The right customer service management (CRM) for marketing, sales, and service is essential for B2B companies. Otherwise, you'll lose valuable leads and existing customers. With the right strategy, on the other hand, you can guide every contact through the customer journey as efficiently as possible and increase customer lifetime value.
But how does CRM work for B2B companies and how can you develop an efficient strategy to generate new leads, retain customers, and close more sales? You'll find out in the following article!
What Is Customer Relationship Management (CRM)?
Customer relationship management (CRM), or customer care management, comprises the strategy, the action plan, and the technical basis for analyzing and handling contacts along the customer journey.
Customer relationship management aims to collect more information about a contact with every interaction, to guide them efficiently through the customer journey, and thus increase sales and deepen customer relationships.
A central aspect of customer relationship management is not only generating new leads but also ensuring that these leads lead to long-term customer relationships and ultimately customer success.
Every point of contact (touchpoint) with the company counts as an interaction. A conversation with a sales representative is therefore just as much a touchpoint as a visit to the company website.
CRM aims to centrally bundle activities on various channels and thus obtain a meaningful data basis for every contact.
Levels of Customer Relationship Management
Customer relationship management affects various levels within a company. The focus is primarily on the strategic, operational, and analytical levels.
Strategically
On a strategic level, CRM deals with a customer-centric corporate culture. This means that, whether marketing, sales, or service, all processes and strategies must be geared to meeting the needs and concerns of B2B customers.
The strategic focus on customer-centered action in turn has a positive impact on customer lifetime value (CLV).
Operationally
On an operational level, the focus is on the use of CRM systems. This primarily involves networking marketing, sales, and service activities about potential and effective customers.
Each interaction enriches a contact's data set and provides information about their activities and interests. With the help of marketing, sales, and service automation, recurring processes can be automated and thus further optimized.
Analytically
On an analytical level, the focus is on customer behavior. This lists which campaigns or marketing measures were particularly successful, where the customers with the highest turnover can be found, and what a typical customer of your company looks like on average in terms of size, turnover, and number of employees.
The CRM system serves as a master for any contact data. By analyzing customer data, companies can understand which strategies and measures lead to long-term customer success. With the help of workflows and clear processes, contacts can be better served and any questions and problem areas can be anticipated at an early stage.
A useful extension is a Customer Data Platform (CDP), which records customer interactions on all channels and transfers them to the CRM in a structured manner.
What is the Importance of Customer Relationship Management in B2B?
Customer relationship management and an associated CRM system are relevant for a company when:
- many data points should be summarized centrally.
- different departments work with the same data sets.
- long, complex sales cycles make it difficult to keep track of individual interactions and interim results.
- efficient marketing measures should be implemented.
- The focus is on individual offers.
Customer relationship management is therefore particularly important for B2B companies.
Benefits of CRM systems for B2B companies
A CRM system offers a variety of benefits for marketing and sales, which increase efficiency and promote collaboration between departments.
- Efficient data management: The CRM system enables central and structured management of sales and marketing data.
- Real-Time Analytics: With CRM, companies can quickly access important key figures, such as the number of customers acquired, the conversion rate of leads, or the revenue generated.
- Improved customer interaction: With a CRM, companies can track the entire customer life cycle and enable personalized interactions at every stage of the customer journey.
- Optimized marketing campaigns: By analyzing marketing data, companies can better understand the effectiveness of their campaigns and develop more targeted marketing strategies.
- Increasing sales efficiency: CRM helps salespeople identify promising leads and manage customer relationships, which can lead to a higher closing rate.
- Improved customer loyalty: By better understanding the needs and preferences of their customers, companies can provide personalized service and build long-term customer relationships.
Areas of Application for Customer Relationship Management in the B2B Sector
Marketing
A central function of a CRM system in marketing is the management of contact data. It is important to collect comprehensive data, including addresses, contact persons, telephone numbers, email addresses, contacts' company information, etc. This data must be updated regularly, and data protection plays a crucial role. High-quality CRM systems make it possible to track the consent of contacts to receive newsletters.
Every employee who has access to the CRM system can view contact details and tailor marketing activities accordingly to individual contacts. With every contact with a marketing lead, new information is collected and the contact profile is updated. CRM provides valuable insights during the customer journey, from product search to purchase and beyond.
After the CRM system is filled with this data, there can be time information about when certain leads need to be contacted again and when they are likely to seek contact with the sales team. This enables efficient campaign management.
Sales
As soon as a lead is ready to have an initial contact with a sales representative, it is handed over from marketing to sales. CRM therefore not only improves work processes in sales but also creates synergies between the various specialist areas.
A customer relationship management tool helps to identify which sales activities make sense when contacting a customer. In this way, the sales representative can determine the optimal time and appropriate form of contact.
Many CRM tools focus on offer management by creating specialized pipelines for offers for different products or budgets. Salespeople can use these tools to easily create individualized offers and determine when which steps in the sales journey are initiated.
Service
Customer addresses, previous orders, customer selection, and associated statistics offer the opportunity to maintain efficient contact management. This provides a comprehensive overview of business contacts and the associated contacts and also records all activities.
With a CRM tool, you can not only work efficiently and save time, but also increase your own company's turnover.
People work in every company. A well-implemented CRM system not only helps you to acquire new customers but also to maintain existing customer relationships and ensure customer success in the long term.
And satisfied customers will recommend your company to others. It also allows you to turn potential customers into real customers and retain them with your company in the long term.
What Are the Best CRM Systems for B2B Companies?
Of course, there are various CRM systems that you can use for your B2B company. One of the most popular is HubSpot, which has both a free and paid version. But there are also other systems that you can use, for example:
- HubSpot CRM: HubSpot is an easy-to-use platform that integrates marketing, sales, and customer service and offers a variety of tools for lead generation and customer engagement.
- Salesforce: An industry-leading CRM system with a wide range of features and customization options, suitable for businesses of all sizes.
- Zoho CRM: An affordable option with a range of features that allows companies to track leads, manage offers, and maintain customer relationships.
- Microsoft Dynamics 365: A flexible CRM system that is seamlessly integrated with other Microsoft products and helps companies manage and strengthen customer relationships.
- Pipedrive: An easy-to-use CRM system that focuses on the sales process and helps companies qualify leads, close deals, and increase sales.
CONCLUSION
Customer relationship management (CRM) is a crucial tool for B2B companies to effectively manage the customer journey and steer it specifically through the various specialist areas. By automating and personalizing recurring processes and communication measures, companies can work more efficiently and at the same time address the needs of their target group more precisely.
CRM makes it possible to guide potential customers faster through the sales funnel and increase the closing rate. It also provides insights and analytics that help companies continuously improve their marketing and sales strategies.
In today's world, when customer relationships and customer success are crucial, well-implemented CRM systems are essential for B2B companies. This is the only way you can gain competitive advantages and build long-term customer loyalty.
Fortunately, various tools such as HubSpot, Salesforce, or Pipedrive make CRM a breeze!
