{"id":196159,"date":"2020-01-16T08:07:59","date_gmt":"2020-01-16T16:07:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nationalfunding.com\/blog\/?p=196159"},"modified":"2020-02-18T08:53:56","modified_gmt":"2020-02-18T16:53:56","slug":"crm-platform","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nationalfunding.com\/blog\/crm-platform\/","title":{"rendered":"What Is a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Platform?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A customer relationship management (CRM) platform manages all the interactions a company has with each customer. The system captures important information from those interactions to help you develop deeper customer relationships.<\/p>\n<h2>What Is a CRM Platform Going to Track?<\/h2>\n<p>CRM platforms aren&#8217;t just for big business, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.destinationcrm.com\/Articles\/ReadArticle.aspx?ArticleID=127562\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">CRM Magazine<\/a>. A CRM for small business operations can help you better target your customers by keeping track of their characteristics, such as:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Gender<\/li>\n<li>Age<\/li>\n<li>Geographic location<\/li>\n<li>Order history<\/li>\n<li>Marital status<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Many small business owners <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalfunding.com\/blog\/5-leading-tips-for-starting-a-successful-small-business\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">keep track of their customer relationships<\/a> and interactions through a simple database. But implementing a CRM platform can take small business customer interactions and marketing communications to a whole new level \u2014 with minimal effort from the business owner.<\/p>\n<p>For instance, a bakery may want to send coupons for a free cupcake on each customer&#8217;s birthday, but keeping track of birthdays and sending out the coupon can require a lot of time and effort. A CRM can automate many of the time-consuming tasks needed to stay in touch with customers.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" title=\"Two craftspeople work on a laptop in a back office\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nationalfunding.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/craftsmanbrowsinglaptopc_753795.jpg\" alt=\"Two craftspeople research CRM platforms on a laptop \" width=\"500\" height=\"343\" \/><\/p>\n<h2>Features of a CRM Platform<\/h2>\n<p>A CRM platform can also track and use customer data in a number of other ways, such as:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Conducting surveys to gauge customer satisfaction<\/li>\n<li>Breaking customers into sub-groups for better-targeted outreach<\/li>\n<li>Sending personalized offers<\/li>\n<li>Tracking customer purchases to offer loyalty points or rewards<\/li>\n<li>Managing communications for customer follow-up, support or product announcements<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Implementing a CRM for your small business may seem like a great idea, but purchasing the platform may not be in the budget. In many cases, a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalfunding.com\/small-business-loans\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">small business loan<\/a> can be an ideal way to access the benefits of such technology.<\/p>\n<p>What is a CRM going to add to your small business? It&#8217;s the best way to automate and simplify the process of staying in touch with customers. And stronger customer relationships translate into a stronger business.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What is a CRM platform? It&#8217;s a system that manages all customer interactions and information, allowing a company to better target its consumers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":196158,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[91,118],"class_list":["post-196159","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-planning-for-growth","tag-digital-marketing-for-small-business","tag-marketing-for-small-business"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>What Is a CRM Platform for Small Business Owners?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"What is a CRM platform? 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It&#039;s a system that manages all customer interactions and information, allowing a company to better target its consumers.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.nationalfunding.com\/blog\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196159\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Bottom Line by National Funding\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/national.funding\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-01-16T16:07:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-02-18T16:53:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blog.nationalfunding.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/doingnothingforothersist_753799.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1440\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Nancy Mann Jackson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@NationalFunding\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@NationalFunding\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Nancy Mann Jackson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.nationalfunding.com\/blog\/crm-platform\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.nationalfunding.com\/blog\/crm-platform\/\",\"name\":\"What Is a CRM Platform for Small Business Owners?\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.nationalfunding.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.nationalfunding.com\/blog\/crm-platform\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.nationalfunding.com\/blog\/crm-platform\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/blog.nationalfunding.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/doingnothingforothersist_753799.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-01-16T16:07:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-02-18T16:53:56+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.nationalfunding.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/ab47ea0172b062f504d67743a44f23fa\"},\"description\":\"What is a CRM platform? 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