How successful scale-ups use CRM for growth

CRM helps successful scale-ups to make strategic decisions based on data. It answers the most fundamental questions that are essential for focus, positive ROI and efficient growth.

In recent years, companies in every industry have been forced to implement and accelerate digital transformation. Digital transformation has become a buzzword and is therefore somewhat subject to inflation. The term often goes hand in hand with emerging technologies such as blockchain, The Internet of Things, AI and machine learning. Despite the fact that these technologies represent enormous market potential, it is ultimately about the customer's business, the way they serve their customers and which technologies are relevant to contribute to the realisation of specific (growth) objectives. In order to realise this, choices need to be made. Choices that will ultimately determine whether an organisation will be successful, or not. Therefore, focus is key. What can we learn from the way successful scale-ups make choices and the way they use CRM?

Focus and effective scaling

Successful scale-ups are able to grow rapidly because they have a customer obsession. They take their customer as the starting point in the design of every business activity. Translating this into CRM lays the foundation for identifying their ideal customer. They know their customer's problems like no other and know how to translate these into their value proposition. Ideal customers can be identified based on different metrics but one of the most important of all is customer revenue potential.

In short, they focus on solving real customer problems that contribute to revenue growth for their own organization. The result: a positive ROI. This ROI can then be used for new experiments that provide insight into: relevant product development for their target group, more efficient marketing campaigns, and therefore more turnover.

The role of CRM in this process is indisputable. CRM helps successful scale-ups to make strategic decisions based on data. It answers the most fundamental questions that are essential for efficient growth: Who is our ideal target group? What features do we need from product development to help them? Through which marketing channels can we best reach them? Where is the margin to increase our conversions? All these questions contribute to focus, a positive ROI and efficient growth. The answers to these questions arise from insights based on data from the CRM.

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Integrated commerce teams

One of the most important lessons of successful scale-ups is their awareness to remain agile. They don’t work in silos. They work with one integrated commerce team in which sales, marketing, and customer success work closely together. Knowledge is shared within the organisation to create a complete picture of the customer. Also called customer 360. This varies from bringing in new leads to closing deals and extending customer contracts.

Successful scale-ups work with one central CRM platform. This creates insights into new market potential. This, due to its agile nature, enables the organisation to quickly identify and exploit potential opportunities. Combining sales, marketing and customer success provides new insights and opportunities for deeper customer focus. It enables the organisation to ask specific questions. An example: "What does the length of the sales cycle say about the way in which a specific customer likes to utilize Customer Success?” This can sequencely be acted upon proactive, which in the end benefits the customer experience.

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Technology

‍Scale-ups that realize growth usually need to increase their workforce accordingly. This is a challenge for any organisation with growth ambitions because in the current market there is a huge scarcity of talent. Successful scale-ups use CRM to automate business processes and provide their customers with "self-service". This ensures that they remain agile as an organisation and that their talent continues to do what they are good at and get energy from. Result: scalability, efficiency, focus, and motivated employees.

The right CRM strategy is crucial here. To remain agile from a growth perspective, a scalable CRM is at least as important. It helps successful scale-ups to focus on the challenges that come with introducing a new product or service or enter new markets. It can also be immensely valuable when a CRM platform comes with integrated out-of-the-box technologies that help the business move forward. Examples include AI for lead scoring or Omnichannel service automation. In this way, digital transformation is no longer suddenly a buzzword but a reality that is close at hand and actually contributes to the realisation of specific (growth) objective

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