One of my business New Year’s resolutions is to embrace my Facebook page, become more social on it, and engage with my audience more. Another resolution is to organize all of my contacts in one place and start using a customer relationship management (CRM) tool. But in this day and age, of course, any technology worth its salt has a social element to it, so I am now hooked up with a social CRM called BatchBook. Check it out.
If you have never heard of a social CRM, time to get cozy with one. It will take your lead nurturing and conversion efforts to the next level. Here are seven reasons why you need to start using social CRM today:
1. Keep your contact information safe and sound.
If you have ever experienced a computer crash, my sympathies. It’s an ugly mess, and losing your precious client and potential client data could be disastrous. Of the social CRMs I looked at, all information resides on their servers instead of your hard drive. If your computer crashes, all is not lost—your information will still be intact and you can keep on keepin’ on.
2. Organize client notes, files and comments.
Any CRM, social or not, will allow you to organize notes, files, comments, and other information on your clients in one spot. If you’re working on a team, this is a super helpful way to keep everyone on the same page without e-mailing updates constantly.
3. Find contacts on social media.
This is the biggie. You will know where your clients and potential clients spend time online! You can find your contacts on Facebook and Twitter, and you’ll be notified if they have a blog. With BatchBook, you can even receive their new blog posts, tweets, etc. right on their contact page.
4. Listen to and analyze conversations.
The other biggie: You can find and join conversations that are happening online so you know what is important to your clients, and you can conduct searches to see what is being said about your company. No need to use a separate program—everything will stay organized in one spot.
5. Automate lead nurturing.
Forget filling up your Outlook calendar with reminders to get in touch with potential clients. Who can keep up with that anyway? With any CRM, you will be able to send e-mails containing white papers, brochure, data sheets, and other relevant information to leads at set intervals.
6. Track sales
Use the built-in project management tool to keep track of the sales, deals, and projects for each client. Another handy feature if you are working on a team.
7. It’s mobile.
Many social CRMs are mobile, so you can check the status of deals, update your to-do list, or add new client notes while you’re out and about.
If you use a social CRM, how has it helped you be more productive and increased your sales?
Image by Flickr user joey.ganoza (Creative Commons)
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