9 Signs Your Customer Relationship Solution is Failing You

Customers today are well-informed, and have high expectations. As your business expands, whether by offering new products and services or entering new markets, your customer relationship management (CRM) tools must evolve too. In fact, you might already have outgrown your existing solutions without realizing it.

Here are nine warning signs that your system no longer works, plus tips on how to address the issues.

1. You’re losing customers when salespeople leave. Your agents are an important part of your sales process, but you need to know as much as they do about each of your customers. Make sure your system is set up to create customer profiles, so you start retaining customer information the moment a prospect begins to send buying signals.

2. Customer information is out of date. Having customer profiles is good. Making sure yours contain current, comprehensive information and can be accessed by teams from sales, marketing, and service is even better. This way, when customer tastes or needs change, you can adapt your relationship accordingly.

3. Lack of follow up turns leads cold. Even with the best marketing and sales teams, some leads fall through the cracks. Track interactions with prospects and customers, and help your team personalize communications to keep more leads interested and engaged.

4. Lack of customer and marketing insights. It isn’t enough to know how close customers are to making a purchase. You also need to know their needs, budget, and tastes. When customers share this sort of actionable information, your staff should be able to use each new insight, strengthening customer relationships across marketing, sales, and service.

5. Inability to quickly review deals. Checking on the status of a deal should be as simple as opening an email. Set up a private interoffice social network, so agents can proactively share their progress with you and the rest of the team.

6. Inability to identify your best customers. When customers buy your product, they are giving you valuable information. Use insights from this information and your business goals to identify your best customers and know where they come from. Reach out to these folks, say thanks—and keep your analytics tools working to find your next best customers.

7. Complaints are up, loyalty is down. Customers expect prompt and personalized service when they connect with your teams.  Give your service agents the ability to quickly access all information about the customer and use collaboration tools to deliver amazing service. Every interaction matters when you’re cultivating customer loyalty.

8. Forecasts aren’t accurate. If your projections aren’t panning out, chances are your data is incomplete.  Review your sales pipeline regularly to ensure your teams are focusing on the important leads and sharing the latest information on them. Then use those pipeline insights to forecast better.

9. Trouble generating new leads. All of the ways people tell you they’re ready to buy aren’t obvious. When a potential customer clicks on your ad or hovers on a product page, you need to know. By collecting and then nurturing these subtle signals, you may find that there’s more interest out there than you were aware of.

A holistic CRM solution like those offered by Microsoft Dynamics can make all the difference for your expanding business. If you’re having trouble addressing any of the issues above, check out our e-book, How to know if your business is ready for CRM.