Do you need to improve relationships with your clients? Discover client management benefits and software tools to help you maintain business contacts.
A successful business can sell any of various products. It can also sell certain services. However, it can do neither without clients who are willing to purchase those services or products. Clients keep any business running. Having a large client base is one of the keys to successful business operations. Another is finding ways to keep former clients coming back repeatedly.
Maintaining client interest is not easy. As a business owner, you or your employees must find ways to encourage client participation and keep your brand visual. An obvious option is to invest in social media campaigns to keep client attention or drum up new clients. However, visibility does not guarantee good client relations. That is why you must also develop specific client management methods. To do so, you need an understanding of the intricacies of client management. You also need to know about the tools available to help you keep your juggle responsibilities relating to client management.
What is Client Management?
Client management can be most simply defined as the systems used by companies to engage clients. That is not as easy as it was in the past. Today's technologies allow customers access to thousands of companies at all times. Therefore, keeping clients happy and finding new clients is not always simple. It is more essential than ever before for business owners and managers to focus on client management.
What Are Important Aspects of Client Management?
Client management includes several steps, beginning with making initial contact with potential clients. Businesses must attract clients. Often, sales teams are tasked with going out into the field to find those clients. Organizing those efforts is essential to improve sales team efficiency.
Solidifying initial sales is the next aspect of client management. Doing so can involve contacting the same client multiple times in person. Alternatively, sales team members may need to exchange multiple phone calls or emails with potential clients. It is important to coordinate those efforts so clients are not unnecessarily contacted by multiple team members regarding the same issues.
The third aspect of client management is one of the most important. It is ensuring client retention and repeat sales. To do so, businesses must build ongoing relationships with clients. That is possible in many ways ranging from face-to-face contact periodically to scheduled emails. It can also include promotional events specifically for former clients.
What Are the Benefits of Client Management?
One of the biggest benefits of client management is keeping communication going with current, past, and potential clients. Tracking that communication is also beneficial. Doing so allows company employees to identify patterns and analyze responses. That provides an upper hand when those employees attempt to determine how best to encourage new sales. Other common benefits of having a system of client management like dedicated management software include:
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Improved Customer Service Practices
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Increased Customer Retention
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Better In-House Communication Between Employees
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Customer Data Acquisition and Analysis Capabilities
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Targeted Marketing Opportunities
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Improved Employee Productivity Levels
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Long-Term Time and Money Savings
What Are Some Client Management Software Brands and Features?
Client management is also known as customer relationship management (CRM). There are many CRM software programs available. Some are targeted for small businesses. Others are adaptable to businesses of all sizes. Here are some of the top client manager software brands:
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Monday is a CRM program that allows integration of information from other platforms. It also includes marketing automation, client communication services, and lead management tools. Its dashboard system allows users to easily view all vital client data.
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Thryv is a CRM platform specifically organized to assist owners of small businesses. It includes customer relationship tracking tools and document sharing. Thryv also uses special data collection automated systems to locate client information on popular social media platforms and integrate it into client data files collected by Thryv users.
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Clientbook is a CRM designed specifically for retail businesses. It includes a phone app that allows use anywhere. Top features of Clientbook include real-time messaging with clients, client life event reminders, and the ability to create personal customer experiences. For example, employees can use the system to send client preference-based messages regarding available deals.
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Zoho is a collection of multiple business tools. The Zoho Desk is particularly useful for client management. It allows users to pull together all client communications in one place. That includes social media, website, and email communications. Therefore, responding to clients quickly is simplified.
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Nimble is a simple CRM software platform designed for small business use. It was developed to make client management easy for busy business owners and sales teams. It has many tools for website and social media client management. It is also designed to integrate with common programs like Gmail, Outlook, and Microsoft Office.
How Much Does Client Management Software Cost?
Client management software costs vary widely. They are contingent upon such factors as business sizes and desired features. Often, multiple levels of subscription are available. Here are some examples:
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Monday offers a free “two-seat” plan, meaning up to two users can utilize the service. Its basic, standard, and pro services cost $8, $10, and $16 per seat per month, respectively. A custom package called Enterprise is also available.
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Thryv offers custom plans for two, five, and 10 users. To get rates, businesses must schedule demos with and answer questions for the Thryv team. Those questions are designed to determine the features team members require.
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Clientbook offers professional and business plans at $15 and $99 monthly per user. Its corporate plan costs $269 per month. An on-site plan is also available at $349 per user monthly.
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Zoho offers a free plan. Its paid plans range from $14 to $52 per month when paid for annually. Extra fees are charged for month-by-month membership in some plans.
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Nimble offers a business plan that costs $19 per user each month for an annual membership or $25 per month when billed monthly.
How Can You Make a Final Client Management Software Selection?
The best way to make a decision regarding client management software is to begin by identifying the specific needs of your company and your sales team, such as platform integration capabilities or marketing automation options. Then consider your budget. Also, take advantage of free trials offered by many companies to test a few software options before you invest in the one you deem best.