Why CRM is inevitable in today's industry

That it is capable of managing the entire machine park In the industrial sector, the problem of managing the machine park is almost systematic: which machines or tools are located at the customer’s premises? Should it be rented or bought? When should maintenance be done? What are the competitive machines installed in a potential customer? All this information is essential both for good customer relationship management and for detecting new opportunities. If you have the information that a competitor’s contract is 6 months from its expiration date, what could be better than having an alert in your own account to contact the potential client at that time. An adequate CRM has to be able to manage a fleet of machines properly. Not only have the overview, but also a vision for each client or potential client. The information must be fully customizable, so that you can choose the fields you want to complete. This makes it possible to improve knowledge about customers and potential customers while improving business efficiency.

Link industrial CRM with GPAO or ERP

It is common to work with tools such as a GPAO or an ERP to manage production activities. These tools are very specific and do not always offer the possibility of managing the customer relationship. If you want to go for industry side CRM software, it is recommended that you be able to establish a connection between the two tools. A link between the software adds a lot in terms of practicality. Certain information will have to be present in both tools and the goal is not to have to enter everything by hand. The connection allows this to be done automatically. You have to choose the information that should be fed back into one or the other software and thus you will have a complete and updated view in real time. Users who are not in the GPAO will have the same level of useful information and vice versa.

Better manage after-sales service

In an industrial environment, customer service is critical. Customer service must be impeccable and last not only from implementation to delivery, but afterwards as well. This involves several points: regular exchanges on the progress of the project, meetings with clients, reactive maintenance, etc. The industry CRM tool must be able to manage all of these points to improve responsiveness and customer satisfaction.

Marketing functions of industrial CRM

Digital marketing is used less often than it should be in the industry, and often the wrong way too. Many manufacturers have noticed this lack since the onset of the pandemic. Salespeople were unable to visit customers and therefore it was necessary to find new means to develop the business. It is true that digital marketing is not going to be the same for a clothing brand as for an industrial company. But that doesn’t mean it has to be non-existent. There are simple actions that can be taken that can clearly make a difference. Therefore, when choosing the future customer relationship tool, it is important to take this variable into account and ask yourself whether I can carry out marketing actions with my tool. A good CRM sends email campaigns or creates forms to include on the corporate website. And all this, without leaving the platform. The CRM causes a clear improvement in aspects such as communication between the different services, the exchange of information during projects, the understanding of all based on a common frame of reference and motivation thanks to saving time and efficiency in tasks that require a long time.

A mobile CRM for the industry

Industry CRM must be accessible to salespeople who are often on the go. Between product demonstrations, visits to trade shows and technical meetings, an agile, mobile and useful tool is necessary. From a Smartphone you can directly access a CRM application to integrate all the news collected during visits to customers, potential customers, partners or suppliers. The functions are simplified compared to the computer version for faster processing and greater efficiency.]]>