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Why use a CRM?

I spoke to many small businesses this week about how they manage their customer and contact data.

Our research showed most business owners have heard of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) but aren’t sure what it actually means. When examining how their customer data is split between mail, notes, spreadsheets and accounting software however, they recognised there’s a problem that may eventually get out of control.  They understand they should be managing things better.

To me, CRM is about aligning your business processes to the customer. For example, ensuring the customer’s information is consistent whether writing an email to them, handling a support issue, organising an event or speaking on the phone. A CRM system, like vTiger, is a tool that helps achieve this.

That is, if you use it.