Effective use of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software enables the following:
- Forecast cash flow from sales
- Speed up the sales cycle
- Manage the sales force
- More repeat sales
- Customer service tracking
Complete CRM systems include a Sales Force Automation (SFA) component which helps automate sales and sales force management functions including:
- Sales lead tracking
- Forecasting
- Order management
- Product knowledge
Additionally, marketing functions enable the following:
- Collecting demographic information of customers and prospects
- Tools to segment the client base
- Tools to target market
- Audit customer experiences
- Integrate with the sales function
Finally, customer relations are enhanced because:
- Contact management data is centralized
- Customer support issues can be logged and tracked
- Customer activities can be scheduled and tracked
- Integration with the back-office allows for seamless access to all relevant customer data in one system