Customers are the driving force of any profitable and successful startup. But, if your startup cannot handle client relationships, you will have difficulty appealing and retaining them. Perhaps you're still struggling with the product-market fit. Data indicates that by 2025, the global CRM software market volume will grow to $108,585.25 million. It is a projected increase in revenue at a CAGR of 13.1% from 2021-2025. So, if you're starting a business, you should make it a top priority to get a CRM for your startup.

CRMs promise two critical ingredients for growth, i.e., better customer retention and faster sales cycles. But getting a CRM is half the job done. Using it to derive the maximum value should be the concern.

Therefore, you must implement the correct CRM strategies to get your startup moving in the right direction. For those founders who are still struggling with the correct approach, this article is for you.


Here, we will explore the top 5 CRM strategies every startup must consider and implement.
Set Goals
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Set Goals

Setting goals is fundamental to every business, irrespective of the sector. If you do not set goals, you'll just get lost in the unfathomable amount of data. Even worse, they may mislead you with fallacious information. By setting goals and sticking to them, you can ensure that your startup moves in the right direction.

The objectives depend on your particular business model and scenario. Break them down into achievable and smaller goals, and then survey how and when to execute these steps. This outline should be flexible, enabling revision along the way.

As startups often struggle to find the product-market fit or retain customers, a CRM will help you achieve that. If you want to make more sales, selling X amount of a product should be your goal. If customer retention is your aim, then you should plan accordingly.

A Salesforce Development Company can help your organization achieve its targeted goals by utilizing the Salesforce CRM software. According to statistics, Salesforce is a leader and gold-standard in the global CRM applications market, with a share of 18.4 percent in 2019. The bottom line is, without goal setting, your CRM investment will fail.

Focus on One Metric That Matters (OMTM)
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Focus on One Metric That Matters (OMTM)

The concept of One Metric That Matters focuses only on a single performance indicator. In a CRM, you can set up and track multiple metrics. But not all of them will be of equal importance or relevance at any given point. Moreover, the metric selection is different from goal setting. When setting a goal, you have an ultimate destination in mind. It doesn't change until you achieve it. But metrics change from time to time.

For example, if your goal is to boost sales revenue, you might select 50 units in a month as your goal. But there are different checkpoints along the way that are equally important. So, to sell 50 units, you need to ship 50 units and quality 50 customers. For that, you must acquire more than 50 customers (considering not all of them will convert). Thus, your metric changes while your goal remains the same.

You can look at the metrics like complaints handling, service quality, and accessibility for customer satisfaction. The more people accessing your service, the better. The lesser number of people complaining about your product, the better.

Communicate With Your Employees

The organizations of today have to be data-driven. That's because there's so much information available. But with CRM, you can take the ambiguity out of the equation. You can look at the available data and derive meaningful, action-oriented information.

You can communicate the same to your employees so that everyone aligns with the company's goals and vision. Without this communication, your employees might not realize what the company wants them to do.

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Start Tracking Your Customers Before They're in CRM

Many startup founders think that they only need to work on a customer once they're inside the CRM. But this can be a mistake too. Ideally, start tracking your customer from the first touchpoint itself. If they visited your website through the search engine, they might not immediately fill out a sign-up form. So, their information will not make it to the CRM. But with tools like Google Analytics, you can track them easily.

The reason being you'll be able to have a better idea of how people are interacting with your products and services. With this information, you can more accurately target those potential customers and drive up your sales.

Mobile CRM Is A Must

In a study, researchers looked at mobile CRM's impact on sales collaboration and sales performance. What they found out was that Mobile CRM enhances the salesperson's ability to close sales. The salespeople working at a startup must close as many deals as possible because of the limited budget in hand. Therefore, you should invest in a mobile-CRM to increase your chances of breakeven.

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Conclusion

CRM software is perhaps the best way to create a meaningful relationship with your customers. You'll be able to serve them with the products they'd care about and need. With the above five strategies, you can maximize the value of your CRM investment. If you're just getting started with CRM, it's better to consult a Salesforce certified consultant to create a customized CRM strategy.