The standard CRM has come a long way in recent years. Even so, modern systems still have their share of problems. The main problem is that they rely on end-users too much. The process is also extremely manual. CRM information is outdated as soon as it’s entered because the data is about past interactions. Companies have been trying to correct this oversight for a long time. Still, hiring more people or investing in automation remains the only solution.
AI is Changing Relationship Management
The solution has finally arrived in the form of AI and machine learning. How easy would life be if sales reps could save someone’s information after a call, including notes from the message, automatically? Well, that’s the future we live in now. This artificial intelligence isn’t there to replace human jobs, as people continue to interact with each other during the sales process. However, robots are excellent assistants in the B2B world. These robots improve efficiency for salespeople and offer critical insights for leaders.
Proactive relationship management is the latest tool in the AI arsenal. The system is built on AI and consolidates analytics, sales enablement, and CRM capabilities into one single platform. Bringing everything together like this allows a proactive relationship management platform to extract meaningful data from prospects and interactions and recommend potential next steps. The systems also send reminders to sales staff while offering complete visibility for sales leaders, letting them monitor sales activity and make accurate predictions for the future. At Riley, we realize the importance of having an easy-to-use tool that allows you to manage your relationships more effectively.
And managing your relationships with more ease means you can more proactively manage them–and build better, stronger connections. There are many benefits to managing your relationships, and here the top five benefits of proactive relationship management.
- The Ultimate Personal Assistant
With all the information proactive relationship management systems collect, they can create a prioritized to-do list and generate salespeople’s tasks. These tasks and reminders help to maximize sales output. The system also continues to generate proactive recommendations on the next step to take with the highest probability for success. Sales reps go through the to-do list, making calls directly through the platform at the click of a button. These calls capture more data and feed it to the system automatically. Representatives get through their call lists much faster, reaching up to a third more people than usual.
- Visibility
The technology offers incredible visibility of the entire sales process. The platform delivers accurate forecasts because it doesn’t rely on “gut feelings” like humans. Instead, it uses nothing but data gleaned from past sales and current engagement. For example, a “stalled deals” report gives you information about where deals are in the pipeline, which are the most fruitful opportunities, and which “stalled” deals need attention.
Having a clear picture of your pipeline and current forecasts enables you to make smart decisions as a business leader. The platform offers an in-depth analysis of every aspect of the sales funnel and sales process. This proactive relationship management reveals the true power of AI and machine learning. Understanding which kinds of customers lose interest in your pipeline allows you to refocus your efforts and identify your most profitable target audience and prospects–the B2B recipe for success.
- Growth
When discussing growth in the context of the lead-development process, we mean increased sales. With more sales comes more revenue. Company leadership must consider several factors when deciding to purchase new technology, like proactive relationship management platforms. The number one consideration is Return on Investment (ROI). Clearly, it’s best to invest in things that offer more growth than they cost.
As you consider your business and prospects’ long-term strategy, consider whether the growth comes from increasing leads per month or increasing sales due to better follow-up procedures. Investing in proactive relationship management means you get more leads and increase conversion rates. These effects all compound together to drive more referrals, more products sold, better customer retention, and overall growth.
- Efficiency
Time is money in the sales industry. Automating and streamlining the sales process is vital because it saves time and money. Proactive relationship management automates the most time-consuming tasks to deliver plenty of cost savings for you. The systems also offer better predictive guidance on what steps representatives should take next–so that your reps spend more of their time selling products. Not only that, but they do it in the most cost-effective and time-efficient ways possible.
As you start putting together your future plans, consider which parts of the process to automate. Those that can be probably should be. Remember, automation isn’t necessarily here to replace humans. It can make them more efficient and deliver better results for you. Your sales reps get the power to deal with more opportunities and spend less time chasing up unqualified leads. Sales managers also get to manage more representatives in the new efficient system.
- Experience
Last but not least, proactive relationship management allows you to offer customers better customer service – and a better customer experience. But better relationship management applies to sales reps as well as customers. The proactive relationship management platform must help you generate more revenue and save more money, but you also need a system that works for the reps and customers. The design needs to work for agents, so they feel comfortable using it.
Find a solution that makes things more manageable and controlled for your salespeople as well as you. Investing in a solution that makes life easier for representatives means they are happier and feel like you are investing in them and their happiness, not just your profit.
Final Thoughts
If you’re putting together a business case for investing in proactive relationship management, start by aligning the strategy to these benefits and outcomes. From there, you can measure those outcomes to create a solid business case based on your business’s unique needs. Most businesses would benefit from having proactive relationship management platforms, but how they benefit may be different. Riley is the perfect tool to better manage professional relationships.
The standard CRM has come a long way in recent years. Even so, modern systems still have their share of problems. The main problem is that they rely on end-users too much. The process is also extremely manual. CRM information is outdated as soon as it’s entered because the data is about past interactions. Companies have been trying to correct this oversight for a long time. Still, hiring more people or investing in automation remains the only solution. Check out more about us!
Check out our new Beta App NOW!
