Keeping Records of CRM Pipeline Sales Leads to Success – Business

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Keeping good records of CRM pipeline sales and learning to analyze those records can reveal surprising details about how best to run your business.

CRM is an acronym for “customer relationship management.” The term “pipeline sales” refers where your customers are in the buying process. What do CRM and pipeline sales have in common? And how can you use these tools to learn more about your business? Keep reading to find out.

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Make Full Use of Both Your CRM and Your Pipeline

Your company’s CRM is the lifeblood of your business. This is because your profits are driven by customer purchases. Moreover, taking full advantage of the combined elements of your CRM and good record-keeping of your sales pipeline will translate into success for your business.

What is the Difference Between a Sales Funnel and a Sales Pipeline?

The sales pipeline differs slightly from the sales funnel. This is because the sales funnel is about leads, and the sales pipeline is about sales.

The funnel is wide at the top to capture an infinite number of prospects. As the potential for sales increases, the funnel narrows toward the bottom, separating potential customers from actual customers. The desired outcomes of both the sales funnel and the sales pipeline are greater profits and happier customers.

Let’s look at seven reasons why maintaining good CRM pipeline sales records will benefit you.

Good Record-Keeping Will Help You Identify Threats and Opportunities

With a systematic record-keeping process, you remain continuously updated about the status of your CRM pipeline. Moreover, using an efficient system to move prospects through the sales funnel in an integrated process enables you to mitigate risks and harness opportunities at every step of the way.

Reducing threats means knowing how to discourage progressive movement through the sales funnel. Leveraging opportunities translates into encouraging upward movement of prospects through the sales pipeline.

Learn Your Company’s Strengths and Weaknesses by Observing CRM Pipeline Sales

You can gain a good understanding of your company’s strengths and weaknesses by learning to analyze the records of your CRM pipeline sales. It’s best to do this by recording your sales funnel records.

This is because funnel records show conversion rates at each point. This will provide greater clarity about the improvements you need to make to your sales and marketing efforts. Then, you’ll know where your staff needs more training. Obviously, more training in weak areas will become key to making system improvements.

Set Goals and Achieve Them by Observing CRM Pipeline Sales

You’ll be better able to set effective goals when you understand more about where you need additional sales team training.

Naturally, you will then rely on precise record-keeping to adjust those goals as well as your sales strategies. This will lead to more successful conversions.

Develop Your Goal-Setting Skills

You want to slow or stop prospect movement toward the top of your funnel at each point. This is because you don’t want leads to leave your sales funnel but to continue downward toward the narrow end of the funnel. In other words, you want leads to progress toward sales, not toward leaving your funnel altogether.

Therefore, you need to learn more about your overall CRM sales pipeline. Additionally, you want to hone your goal-setting skills at each step. These new skills will correspondingly drive conversion rates throughout your sales pipeline. One point at which you have the best chance of achieving this goal is at first contact.

Good Record-Keeping of CRM Pipeline Sales Will Improve Company Response Times

Researchers write in the Harvard Business Review about a study that illustrates the importance of shortening lead response times.

Their research showed that companies who responded to leads within one hour were seven times more likely to achieve successful movement through the sales funnel than those who contacted the customer in the second hour.

Even more surprisingly, initial contacts made in the first hour were 60 times more successful than those made after 24 hours.

Always Remember That Prospects Are People Who Can Become Customers

Additionally, the Harvard study underscores the fact that people are social creatures. They appreciate personalized services and interactions. They also value rapid response times.

Therefore, the right technical systems and CRM record-keeping software will make all the difference to your sales and profits.

However, along with all this technical savvy, your business success also depends on how well you build your relationships with your customers. You can gain the knowledge you need by choosing an effective CRM sales pipeline record-keeping system. On the other hand, though, the effective building of human relations will require continual staff training.

Employ Enhanced CRM with Advanced VoIP

Using the advanced functionality of an innovative VoIP system as your record-keeping software will further enhance your CRM. This is because an advanced VoIP system will give you online website chat capabilities, surveys, SMS functionality, and video conferencing. This includes both inbound and outbound CRM support.

Additionally, the leads from this VoIP system will all be captured in your sales pipeline. This will enable better sales tracking and a shortened sales cycle timeline. Then your staff will have more time to make sales. In short, your company will enjoy more productivity, improved customer response times, and greater customer satisfaction.

A CRM Sales Pipeline Translates into Free Marketing and More Sales

The CRM sales pipeline differs between companies, but typically ranges between four to eight stages in the customer’s buying process. This range begins with an ocean of potential prospects who are simply looking for something to purchase, and ends with successful sales to happy customers.

Happy customers are open to upselling, which happens when employees are able to persuade the customer to purchase a more expensive product, or an additional one.

What’s more, happy customers refer friends and family to your business, promoting additional sales and profits.

Satisfied customers often write positive testimonials about your business. These testimonials can persuade others of the value customers received from your company. Pleased customers can even become fans who voluntarily promote your business and products, creating another free marketing channel.

Key Takeaways

• CRM systems translate into accurate records that highlight the sales status.
• Record keeping supports the identification of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
• Understanding and analyzing your records empowers goal creation and achievement.
• Training fills in the gaps, allowing for improved response times, people management, and forecasting.

Conduct research to determine the CRM sales pipeline software that works best for you. Purchasing the right product for your business will result in improved business systems, well-trained employees, greater conversions, happier customers, and a sustainable, successful business.