scalable solution for small businesses.
CRM tools help small business owners stay organized, portray professionalism, and save time by centralizing client data and automating sales and marketing tasks.
CRM systems improve customer service, enhance communication efficiency, facilitate team collaboration, enable data-driven decision-making, and track staff productivity.
CRM software allows businesses to track trends, analyze customer issues, identify growth opportunities, and ensure data availability through cloud storage.
Adopting a customizable CRM solution eliminates the need to develop and maintain separate systems, freeing up resources for client-focused work.
CRM tools assist in categorizing prospects, optimizing sales funnels, and tailoring marketing efforts to maximize positive responses.

CRM tools can be invaluable to any company, regardless of its size. There seems to be a certain misconception amongst micro business owners and solopreneurs that they're too small for professional SaaS (software as a service) platforms, CRMs included.

However, if you have a number of clients and prospects that you need to keep tabs on, a CRM is well worth considering.

Just because you're a small business doesn't mean you necessarily deal with small amounts of data. And when you keep client data in an orderly fashion, you're more able to focus on what you do best, rather than playing catch up with new client details and prospect developments.

Let's take a look at 12 reasons why we feel that all micro businesses should use CRM software:

Why do Small Businesses Need a CRM?

CRM tools help you handle large amounts of contact details and communication history data effectively and efficiently. There's nothing worse than a spreadsheet or paper system getting out of hand, and many CRM solutions are flexible and scalable enough to provide as much or as little functionality as possible.
If you're a solopreneur, most business functions are purely down to you - and you can't remember everything! CRMs can help you store contact data and schedule sales and marketing tasks, reminding your future self to take certain actions. This all helps to portray you as an organized and composed professional, giving your clients and prospects confidence in your abilities.
Sole traders and micro businesses need all of the productive time they can get. They need to spend time making money rather than scrambling around for someone's order or enquiry when they call. If you're guilty of making a mad dash for scrappy notes in this situation, a CRM sounds right up your street. Contact details, communication records, queries and order histories are all kept in one easily available place.
If you or your team rely on outdated paper systems or keep callers on hold while trying to find the right hard copy file, that doesn't provide the best picture of an efficient, modern service. When everything is held in a central computerized location - as with a CRM - all client information is available with a simple search, providing a much slicker and customer-focused impression over the phone.
In a similar vein, when all communication history is easily available at the drop of a hat, clients who have an ongoing customer service issue don't have to tell their story each time. This minimizes customer annoyance - and anything you can do to placate an unsatisfied customer and make their experience as hassle-free as possible is worth pursuing.
If you run a small team who all talk to customers and new prospects, a CRM is a perfect solution to keep everyone on the same page, regardless of how small that team may be. When all customer-facing staff log their client interactions in a central database, there's minimal chasing around after one person who has the latest info on a certain case. CRMs also help to reduce client/case handover when someone goes on holiday or leaves the team.
Every business owner worth their salt wants to know at a glance how things are going, and to make informed decisions with accurate data. When all sales and customer relationship matters are handled through a single CRM platform, it allows for thorough reporting, analysis and forecasting - which may be troublesome for those who have to draw that information from multiple different sources. It also makes sense for management to be aware of the quantity of customer issues coming in and how quickly they get resolved.
CRMs can also be used to track the productivity of staff in customer-facing roles. Monitoring the actions and turnaround times of different team members can be tricky at the best of times, but because CRMs record all staff-client interactions, it allows you to analyze how efficiently each team member is interacting with clients. If certain problems are cropping up again and again, or if certain team members or methods seem to resolve problems fastest, this information can be invaluable to management.
Being able to track trends in enquiries and complaints is also something that CRM software does well. If customer service issues are on the increase, management can easily get an idea of what's going on. Are the problems stemming from a specific reason? How are staff usually resolving certain issues? Can any recurring issues easily be nipped in the bud for future clients? In-depth analysis and a top-down approach can often point out ways to advance and improve, and also identify opportunities to scale and grow the business.
Many CRM systems nowadays operate with cloud storage, so if your team all work remotely or often travel to meetings, everyone can access and update CRM data wherever they are. This is also beneficial from a data backup perspective; if a PC breaks or becomes infected with a virus, the data will still be available to other users.
Creating your own systems for storing client and prospect data might seem like a good idea in terms of cost and flexibility, but developing these things takes time and resources away from important client-based work. Why reinvent the wheel when you can get a thoroughly customizable CRM solution off the shelf? It's likely that all of the functionalities you require are still available, and you'll most likely get the added bonus of technical support both from the provider and from fellow users online.
If you're familiar with the concept of sales funnels and pipelines, CRM tools can help you identify how close certain prospects are to a sale, and spot what encourages prospects to buy. Once you have categorized your prospects on a scale of closeness to a purchase, you can easily market to each group differently to maximize the chances of a positive response. For more about sales funnels, check out our previous article here.

Embrace CRM for Small Business Success

CRM software is not exclusive to large enterprises; it is a valuable asset for small businesses as well. By leveraging CRM tools, small businesses can effectively manage their contacts, streamline communication, enhance customer service, optimize team collaboration, and make data-driven decisions. CRM systems provide the necessary infrastructure to foster growth, improve efficiency, and drive customer loyalty. Embrace the power of CRM to unlock the full potential of your small business and propel it toward success.

FAQs: Reasons Small Businesses Need A CRM

Q: Why do small businesses need CRM software?
A: Small businesses can benefit from CRM software in various ways. It helps them effectively manage contact details and communication history, saving time and improving organization. CRM tools also enhance customer service, facilitate team collaboration, provide data for informed decision-making, track staff productivity, and optimize sales and marketing strategies.

Q: Can't small businesses handle client data with spreadsheets or paper systems?
A: While spreadsheets or paper systems may work initially, they can quickly become unmanageable as a business grows. CRM software offers flexible and scalable solutions specifically designed to handle large amounts of contact details and communication history data efficiently. It provides a centralized and easily accessible location for client information.

Q: How does CRM software improve customer service for small businesses?
A: CRM software ensures that customer information is readily available, allowing businesses to respond promptly to inquiries and provide personalized assistance. It minimizes customer annoyance by maintaining a comprehensive communication history, reducing the need for customers to repeat their stories. With CRM, small businesses can deliver amazing customer support, which enhances customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Q: Can CRM software benefit small businesses with remote teams?
A: Yes, many CRM systems offer cloud storage, allowing remote teams to access and update CRM data from anywhere. This ensures that everyone has real-time access to client information and enables seamless collaboration, even when team members are working remotely or traveling for meetings. Cloud storage also serves as a data backup in case of computer issues or viruses.

Q: Is it worth investing in CRM software for a small business?
A: Absolutely. While small businesses may have limited resources, CRM software provides a cost-effective solution for managing client relationships, optimizing sales, and improving business efficiency. Instead of developing and maintaining separate systems, utilizing a customizable CRM solution off the shelf saves time and resources while offering technical support and functionality required for small business success.

Michael King says...

"I can’t think of a time where a client has requested something that we weren’t able to do with FiveCRM. Unlike most systems, it has a lot of flexibility."

Managing Director, Senior Response

JAINE HUSBANDS SAYS...

“Each client, and each of their campaigns, has its own unique specifications. We essentially needed to set up mini CRMs on one platform to meet those requirements.”