CRM / Customer Relationship Management 101 to Grow A Business

Customer Relationship Management CRM Systems For Business Growth 101

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is a business strategy that integrates 3 essential components; people (internal and external), processes and technologies. One CRM application includes managing a business' interaction with its current and potential customers. CRM is heavily driven by customer data. It collects and analyzes data (of all a customer's current and past interactions with the company) with the common specific aim of improving its relationship with that customer and, in turn, customer retention and sales growth. (This can be customized according to your business' unique value proposition).

A CRM system (like Zoho and HubSpot) is used in sales (and marketing) project management for tracking all interactions in one place. When kept in the cloud (ie on the internet), the CRM allows multiple virtual team members greater connectivity through real time access anywhere globally.

Uses & Benefits of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Systems

• It allows a business to integrate multiple functional teams (sales, invoicing, etc), ie to have a '360 degree perspective' on the customer's experience (CX). This is so because all workers use one centralized space to log every contact with any single customer, from emails, scheduled meetings, phone to even offline activities. Specifically, each team and its members will have full access to the history of any single customer and know precisely where the business left off with a single customer, even if through another team. Ultimately, this allows you to provide a seamless and customized customer experience (CX). Since CRM also allows you to spot and merge multiple records created by different team members for a single contact, it essentially combines all of the bits of information from different locations to create a single, more complete record. In short, CRM can significantly improve your business' efficiency and customer experience (CX). Consider for instance how a sales representative can consult notes of all prior interactions before calling or responding to a customer. Perhaps that sales representative can avert a potentially bad sales day with a customer who has complained to another department over a product or issue that (s)he wanted to offer. Perhaps the customer is frustrated and on the point of attrition. With knowledge about a customer's history, the sales representative can make an appropriate and well informed decision on how to proceed with the particular customer.
• CRM tools can integrate different applications and even social media that you already use, the most common of which include Gmail, MailChimp, Facebook, etc. Consequently, it allows you to enhance your business' CRM-driven efficiency with added functionality (of each individual system). Regarding the social media integration, this also allows you to know every time your business is mentioned on social media. This therefore allows your business to respond very quickly to market sentiments.
• CRM allows you to monitor how correspondence ages and, in turn, recognize the health of your relationship with a customer in a timely manner. For instance, if a customer stops sharing information and responding as readily as before and slower than normal, you may need to work on maintaining the relationship. In fact, CRM task functions can be set to send reminders that ensure you are reminded of important tasks. For instance, you can create reminders for 'tasks' that send you email reminders when contracts are up for renewal and so on. It can essentially prevent aging of contact points.
• CRM can integrate pre-existing databases. For instance, you can import contact lists using a CSV file. See how to do this using HubSpot.

• 

  NB. HubSpot already has a list of preset field names (like first name, country, etc). In order to ensure HubSpot accepts your csv file with fields that are special to your field, edit the list of fields, called 'properties' in HubSpot before attempting to import your csv file.

• CRM is ideal for ensuring the continuity of a company after sales representatives are absent through vacation, retirement, termination, end of project and so on. This is possible because the data is managed in an already familiar (standardized) and accessible manner in a single place.
• Since CRM allows you to standardize and centralize all of your customer data, it is much easier to observe, make accurate management reports of, track and consequently respond strategically to market trends (like groups that respond better to certain marketing efforts, untapped geographic-related markets of hot lead, cash flow from weighted averages of the percentages on the sales pipeline, aging quotes, sales person activity to ensure salesforce is spending time in worthwhile places, etc). In turn, it also provides a better opportunity to grow your business than otherwise. For instance, CRM even allows you to monitor geographic market trends that you examine for opportunities.
• CRM offers tools that organize and track a business' sales process. For instance, you can spot the bottleneck points, ie where leads get stuck in the sales pipeline. In short, it can help businesses to identify and resolve operational issues.
• CRM allows you to automate your business intelligently. For instance, if someone visits your website and completes a contact form after business hours, your integrated CRM can send you an automatic email notification of this fact. Although this is already a common feature in contact form applications, if your market segmentation involves geographic location, the CRM goes further by establishing the lead's location as a means of determining who in your team must deal with the email and even incorporating an autoresponse email that assures the lead that someone will respond shortly. In other cases, based on the lead's contact form entries, you may even set up your CRM to quickly qualify your 'hot leads' and direct the notification as urgent to the correct person.

CONTENT RELATED TO CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT

• CRM is the sine qua non that helps you to create a superior customer experience (CX)
• Encourage leads to easily book meetings using a HubSpot CRM schedulig tool. Preliminary meetings are an effective way of qualifying leads.
• Integrate incoming and outgoing emails to a HubSpot CRM, even without access to the HubSpot CRM account.
• Trouble tickets
• CRM is a key aspect of successful virtual team working
• What is your brand personality? Customers notice, trust, like and commit to a brand personality they see as compatible and with which they can have a relationship. Every touchpoint of your CRM must integrate your brand's personality in a consistent way.
• A CRM system needs one good coordinator.

Create a Target Customer Profile / TCP or Ideal Customer Avatar

A target customer profile or TCP, aka a customer avatar, buyer persona, ideal customer profile or marketing persona is a composite semi-fictional (named and visually portrayed) persona that represents your most valuable customer. (Needless to say, this customer feels the same about you.) These avatars are developed as fully as possible, even down to their 'buyer personality', ie as their personality relates specifically to the communication and selling methodology that is most likely to convert them. In fact, businesses typically have multiple avatars to personalize their approach for segments.

Benefits of a Target Customer Profile (TCP) / Avatar

• The greater level of personalization improves customer experience. Knowing your customers intimately can help you to improve product development, the unique value proposition, operations management, onboarding new customers, even the strategy behind interviewing, selecting and onboarding new employees that will work with each avatar. 
• Sales representatives can qualify leads based on the TCP attributes. Even advertisements portraying the problem statement and other TCP attributes help leads to qualify or disqualify themselves. (See more about the sales pipeline and buying process)
• Improves business efficiency: Sales personnel can easily qualify leads; Avatars saves sales representatives from having to handle burdensome data to understand qualified / avatar-assigned customers they deal with and sales personnel can convert customers faster. 

Steps to Create a Customer Avatar

Here are steps to take to create the ideal customer profile for your business. 

• Establish the key segmentation attributes if your products and or customers can vary in some significant way. CRM data mining is useful in this regard. Sometimes, this relates to variations of a problem for which your products offer a solution. For a skin care line of products, the primary attribute may relate to skin type like oily skin for one avatar and dry skin for another. This varies by product and industry. If you sell only one product and still need multiple avatars, that might be based on noticing a significant difference in something about the customer's circumstances that motivates them to act in a certain predictable way. Socio-economics and level of experience or even understanding of their needs may motivate customers to proceed through the buying process differently than otherwise. While people that are fully aware of their urgent needs can be lower hanging fruit, I no longer think they must be the TCP. If you are up to it, some customers who can not get other companies to meet them at their stages can create a new TCP opportunity for you. If you deal with different customer types, create unique avatars for each. B2B and B2C customer avatars are usually quite different. B2B customers often have a more assertive type of buyer personality type than average consumers.

• • Case studies
  • This social media manager created 3 named B2B TCPs. After several years in her business, she noticed reliable patterns and was able to segment her clients accordingly based on 3 attribute continua. Her attributes are 1. their business development stage (new entrepreneurial vs seasoned), 2. budget and 3. where they can be found (platforms). TCP Sabrina is the entrepreneur that wants the cheapest package and lacks knowledge of social media. She is usually in Facebook groups and tells group members that she is seeking help with social media services. She is good because, while small and low budget, she really needs help and will hold this manager close. Sabrina is especially great for new social media managers. TCP Mia is very seasoned, already really developing her business and knows exactly what she needs from a social media manager. She is expecting a well prepared contract, full professional onboarding process and so on. She specifies her need for specialized service. She is more able to pay higher than Sabrina. She usually gets referred by associates. TCP Jason & his team are medium to large and needs a very skilled social media manager with some specialized skill like strategy. They are expecting you to have a team. The team members are on LinkedIn.        

• Get motivation from in-house and other case studies of ideal customers. 

• For each persona, fill your knowledge gaps and or confirm your profile with customer surveys on the following.
• the problem (for which you have the solution)
• key segmentation differentiating attributes.
• customer goals (ie the transformation that your customer wants, literal and non-literal). For a more structured approach, consider their needs within the context of Maslow's hierarchy of needs.
• Literal benefits of getting airline tickets may be transportation. However, if those tickets have the exclusive appeal of the first class cabin and special airport lounges, the non-literal emotional benefit is often prestige.
• An accountant may sell accountancy services. However, he also sells empowerment through knowledge of a client's true financial status and or taxation compliance along with its consequent peace of mind. Outsourcing the services also provides the non-literal benefit of convenience of time saved from not having to do the accounting oneself. 
• psychographics as they relate to each stage of the buying process. (See an example of considering the TCP and buying process within the context of social content management). For greatest impact figure the real motivating factors for each stage, especially those from the 'information' stage. True motivators actually advances customers to the next stage versus factors that are only 'nice to have'. (If you are keen on theory, read about Herzberg's theory on motivation versus hygiene factors.) 
• 1. Problem. Customer's level of attunement to the problem. People suffering an intense problem, like painful illness, socially crippling skin condition and so on are very consciously aware and often feel a sense of urgency in seeking out solutions. This is noteworthy because you are more likely to catch the attention  of urgently seeking customers within the usually short window of attention if you show images or concisely mention the problem before moving on to promising that you have a solution. You can exasperate such people with long winded discussions that delve into the basics of the problem. NB. Ask customers about other unexpected ways in which they use your product. This may help you to establish new problems.
• 2. Information (to fundamentally understand the problem and solutions). Regarding their getting information to learn and solve the problem, where do they get it? (like preferred social media platforms, social circle, social media influencers who promote x-y-z topics like Jane Donavan, etc) Always be receptive to this information to explore potential options, perhaps for co-branding with influencers or complementary sellers, creating content for their community and so on. To what format of content are they most likely to actually pay their attention (ie versus pass over through exasperation with advertisements. (like IG video reels or YouTube shorts that feature before and after clips with concise explanation of the solution that demonstrates expertise and motivates trust for persons still new to the brand). What keywords and questions does the TCP use? I like to get ideas from tools like AnswerThePublic and Google Trends. What are on your TCP's (social) media content pillar wish lists?
• 3. Evaluation (of competing brands). On what attributes do customers compare different brand options? Common attributes include quality, whatever that means for your product or service, price, performance properties and so on. How have other brands failed your TCP? 
• 4. Purchase. (Also consider buyer personality within the context of how they interact with your brand at this critical stage; point-of-purchase POP advertisements? packaging? sales people? product page? social media post?)  Comfort level and preferences shopping through certain channels, like online, direct sales, brick and mortars, etc? What emotions did customers feel immediately after the purchase? Is this something that can be systematically replicated? 
• 5. Post sale evaluation.
• buyer personality. Establish the salient points of the personality type that apply.
• secondary characteristics. Pay special attention to these. Delve more deeply into them to find potential for engaging through these avenues, like interest-related Facebook groups where you can share value.  Do not simply ask for one-word answers. Rather, get respondents to your survey to discuss specific meeting places for their community, especially if that community presents opportunities. Even if you sell something that is ostensibly unrelated to whether your customers are empty nesters or have young children, these details are noteworthy in helping you to cater to their circumstances. For instance, if your chemical engineers are young parents of very young children, it will likely be best to schedule training courses that do not clash with back-to-school periods, school holidays and so on. ... or If you sell houses, it may be useful to consider the fact that your clientele is elderly. You will know to offer age-appropriate homes like those that feature elevators, short stair cases or a single-level layout, covered garages and so on
• Family situation (single, early nesters, empty nesters, etc)
• What keeps your customers up at night?
• Hobbies, passions, other pass times, bucket list items, personal achievements or places, especially those with which the brand personality should align. 
• Socioeconomic circumstances
• Culture
• Integrate the profiling with all functional aspects of your business, especially all marketing efforts that are customer touchpoints. 
• Sales representatives should adapt appropriately to a customer's verified buyer personality type. Example(s): 
• If the client has an 'amiable' personality (which is risk-averse), marketers may seek every possible opportunity within the corresponding customer experience to infuse the message of an ever-available personally dedicated support representative. Even small details will not be overlooked like having email auto-signatures of such representatives with a line like 'Jane, your personal support rep' and a hyperlink below to the CRM's meeting scheduler that says something like 'Book a Meeting with me'. 
• Information regarding online payments will include details about security and may reinforce the details with images of a padlock. 
• Create additional avatars when notable differences in TCPs exist. Businesses often have multiple avatars.
• Set a schedule for analyzing and adjusting your customer avatar as your business grows. In the example 'Sabrina' avatar above, Sabrina is ideal for social media content managers who are also relatively new in their field. Consequently, when content managers grow, she will lose her appeal.
• Since brands seek to become so humanized that TCPs should feel a sense of friendship towards them, review your TCP and brand personality alongside each other to assess their compatibility.

CONTENT RELATED TO CREATING A TARGET CUSTOMER PROFILE / TCP OR IDEAL CUSTOMER AVATAR

• Buyer personality types are a great psychographic measure that can help you to identify, understand and appropriately adapt your selling style to your prospects.
• The success of social media content management relies heavily on knowing your target audience very well.
• Customer experience (CX)
• Your customer personality and your brand's personality must be well aligned to become good friends.
• Lifestyle brand strategy relies heavily on having very intimate knowledge of your target customer profile. 
• Customer relationship management (CRM)
• Create avatars for your B2B contacts. Each avatar will need to represent the purchasing personnel.
• Build customer loyalty. By communicating with your customers on a more human, personal encourages longer-lasting relationships. Also see how loyalty rewards programs can be designed to improve loyalty for the modern customer, how tiered rewards program and spend-based rewards programs are significant to this end.    
• The sales pipeline
• Consider the characteristics in your clients' online accounts on platforms like 'Facebook Audience Insight' Tool.
• A video about buying personas 

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Sales Pipelines: Deal Stages in CRM

Previously, we discussed sales funnels that may be consulted by anyone in the organization to get a quick insight into conversion rates of leads and prospects. However, this post discusses sales pipelines as a more hands on task-centric tool for the sales team.

Each product, contract or sale may be represented by a unique 'deal'. These deals can be used to track the progress of making revenue in your business in a 'sales pipeline'. You may have as many sales pipelines as required to represent the different selling methodologies. For instance, you may have a regular sales pipeline (for first-time customers) and another called the 'customer renewal pipeline' (for repeat customers). NB CRM programs like HubSpot may offer only 1 sales pipeline in its free version.

Each deal will be attached to and therefore represent a ‘sales pipeline’, ie the sequential set of distinct deal ‘stages’ through which each contact proceeds before generating revenue. In other words, it shows the level of ‘opportunity’ ie the potential to generate revenue. In short, recording deals and their stages is a way of communicating that an opportunity is moving towards the point of closing (ie when the end goal, like purchase has occurred.

A pipeline = a set of deal stages

Uses & Benefits of a sales deal pipeline

• To predict revenue.
• To identify roadblocks in the sales process.
• To plan accordingly to meet sales targets. For instance, if you note your conversion rates from the first to last stage, you will know the approximate number of leads you need to make each sale. Alternatively, you may choose techniques like tentpole promotions to increase conversion and retain more leads.

Starting Point

Not all leads even enter the sales pipeline. They must qualify in order to enter, usually through some clear sign of buying intention.

In other words, the pipeline’s starting point occurs when there is a clear potential for a ‘revenue opportunity’, aka ‘an opportunity’, ie for the lead to generate revenue. This potential is determined objectively using criteria that are verifiable and customer-centric, like the actions and characteristics of the lead. From that point, the lead is said to become ‘qualified. Qualification examples include the following.

• Booking a meeting (to discuss your product)

Tracking the pipeline.

Tracking the pipeline involves identifying when a lead enters into a new stage, ie ‘qualifies’ to enter into a new stage. Identifying when leads enter into each new stage is done using the following objective criteria.

• Factual (ie rather than intuition). An action taken by and or identifying a characteristic of the lead is factual.
• Inspectable
• buyer-centric
• Repeatable / required by all leads. Disregard the odd, one-off case when leads may apparently skip a stage. Also note the stages and their starting points refer to function (not form). Example, whether a lead in my online business books a meeting in the conventional way, ie online or sets up the meeting casually at the vegetable market, the function is precisely the same, even though the form is not.

To plan the opportunity stages of a pipeline

The stages should involve an activity and a desired outcome that contributes to pushing the lead or prospect to the subsequent stage. The name of each stage and its starting point is written in bold. The indented lists show the questions that are asked by one or both party to qualify the other. The percentage at the end of each stage name represents the probability of closing. As time progresses, you can adjust these according to experience.

Here is a sales pipeline with customizable stages. Note that, as time progresses, you may need to examine and improve your pipeline. Always be guided by the buying process and your lead or prospect’s mindset at every stage.

As a rule of thumb, well thought out and shorter sales cycles usually signify a sales team that is more effective than otherwise. It is therefore useful to consider streamlining the sales process.

• Lead. (Automated as much as possible: landing page, qualification bots, qualification forms, etc)  (20%)
• Lead action re Awareness of product / skill
• Shows specific area(s) of interest (by selecting among types of subscription, etc)
• Reviews social proof (Facebook page, etc)
• Reviews ‘About Us’ page
• Your action: Offer free information to 1) develop product understanding, ordering skills and ability to qualify and 2) promote brand positioning
• Your action: Request contact details
• Live chat pre-chat form, mailing list
• Lead’s action: Builds brand experience via smaller, cheaper non-core product
• Your action: Offer small version of the core product
• Next step
• Book qualification meeting
• Qualified - in Initial Discussion (40%)
• Lead’s needs
• Lead’s questions
• The process, price, options
• Awareness of product / skill
• Social proof, etc
• Rank lead’s qualification
• Tier 1 (like a target customer profile / TCP, certain trouble ticket categories, etc)
• Tier 2
• Invite to book a meeting
• Trouble ticket
• Booked a negotiation meeting (proposals) (60%)
• Reconfirm customer needs & objectives
• Specific deliverables
• a, b, c
• Terms of sale
• Price
• Delivery method(s)

--- confident, most likely to commit stage ---

• Decision-maker bought in (80%)
• Send a contract  (90%) (a summary / confirmation of meeting outcomes)
• Customer needs & objectives
• Terms of sale
• Price
• Delivery method(s)
• Deliverables
• 
  
• Closed the deal - won (100%)
• Order confirmation
• Progress report (tracking)
• Loyalty program
• Evangelize
• Social media reviews, likes, etc
• poster
• Closed the deal - lost  (0%)
• Reasons for loss (competition, timing, poor qualification, cultural perceptions, etc)
• Check back later (when prospect not yet ready)

CONTENT RELATED TO SALES PIPELINES

• Invest most of your marketing efforts in your target customer profile (TCP) to be more efficient and profitable.
• Sales funnels may be consulted by anyone in an organization to get a quick insight into conversion rates of leads and prospects. However, sales pipelines are more hands on task-centric tool for the sales team.
• Instructions: Create and edit deals and sales pipelines in HubSpot CRM
• Sales pipelines for 100+ cases are best managed by a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) program
• Segment your marketing based on your prospect's stage through the sales pipeline. Example of stages include the following.
• new prospect
• hot prospects: are actively engaged, possibly in meetings
• warm prospects: already has brand and product awareness but give no response either way regarding their opportunity potential.
• cold prospects: will not commit within the immediate future.
• closed prospects: have demonstrated a clear disinterest for life.