By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
SmartData Collective
  • Analytics
    AnalyticsShow More
    predictive analytics in dropshipping
    Predictive Analytics Helps New Dropshipping Businesses Thrive
    12 Min Read
    data-driven approach in healthcare
    The Importance of Data-Driven Approaches to Improving Healthcare in Rural Areas
    6 Min Read
    analytics for tax compliance
    Analytics Changes the Calculus of Business Tax Compliance
    8 Min Read
    big data analytics in gaming
    The Role of Big Data Analytics in Gaming
    10 Min Read
    analyst,women,looking,at,kpi,data,on,computer,screen
    Promising Benefits of Predictive Analytics in Asset Management
    11 Min Read
  • Big Data
  • BI
  • Exclusive
  • IT
  • Marketing
  • Software
Search
© 2008-23 SmartData Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: Managing Your Sales Funnel: How Does CRM Software Help?
Share
Notification Show More
Latest News
ai software development
Key Strategies to Develop AI Software Cost-Effectively
Artificial Intelligence
ai in omnichannel marketing
AI is Driving Huge Changes in Omnichannel Marketing
Artificial Intelligence
ai for small business tax planning
Maximize Tax Deductions as a Business Owner with AI
Artificial Intelligence
ai in marketing with 3D rendering
Marketers Use AI to Take Advantage of 3D Rendering
Artificial Intelligence
How Big Data Is Transforming the Maritime Industry
How Big Data Is Transforming the Maritime Industry
Big Data
Aa
SmartData Collective
Aa
Search
  • About
  • Help
  • Privacy
Follow US
© 2008-23 SmartData Collective. All Rights Reserved.
SmartData Collective > Business Intelligence > CRM > Managing Your Sales Funnel: How Does CRM Software Help?
Big DataCRMData Management

Managing Your Sales Funnel: How Does CRM Software Help?

workbooks
Last updated: 2013/12/13 at 9:00 AM
workbooks
5 Min Read
SHARE

When implemented properly, CRM software should improve your sales funnel and conversion rates.

Contents
Records all customer interactionsProvides a logical pipeline to followAutomates common tasksReporting and forecasting

Managing your sales funnel CRM software

CRM software is well-known for helping manage the sales funnel. But how exactly does it help your sales team?

When implemented properly, CRM software should improve your sales funnel and conversion rates.

More Read

How Vertical Integration Can Power Up Business Software

How Vertical Integration Can Power Up Business Software

Big Data Enabled CRM – Is It The Future Of CRM Software?
Big Data Leads To Startling Advances In Mortgage CRM Software
CRM Database: Unlocking Customer Secrets for Business Growth

Managing your sales funnel CRM software

CRM software is well-known for helping manage the sales funnel. But how exactly does it help your sales team?

Records all customer interactions

With CRM software in place, you immediately have a definitive repository for all customer contact data. A single CRM software solution can replace:

  • Individual contact lists and address books maintained by sales staff.
  • Separate marketing databases of contacts.
  • A support database for dealing with customer service queries and issues.

Instead, one platform becomes the single point for recording all customer contact so that you can get a complete view of their purchase history, needs and upcoming opportunities. The same data can then be subdivided for targeted marketing efforts, or to follow long-term relational data, such as support calls.

In this way, every user of the CRM software is helping to maintain the relationship, paving the way for future sales.

‘80% of business leaders believe they do a good job in building customer relationships, while only 8% of their customers agree, according to research from The Whetstone Edge.  If your organisation uses more than one system to record and manage your customer touch points, centralised access to customer information will help your employees see the full relationship.’

CRM Software Blog

Provides a logical pipeline to follow

Depending on how your business works, your ideal CRM software solution will be configurable to match your sales pipeline. By keeping accurate records of each customer interaction, particularly upcoming opportunities, it becomes possible to see where any account is in terms of the sales funnel. You can set ‘Stages’ to track progress, enabling your sales reps to identify where a prospect is in the buying cycle and whether there are any risks. Your sales team will know what they need to do to move each account towards a final sale. Over time it even becomes possible to ‘template’ the process, making it even easier for sales staff to close deals. Having data displayed in this way ensures a consistent workflow for every sales opportunity.

‘The companies that do excel in SPM [sales pipeline management] have seen significant improvement in turning sales-qualified leads into customers in a predictable, well-disciplined manner and achieving revenue generation goals.’

Best Practices in Sales Pipeline Management, Michael Gerard, vice president at IDC

Automates common tasks

The logical extension of template procedures is to automate them. Using the built-in CRM software functions it becomes possible to send automated emails when certain pipeline conditions are met, such as order confirmation or acknowledgements of service requests.

Your marketing department can also take advantage of the marketing automation features to manage email campaigns designed to turn leads into opportunities, and to collect the data generated by such an activity. CRM software can automatically:

  • Deliver the emails.
  • Collect responses.
  • Monitor click-throughs, message opens and other important statistics.

And insert new leads into the start of the sales funnel for progression to sale.

‘47% of sales’ forecasted pipeline is first generated by marketing in the Best-in-Class companies that use sales and marketing automation.’

Sales and Marketing Alignment, Aberdeen Group

Reporting and forecasting

By carefully monitoring sales activities, it becomes possible to ensure that leads and opportunities are being followed up adequately, and to report on the activities of individual sales team members or the team in general. It then becomes easier for the sales manager to allocate workloads or direct efforts to move more opportunities along the sales funnel.

The CRM software also provides accurate sales and revenue forecasting which can be used by the accounts department to calculate future company income accurately. The more data collected in the CRM software, the more flexible and granular your reports can be.

Remember – CRM software helps with your sales funnel by:

  • Making all customer-related data available in one place.
  • Helping your sales team see where any opportunity is in the pipeline at any given moment.
  • Providing automation capabilities to increase efficiency and speed of business.
  • Create reports on any aspect of customer-related activity or data.

TAGGED: CRM software
workbooks December 13, 2013
Share this Article
Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn
Share

Follow us on Facebook

Latest News

ai software development
Key Strategies to Develop AI Software Cost-Effectively
Artificial Intelligence
ai in omnichannel marketing
AI is Driving Huge Changes in Omnichannel Marketing
Artificial Intelligence
ai for small business tax planning
Maximize Tax Deductions as a Business Owner with AI
Artificial Intelligence
ai in marketing with 3D rendering
Marketers Use AI to Take Advantage of 3D Rendering
Artificial Intelligence

Stay Connected

1.2k Followers Like
33.7k Followers Follow
222 Followers Pin

You Might also Like

How Vertical Integration Can Power Up Business Software
Software

How Vertical Integration Can Power Up Business Software

6 Min Read
CRM and big data
Software

Big Data Enabled CRM – Is It The Future Of CRM Software?

7 Min Read
mortgage CRM software
Big DataCRMExclusive

Big Data Leads To Startling Advances In Mortgage CRM Software

7 Min Read
crm database
Business IntelligenceCRM

CRM Database: Unlocking Customer Secrets for Business Growth

7 Min Read

SmartData Collective is one of the largest & trusted community covering technical content about Big Data, BI, Cloud, Analytics, Artificial Intelligence, IoT & more.

ai in ecommerce
Artificial Intelligence for eCommerce: A Closer Look
Artificial Intelligence
AI chatbots
AI Chatbots Can Help Retailers Convert Live Broadcast Viewers into Sales!
Chatbots

Quick Link

  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Follow US

© 2008-23 SmartData Collective. All Rights Reserved.

Removed from reading list

Undo
Go to mobile version
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Lost your password?