The more clients you have, the harder it is to keep track of your communication history with each one.

Customer Relationship Management, or CRM by HubSpot, is a system that structures customer data and helps control sales. A CRM system automates all processes around their life cycle in a company:

• Creates profiles for each client. Stores name, contacts, interests, feedback. Shows how the buyer moves through the sales funnel.
• Collects requests from different channels in one place: social networks, email, messengers, questionnaires on the website. CRM stores the history of requests.
• Helps businesses develop relationships with customers. For example, it sends a buyer an SMS about the delivery time or reminds the manager to call the customer back.

CRM system is not only about sales. A program that collects data about the audience and stores the history of customer behavior will be useful for marketers, analysts, and strategists.

What types of CRM systems are there

CRM systems are categorized by the set of functions and the way they are used. Depending on the program’s capabilities, there are:

• Operational — tools with the most modest set of capabilities. They store information about customers, register applications, conduct invoices, remind managers about tasks, and record sales.
• Marketing — do the same as operational ones. Plus, they record information about marketing communications and reactions to them. CRMs take into account when and how often a user visited a site, what buttons they pressed, what they put in the basket, and at what stages they stopped interacting.
• Industry — systems for companies in specific areas: medical centers, beauty salons, language schools. These are ready-made solutions with specific functions: for example, making an appointment with a doctor.
• There are CRMs that offer all these options and are flexibly configured to suit the needs of a specific business.

Depending on the way of working with CRM, there are cloud models (On-Cloud) and other versions (On-Premise). In the first case, the data is stored on the software developer’s servers and can only be accessed via the Internet. In the second case, the information is stored on the company’s own resources.

What processes can CRM be integrated into

With the help of the system, you can attract and retain customers, track their path through the funnel, process transactions and analyze sales. Here are the processes in which CRM is useful.

Attracting leads. The system helps segment the customer base and launch targeted marketing campaigns by marketing automation. Unlike advertising to a wide audience, targeted advertising more accurately hits people’s needs, therefore attracts more leads for the same cost.

Processing the first contact. A person becomes a lead, and CRM automatically starts working with him. Creates a customer profile, pulls up contacts, and can launch a chain of welcome messages.

Customer movement through the funnel. CRM visualizes how a person moves from one stage to the next. The system reminds managers of tasks at each step.

Document flow. CRM has ready-made templates for invoices, acts, powers of attorney, consignment notes. Payment documents can be independently sent to customers directly from the system.

Closing a sale. When the deal is completed, CRM automatically transfers the customer to the regular category.

Customer retention. CRM stores the entire history of interaction with the client. To maintain their interest in the company, the marketing department can connect the buyer to a mailing list with promotions and special offers.

Analytics and reporting. CRM collects and analyzes data on promotions and sales, generates detailed reports. You can compare the results of different advertising channels, evaluate the movement of clients along the funnel and find its problem areas.

The CRM system can be connected to several processes at once or used to solve specific problems.

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