Do You Need an Account Management Tool?
If your business model involves managing or monitoring numerous individual accounts or clients, your operations may benefit dramatically from the use of an account management tool. While there are several types of tools for account management that you could select and utilize, you can generally expect most of them to offer true value in these ways.
Improved Account Planning and Analysis
Account management tools are data-centric, which means that they can collect and store vast amounts of data about each customer. This includes clients at all stages of the sales process, such as from leads to established, loyal customers. The data is usually entered manually or uploaded, but it may also be virtually gathered. This data can be analyzed strategically for sales and marketing purposes as well as for account planning, performance projections, business reviews and more.
Enhanced Customer Experience
Depending on the type of account management tool that your business uses as well as the features that you take advantage of through that tool, you can generally expect to improve the customer experience in various ways. For example, the sales team may take advantage of tools that make touches more meaningful rather than simply more voluminous. In the same way, the sales team may work more efficiently. Data can be analyzed so that marketing and sales efforts are streamlined and more productive overall. While this improves the customer experience, it can also have a tremendous and positive impact on the company’s bottom line.
Integrated Communications
Being able to communicate effectively with customers and clients is essential when a business is building and maintaining relationships. The best account management resources enable you to communicate directly via the tool or platform and to document those communications for tracking and analysis. In some cases, you may obtain feedback about products or services that is stored in the account management system. This data can then be used for analysis as well as detailed and timely communications.
When you consider if your business needs to be using an account management tool, you must analyze your current processes and learn about the features and benefits of various tools. If your business maintains relationships with numerous clients or customers and if it has a significant pool of leads to nurture, the right tool could save a tremendous amount of time while improving productivity and the customer experience. Because the features and capabilities of these tools vary, it is important to understand what your needs are before finding a platform that most effectively addresses those needs.