5 Effective CRM Tips and Tricks for Businesses on a Tight Budget

In order for a business to do well, it's going to need to have two things: a really great product or service and also strong Customer Relationship Management (CRM). The first one is what helps to attract people; the second is what makes sure that they will come back over and over again.

When it comes to achieving great CRM, here's something that you might find interesting. According to Forrester's Customer Experience Index in 2012, there are currently less than 40 percent of companies that have earned an "excellent" or "good" rating by their customers.

 This ultimately means that much less than half of all businesses are at risk of losing the individuals who patron them.

So in order to make sure that your business remains successful, we wanted to provide you with five effective CRM tips and tricks that you can apply, even if you are on a tight budget below:

Have impeccable customer service. By far, the most important thing that you can do in order to have effective customer service management is provide impeccable customer service. This includes making sure that you have consistent business hours, that you can be reached by phone, mail or email and also that you have social media accounts like a Facebook fan page and also a Twitter and Pinterest account so that your customers can connect with you.

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Be reliable. There are some companies who have lost customers, not because they didn't have a great service or project, but simply because they weren't very reliable. When it comes to your hours of operation, your packing and shipping or even something as simple as returning a phone call, in order to keep your customers happy, it's important that you do what you say you're going to do (at the time that you say you're going to do it).

Implement a loyalty program. There aren't too many major (especially retail) companies that don't have some kind of loyalty program. That's because it's not only an inexpensive way to market their business but it's also a great way to keep customers enthusiastic about doing business with them. If you haven't already implemented a loyalty program and you'd like to read about various ways that you can start one, go to Blog.Hubspot.com and put "customer loyalty programs" in the search field.

Ask for customer feedback. Although you and your staff may be doing all that you can to make sure that your company is a success, your customers are going to almost always have a different perspective; one that could make your business just that much better. Therefore, especially on your website and social media accounts, request that your customers provide you with feedback. One tip from them could be the difference between making a few extra hundred or thousand dollars this year.

Be a problem solver. If you want to get brilliant directories reviews , you are definitely going to need to be a problem solver. By this we mean that although you are bound to get a complaint from a customer on occasion, something that you can do to satisfy them is to look for ways to solve their problem. If their shipment is coming later than you initially promised, offer them a discount. If the product wasn't what they expected, ask if they would like a replacement or a refund. If they are dissatisfied with the level of service they have received, go above and beyond to get their confidence back. These are simple examples of things that you can do that won't cost you a lot of money, but will definitely help to keep your customer returning time and time again.