Let's begin with the fundamentals and define what a CRM is. CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management. This software provides tools to build and streamline your relationships with prospects and clients. A CRM maintains client information, sends notifications to remind you of future tasks, and protects a customer base from accidental deletion. By utilizing CRM, you may elevate your client interaction and assure consumer satisfaction with your company.
Both Excel and CRM systems are utilized by businesses for data management and operational enhancement. While Excel is a widely used tool for handling data, it does not offer the comprehensive features that a CRM system provides. But unlike CRM, Excel spreadsheets does not come with any marketing features.
More so, spreadsheets are not equipped the ability to integrate with any marketing automation or application. Spreadsheets are not capacitated to scale as a business grows as it becomes a tad overwhelming to keep up with the growing list of customers. Other key distinctions include;
While many growing business owners may argue that Excel is sufficient for their needs, investing in a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system such as HelloDuty can significantly enhance their operations. For those particularly inquisitive, here are compelling reasons to transition from Excel to CRM:
Humans are prone to forgetfulness, and it's easy to lose track of valuable leads when managing them manually in Excel. You may collect all the necessary information and store it securely, but with numerous other business activities, you might forget to contact the lead at the right time. This can result in missed conversions and lost revenue.
CRM systems eliminate this issue by allowing you to set reminders and automate communication. Emails or SMS can be sent automatically, triggered by actions the lead takes on your site. Lead nurturing becomes seamless, ensuring no opportunity is missed.
While Excel may help you close several deals, it doesn't provide insights into what specifically contributed to those successes. Creating reports from manual data analysis is time-consuming and requires expertise in formulas and data manipulation.
CRM software simplifies analytics and reporting, presenting data in visual formats that are easy to understand. This capability allows businesses in Kenya to forecast sales, assess year-on-year growth, and improve lead prospecting methods effortlessly, which is a significant drawback with Excel.
As your business grows, the volume of data you manage will increase. While Excel can store large amounts of data, it becomes inefficient for managing and utilizing that data effectively.
CRM platforms excel in scalability, allowing you to add more features, users, and data entries as your business expands. You can easily upgrade to higher plans to accommodate your growing needs, ensuring your business operations remain smooth and efficient.
Excel does not provide a way to track the performance of individual sales team members. You won't have records of how many calls they made or deals they closed unless you track everything manually, adding more work to your schedule.
CRM software addresses these issues by logging all calls and communications made by individual team members. It also enables efficient task delegation, so you know who is responsible for what. This fosters accountability and ensures work is evenly distributed among team members, preventing overloading or underutilization.
Most Kenyan businesses are familiar with with spreadsheets. Thus, you may get the impression that this is the most convenient tool, and its capability is sufficient to handle operations. To be fair, spreadsheets have their own advantages:
However, advanced spreadsheet skills, such as those required for Microsoft Excel, are not common, and mistakes can often occur when entering formulas. Spreadsheet difficulties that used to be manageable can become daunting as your company’s goals and business expand. For example, teammates may accidentally overwrite a formula, or changing information about one client across many spreadsheets can be time-consuming.
Countless small businesses in Kenya have long relied on spreadsheets to manage their customer relationships and interactions. However, as time passes and digital technology advances, new business management solutions, such as CRM software, emerge. Thankfully, companies such as HelloDuty have been on the forefront of providing small and medium businesses in Kenya with practical CRM solutions, ideal for the Kenyan business landscape. In this post, we’ll look at the key distinctions between spreadsheets and more complex tools like CRM, and explore who could benefit from a customer management solution.
Let's take a closer look at CRM compared to spreadsheets to identify the major differences and benefits.
1. Keep Everything in One Place
The CRM interface allows you to operate from a single window. Without a CRM, you’ll find yourself working in many spreadsheets at the same time, duplicating data and wasting resources. CRM provides a centralized location where all data is connected and clickable, making it simple to get the information you want.
2. Secure Your Customer Base and Data
Spreadsheets are unreliable in terms of security. Formulas can be corrupted by human error, and spreadsheets may be copied, shared, and even deleted by anyone. With CRM, you can adjust access privileges and trace the complete history of activities.
3. Keep Track of All Customer Interactions
The client record comprises a complete chronological history of communication, including product demonstrations, phone conversations, and emails. This is especially useful if a salesperson gets sick or leaves, handing their present opportunities to another salesperson. All the information you need will be securely kept in a single hub accessible 24/7.
4. Plan Your Activities
CRM software often includes tools for task planning. For example, if you have a new customer’s phone number and plan to contact them again in a week, you can set a task to remind you about the upcoming call.
5. Capture Requests Automatically
You can collect all of your clients’ information in one place and track work requests across all channels, such as emails, phone calls, or embedded website forms. With CRM, you’ll be able to answer incoming inquiries more rapidly, increasing your company’s revenue.
6. Attach Files
You can attach any file to a customer or opportunity record in CRM. Upload call scripts, illustrations, documents, or any other information for easy access.
7. Calculate Data
CRM uses formulas to do necessary calculations (much like Excel) and displays the results in the appropriate record. Formulas can be quickly altered, but access to them will be clearly specified, and no one will be able to accidentally hamper calculations.
8. Work Remotely
If you keep spreadsheets on office PCs, employees cannot handle problems once they leave the office. Even with online access to Google Sheets, using them from a mobile device may not always be straightforward. CRM typically includes mobile applications tailored to remote work.
9. Easily Collaborate With Your Team
There’s no need to go through the spreadsheet for comments and notes because CRM often offers a user-friendly chat with private and group conversations. You may also leave comments directly on the client’s CRM account.
10, Gain Insights With Reports
To store data in a spreadsheet, you need to standardize data entry and seek assistance from a tech-savvy teammate to build reports and visual charts. With CRM, you can access reports with only a few clicks and no technical assistance. All information is updated in real-time and may be easily filtered.
While Excel might seem sufficient for managing your business in the short term, its limitations become apparent as your business grows. CRM systems offer enhanced functionality, scalability, and efficiency, making them a superior choice for managing customer relationships and business operations. By transitioning to CRM, businesses in Kenya can ensure better lead management, gain valuable insights, scale operations seamlessly, and improve team performance tracking. It's time to embrace CRM and move beyond the limitations of Excel for a more successful future.
Related: 3 Types of CRMS Used in Kenya
Are you ready to get started? Sign up here for a demo of the HelloDuty CRM and customer engagement automation software now.
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