What is the purpose of customer relationship management software?
Customer relationship management (CRM) is a means of managing a company’s interactions and relationships with current and potential clients or customers. CRM software analyzes data related to each customer’s history with the company and leverages the results to try to retain and improve the company’s business relationships with those customers and attract new customers. The main goal of CRM software is to increase revenues and grow sales.

What are the best practice management systems?
The best case management systems — like the ones listed in our buyers guide — create a relational database that aggregates all kinds of information to specific matters and clients. This includes everything from intake to invoicing. Doing so allows for a holistic overview of your practice and breaks down silos between different types of information, allowing for greater efficiency, easier communication, and increased data security.

How does customer relationship management software work?
CRM software uses technology to automate an organization’s practices and strategies aimed at managing customer interactions and then analyzes the data from those interactions throughout the entire course of the customer lifecycle. The data analyzed by CRM systems comes from a number of different communications channels, including telephone, chat, email, direct mail, social media, the organization’s website, and any other marketing materials. The company and its customer-facing employees can use the insights generated by the CRM system to better understand customers’ history with the organization, service preferences, goals and concerns, and more, in order to better serve them and retain their business.

What are the benefits of customer relationship management software?
CRM software allows organizations a better means of organizing and managing existing client data in order to maximize growth. It also provides a more effective and centralized way to manage marketing campaigns, customer leads, potential customer conflicts, and more. The right system results in deals that close faster and clients that are happier with their services. In addition to strengthening current customer relationships, CRM software helps businesses identify potential new customers and discover new avenues for expanding their customer base and pursuing business growth.

What are the main functions to look for in a customer relationship management system?
The best CRM systems — like the ones listed in our buyers guide — should serve as the centralized source for all your customer contact information, data, and communications. They should give you quick access to data on your customers’ needs in order to respond to them most efficiently and effectively. The right CRM tool should also give you measurable insights into key metrics like customer satisfaction, customer loyalty, and customer retention. CRM systems generally come in four types — operational CRM, collaborative CRM, analytical CRM, and marketing CRM. Many of the top CRM tools combine several of these functions, and you should speak with your vendor to understand which functionalities best meet the needs of your organization.

How do you get the most out of your CRM system?
A CRM system will only be effective if your employees actually use it. Therefore, if you’re going to implement CRM, you should also commit to providing your users with comprehensive training on the new system. You should not just encourage, but require widespread usage, and be willing to provide follow-up or individualized training if employees have questions. Finally, get feedback from your users — in order to maximize the benefits your CRM system has to offer, you want to make sure it incorporates the features that your users find most helpful in order to allow them to serve your clients to the best of their abilities.