Work wherever you want, wear whatever you want, make your own hours. While all of the freedoms that come along with freelancing are great, it’s also a big job to manage your own business. You still have customers who depend on you to deliver not only the specific services you offer but also to communicate and collaborate with them in order to develop long-term relationships, which in turn, means more profit. But talk about busy!
Customer relationship management, or, CRM databases, can help the busy freelancer manage many aspects of their business. Their use can not only help organize projects and tasks at hand but also can show you how to increase the flow of work as well.
Sounds great, right? In this article, we’ll explore five ways that a CRM system could change your freelancing business into a well-oiled and profitable machine.
Five Ways CRMs Could Change Your Business
Automation
Automating functions such as transactional emails can not only save you time but also generate six times more revenue than any other type of email. They are also opened eight times more often than other types of emails.
With CRM, you can have emails sent out as soon as a customer’s purchase is completed. Want to send thank you notes with that purchase? It can do that too. Did someone subscribe to your website? A CRM can autogenerate an email to them welcoming them to your site and outlining your services. The possibilities are broad and will help keep your customers engaged.
Task management is another type of automation that is offered within CRM software, as well as the possibility of integrating your website.
Customer Lifecycle
Without your customers, you wouldn’t have a business. Their satisfaction is the most important factor that should drive how you operate. CRM software’s databases can store data about your customers, but they can also help you analyze their information and generate appropriate leads.
During the different stages of the customer lifecycle, reach, acquire, conversion, retention, and advocacy, what your customer needs from you might be very different. Relying on data metrics and automation from a CRM will help you identify and provide whatever your customer’s unique needs are, no matter what stage they are at.
Collaboration
Clear communication with your customers and your team is an essential skill a freelancer should possess. With CRM software, you have an instant messaging system that can be used to connect with people on the go, as well as online storage space, making all of your important information both secure and readily available regardless of your location.
It also offers tools to help you manage the fiscal end of your business so you can have all of your functions in one platform. CRMs typically have options for budget management, and features that enable the generation of invoices and quotes for business transactions.
Increase The Speed Of Workflow
Companies that build CRM software want to make an efficient platform that can do everything a freelancer needs to manage their business. For that reason, most CRMs offer a project management tool.
Do you like to-do lists? Need to track assignments? Let your CRM help you keep you on track. Not only will it help you stay organized, but it offers a time-tracker that you can use to track how much time you are spending on tasks. This information is invaluable as it can be used to make changes in your work habits in order to streamline your processes and boost your productivity.
Using Data From Analytics And Reports
Since CRMs are built to manage all aspects of your business, they wouldn’t be complete without built-in reports and analytics. While concentrating on tasks at hand is of the utmost importance, a business wouldn’t be a business if you don’t remember to think about the future as well.
The information collected in the reports and analytics will help you to make good decisions for your business’s future and make improvements to assure it will stand strong for years to come.
CRM Solutions has been providing CRM software and services to small businesses in the Tampa Bay area since 1996. They take pride in their work and aim to improve the business workflow for their clients as quickly as possible.