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We have all heard the phrase: “The beauty of experience is that no one can take it away from you.” The truth in that phrase cannot be understated, the trials of life should always leave us feeling educated and what we do with that education will not only determine our destination but will certainly define our success.
The year 2020 forced a lot of changes around the world, a lot of people needed to re-evaluate where and how they made their money. As an independent CRM consultant to multiple market sectors, it became apparent very early on in 2020 that certain individuals had made the decision to go it alone. Using the experience that no one can take away, they had decided to become entrepreneurs. Looking at the statistics in this article: 8 things we learned about new businesses in lockdown, we can see that there was of a boom of new businesses being registered in the year 2020.
These entrepreneurs have given hope to so many others like themselves and are using their hard-earned experience to forge a new path. I represent a team of independent CRM consultants called Collier Pickard and we use our experience in CRM to ensure rapid return on investment for our clients. In 2020 we guided a host of start-up companies through the process of selecting the right CRM and although we have a number of systems that we offer our prospective clients, the solution was always the same for start-ups, Maximizer CRM.
Understanding CRM
Customer Relationship Management is not a new kid on the block, it has been around for decades and can be neatly renamed to “Business Supervision” for any entrepreneur. Competition is fierce out there, new ventures need to develop a credible reputation in order to grow a reliable customer base and the key to doing this effectively, is by having a finger, continuously on the pulse of the business.
CRM is a business tool that does just that, it is a platform that allows the user to define their business processes and manage each process efficiently. A great CRM platform will give you all the modules you need to aid you in bolstering the reputation that you so desperately need. The modules mentioned above should include the following:
- Contact Management
Information management of individuals, contacts and companies. A place to capture and store critical information about your prospects, clients and suppliers.
- Marketing Management
Email campaign management tool that allows you to send targeted emails to lists of contacts. The information sent could be used to grow the customer base as you prospect for new clients or to
keep existing clients in the loop via newsletters.
- Sales Management
There are a few modules that make up sales management, there is lead management, a process whereby leads are nurtured through the system and the prospects’ needs are defined and understood. Then, opportunity management, where the system follows a predefined process as the prospect is moved through the funnel and eventually becomes a client.
- Service Management
Customer service management, a module that will allow you to track customer service cases, raise support tickets, escalate queries to suppliers, etc. When looking at the retention of your client base, happy clients are a lot easier to retain.
- Dashboards & Reporting
Reporting on KPI’s as well as in-depth reporting on all other modules in the form of live dashboards. This will ensure that your finger is well on the pulse of the business. The data is live and accurate which means that forecasting and decision making can be done immediately and at any time.
Why Maximizer CRM?
Anyone doing a bit of research into CRM will very quickly notice they are spoilt for choice. There are many CRM platforms on the market and most of them contain all the modules an entrepreneur would need to forge a path to success. Some CRM platforms are module centric; they have been built around a marketing platform for example and although the other modules are present, they often leave the user feeling much to be desired. Other CRM platforms are not module centric but each module carries its own pricing structure which means that for a single user system, the entrepreneur will be forking out a lot of money that they don’t really have.
The answer, quite simply, is finding a platform that is not module centric, a platform that offers you every module at a single, affordable price point. Now, this would be a herculean task if it wasn’t for industry experts like the team at Collier Pickard who have already done the research. Maximizer CRM is the answer, the platform is supplied through a network of vendors to the international market and their track record is long and extremely successful. Maximizer also has a small office offering which is quite unique, the full system and all functionality there-in is offered to a single user at an amazingly low price point.
Who is Collier Pickard?
Collier Pickard is a team of independent CRM consultants that have been operating for nearly three decades. We partner with businesses and use our experience to ensure that a CRM project is well detailed and thought out before anyone starts looking at platform options. When we identify what platform will work for a client, we are then also equipped to on-board that platform covering everything from training and support to configuration and user adoption.
Valuing Experience
As you use your experience to change your life and take that big step into entrepreneurship, I implore you to partner with that same level of experience in areas like CRM. As you expect your new client base to hang onto the coattails of your experience, I ask that you grab one of mine and I will use my own and that of Collier Pickard to launch you and your business towards a new horizon.
