Mobile Small Business Sales Management Mobile Small Business Sales Management

Cloud and mobile customer relationship management (CRM) tools can play a vital role in improving your small business sales and customer service by helping your team leverage real-time data, enhance your processes and reduce the time and cost of administrative activities.

Mobile access improves the overall effectiveness of your sales process (and the tools you use to support it) by allowing your team to centralize process and customer data in one location that’s accessible from nearly anywhere, and on any device. This in turn helps them access and update information in the field, making that data more timely, accurate and actionable.

CRM tools provide a central database for storing contact info and records for prospects and customers, order histories, scheduled appointments, tasks and other information. Most also offer shared calendars as well as centralized storage for email and document templates.

CRM platforms help companies identify and qualify leads, schedule sales activities, follow up systematically, and allow reps to devote more time to sales than administrative tasks.

While various tools emphasize different features, most offer the ability to help sales managers and teams prioritize the most attractive opportunities and enhance your team’s ability to carry out routine tasks more efficiently.

For instance, if a sales rep meets a prospect at a networking event, they can scan the prospect’s business card, schedule an appointment and send a follow-up email — all directly from the CRM app. That data is then centralized in the company’s system, so the rest of the team can see what’s going on with a specific account.

The CRM can also hold product and price data so reps can answer questions and make offers immediately during meetings or phone calls. This helps reduce a rep having to say, “I’ll get back to you” and running the risk of a prospect hearing from a competitor in the meantime, while increasing your reputation for service and responsiveness.

Some CRM apps also pull in prospects’ and customers’ social media feeds to help reps learn more about the people they’ll be meeting with.

Automated Efficiency

Mobile CRM platforms can also increase your sales team’s efficiency by automating a lot of the administrative tasks that may not be the highlight of a sales rep’s day, but that contribute to the company’s overall sales and revenue.

Automated follow-up reminders, for instance, can pop up at set intervals to remind your team to reach out to warm prospects. You can also automate follow-on sales opportunities such as a customer needing additional supplies, scheduled maintenance, a product replacement or the coming expiration of a contract.

Similarly, many tools automate the preparation of weekly and monthly activity reports that most sales reps dread having to complete. Automating this process reduces the amount of time spent filling out reports, as well as complaining about having to prepare the reports.

Automating the entry of order information, price quotes and contact details can also reduce the risk of this important data being entered incorrectly.

Some tools automatically log calls and text messages to provide an up-to-the-minute record of your company’s contacts with a prospect or customer. These logs are then synced with the company’s database so everyone can access the same information. (If a company is going to use automated logging, it’s better to issue company phones so you’re not logging personal calls and data.)

CRM apps may also include geolocation data that helps reps plan the most efficient route between appointments, as well as researching prospects that may be near scheduled meetings.