There is a myth that only large businesses with a huge turnover of funds and a large staff of employees need CRM systems. Representatives of small businesses are not always aware of the benefits of such software and are afraid to change the established patterns of company management.
But in fact, it is small businesses that can gain a huge competitive advantage through the implementation of a CRM system. We will explain how to increase the efficiency of all business processes with the example of a car rental system.
Defining the goals of implementation and processes for automation
CRM system is software that allows you to automate most business processes and manage your company in a convenient format using a single system.
Before you implement a CRM system, you need to define the goals you want to achieve. This will allow you to prioritize and formulate a list of tasks that need to be solved using special software. As a rule, the main goal of implementation is automation, so start by making a list of processes that need optimization.
In addition, your goal may be:
· systematization of documentation,
· efficiency control,
· establishing communication with clients,
· personnel management,
· budget planning,
· risk prevention,
· management of marketing activities.
Determining the features of work processes in the company
Obviously, business processes in different companies have many differences. In order for the implementation of a CRM system to be successful and effective, you need to understand how important each process is, what its sequence is, and what the specificity of the process is specifically for your business industry.
In the future, this will help to customize the CRM system to the needs of your company. In other words, the software will automate those business processes that the company regularly spends its resources on.
If we talk about small businesses in the field of car rental, it is worth choosing a special car rental management system. This will make it easier to “tailor” the software to your needs. For example, the system will take into account the cost of parking and maintenance of cars, the profitability of each car, the GPS tracking system for cars, information on booking, payments, and other important transactions.
Choosing the right system
Choosing the right car rental software is not easy. Once you have defined your implementation goals and processes for further automation, there are several factors to consider:
1. Choose systems with specialized solutions so that CRM system capabilities match your business needs (there are many car rental management systems on the market)
2. The flexibility of your CRM system is of great importance for small businesses since large software developers are more focused on programs for large businesses. It is better to choose a system that can be easily customized.
3. A user-friendly interface is another important factor since the efficiency of each employee and the company as a whole depends on it.
4. The ability to scale the CRM system is something to think about in advance if you plan to grow your business.
Integrating the system with other tools
When you have chosen a CRM system, you need to make sure that all the necessary tools and modules that you use in your work are integrated into it. For a car rental system, this can be telephony, technical support service, or payment modules. For example, a telephony module will allow you to receive an incoming call after which the CRM system will open a customer card from the database to the manager.
In this business, the ability to integrate the GPS module (to track the location of all cars), the module for receiving applications and booking from the site, the cashless payment system, and other tools that are used in the car rental business are also important.
Training employees and supervising their work
Ideally, you need to implement car rental software at the stage of starting a business. In this case, the whole team initially gets used to optimized business processes. If you decide to implement a CRM system into an existing business, you will face important tasks such as training employees and monitoring the correct use of the software.
Sometimes the team is not very enthusiastic about the implementation of software which at first may seem difficult to many. But you need to convey to the team that with the help of the CRM system, you can relieve managers, put things in order in terms of documentation and reporting, and automate routine processes.
For small businesses, implementing a CRM system can be a powerful development tool. A company that uses its resources wisely and is open to innovative solutions will always develop faster and earn more than its competitors.
