Business Insights

This article is the first in a series of four that will look at CRMs in depth, considering what a CRM is; what a CRM can add to your business; how you can choose the best CRM for your business - and how to get the most from it.  In the simplest of terms, a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) is a software tool that allows businesses to track their interactions with customers and prospects in a flexible and scalable way. It pools a myriad of customer data in one place, allowing a business to record and, in some cases, automate its interactions with customers and prospects.

Marketers often focus their efforts on new business, but sometimes, the fastest and most cost-effective way to grow your business is to look at your existing customers. In fact, the success rate of upselling or cross-selling to an existing customer is around 50% higher than selling to a new one for the first time.

People are any business’ greatest asset and the right talent will help fast-growing businesses thrive now and into the future.  But acquiring that talent is easier said than done and entrepreneurial CEOs are all too aware of the challenges around recruitment and how to retain employees. In its 2018 report,  the Scaleup Institute found that access to talent is the major pain point for scaleup CEOs, especially as four in ten expect to grow employee numbers  by 20 per cent each year.

What gap in the market does your business fill? How well do you know your customers? Have you got a solid plan for growth backed up with valid metrics?

Building a marketing team can be challenging. Modern marketing is made up of a variety of specialisms and the team that you create will need to closely reflect your sector and your strategy. For instance, a B2B software company may focus their marketing efforts on events. A luxury fashion brand may focus on PR. A consumer SaaS platform may focus on digital marketing. Whatever your strategy is, you need to hire, or buy-in, talent that matches that strategy. There are few genuine all-rounders out there but it’s no good hiring a brand marketer when what you really need is an SEO specialist.