Those who have been in business for more than ten or fifteen years can still remember the days when companies (especially small businesses) filed customer contacts in spreadsheets on their PCs. What a waste of time that was! On top of having to update these files, when certain information had to be found, everything had to be done manually.
Fortunately, those days are over and even today small and medium enterprises use CRM to store contacts and keep them up to date, but not only that: CRM is also used to manage leads, plan follow-up activities, create campaigns and track all lead and customer statistics.
Companies invest in a CRM system because they want to save money and grow their business by automating sales and marketing activities, effectively managing customers and improving reporting and analysis.
When choosing a customer relationship management platform, many companies consider features and price, but overlook a very important factor worth considering.
Poor CRM effectively reduces productivity, complicates processes and slows business growth.
Here’s what happens when the CRM used in a company is not integrated with the company’s phone system:
- You have to add each contact twice because your PBX address book is not integrated with your CRM contact database → no automation.
- You cannot see who is calling or answer a call from your CRM; you have to open another browser tab to do so → constant distractions.
- You cannot add call details or schedule follow-up activities during a call → reduced productivity.
- To make a call, you must copy your phone number from your CRM, open another application and paste your phone number into it to initiate a call → slow communication.
When you choose a CRM for your business, make sure it is integrated with your phone system or you risk wasting your money.
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