CONCEPT OF THE CRM SYSTEM

What does the CRM system mean?

A The concept of the CRM system It means something different to everyone. Sometimes very different. For some, the concept of the CRM system is a miracle cure that will help them get more customers. (No. And the diet pill is also a scam.)

There are those for whom the The concept of the CRM system: an automatic sales system that generates interest over the web, then receives customers and automatically turns them into buyers. (These are Sales Force Automation systems and Online Stores.)

For many leaders The concept of the CRM system: a digital whip with which you can prod your salespeople. I won't list the extremes any further - let's see what we at Alpha Consulting considered important when we started planning our own more than 20 years ago, Opteamus CRM our system...

I want to know everything about everything!

Opteamus CRM in our system The concept of CRM: a sales support system that is capable not only of recording and retrieving the history of individual sales cases and the related tasks (which CRM system basic function), but it is capable of the same with almost any data. In the B2B world, where the sales process is not straightforward, and does not take place in minutes or days, every small piece of information we acquire matters. All of this comes in handy where the sales cycle unfortunately drags on, involves multiple participants, and is complex.

A The concept of CRM a kind of sales for us knowledge base, which not only knows columns and statistics, but, following the example of Google and Facebook, conveniently presents any information to us. The more complex and the more participants there are in a sales process, the more the Opteamus CRM system can help in achieving successful deals.

What questions can a good CRM system answer?

• How are we doing with the customer called Megacorp? Let's see all related material, whether it's a phone call, a short note, an attached offer, anything!
• Within this, let's narrow it down and see what contracts we have with Megacorp this year?
• What's the situation with Pál Kala now? He is an old good friend of ours, but he changes companies every two years. Let's see everything related to him, whether it happened at his current or previous workplace!
• I remember that we talked to someone about the development of beer consumption during the COVID period. Who was it, and what exactly did we discuss?
• What prospects do we have to whom we have already sent an offer, but did not reach the contract signing?
• How many prospects and how many customers did we have this year?

Concept of CRM: extra equipment

A The concept of CRM in our opinion: extra equipment that can make skilled salespeople even more effective, somewhat like an assault weapon equipped with night vision, a silencer, and optical sights in the hands of a special forces team. The analogy is not far-fetched, because Opteamus CRM system indeed contains some such extra function, which are not typical in similar systems, and which many people immediately fall in love with when they see in our system...

CRM Types of Systems

B2C CRM Systems

If you need to sell a book, pizza, or T-shirt, that is, simple products directly to the customer, you can typically expect a large number of interested parties. In a fortunate scenario, so many that the salespeople can no longer handle them all. As a matter of fact, it would also be a waste to use well-trained agile manpower to convince anyone that the ham pizza or Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard is a good choice. In this situation, the automation of B2C CRM Systems comes in handy. Automated CRM systems, without human intervention, automatically send customers pre-prepared informational materials about pizzas or Chekhov, or notify them of extraordinary promotions that never actually existed. The essence of B2C CRM systems is automation, which allows us to increase the chances that our interested parties become customers without using live personnel.

B2B CRM Systems

The situation is completely different if the business sells high-value, unique items, especially to companies. It is obvious that you cannot sell nuclear power plants and industrial robots with just a few automated emails. In the B2B world, naturally, the success of a sale depends on the personal work of the salespeople. How can a CRM system help with this? Under no circumstances with automatic processes. The process of high-value corporate sales is unpredictable, lengthy, and fraught with unexpected twists. Moreover, it takes long months to make a decision. The task of a good B2B CRM system here is precisely to accurately document this complicated story. Who are the key figures of the targeted company that need to be convinced? Who has what authority and influence over the decision? Who did we tell what, who did we send what, who answered what, who whispered what? This story must be stored in the database in a well-organized, easily searchable way, and shown to the sales colleagues. Yes, not even for just one person, since often several people work on a case, from the engineers assisting with the proposal all the way to the director giving the final presentation. This substantial dataset must be presented to the colleagues clearly, manageably, and easily searchable. The main point is to provide the trader colleagues with accurate data. So that they can search for any data, any detail at any time and from anywhere, even from a mobile phone, or thoroughly prepare for their next step. B2B Customer Relationship Management is a weapon in the hands of the trader.

CRM system integration

In the case of B2C systems, it naturally follows that Customer Relationship Management should be integrable with the online store and the billing system. Nothing more is needed, the machine runs, the creator rests, and without human labor, many customers can be served automatically. In the case of B2B, the situation is completely different. Here, an online store is out of the question, but it is important that after a successful sale, the product does not need to be mailed, but rather installed, commissioned, and later maintained.

CRM HELPDESK integration

The opportunity arises that if a database of customers, products, and sales already exists, technical content can also appear alongside it. A B2B CRM system therefore often also has integrated HELPDESK functions, in which every task of the technicians can be assigned and documented. Such systems are suitable not only for ticketing ad-hoc errors but also for managing and coordinating planned maintenance and support-related work. An important and complex part of these jobs is accounting, which often takes place not only towards the customer but also towards the cooperating subcontractors.

CRM Financial integration

As long as the data of interested parties are in the Customer Relationship Management database, the data of customers are already appearing in the enterprise management or other financial system. An online transactional connection can even be established between the systems, so that invoices or the actual data of sales can become visible in the CRM system.

CRM Statistics

From the data in the CRM database, any statistics of the company can be drawn, the question is what makes sense. In the case of B2C systems, it is obviously useful data to know how much of what was sold. In the B2B case, a computer is not needed for this; everyone knows exactly which deals were won and which were not. It is much more important that a CRM system also knows everything about ongoing cases, that is, it can draw attention to those offers that seem to be slipping through, to those tasks whose deadlines have passed. Moreover, if we are already talking about deadlines, a proactive approach is much more useful: let the warning come when it is still not too late!

Salespeople's activity

It is not the least important aspect that when using CRM, the work of the traders is visible in black and white. The managers often have an undisguised goal of making the work of the salespeople accountable and measurable through the use of the CRM system. Every commercial manager's dream is a smaller yet more efficient team...

In the meantime, until the perfect team is formed, a high turnover should be expected. If the new colleagues are greeted by a complete, stocked CRM system, they will get up to speed much faster on which customer, which company stands where, who is who.

OPTEAMUS CRM SYSTEM

The Opteamus CRM system that we have developed and offered is clearly operational CRM system, designed for medium and large enterprises, a system supporting B2B sales. For us, the concept of CRM means: knowing more about the client, about the situation, so that we can react smarter and faster. We consider our primary task to be providing a tool for the business with which they can know everything about their clients and cases, quickly, even with mobile access, from anywhere, anytime. Not a magic solution, but a tool that, if used wisely, allows them to make more and better deals. As we wrote in our blog, the Opteamus CRM software for hard times.