Customer Relationship Management

If your business is up and running, you know how hard you worked to get your first customers. But did you know that acquiring customers can be the easy part - keeping those customers loyal and making sure they return to do repeat business with you can often be much more difficult.  

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software has been around for years but many small business owners don't consider it as an option as they think their business may be too small or just doesn't need it. However, business owners that use CRM software to track interactions and keep in touch with customers could not envisage operating without it.

CRM Software - what it does

All CRM  platforms enable you to easily build and maintain a customer and/or prospect database. With this database you can: 

- Store customer details, product preferences, special requirements etc 

- Communicate with your customers easily and track responses to calls/emails 

- Identify visitors to your website and track their activity, building a profile of what prospect customers are particularly interested in

- Deliver email marketing campaigns in bulk to promote special offers, discounts etc

- Follow up with inactive customers that have not bought in a while or did not complete a purchase with a gentle reminder

How Much Does CRM Software Cost?

The answer varies depending on the number of customer records and the functionality within the platform. 

There are numerous providers offering free versions - for example HubSpot, Insightly and Zoho to name but a few. These free platforms provide the functionality to get you started and see if it suits your business. 

We have listed just 3 free versions of CRM software below to get you going with your research: 

Insightly  - A CRM platform that is popular amongst smaller businesses. It's simple and easy to use and includes features such as project management, task management and activity tracking.

HubSpot -  Free version is very intuitive and popular with small businesses who want to keep a record of their customers and potential new customers. HubSpot allows to set up tasks and reminders automatically.

Zoho - Again free version is very popular and has a lot of the same features as both Insightly and HubSpot so it is really a matter of personal choice. 

Personal Data and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

If you process personal data as part of your business, then GDPR applies to you.

It is important to remember that:

- Customer AND employee data is personal data

- Storing personal data either electronically or in hardcopy constitutes 'processing'

-Personal data is governed by the General Data Protection Regulation

There is a lot of helpful information available from the Data Protection Commissioner in Ireland to make sure you are fully compliant with all data protection regulation

Find out more here