CRM (Customer Relationship Management) software is not only crucial for growing businesses, it becomes the nucleus of the organization once implemented. A best in class small business CRM will be the solution your team has been needing to not only scale appropriately, but foster lead nurturing for higher sales conversions. When evaluating options for your small business CRM, it is important to look for key features that will make implementation (and more importantly, adoption) successful. Here are our top 6 features of a best in class CRM system for SMB’s:

1. Simplicity: There is no logic in investing in a CRM if you can’t get your team to utilize it.  Adoption is crucial and simplicity is key to the user experience. The more complicated a CRM system is to use and integrate with, the more difficult it is to get staff to use it.  Simplicity in the user interface as well as in completing daily routines is an important feature to look for.
2. Remote Access: A CRM that can only be used in the office is no longer a viable solution in today’s mobile world. Many organizations have multiple locations or remote workers; there is also the possibility of staff needing to access the system from a trade show or customer site. Having a CRM that you can remote into at any time is essential and having mobile access is equally important. Marketing and Sales reps are more frequently working from their mobile device so solutions that can be accessed via a smartphone or tablet can be vital for field personnel who need more than just a contact phone number to close a deal. Businesses can no longer take a tactical approach to mobility.
3. Integrations: The ability to integrate with key software including the accounting system, time & billing app, document management software, and email marketing solutions are essential for a small business CRM. Integrations save both time and money as staff no longer have to manually key data into multiple systems. Integrations also eliminate the risk of inaccurate data being referenced due to different systems not being updated or maintained properly. The more seamless the integrations are, the easier it will be for your team to utilize and thus maximize the investment.
4. Campaign Management: A CRM solution needs to provide great campaign management functionalities, allowing workflow from the campaign idea through build, test, distribution, and measurement. Being able to launch a campaign through the CRM and then report on the effectiveness of those efforts in the same system allow marketing managers to adjust tactics while sales reps close deals. Additionally, campaign management gives visibility to the executive team on performance as well as projections.
5. Customization: No two companies are identical. Having a CRM that is customizable to your individual needs is an invaluable feature for the SMB owner. Creating customizable reports as well as fields that make sense to your business are two common examples of customized options that Results CRM regularly receives. Another example of customization is different views and dashboards for each department. Having a customizable CRM with one dashboard for management, and a separate one for staff, helps streamline tasks and projects that make sense for the user while giving managers an overview of not only performance, but also bottlenecks.
6. Lead Generation Tracking: Relying exclusively on a sales team to complete the sales cycle without tracking the lead generation metrics can be a dangerous approach. A CRM with lead generation tracking, both in automated customer tasks and reminders to sales people, is a vital feature for a best in class small business CRM as it is insuring that the sales team has the tools it needs to keep nurturing leads. One of the most difficult feats for a salesperson is to keep track of every touch they have ever had with a potential client; having a CRM that provides these features gives them the ability to just pull up the opportunity and pick up the conversation at any point in the sales cycle without missing a beat or throwing the prospect off. It also allows your sales manager to see how long the actual sales cycle is taking, and implement changes in the department for a quicker sales conversion process.

Whether your organization is new to CRM software or looking for a new solution, Results CRM is your partner for success. For more information on how you can grow your business with Results, click here for a free demo.