Many organizations use tools like notebooks, spreadsheets, and email programs to manage contacts, clients, and transactions. However, as the organization grows, these tools may become less efficient. A Gartner study mentions eight essential pillars for implementing a CRM system: vision, strategy, user experience, organizational information sharing, business processes, information, performance measurement, and technology. A CRM system helps implement these pillars and improves customer and transaction management.
Signs of the need for a CRM system:
Difficulty in classifying contacts into categories (industry, profession, geographic region).
Difficulty in quickly searching and locating contacts and transactions.
Missing or hard-to-retrieve information in spreadsheets.
Inability to associate campaign results with actual sales.
Difficulty in managing and tracking the activity of the sales team.
