Successful businesses are organized businesses. Most businesses have or desire multiple clients. This makes being organized even more important. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software programs can keep your business relationships organized and growing.

In the past, people had an address book or Rolodex to store information. A CRM program is essentially the digital form of those organization tools. When a client signs up for your services, a CRM can collect information including email, phone number, address, and birthday. As you get to know them better, you can also ask for their family members’ names.

Many CRM programs have spaces for notes and next steps, such as follow-up phone calls or sessions, so at the beginning of each day, your CRM will provide an automated to-do list based on those next steps. If you have tried to keep all these details in your head or logged into your phone calendar, you’ll know that sometimes items get missed or forgotten, which can damage your credibility. Automating the to-do list process saves you time and embarrassment.

Give it a Personal Touch

Building a client relationship also means building a friendship with that person. Yes, YOU are the one with the expertise but that doesn’t mean you can’t be friendly outside of business. Learn about their business or their life; ask about their family; wish them a Happy Birthday or Happy Anniversary; ask questions about their latest vacation. Any little tidbit of personal information that comes up in your sessions, emails, or other conversations can be noted in your CRM program and added to your to-do list. A simple email with, “Welcome back from vacation! Let’s get your next session booked,” adds a personal touch to your relationship.

Sending birthday cards to your clients is a great way to add a personal touch to the partnership. If you gather that information during the client onboarding session, note it in your CRM program. Then every week or every month you can do a search for birthdays and send out the cards. Sending eCards is certainly simple but also consider sending handwritten birthday cards with a simple message. That’s one way to stand out from the crowd since everyone’s inbox is packed.

Other Things a CRM Can Do

Some CRMs have an email system integrated so you can send individual messages or bulk messages instead of paying for a separate email provider. These email services also allow you to segment your clients based on what packages or products they purchased so you can run dedicated campaigns just to those people touting your latest products.

CRMs can track leads so you can follow up with them on a regular basis or send them emails specific to their needs. This is especially handy since you always want to gather people into your sales funnel, and you don’t want anyone falling through the cracks.

CRM programs can add great value by handling a variety of tasks that help keep your business organized. Keep in mind that there are dozens of CRM programs available so do your due diligence when researching. Pricing structures vary considerably but also, in this day and age of high technology, choose a program from an established company that offers support and security updates.

Next week, we will dive into a Money Mindset – how to make it work effectively for your business.