4 Ways to Optimize Your CRM for the COVID Age

SINCE the pandemic’s onset, there have been significant changes in how most businesses operate. The need for social distancing, among other containment measures, has forced many business owners, managers, and CRM administrators to ask their employees to work from their homes.

COVID-19 has played a big role in the CRM platform choices business leaders have had to make—they’ve needed systems that accommodate remote work and ensure that service delivery continues as usual. It has also affected the models managers use to monitor employee performance.

And COVID-19 has also obviously changed consumer behavior, which strongly influences all of the above.

Some organizations already had functional CRM models at the start of the pandemic; others needed to implement new CRM platforms. The processes involved can be challenging and technical. Firms like mine, Rainmaker Digital Solutions, have been busy helping clients optimize, or design, CRM platforms to help them best serve their customers’ interests in the pandemic period. Here are some of the basics:

USE CLOUD-BASED PROJECT MANAGEMENT TOOLS

These are internal tools that centralize information and communication, allowing employees to work in the comfort of their homes. Employees have access to all of the company databases, including for client engagement and customer service, and all they have to do is log in and use the tools.

Cloud-based project management tools make working more orderly, unlike the back-and-forth communication through emails, which can be overwhelming.

CONSTANTLY UPDATE YOUR COMPANY’S KNOWLEDGE BASE

A knowledge base is a repository that contains all the information about your business. Working remotely means that you might not be at liberty to respond to every employee question.

Therefore, you should always ensure that your company’s knowledge base is up to date so that the employees can refer to it whenever clients have any questions.

A knowledge base cuts down on time you spend researching information, as employees can access anything they need to know from one place.

USE VIDEO CHATS

One of the revelatory tools to have emerged from the pandemic is videoconferencing, and apps such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Google Meet became widely adopted practically overnight. Since COVID can make it very difficult (or even impossible) to hold physical meetings, you could communicate with your team (and potential clients) through video chats.

These tools are free and easy to use. They are also effective, since you can keep in touch with anyone, anywhere despite such issues as time differences.

Video chats optimize CRM as the team informs you of any challenges they encounter while keeping the team members posted on the welfare of the business. You can use video apps to make individual calls to each team member or conduct webinars involving everyone.

USE CUSTOMER SERVICE SOLUTIONS

The most crucial aspect of your business is your clientele. At Rainmaker Digital Solutions, we help design customer service software that keeps track of all communication with clients.

Customer service software also helps you monitor customer relations. Information stored in the service software provides a reference point for identifying any clients’ complaints, thereby improving these areas.

The service software should have a customized dashboard that keeps you informed on the following:

• number of requests received;
• resolved issues;
• individual working hours by employee;
• high-priority issues requiring urgent attention; and
• any tasks assigned to you as the leader.

You should also have an online service presence that includes a live chat feature. This tool enables the customers to communicate directly with customer care and make requests, complaints, or ask any questions. The customer care team should be on standby to provide instant responses to these clients.

Setting up and improving CRM platforms can be challenging for business owners and managers, but firms like Rainmaker are here to help. Good luck! 

Michael Vickers is the executive director of Rainmaker Digital Solutions and Summit Learning Systems, and is the author of Becoming Preferred and Dance of the Rainmaker. He can be reached at michael@rmdigitalsolutions.com.