5 CRM Integrations That Should Be Really Helpful
CRMs, on their own, can be limited. To maximize their potential, businesses should integrate these systems with other tools. Below are a few examples of particularly useful integrations.
What Is CRM Integration?
CRM integration means connecting your CRM system with other tools your business uses daily:
- telephony
- accounting software
- helpdesk systems, etc.
The idea is to achieve a smoother data flow, reduce the need for manual data entry (ideally, eliminate it), and give your teams access to consistent information.
CRM integration is a pretty challenging task because of data migration issues, synchronization problems, and compatibility problems. This is why it’s often best to perform it with a custom crm solutions agency: their experts understand the intricacies and so they’ll help your business escape many errors.
5 CRM Integrations That Are Super Useful For Businesses
Telephony
This integration logs calls, records conversations, and links them to specific customer profiles. Additionally, it enables features such as
- click-to-call
- automatic call logging
- instant access to customer details when a call comes in.
This should be especially helpful for customer support and sales teams. Without integration, these teams may waste time switching between systems to record information or retrieve customer details.
Email Marketing
A CRM integrated with email marketing platforms (e.g., Mailchimp or ActiveCampaign) allows businesses to
- build targeted email campaigns
- segment audiences
- track the success of each campaign directly from their CRM.
The best thing about it is that you actually automate personalized outreach based on customer data and behavior. You’ll be able to automatically log interactions (e.g., opens, clicks, responses, etc.). Over time, this may increase engagement thanks to timely and relevant follow-ups.
Accounting
Next, there’s this option of integrating your CRM with accounting software (e.g., QuickBooks, Xero, etc.). That should be a gift for your sales, finance, and support teams. They’ll be all on the same page regarding customer payment status, outstanding invoices, and financial history.
Three things you can achieve with this integration are
- automated invoice generation, payment reminders, and financial reporting
- real-time updates on customer financial status within the CRM
- fewer manual errors (thanks to automatically synced accounting data)
This should be particularly beneficial for businesses with recurring billing or subscription models. It lets their teams know when customers are behind on payments or when renewals are coming up. As a result, the business enjoys fewer (or no) payment delays and a smoother billing process.
Document Management
This integration lets businesses store, retrieve, and share documents. The latter may be anything including
- contracts
- proposals
- invoices.
The cool thing about it is that they all can be managed directly within the CRM. This is particularly useful for sales teams who need quick access to important documents during client interactions.
Here’s what to expect as a result of this integration:
- centralized document storage
- automated document approvals and signatures
- lower risk of losing important documents or working with outdated versions.
It’s thus a must for businesses that rely heavily on contracts, legal documents, or proposals. They’ll just save a lot of time with it.
Helpdesk Software
And finally, it’s smart to integrate CRM with helpdesk software. Thanks to this, all customer support tickets will be linked to the customer’s profile. The customer support teams will be able to
- view previous interactions
- track ongoing issues
- provide more personalized service.
In a word, it’s a huge boost to how support managers work and how clients feel about it.
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As you see, there are quite a few forms of CRM integration and each of them may be helpful. The smartest move here would be to consult a professional CRM solutions agency and get their expertise on which types of integration will be helpful to your business. Plus, they’ll help with the integration process, too.