{"id":23057,"date":"2020-11-11T10:08:34","date_gmt":"2020-11-11T10:08:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.heartinternet.uk\/blog\/?p=23057"},"modified":"2020-11-11T10:08:34","modified_gmt":"2020-11-11T10:08:34","slug":"how-to-choose-a-customer-relationship-management-crm-system-for-an-agency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.heartinternet.uk\/blog\/how-to-choose-a-customer-relationship-management-crm-system-for-an-agency\/","title":{"rendered":"How to choose a CRM system for an agency"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thinking about a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system for your agency? Great. That means your business is growing faster than Jack\u2019s beanstalk. It doesn\u2019t matter whether you\u2019re a web developer, marketer or designer, eventually the agency life will transcend the specifics of your core skills.<\/p>\n

That means you\u2019ll be thinking about project, team and client management. And that\u2019s where a CRM comes in. The marketing, sales, and service software aims to help businesses by helping their customers. And demand for CRM technologies is growing. According to Gartner<\/a>, the market was worth more than $40 billion in 2018 alone.<\/p>\n

Perhaps that\u2019s why the market has exploded with vendors. As such, choosing a CRM that\u2019s best for your brand can prove trickier than solving a Rubix Cube. To help you organise that strategy, here\u2019s some key things for you to consider before buying.<\/p>\n

What is a CRM system?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s start with the basics. A CRM system essentially provides a central hub where an agency like yours can store customer and prospect data and track customer interactions. The end goal is to help you win more customers by boosting your sales team’s ability to close deals, improve your support team’s customer service, and automate your marketing.<\/p>\n

It allows businesses to manage relationships with customers which in turn helps the business to grow. But does your business really need one?<\/p>\n

Why do I need a CRM?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Most agencies have a number of work streams, services and product ranges. Juggling ever-burgeoning contracts, ad hoc work and large-scale projects can therefore become increasingly difficult. You know the deal. Where\u2019s the web project at? How much did you quote and agree with the client? When are your review points? When can it be billed? Once launched, would the client benefit from ongoing marketing?<\/p>\n

Like a tumbleweed kicking up dust on the road, things can quickly spiral out of control. A lack of central management weighs heavy on internal resources and tasks, triggering confusion amongst the team which, most importantly, means you\u2019re spread too thin to deliver kick ass customer relations.<\/p>\n

Oh, and what about those five leads you’re chasing?<\/p>\n

Unless you have a Limitless<\/em> brain capacity, you\u2019ll need somewhere to store, organise and share that data with all relevant stakeholders. Sounds like you? Then a CRM system can integrate all aspects of your infrastructure.<\/p>\n

Collaboration between your marketing, sales, service and IT teams will empower them to nurture your customers.<\/p>\n

How you\u2019ll want your CRM system to function will be specific to your agency. Like Cinderalla\u2019s glass slipper, it will need to be configured to be the perfect fit.<\/p>\n

There are, however, a number of leading reasons why creative agencies embrace a CRM system for both themselves and clients.<\/p>\n