Will you be surprised if I told you that 99.7% of businesses registered in the USA are actually small-scale businesses? Well, it is true, but underlying this is an even more stark question, what is stopping so many companies from taking the leap to the next level? What is increasing this gap between large and small-scale companies?

If I was writing in the times of Dale Carnegie, I would probably say that few businesses are more equipped with gifted employees, better vision, etc. But in 2018 we all know what is the deal breaker today. It is technology.

Most small and medium-scale business own owners would say technology requires a lot of investment and it is too much of a spend not directly giving them returns. But that is not necessarily true. One first has to understand the power of technology which can be quite affordable to start with, enhancing the operations to take the big jump. Of late we at AllianceTek Inc. have helped small and mid-size companies realize their true potential by integrating CRM solutions that do not act as their expenditure but as an investment that actually reduces their overall operating expenses.

Implementing a CRM solution is such a turnaround technology that is accelerating thousands of small-scale businesses. It is rapidly replacing handwritten papers & old school Spreadsheets to give a seamless, integrated, real-time experience within the organization and giving decision-makers the power of data to grow.

How to Use CRM Applications for Organizational Cost Reduction

When used effectively, CRM applications can be powerful tools for reducing organizational costs. From automating routine tasks to improving customer retention, businesses can use strategies to get the most out of their CRM investment. Here are a few CRM applications that can help you achieve these goals.

1. Reducing the Cost of Customer Acquisition

# Measuring ROI

Since all the marketing efforts are being driven from the same CRM application, the greater picture of where exactly your money is going and what kind of results it is driving can be achieved with the help of your CRM implementation.

In most cases, companies would find it difficult to find their ROI in each of the media of the campaign. Now with a CRM solution, all the efforts can be aligned with the main objective of the company rather than broken experiences generating valuable customer exchanges.

# Picking Out the Highest ROI Media and Efforts

Marketing, especially in digital media has become a set of fast iterations. It typically means that the incremental cost of launching a new campaign is not much in comparison to the traditional marketing means. Testing and re-testing is the key to success.

With multiple media touch-points and multiple teams collaborating to create common communication, your CRM software solution will provide you with the analytics and dashboard will help that easily weed out the efforts which are not giving you satisfactory results.

The fluctuating nature of campaign data can be deceptive unless a trend is found. This gap is filled with the help of you who help you find keywords or trends which are really working.

# Lead Nurturing

The lead potential is nurtured, keeping the overall picture in mind. The CRM software solution precisely knows:

• Where the lead has been generated
• The touch-points they have already interacted with
• The complaints generated by them and each of their status
• With increased channels of interaction, the experience is not diluted as the communication remains uniform throughout

2. Sales Operational Cost Reduction

# All-In-One Platform for Overall Sales Efforts

With the advent of CRM software, businesses have been able to streamline their customer-facing operations like never before. One of the most significant benefits of using CRM applications is the ability to provide a 360-degree view of customer information to customer-facing teams. This enables sales, marketing, and support teams to access all the relevant customer data from one centralized location, saving time and reducing operational costs.

# Streamlining the Sales Process

A CRM application enables the sales team to work coherently using the dashboard and analytics to track new leads, and schedule a date and time to:

• Generate new leads
• Schedule appointments
• Plan follow-ups
• Manage commercials
• Set reminders and prospect mapping

It significantly reduces the time, and therefore the cost, in reducing sales cycles. Optimization of time efforts can provide the sales resources more time to pursue new leads effectively benefiting the organization with higher sales.

# Duplication of Records Removed

When customer data is stored across various sources, such as different databases, spreadsheets, or even on paper, there is a high chance of data duplication. This can lead to each customer being contacted by multiple sales representatives resulting in a waste of time, effort, and resources. Moreover, when multiple sales reps contact the same customer with different information, it can also create confusion and frustration for the customer, ultimately resulting in customer attrition.

However, with CRM applications, all customer data is unified in a single database. This means that all customer information, such as contact details, preferences, purchase history, and communication history, is accessible to all customer-facing teams. This eliminates the need for manual data entry and reduces the risk of duplication of customer records. As a result, each customer is contacted by a single sales representative who has complete knowledge of their past interactions and preferences. This not only saves time and effort but also ensures a seamless and personalized customer experience.

3. Service Cost Optimization

# Self-service Customer Portal

A ‘self-service portal’ (SSP) is a strategic move towards reducing service expenditure and at the same time ensuring quicker issue resolution in a fully automated procedure in sync with the back-end of the system. In addition to traditional touch points across channels such as customer care services, this can be a great way of instant responsive SLA committed response.  The following are the benefits to the company:

• Reduce human interaction
• Reduce administrative cost
• Reduce customer service costs
• Proper reporting across hierarchies and involved functions

For example, customers can apply for functions requiring backend workflow and get redressed through the automatic workflow manager in the back end.

Quick surveys that are customizable capture how the customer rates the becomes a useful tool in measuring the quality of service. It also identifies areas of concern that need to be improved. With CRM solutions, new records can be automatically assigned to the most specialized users through workflow rules on the basis of their type, territory, product, etc. and follow-up action can be ensured through escalation and conditional rules.

4. Scalability

• CRM application forms the major backbone for the scaling up of small and medium-sized businesses. It is customizable for operations of the scale.
• CRM solutions are designed keeping in mind the need to keep cost minimum at any given point. In fact, as the business scales up, your will help you identify key areas where you might be losing money.
• No need for technical knowledge or coding for the changing business needs making the system robust for any kind of change.

5. Reducing Administrative Costs

• Reducing the need for MIS: Tools and human resources earlier required to create reports can be done away with now with automated AI drove processes within your Custom CRM Development Solution.
• Printing of reports has become a redundant exercise, how minute it may sound, actually reduces a lot of admin hassles and cost reduction by the process.
• Sales, service, and marketing are more brought in line with company objectives often reducing duplication of roles in the process, making the organization horizontal in approach.

6. Improve Tracking Mechanism

CRM application-enabled tracking of the operations is the first step towards cost optimization. Accountability of operations increases leading to lower overheads. Instances of tracking can be:

• Sales teams tracking their lead status.
• Marketing team tracking conversion ratios.
• The service team can track FTRs and CSAT scores etc.
• Finance team tracking ROIs.

Conclusion

Implementing a CRM application can significantly reduce costs for an organization. By unifying customer data, reducing duplication of records, automating tasks, and providing a 360-degree view of customer information, organizations can improve their operational efficiency and ultimately save time and money. Additionally, by using the insights gained from the data collected, organizations can improve their sales strategies and increase customer satisfaction, leading to increased revenue and profitability. With the benefits of CRM applications becoming increasingly apparent, it is clear that investing in such a tool is a smart decision for any organization looking to reduce costs and improve its bottom line.

Call us at 484-892-5713 or Contact Us today to know more details about creating how to use CRM Applications for organizational cost reduction.