Even though more and more startups are emerging to propel industries forward, the question of how they will compete with established businesses still remains. IP Converge Data Services, Inc., a local cloud services and data center pioneer, notes that the flexibility and mobility of a customer relationship management system is one of the key means of overcoming this hurdle.
“Because digital tools such as social media and cloud are more cost-efficient compared to the traditional ways of managing and promoting one’s business, it is usually the route taken by budding businesses. As such, we can consider most startups digital natives. With digital now considered the norm, startups are at an advantage,” said Dave de Leon, chief financial officer and head of business solutions group of IPC.
However, de Leon said that the true challenge lies in effectively generating, winning, and keeping business leads. “Here’s where an effective customer relationship management (CRM) tool comes in. It affords a startup’s sales team access to crucial real-time information, thereby empowering them to make better business decisions,” said de Leon.
A Forrester Research study said that companies that do well in lead nurturing generate 50 percent more sales-ready leads at 33 percent lower cost, while a Bain and Company report said that a 5 percent increase in customer retention boosts lifetime customer profits by up to 90 percent in certain industries. Additionally, cloud computing company Salesforce stated that a good CRM can increase sales by up to 29 percent, sales productivity by up to 35 percent, and forecast accuracy by 42 percent.
“Whoever can understand the customer better, wins the competition. So that’s why you have to have CRM to manage and analyze customer information which helps businesses to understand them even before they look for a product,” added Brian Dizon, director for sales, business solutions group of IPC. “When you empower your sales reps with the right tools, they can focus more on hitting their quotas instead of working on reports that can otherwise be automated or simplified.”