What is enterprise CRM? 

Nova Ember’s multi-million dollar company would have been on a one-way road to disaster had she not introduced the enterprise CRM system into her business.

Nova owned a retail business in Florida. Her brand was thoughtfully designed to appeal to the US and Western European middle class.

However, the global recession in 2023 dealt a severe blow to the company, causing a significant 32% drop in revenue in the second quarter.

The R&D department, along with the sales reps in her office, concluded that the sharp falloff was owed to the consumer’s inability to spend due to a decline in purchasing power.

Nonetheless, all her competitors performed outstandingly well despite the all-time high inflation. Only then did she learn that consumers had become more discerning, and merely selling a product wasn’t enough in the market. They expected something else—perhaps a different approach to selling!

She eventually learned that her mechanisms for dealing with customers were traditional, and this decline was inevitable.

She had a decentralized data recording system, which led to poor communication and a wide gap between the sales and marketing teams.

The unprecedented disruption made her concede that the company required enterprise CRM software to survive and thrive in the cutthroat competition. After implementing the CRM system, Nova felt a sense of relief and confidence in the company’s future.

The case study further explains how Nova retained customers in the last quarter of 2023 and anticipated earning a supernormal profit. This success filled the young entrepreneur with a sense of accomplishment and inspired her to continue improving the business.

This guide will focus on the significance of customer relationship management and teach you how enterprise sales teams can use data and customer analytics to improve overall satisfaction.

In the end, you will be knowledgeable enough to decide whether your company needs an enterprise CRM solution.

Till then, continue reading!

How is enterprise CRM different from traditional CRM?

We’ll discuss six differentiating factors one by one to make you understand the fundamental difference between the two:

1. Integration and customization

Traditional CRM

The scope of integration in a traditional CRM is inadequate. There are several instances where third-party software integration is required to customize the software per user demand. However, there is little to no scope for customization and integration unless the CRM software provider changes their central system.

Enterprise CRM

Enterprise CRM solutions are specifically engineered for easy integration processes. They are focused on managing the entire business ecosystem with a single software application. The marketing and sales teams and other departments integrate and contribute to the centralized data system for better decision-making.

2. Scale and complexity

Traditional CRM

It is focused on catering to the needs of small-medium businesses and centralizing their data storage system to improve sales processes.

Enterprise CRM

It is designed to address the vast and complex needs of big corporations. Multiple departments are integrated into one system that handles millions of customers’ needs and wants.

3. User experience and collaboration

Traditional CRM

Conventional CRM offers little to no scope for role-based access. Because of the basic features of collaboration, team integration cannot be done on a large scale.

Enterprise CRM

The features are advanced and serve the purpose of multi-channel collaboration. It also provides role-based access to users so they can access the tools relevant to their work. Further, it helps the team reach the same page and enhance productivity.

4. Advanced features

Traditional CRM

The main focus is facilitating basic features like contact management, customer support, and sales tracking. Anything beyond that is either limited or available after additional payment.

Enterprise CRM

It comprises all the advanced features needed to run an organization smoothly, such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, predictive analytics, and automation tools. It helps manage the sales pipeline, craft personalized strategies, and focus on potential clients.

5. Data management and security

Traditional CRM

It offers an effective data management tool. The primary focus is on managing small datasets, so the security features and regulatory compliance are not highly sophisticated.

Enterprise CRM

It offers a comprehensive data management tool. While it is dedicated to handling large volumes of data, the security features are highly advanced. Data integrity, protection against breaches, and compliance with regulations are ensured.

6. Cost & investment

Traditional CRM

It is available at affordable prices, and small and medium-sized businesses with limited budgets can purchase plans per the company’s needs.

Enterprise CRM

It requires a significant budget allocation and a dedicated team for smooth implementation. The return on investment is received through better efficiency, increased customer satisfaction, and more sales.

The benefits of enterprise CRM software

From Nova’s case study, we understood how data fragmentation could lead to poor decision-making. Had she not implemented the CRM software into her business, she would not have been able to identify the real cause of her company’s decline.

In sales, the gold of the 21st century is data. Let’s understand how that gold can be valuable for you:

1. Helps in customer relationship management

As discussed earlier, customers are less interested in your products or services. They are attracted only by your approach to reaching them.

Customers want to be prioritized. They expect you to approach them through personalized communication, which can only be done with the help of data.

CRM software collects that data, nurtures it, and facilitates you with key takeaways that can be used to craft a personalized approach and make meaningful customer interactions.

2. Helps in streamlining operational tasks

CRM software automates the routine tasks that otherwise would have consumed enough time and resources.

With the help of sales and marketing automation, data entry, follow-up emails, reporting, text messaging, and many other tasks are no longer killing the productive hours.

Leaders can now focus on strategic goals that demand creativity and data analysis.

3. Helps in data-driven decision-making

Decisions made without data or without its support are likely to draw vague conclusions. It has been reported that 91% of companies with over ten employees use CRM.

CRM has built-in tools for advanced data analytics. You can analyze customer behavior, patterns, trends, and other aspects to make business decisions.

Also, these solutions can provide predictive analytics, which is in high demand these days, to anticipate demand and personalize things accordingly.

4. Helps in retaining customer

Nova Ember’s company lacked proper data management, which led to misinformation and wrong decisions. Her competitors in the market focused on ABM tools and targeted potential customers during the crisis.

With the help of an enterprise CRM solution, companies can smoothen the sales pipeline, address the issues, and resolve them in a tailored approach.

Nova’s long-term clients were retained because she could investigate their issues and solve their requirements.

5. Helps in cost saving and growth

Companies have reported that they discovered an increase of 245% in profit after the implementation of CRM.

AI for market automation helps companies regulate their repetitive tasks and focus on their strategic goals. It improves efficiency besides reducing resources and investments.

Enterprise CRM systems have tools to identify high-value accounts, which can help the company perform account-based marketing and increase overall revenue.

Centralize your business data with enterprise CRM!

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Key features of enterprise CRM

According to Statista, the market for customer relationship management platforms will be worth US$89.30 billion by the end of 2024.

After learning the benefits, the dire need for enterprise CRM software is obvious. Nevertheless, the homework is to ensure you have the right platform tailored to your organization’s needs.

Let’s discuss some of the top features. Without them, any CRM is handicapped:

1. Lead management

The lead management feature allows users to generate, measure interest, follow up, and manage leads from the point of contact to sale conversion. It is good at sorting leads, following up, and converting them, enhancing high conversion rates.

2. Marketing automation

The marketing automation feature offloads and automates monotonous marketing tasks. It helps make the marketing campaign effective while creating personalized strategies.

3. Sales pipeline management

The sales pipeline CRM feature helps give a visual outlook of your sales, allowing you to determine the status of the deals going through various cycles. It improves visibility and prevents you from missing an opportunity you need to clinch a deal.

4. Reporting and analytics

The reporting and analytics feature provides live data on your sales, marketing, and customer service performance. Reports can be customized according to an individual company’s needs to aid in data-based decisions and provide insights into possible shortcomings.

5. Contact management

The contact management feature centralizes all customer data and makes it readily available to your team. It can help keep records of various customers and their information handy to enhance communication patterns.

6. Mobile CRM

The mobile CRM feature lets you access any of your dashboards remotely. This allows the team to maintain real-time information from anywhere, thus making it productive.

Besides these, there are many other features that facilitate efficient customer data management. It depends on your company size, the nature of your business, and market trends.

How does enterprise CRM support strategic goals?

We’ll revisit Nova Ember’s case study and discuss how enterprise CRM software helps achieve strategic goals.

1. Aligning sales and marketing efforts

Her enterprise lacked informed business decisions because the marketing and sales teams were not aligned.

After implementing the CRM software, the customer data was shared. The enterprise sales teams were allowed access to go through the marketing processes and identify market trends collaboratively and vice versa.

The federation helped in outlining the objective quickly.

Don’t miss – How to fix sales and marketing alignment problems in B2B companies!

2. Enhancing crisis management and adaptability

The global recession hit businesses worldwide. Economies usually face disruptions caused by political instability, natural disasters, war, etc.

However, companies must predict such upheavals and craft strategies to mitigate them. Nova could retain her old customers because of enterprise CRM tools.

Enterprise CRM software helped her understand the adverse effects customers had because of non-personalized marketing.

3. Fostering innovation and continuous improvement

The customer data was correctly analyzed. The marketing campaigns were tailored to the needs of existing customers.

The results of the marketing campaigns revealed changing trends, allowing the team to innovate the products and seize new market opportunities.

4. Market positioning

Comprehensive analytics from the CRM tool helped her company create a personalized strategy for each customer.

The customer experience was enhanced, and the brand regained its reputation in the market. This further helped them establish a unique positioning in the market.

5. Strategic financial management

Finance allocation is one of the crucial tasks in any enterprise. Thousands of dollars spent on marketing campaigns without a specific strategy are useless.

The advanced analytics in the enterprise CRM software solutions helped Nova Ember’s team optimize the budget and spend strategically on lead generation.

An enterprise CRM is instrumental in aligning the strategy concerning operations, involving the active participation of many departments.

It contributes to developing a shared view of customer data among all organizational units, resulting in more consistent approaches and proper implementation vectors of business activities.

In addition, the function of strategy, planning, and control improves by enabling the organization to gather data and information on the market situation and trends with the help of the CRM system.

These insights assist businesses in initiating growth strategies, efficiently using resources, and anticipating the market’s actions to outcompete competitors.

Looking to craft an outstanding strategy to achieve goals?

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Industry-specific applications of enterprise CRM software

Customer service processes, customer lifecycles, and performance management often vary between business systems. Customer relationship management requires specific enterprise systems to solve distinct problems.

In such scenarios, it becomes mandatory for business owners to find the best enterprise CRM software tailored to their industry needs. Let us discuss some emerging sectors where the CRM platform has done wonders.

1. Retail

• Shopping experience—CRM systems allow marketers to personalize customers’ shopping experiences and increase sales. The retail segment is reported to have covered 25% of the total market share in 2023.
• Program management—72 % of a company’s revenue depends on repeat customers. A CRM platform allows effective loyalty program management and helps companies augment sales.
• Inventory optimization—CRM-integrated inventory systems have resulted in an efficient supply chain. Removing excess inventory can save on overall costs.

2. Real-Estate

• Customer relationship management—Real Estate is a complex sector. Sales are majorly dependent on the relationships an owner builds with his clients. Enterprise CRM software simplifies the task and helps yield better profits.
• Property management—Property databases integrated with CRM systems help realtors reduce administrative time and focus more on matching properties.
• Conversion—Realtors have reported increasing sales by 29% with the help of real estate CRM software. Also, with targeted marketing, sales accuracy has surged by 42%.

3. Manufacturing

• Production management—When customer data is available, it becomes viable for the manufacturing industries to match the demand accurately and manufacture the products, accordingly, saving the overall cost.
• Demand Forecasting—CRM systems also integrate predictive analytics. When production matches demand, inventory costs can be reduced. A powerful CRM solution helps predict the market and improves sales forecasting accuracy by 32%.
• Customer Support—CRM applications help customer engagement and improve the customer lifecycle. They automatically boost satisfaction and help retain customers.

There are many other industries where customer relationship management is vital, such as recruitment, travel, construction, and agencies.

Let us understand in detail which system is suitable for your business.

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How to choose the best enterprise CRM software for your company?

Given the current competition in the CRM market, choosing the optimum platform for you might be a hectic task. We have, therefore, made a checklist that can help you make an informed decision in the interest of your company.

1. Carefully analyze your business goals and needs: You’re supposed to set clear goals before investing in customer relationship management software for your enterprise. Goal setting helps prioritize the necessary productivity tools.
2. Look for the integration capabilities: Different CRMs are built for different purposes. Although they may claim to have a 360° solution to every problem, the inclination toward a particular segment is greater. Hence, it is recommended to look for the integration capabilities of the software to ensure it is tailored to your enterprise’s needs.
3. Calculate ROI: If the cost of your CRM exceeds the profit you replenish from it, consider changing your subscription. Sales forecasting methods can help you anticipate future sales and make informed decisions about the best CRM software.
4. Review the vendor’s reputation: Evaluating the current global market, it is not difficult to learn about any company’s reputation in the market. Consider points like customer reviews, case studies, industry expertise, onboarding, and ongoing support.
5. Take a free trial: Reputed companies generally provide free trials to their customers for a limited period of time. Use the opportunity to interact with their software and the support team to decide.

5 Best enterprise CRM software

Labeling any application as the best enterprise CRM Software will be subjective. However, regarding the above checklist, we have shortlisted the top enterprise CRM software based on its advanced features.

1. Salesmate

Salesmate is a well-acclaimed CRM platform. SMBs and enterprises prefer it because of its robust features and customization opportunities.

This CRM software has established its formidable identity among the giants of multiple industries. Apart from that, those who are finding CRM for startups have also fostered an unbreakable trust in the company.

It helps the enterprise sales teams craft winning sales strategies and optimize sales processes. Comprehensive analytics also streamlines marketing processes. Some of its key features are:

• Lead management
• Marketing automation
• Sales automation
• Conversational CRM
• Contact management
• Google CRM
• Sales reports
• Mobile CRM
• Advanced analytics
• Workflow automation

2. Salesforce

Salesforce is one of the leading companies in CRM systems. It is widely known for its highly customizable features and powerful integrations. Some of its key features are:

• Advanced analytics
• Strong integration capabilities
• Large app marketplace
• Customizable dashboards
• AI-driven insights

3. HubSpot CRM

HubSpot CRM has established a reputation in the industry for its affordable pricing. It provides a wide range of features, making it popular among business owners. Some of its key features are:

• Marketing automation
• Customer feedback
• Email tracking
• Deal management
• User-friendly interface

4. Zoho CRM

Zoho CRM is used by different tiers of business. They offer multiple channels for communication that help companies streamline their processes. Some of its key features are:

• Marketing automation
• AI-powered sales insights
• Third party integrations
• Multichannel communication

5. Microsoft Dynamics 365

Microsoft Dynamics 365 is a giant in the software industry. Microsoft teams combine CRM and ERP features, making it preferable among a large client base. All the features are integrated with Microsoft’s cloud services. Some of its key features are:

• Robust Analytics
• Tailored workflows
• Comprehensive modules
• Strong security

Overcoming common challenges in implementation

According to a report published by Gartner, 50-70% of CRM implementations need help to reach perfection due to issues like proper data migration, integration with legacy systems, user adoption, etc.

However, if the challenges are addressed carefully, there is a chance of a smooth transition, and you can use your CRM systems to maximize your profits.

Some of the common challenges:

1. Data migration—Changing the location of data by transferring it from legacy systems to a new CRM is challenging and high-risk. Disruptions like data loss, corruption, and incompatibility challenges may occur during the process.

Solutions:

Data auditing: The first step is to analyze the data that requires migration to identify problems, such as duality, that require prior treatment.

Data mapping: To ensure proper data migration is not difficult. However, it is recommended that the fields mapped in the old system correspond to those identified in a new CRM.

Backup and Testing: The checkpoint should be incremental, with a data backup before you go through the migration process.

2. User adoption—It is challenging to attain user uptake because employees may prefer their conventional business application instead of a CRM.

Solutions:

Training and support: Provide the users with extensive training and subsequent assistance to enable them to familiarize themselves with the new environment.

Involve users early: To avoid resistance when changes are made, involve the employees in selecting and acquiring the suggested CRM.

Highlight Benefits: Ensure potential users comprehend how this CRM will ease tasks and tighten the organization’s operations.

3. Integration with legacy systems—Implementing a new CRM and connecting it to other legacy systems that may exist in the organization is often technically complex.

Solutions:

API and Middleware: Use API and middleware interfaces to accommodate the new ones to the previous ones in the CRM system.

Phased Implementation: When implementing the CRM structure, work in phases, make the essential connections to address the risks, and proceed to establish stability in the process.

Consult Experts: To manage the disadvantages effectively, propose involving IT specialists or consultants with experience in such integration processes.

Trends and future outlook

This blog initially discussed the case of Nova Ember, who established her retail business and greatly benefited from implementing a CRM system for her enterprise.

Yet, she quickly realized that to continue achieving such growth and have a sustainable hope of gaining a higher position in the competition, she had to identify new sales trends and related technological innovations.

Nova realized that such changes were inevitable and that those innovations were essential to maintaining her competitive advantage. Hence, she needed to conform to the changes in the business environment.

Emerging technologies and innovations in CRM

Several groundbreaking technologies are shaping the future of CRM.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML): AI and ML transform CRM by automating processes and providing intelligence and predictions on consumer behaviors.

It even mentioned that organizations incorporating AI solutions in customer relationship management systems would realize a 30 percent growth in their sales because communication is done more finely and appealingly with little to no scope for irreversible errors.

Integration with the Internet of Things (IoT): Working businesses involving IOT help the company get current data on the activated devices to improve customer details and services.

For example, the application of IoT in manufacturers’ customer relationship management has increased by 20% because it provides early maintenance indications.

Chatbots and Virtual Assistants: They are gradually becoming the orders for threads for customer support confined to calls and messages and for answering questions and support issues, irrespective of the time of day.

According to IBM, employing organizations that integrate chatbots can reduce customer support costs by up to 30 percent and improve response time.

Predictions for the future of CRM

Several trends are expected to dominate the CRM landscape. Therefore, The following approaches are some trends expected to characterize the CRM market over the coming years.

Increased focus on customer experience (CX): In future CRM systems, CX will still be one of the main sections of functionality, practical help of analytics, and work with real-time data.

According to a survey by PwC, organizations’ customer experience matters to consumers because 73% of them base their purchases on this factor.

Also Read – To Deliver Exceptional Customer Experience, You Must Go Beyond Traditional Sales!

Enhanced mobile CRM capabilities: It implies that as days go by, more and more organizations are being forced to adopt work from home, and thus, in so doing, they will have no option but to look for CRM that is easily used via the mobile device.

Subsequently, a recent autonomous study by the Gartner research firm revealed that by 2025, about 70% of CRM calls will likely be from mobile gadgets.

Greater emphasis on data privacy and security: If the frequency of data breach incidents increases in the future, CRM solutions will have to incorporate measures of data protection and security standard regulations.

An organization in the Data Security sector should gain twenty percent of the customers’ trust for the product and have them remain loyal.

Conclusion

The CRM market is anticipated to reach $89.30 billion by the end of 2024, which bears testimony to its strategic importance in the system.

The entire guide showed that companies across industries are adopting and investing heavily in such systems.

Nonetheless, among all the enterprise CRM solutions, you will find Salesmate best suited to your business because of its friendly user interface and comprehensive features.

Salesmate will automate your marketing and sales processes and help you boost productivity through a robust customer support system.

Frequently asked questions