Software as a Service (SaaS) companies understand the importance of having strong internal processes and procedures in place. The same measure of importance should apply to growth strategies. This is where customer relationship management (CRM) tools can help. Achieving sustainable growth and effectively managing customer support are essential for longevity in this dynamic industry. In this article, we will delve into how CRM for SaaS can help you excel in these critical areas while enhancing your sales, marketing, and service processes.
CRM Features SaaS Companies Should Look For
CRM features SaaS companies should look for include:
- A single, shareable view of all customer information
- Deal/opportunity tracking
- Customer and lead touchpoint/interaction tracking
- Dashboards for insights and analytics
- Lead generation
- Lead scoring
- Lead nurturing
- Personalized customer service
- Data and security role-based permissions
Below, we’re calling attention to some of the underutilized CRM features SaaS companies can use to help drive efficiencies and enhance the customer experience.
Lead Generation
Lead generation is the process of attracting prospects to your organization. You can add interested/warm leads to your sales funnel by integrating data collected from your landing pages and forms directly into CRM. This can help streamline the lead generation process and help you “hit the mark” with leads by understanding what interests them. This CRM feature also can greatly reduce manual data entry.
Lead Scoring
Use CRM tools to segment your leads with lead scoring (those who are interested in your products or services) and lead grading (those who are of interest to your organization).
Lead scoring can be set up in most CRM platforms by assigning numeric values to specific website browsing activities, conversion events, or even social media interactions. The lead score, be it positive or negative, will help inform you about a prospect’s interests and intentions. It also can help you filter out bounced email addresses and those most unlikely to convert into a customer—because not every lead should be added to the sales pipeline. Implement a quality control system by allowing only high-quality leads in and nurturing the rest.
Lead Nurturing
Lead nurturing is the process of building relationships with prospective buyers. It encapsulates the steps you take after you’ve captured the attention of someone interested in your products or services and before you hit them with a hard sales pitch. By implementing a few useful techniques—like leveraging targeted content and creating multi-channel touchpoints, CRM can help you nurture leads and drive sales.
Personalized Customer Service
If your current customer service processes aren’t as efficient as you’d like or there are bottlenecks within your case management workflows, it may be time to invest in a CRM system like Salesforce Service or Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Service. These tools can help you solve pressing customer service challenges, including bottlenecks, pain points, and inconsistent customer experiences. Let’s review key CRM features that can positively impact customer service.
A CRM system that can track support cases can help SaaS companies:
- Build a self-service portal complete with knowledge base articles, FAQs, and relevant resources to provide customers with easy access to troubleshooting tips or status updates for their tickets/cases
- Report on key internal metrics, such as first response time, resolution rate, and more to identify areas where customers are receiving prompt service and where more resources may be needed
- Seamlessly transition from a customer service case to dispatching a field service technician to resolve an issue (depending on CRM capabilities)
- Track customer assets, such as software licenses, employees, number of employees, and more to help with licensing agreements, sales orders, and cross-promotion or value-added sales opportunities
- Automate messages to customers (by email or text) about ticket/case assignment and resolution
- Improve brand consistency across customer interactions
- Equip customer service agents with pertinent customer information (including interactions/touchpoints, ticket/case history, resolutions, and even which agents they previously worked with) to enhance support interactions—this also can help customers avoid having to explain everything that happened multiple times
- Identify and address bottlenecks or inefficiencies in case management workflows
Further, you can effectively manage and track customer support cases over time by leveraging CRM technology. This can help you identify opportunities to expedite case resolution through new or updated knowledge base articles. This also can help you gain additional insights into customer preferences.
Data & Security Role-Based Permissions
SaaS companies understand the importance of keeping customer data safe and secure. With increasing concerns over data breaches and privacy violations, it can be pivotal to have a CRM system in place. CRM can be more than a tool for tracking sales and managing customer interactions. It also can be an effective tool to comply with data security and privacy requirements.
Many cloud-based CRM systems can help companies stay compliant with data privacy regulations, provide disaster recovery capabilities, build trust with customers, and more. Here are some of the leading security features to review:
- Improved Security
One of the primary benefits of using CRM is that it can provide an added layer of security to customer data. With a cloud-based system, data is stored in a centralized location, making it easier to monitor and manage access. Companies can control who has access to sensitive data and set up permissions to help ensure that only authorized users can view and edit select data.
- Compliance With Regulations
Another benefit of using CRM for data security is that it can help you stay compliant with data privacy regulations such as GDPR, CCPA, and HIPAA. With CRM, you can collect and store customer data in a way that can meet such requirements.
- Disaster Recovery
Cloud-based CRM systems generally have built-in disaster recovery capabilities, which means if there’s ever an outage, a company can quickly and securely recover data.
- Increased Customer Trust
Customers increasingly are concerned about data privacy and want to know that their information is being stored and used responsibly. By storing customer information in a central, secure, cloud-based location, access to sensitive data can be managed effectively.
How FORVIS Can Help
Assessing CRM Platforms
If your current sales and service processes aren’t as efficient as you’d like or if bottlenecks and inconsistent experiences hinder your operations, it may be time to consider investing in a CRM system such as Salesforce Service or Dynamics 365 Customer Service. These powerful tools can help you tackle pressing customer service challenges, resolve bottlenecks, alleviate pain points, and maintain consistent customer experiences.
Streamlining Business Processes
To maintain consistent and efficient sales and service processes, it’s critical to standardize your procedures. Consider each step your customers or employees may need to take to find answers. Documenting these steps can help you automate workflows using CRM technology. Both Salesforce Service and Dynamics 365 Customer Service provide automation triggers and case assignment rules that can be configured based on your company’s unique requirements.
CRM isn’t merely about tracking the customer journey; it also can provide advanced features that can elevate your operations. To remain competitive and thrive in this dynamic industry, it’s imperative to adapt and evolve. By reviewing internal business processes and leveraging CRM technology to enhance them, SaaS companies can build a strong foundation for sustainable growth.
If you’re interested in learning more about CRM for SaaS companies, please reach out to a professional at FORVIS or use the Contact Us form below.