What is a CRM workflow?

A customer relationship management system, or CRM for short, is a technology that helps businesses manage their connections with their consumers.

Getting the most out of this sophisticated software will take some time and work on your part. Still, it has the potential to be an important asset in terms of helping you better understand your consumer base and plan the next stages in your marketing campaigns.

This blog post will review some of the fundamentals of building your CRM workflow so you can easily organise your leads, contacts, and accounts!

What Is a Workflow?

Because of the automation they provide, CRM workflows are extremely useful tools for business professionals. You can design rules to automate the activities of daily life that take up an excessive amount of time. Certain operations, such as giving a new task to a user, issuing warnings to members of your sales team, and altering the value of a field on the record, are examples of things that can be automated.

In addition, the operation of workflows is typically the same independent of the system being utilised. The triggers and actions for the workflow will be defined by the user of the system who is building the workflow. Workflows provide the foundation for commercial activity to take place more effectively. You can examine, run, manage, evaluate, and improve your company's operations.

When developing a workflow, the ultimate objective is always the same: to automate your routine tasks, hence reducing the amount of time and money wasted by your company and freeing up your sales staff to concentrate on the most important aspects of their jobs, namely, satisfying clients.

Although Salesforce.com's and SugarCRM's workflow engines are identical in terms of their underlying functionality, their respective user experiences are distinct.

Workflows in CRM Systems

Within a business operation, a workflow is essentially a list of activities or a progression of stages that, taken together, culminate in the achievement of a final objective.

For instance, the strategy in CRM might be to close a deal, address a customer grievance, devise and implement a marketing campaign, or do any number of similar endeavours. To put it another way, workflows provide a crystal clear definition of the means and the ways to achieve the ultimate goal of a business process.

For instance, you can gather leads for a business-to-business transaction using an opt-in form on the website. After the lead has gone through a few pages on your website or downloaded some resources, it will be evaluated for its quality and the likelihood of becoming a customer.

After completing the qualification process, a sales representative will contact the lead to continue the nurturing process.

You may take other steps to nurture the lead or lead them further into the sales funnel, depending on whether or not the lead is currently ready to purchase.

After the lead has been evaluated and determined to be "sales qualified" or a SQL, the discussions, site visits, or demos that make up the final pitch are scheduled.

After determining whether or not the lead's needs have been met, the quote is negotiated, and then the invoice is delivered. The product or service is provided by what was discussed, and the accountant ensures that the payment is settled within the allotted time.

The process outlined above illustrates a common CRM workflow used in B2B businesses to follow up on leads and ultimately make a sale.

Back in the day, CRM workflows were drawn out and given in great detail to team members in the form of charts, graphs, and diagrams so that they could learn from them and incorporate them into their routines. On the other hand, more sophisticated CRM solutions are being used these days to carry out workflows, which enable tasks to be encoded directly into the system. Because of this, procedures can be automated, either in part or in their entirety, by using the CRM workflow tools, and you can improve the team's efficiency.

For the same reason, businesses today choose efficient CRM systems to finish their CRM operations and achieve the highest possible level of productivity.

In this context, the customer relationship management (CRM) idea of workflow automation becomes relevant. A comprehensive solution will come with intelligent automation tools that will enable you to determine which tasks are redundant and repetitive and do not require excessive manual intervention. You will then be able to effectively automate these tasks, which will speed up the process as a whole.

You can automate an entire CRM workflow with the help of workflow automation technologies, or you can automate parts of the workflow according to your organisation's needs.

In this manner, CRM workflow automation increases the overall productivity of sales and marketing teams, freeing up more time for managers to devote to creative endeavours such as formulating business strategies and conceiving new product ideas.

This post contains a comprehensive tutorial written by WordPress ERP and explains how you can increase your sales by utilising CRM workflow automation.

The most effective and comprehensive customer relationship management (CRM) solutions available today provide users with reliable tools for managing workflows.

For instance, Agile CRM includes a fully-fledged workflow automation section with tools to define, set, and monitor activities. It enables you to establish priorities further, specify statuses for customer support issues, and maintain consistency in workflows. In addition, it ensures that all team members are on the same page by aligning them with the steps in the process and ensuring that everyone is on the same page, which results in maximum productivity and the attainment of goals.

Reasons Why Workflow is Important:

No Paper Trail

Workflow is software that maintains digital copies of data, automates tasks, notifies those responsible for taking action, and records any information pertinent to the process.

Eliminate Overflow

The ability to discover duplicates in your system, which enables you to eliminate the copies and prevents confusion at a later time, is made possible by workflow.

Accentuate the Positives

Do you want to maintain high levels of employee engagement while also increasing their output? Workflow allows you to delegate tasks to individuals depending on the strengths and skill sets they bring to the table.

Greater Insights

Regular insights on your processes, the participating team members, and how your organisation fulfils its deadlines can be gained through workflows.

Deadlines

Workflows are equipped with triggers that keep sales activity moving per a schedule. As a result, team members can better understand when and where their input is required due to this.

How CRM Automates Workflows

CRM software combines several technologies into a single platform, and several departments use the program to accomplish their objectives. For example, a customer relationship management (CRM) system's most rudimentary functionalities, such as lead tracking and conversation logging, can be utilised by a sales team.

The best customer relationship management software can also develop and cultivate B2B or customer connections in addition to sales. In addition, some CRMs can assist sales teams in marketing.

Some customer relationship management systems (CRMs) contain analytics, tools for project management, dialers, and chatbots that streamline important job functions and are accessible from a single dashboard.

Most customer relationship management (CRM) software includes workflows regardless of their capabilities. These workflows allow one customer action, often known as a "trigger", to generate another set of activities automatically. Therefore, once a customer takes a certain amount of effort, your team will only have to manually perform some of the needed procedures that come after that. Instead, the CRM takes care of it on its own automatically.

How To Use CRM Workflow Management

It is necessary to have a detailed workflow diagram of the entire process while dealing with customers to give uninterrupted service. It would help if you had a specific plan for integrating manual workflow management into your existing system to accomplish this goal.

The steps that need to be followed are as follows.

Step 1 – Define the Goals and Objectives of a Workflow

To begin implementing an efficient workflow management solution for CRM, the first thing that needs to be done is to identify clear goals and objectives for customer relations, sales, and marketing. Next, it ensures that one keeps track of the ultimate objectives. Then, it enables you to properly create the actions required to attain those objectives, adding and assigning members of your team wherever it is necessary to do so.

Step 2 – Figure Out Manual Workflows and Identify Areas That Need Automation

The following stage is to map out the manual workflows and locate redundant, repetitive, pointless, and time-consuming regions. Then, you should automate these areas to complete the jobs more quickly and effectively.

Step 3 – Consult Sales and Marketing Team Members for Inputs

The members of your sales and marketing team will be the ones who utilise the CRM workflow management solution in the end. As a result, it is necessary to solicit the feedback of the end-users to gain insight into which areas they require assistance with, which areas present difficulties, and so on. Furthermore, it is done so that the CRM workflow management tool can be customised according to the preferences of the user, so making the task easier to do.

Step 4 – Implement, Test, Tweak, Repeat

After carefully considering the acquired information, the final step is implementing the CRM workflow management tool. Add and configure activities, plan and organise schedules, actions, lead scoring methodologies for faster lead qualification checks, configure key performance indicators, and so on to successfully enforce automation.

After implementing the change, it is necessary to continually track and measure progress while making adjustments to achieve the greatest possible result.

It would help if you used the appropriate software to handle the CRM process at its highest possible level of effectiveness.

What Types Of Workflows Can CRM Automate?

The following are some examples of the kinds of jobs that can be automated by CRM software:

• Newsletters are sent by email. Your customer relationship management system (CRM) has the capability of establishing an automated workflow that will trigger the sending of an email to a new subscriber expressing gratitude for signing up for your email list and providing information about the types of newsletters and emails they can anticipate receiving from your business in the future. Your workflow may also contain internal measures, such as creating a CRM file for the client and assigning an appropriate score to the new lead.
• The scoring lead. On a scale that normally ranges from 0 to 100, a lead scoring system will give each of your leads a value out of the total possible score. Using the example of an email newsletter from earlier, you can use your CRM to set up workflows that will automate this procedure. For example, your CRM can score your lead upon list signup. Your CRM should also be able to score leads if those leads take actions that advance them further along the sales funnel. In addition to this, it has the capability of alerting your sales staff to lucrative lead follow-up chances.
• Drip marketing. Your customers will be sent marketing emails as part of automated drip marketing campaigns. These emails are designed to nurture leads and bring them farther along the sales funnel. Typically, you can launch these campaigns from within your CRM. After that, you can set up workflows that score leads based on how actively they engage with your drip campaign.
• The generation of leads Before beginning a drip marketing campaign, you will need to collect leads that you may target specifically. You may identify these leads by establishing CRM workflows that facilitate lead generation. It will allow you to find them. For example, you can initiate a CRM workflow that will designate a customer as a prospective lead whenever that person takes the actions your organisation encourages them to take.
• Warnings for potential leads When leads that are imported into your database fulfil a specified set of criteria, CRM workflows can notify sales managers of this fact. You can also build up workflows that notify your managers of significant changes made to these accounts or of the need for immediate follow-up when this is the case.
• Management of customer accounts You can construct workflows that will notify you when customer contracts are about to expire and, as a result, necessitate either quitting or renegotiating the terms. There is also the option for these to be periodic notifications that are spaced out throughout the day. In addition, you can automatically send renewal emails for more specific contracts or monthly subscriptions.
• Reporting. The majority of CRM software can generate reports of various kinds. They can frequently transmit these reports automatically. You should be able to set workflows for every report using the appropriate CRM.
• Call logging. CRM includes automated call logging as an integral component, and workflows specifically designed for call logging within CRM are the icing on the cake. For example, the customer relationship management (CRM) software offered by Zoho allows users to set up workflows that automatically generate callback tasks when unanswered calls occur. It enables the program to ensure that missed calls are returned.
• Assistance to the customer You can automate the process of resolving assistance tickets by utilising the workflows that come with your CRM. For example, you can send emails for customer service, mark customers who require personal follow-up and inform appropriate support agents. Issues can also be escalated or de-escalated using these protocols, and assistance tickets can be closed.

Connecting With Leads Faster

When people visit your website, it indicates that they are interested in your product or service. Therefore, these potential customers should be followed up with before they leave your website.

Because of this, web forms are quite important. To encourage website visitors to sign up for an email newsletter, many companies, for instance, use "pop-up" windows that only appear when a visitor is on the verge of leaving the website.

You can, however, make use of the form to collect information on visitors who are interested in learning more about the offer that you have. It includes the person's name, as well as their phone number and email address. After they have completed it, you will save the information in your customer relationship management system.

Afterwards, an alert is sent to your sales team's systems and mobile devices. If they cannot take the call, you will send the information forward until a free agent takes it.

They then enter further information about the lead into the CRM after contacting them, including the type of product or service the potential customer is interested in, their address, and so on.

Increasing Conversions With Email Follow-Ups

It is much simpler to turn leads into clients if they have been qualified first. In addition, your sales associates can devote their attention to concluding deals more easily if they have access to a method that can automate the qualification process.

Follow-ups via email are one approach that you can take with this matter. When it comes to making contact with leads, sending an email is one of the most effective approaches. Although they have provided you with their email address in exchange for free information, you should expect them to wait to become customers.

Before a lead finally becomes a customer, there must be several points of contact with them. It takes consistent nurturing, which your sales force may not have time for if they are trying to meet their quotas.

You can automate your email follow-ups by using a personalised drip campaign that is segmented. In addition, you can monitor your emails' performance using CRM software.

Experimentation is essential if one wishes to determine which subject lines, messages, images, calls to action (CTAs), and deals result in the highest conversion rates. As a result, you will have a sales crew that is more productive, as well as prospects that are content with your offerings and eager to become customers.

CRM Workflow Automation Tools 

You can easily program intricate workflows and manage client connections more effectively using the appropriate CRM workflow automation solutions.

Salesforce 

Salesforce is one of the few software applications that can compete with Microsoft Dynamics 365 regarding its functionality and capabilities. Like Microsoft Dynamics, Salesforce allows you to automate CRM and ERP operations, considerably expanding the range of use cases you may utilise.