Common CRM challenges and how to overcome them
As a Customer Relationship Marketing (CRM) agency, customer journeys are at the heart of everything Flourish do. We’re obsessed with data-driven journeys. By understanding where audiences are, and being clear about where we’d like them to be, we attract new customers, encourage first-time purchase, upsell, cross-sell, and ultimately turn customers into advocates. It’s effective stuff in the right hands but can be a minefield. Here’s four common challenges everyone with responsibility is going to face sooner or later and how to tackle them.
Choosing a CRM platform
The first step to effective CRM is choosing the right platform, but this is no easy feat. There are over 650 different platforms available, suited to a huge diversity of organisational requirements. The right platform will streamline operations, enhance engagement, and drive growth. Choosing the wrong platform will lead to inefficiencies, missed opportunities, and complaining customers. No pressure!
Flourish has plenty of advice to take the pressure off pivotal decisions like this. Before grappling with the overwhelming choice of platforms, it’s important to thoroughly assess the needs of your company. Whether you prioritise sales, donor management, or customer service – a CRM should not only meet your immediate needs, but also accommodate future growth.
Maximising platform benefits
Just like any resource or expenditure for your company, it’s important your CRM technology maximises the benefits of your chosen platform. Most businesses, once choosing a CRM platform, typically use only 20% of its tools! Besides the waste of this as a financial investment, this is a waste of potential which can be easily avoided.
In the data-driven business market of today, harnessing the full potential of a CRM system can provide transformative insights. Beyond basic customer data management, these platforms also offer features like predictive analytics or personalised marketing information. Your company will thrive on exploring, understanding, and implementing the platform’s full capacities. Flourish can help you realise your potential here.
Platform limitations vs business needs
Very frequently, businesses find that their CRM platform does some of the functions they need it to do, but not all of them. For example, a CRM platform might be good for data enrichment, but the email marketing tools aren’t up to scratch. This disparity between what the platform provides and what a company needs can be a stumbling block to optimal efficiency and growth. Consider a scenario where a CRM platform excels in data enrichment, offering unparalleled insights into customer behaviour and preferences. However, this strength is offset by a deficiency in its email marketing capabilities. This deficiency can hinder the execution of targeted and personalized marketing campaigns, impacting customer engagement and conversion rates.
Maybe the platform you’re using is struggling to serve your purpose, but changing platform can be a big and potentially costly decision. We can help you maximise the potential of the platform you already have, first. When you first chose a CRM platform for your company, maybe you were sold a package and given a short training session which left your employees still a little foggy. Most businesses use only 20% of their CRM platforms capacities. Flourish can help you realise 100% of the capacities of your chosen CRM platform. Or, we can help you migrate to a CRM platform that better suits your needs. And unlike other companies, Flourish stay with you through advice, management, and implementation. We make sure you know what you’re doing before we leave you.
You need the platform that best provides for the needs of your company. A CRM platform needs to integrate with a company’s website, deliver a seamless company experience, and allow the company’s capacity for growth. This requires a careful and strategic approach for both long term and short term. Get in touch with Flourish CRM specialists for more specific advice.
Advice, Management, and Implementation from a CRM Consultant
With so many platforms and approaches available, decision-making around CRM can be bewildering. Engaging a professional CRM consultant like Flourish can be a useful and effective shortcut to success. We are here to help business leaders and marketers reach their growth target, and we have the skills, knowledge, and experience to produce results. Rather than doing the heavy lifting on your own, asking a CRM consultant can help you optimise time and resources. We guide you to choose the best platform for your needs and teach you how to utilise all the features of the platform. We help take the weight off these decisions, giving you effective action in less time.
Not all decisions are simple. Sometimes it takes both a short term and a long-term plan to keep up with your business potential. Flourish specialist CRM consultant can talk you through your options and help you find the most economical and effective route to success.
Working with a specialist CRM agency often helps to reduce spend overall, maximise opportunities, implement best practices, and achieve consistency across all business processes and communications. It’s not just about using the technology to its full potential. A specialist agency can do it in a way that compliments and strengthens your organisation’s brand and reputation.
In a world where brands are always fighting to stay ahead of the competition, engaging the services of CRM experts can be a game changer. Flourish has built a reputation as a specialist CRM agency, offering a methodical approach which goes beyond just implementing CRM systems. We transform the software into a comprehensive growth strategy. Implementing and managing CRM systems can be resource-intensive, and without the right expertise, businesses may end up spending more time and money than necessary. A professional consultant can streamline these processes, ensuring that the investment in CRM technology yields substantial returns and customer loyalty.
For an initial chat to see what you need support with and how we could help, contact [email protected] to see what CRM consultancy can do for you.
