We’ve acknowledged the customer experience (CX) era for some time, but as consumer expectations take a digital shift, even more stress is being placed on keeping customers happy.

To help businesses stand out in the CX era, Ross Slogrove, UK and Ireland Country Manager at Cloud Calling leader Ringover shares his top five CRM hacks.

Customer relationship management lies at the heart of business operations. As a centralised database of all customer information sitting in one place, CRM systems empower employees to provide an elevated service for greater customer satisfaction, churn prevention and increased sales leads. But are there some hidden CRM tricks that could make your operations better?

1. View CRM is a strategy, not a piece of software

To get even the smallest bit out of CRM adoption, people need to use it. It's important to set up internal usage guidelines on what, how and when staff should enter data into the CRM system. With guidelines in place employees better understand the importance of using the CRM, which in turn unlocks its other additional benefits – like tracking sales progress, generating reports and distributing marketing collateral.

It’s vital to ensure that all employees are trained on how to integrate the CRM into their daily flow. Adopting CRM as a way of thinking, rather than ‘just a piece of software’, is key. Getting into the mindset that all data must be stored in one centralised, accessible location is the key long-term success.

2. Make the most of automation

A common challenge in successful CRM adoption is getting customer-facing staff to update accounts following customer interactions. Sales teams often get bogged down by administrative tasks like manual data entry, leaving them unprioritised and often forgotten. For the business as a whole, this means there's no updated centralised data system, resulting in plenty of missed opportunities for growth.

Businesses should consider automating some of these manual processes so that employees have more time to focus on complex tasks. Automated communication in the early stages of a customer relationship, and e-mail templates for frequently asked questions save customer-facing staff time and effort, allowing them to channel into other more challenging tasks.

3. Unlock the power of IoT

New Internet of Things (IoT) enabled technologies aren't just reserved for complex industrial applications. They also have their place in business management. Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) integrations make CRMs simpler and more intuitive to use.

For example, revenue intelligence tools can be integrated with CRM and call software to automatically scan for upcoming meetings. The AI bot then joins any calls automatically, transcribes the call and analyses its transcription to suggest the best next steps. This take the headache out of updating the CRM following every customer interaction, and ensures systems are properly maintained.

4. Integrated call software

Using several siloed pieces of software at once doesn't make for a streamlined work setup. Any customer facing team will spend a large majority of their time on the phone, so it's worth considering a cloud calling system that can be directly integrated into a CRM.

Any incoming call can be automatically linked to the caller’s account to give customer-facing agents all the information that the company holds on the client in just one click. Calls, texts, voicemail messages and recordings are automatically logged in the CRM to give a comprehensive overview of every time a customer has contacted the company.

5. Give a personal touch

Bare minimum no longer cuts it in terms of personalisation. Consumers consistently expect brands to demonstrate how they know them personally, in every interaction. But to offer a truly personalised service, customer facing staff need to know about the customer that they're speaking to.

Integrating communication software into the CRM that enables file recovery. Agents can immediately pull up all notes on the customer to give themselves an overview of who they’re talking to, helping agents to tailor their advice and determine the best course of action for the customer in front of them. And it also helps them to build a personal rapport with each and every customer.

Be it Salesforce, Hubspot, Zendesk, Sugar or any other CRM platform, most businesses nowadays have a CRM in place. A one-stop-shop for ensuring gold standard customer experience, taking these tricks on board can help businesses to take their operations to the next level.

Ringover’s cloud calling software can be integrated into most CRM systems.