Four Reasons To Integrate Accounting Systems Into A CRM
Just as large enterprises are now using data to inform their business decisions, small businesses can leverage data for greater revenue. One of the easiest ways for a business to do this is to integrate its accounting solutions directly into its customer relationship management suite. Accounting and bookkeeping software manage the company's finances, while a CRM program manages their customer history. Together, they provide the business with all the information it needs to grow.
Knowing the Customer's History
When customers contact the company, it can be extraordinarily valuable to have their purchase history at hand. By integrating a CRM solution with a bookkeeping solution, small businesses will avoid having to duplicate entries on both sides and will be able to immediately access all the information they need. This will help when providing customer support for issues such as missing orders or lost payments.
Being Able to Project a Customer's Sales
As a side effect of knowing the customer's history, the company will also be able to project whether a customer will need certain products at certain times. As an example, a customer that purchases toner every six months can be checked on every six months to ensure that the company retains their business. When customers fail to engage the company as predicted, the company can take immediate action to avoid any loss of their customer base.
Scoring Potential Leads
The better integrated a CRM solution is, the better potential leads can also be scored. A CRM solution will be able to track customers who have connected and engaged with the company but haven't necessarily committed to a purchase. When these leads are compared to the company's existing sales, the company can create a demographic of individuals who are most likely to make high value purchases. Through this, small business owners can concentrate their limited resources on the clients most likely to buy.
Creating Better Financial Documents
When pitching a business to an investor, it's important to have comprehensive data regarding sales and customer information. Integrated solutions will be able to produce extremely detailed information about the customer's financial and support relationship with the business, and they will be able to show investors that the company has taken the time to develop its relationships with its client base.
Many small business accounting firms, like Teri J Henderson, CPA, P.A., now offer cloud-based solutions that can take care of both bookkeeping and CRM functionality. A small business owner doesn't need to invest the time in learning this technology themselves -- they can purchase the suite out-of-the-box and immediately begin reaping the above benefits.