It seems that the paper age is long gone. The world has long since replaced diaries with CRM systems, such as NetHunt CRM , which simplify work with clients and workflows. But there are still people who have not betrayed diaries. Either they believe that no CRM system can handle the entire complicated system of their business. Or they explain that the information is minimal, it is all in their heads and a special program for managing clients is simply not needed.
Maybe fans of diaries are right and CRM systems are created simply to make money? Why is CRM better than a diary and what should you choose: a diary or a CRM? Let’s compare.
Want to know what a CRM system is ? We wrote a detailed article about it!
What features can’t a diary provide compared to NetHunt CRM?
1. Reliability
“Manuscripts don’t burn,” “What’s written with a pen…” — proverbs and catchphrases convince us that keeping a customer base on paper is much more reliable than… well, unless you keep it in your head. Manuscripts have always been highly valued. And it’s no coincidence: if you use paper instead of a customer management program, the disappearance of just one diary can cause the collapse of all work. A diary can be forgotten or lost. A diary is the property of an employee, not the company. If an employee leaves the company, all his work in the notebook will go with him. In short, if he loses the diary, he loses his business.
This won’t happen with a cloud CRM system. It will be available 24/7 anywhere in the world from any device. Data in the CRM is protected from copying and deletion.
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2. Speed
Manual labor is the most expensive labor in the world. If your customer base is in a diary, it will cost much more than automation. How much time does it take to find something in chaotic records? And to make a mailing? And to conduct analysis?
If you need to add something to your diary or, conversely, reorganize the information to get rid of unnecessary entries, you will simply have to rewrite everything again. Or, you may have to carry an entire library with you (of course, the most important entries are always in the diary that you left at home that day).
CRM owners are free from these problems. In CRM, records are created automatically, they are organized in a clear interface, they are easy to find and reorganize if necessary. At the same time, the volume of data is practically unlimited and they are always at hand.
3. Control
A customer base is the main tool for business success, but unless the manager checks the records of customers and orders in the employees’ diaries at the end of the working day, then there is simply no control. Information is entered haphazardly, in fragments. And the more records there are, the easier it is to forget or lose something.
This applies not only to external control, but also to self-organization. There simply is no system of records that would allow one to effectively manage one’s own work.
CRM looks like a spaceship compared to a diary. Tasks are belize phone number list assigned automatically. The progress and result of the execution are displayed on the dashboard. The manager sees and controls the workload of managers, and reminders allow you not to forget anything.
4. Analytics
Managers in the paper age are forced to choose: either a diary or performance analysis. There is no need to talk about analytics from a diary, since it is simply impossible to collect a sufficient amount of data, organize it, and then summarize it.
Unlike a diary, CRM is able to collect the necessary data itself and create automatic reports based on it.
Keeping a customer database in a diary means that sales Customer base in the diary managers have absolute freedom in accounting and information possession. The employee passes on to management the information that is beneficial to him, and keeps the information he wants to keep to himself. That is why some sales managers do not like CRM so much and so persistently defend their right to work in a diary.
5. Integration with other services
One of the advantages of NetHunt CRM is its integration with a wide range of services that automate and simplify business processes. The system connects all work tools into a single ecosystem, which greatly facilitates the work of teams and increases overall efficiency.
Integration options: IP telephony (direct communication europe email with customers without the need to use third-party applications), Gmail (personalized email campaigns with tracking of opens, clicks, etc.), chatbots and messengers (integration with platforms like Telegram or WhatsApp), as well as other tools.
The result of manual work does not synchronize data with other services. In NetHunt CRM, all integrations are set up easily and quickly, they provide automation and consistency of processes that are simply unattainable with diaries.
Ringostat calls in NetHunt CRM
NetHunt CRM integration with Ringostat
The Roaring 90s. Customer Accounting in Excel
The 90s are nostalgic for many. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why so many companies still maintain their customer base in Excel. At one time, Excel spreadsheets made a real revolution. It became possible to perform complex calculations without programming, data became convenient to record and a prototype of automation arose.
Excel turned out to be such a breakthrough program that it gave rise to persistent stereotypes about its irreplaceability and versatility. It seemed that Excel was suitable for literally everything — including customer management. Excel fans claim that it is more convenient, more functional, cheaper and easier than CRM. The debate about which is better — Excel or CRM — still resembles a battle of the titans.
What to choose for customer management: Excel or CRM?
The disadvantages of diaries have also been inherited by Excel. Data storage is very unreliable, it is also easy to lose them. The speed of entering information is barely higher than when recording manually, since more information has to be copied or reprinted. Control remains at a low level, because there is no possibility of sharing documents.
Although Excel allows for much more complex mathematical calculations, CRM systems surpass it in terms of data organization and filtering capabilities. In essence, Excel’s customer database can capture only one slice of the pie, while CRM shows a three-dimensional picture from any angle.
For customer records, Excel offers new capabilities that are not available when keeping records on paper. Let’s compare them with CRM.
Ease of use
There is a perception that Excel is a simple program for managing a customer base. In fact, if the task is not limited to entering contacts into a spreadsheet and calculating the amount of transactions, Excel requires deep specialized knowledge, including working with formulas and code.
Unlike tables, the CRM system has a user-friendly interface from the very beginning and working with the program is as simple as possible for the average user.
All contacts in NetHunt CRM
Customer contacts in NetHunt CRM
Errors
Anyone who has ever managed a customer database in Excel knows that half the work is finding and correcting errors that appear at every step.
In Excel, errors are very common when writing formulas, linking tables, selecting a data segment, sorting, and other actions. Problems regularly arise due to the complexity of data unification (when the same parameter is written in different ways – for example, Kiev and Kyiv). It is enough to simply not notice hidden rows or columns to cause trouble not only in the current table, but also in those related to it. Practice shows that teaching ordinary employees elementary attentiveness when recording customers and orders in Excel is an impossible task.
CRM systems eliminate these factors. All unified data is entered not manually, but using drop-down lists. Where manual entry is present (for example, phone numbers), the system monitors the correctness of the entry and reports an error. The creation of duplicates is also excluded.
Parallel access
For all employees to be able to work normally in the customer accounting program, parallel access is necessary. But Excel itself does not provide it. The customer database in Excel has to be edited one by one, sent to each other, and new versions saved. This leads to the accumulation of duplicates, confusion in file versions, and communication within the company becomes more difficult, and colleagues have to wait.
Cloud CRMs offer the ability to share views and edits. Different departments can work with the client database simultaneously, and all changes will be visible in real time.
Security
Almost all customer databases in Excel face the same fate: they will be stolen, damaged, or at least partially deleted. CRM systems regularly create backup copies that are protected from hacking and copying, and also have a flexible access hierarchy.
Sales funnel
Due to the characteristics of tables, it is not possible to track the customer journey in a high-quality way using Excel. In fact, Excel does not have direct ways to visualize the sales funnel. In turn, a CRM system, which is created specifically for such tasks, allows you to track how many customers are at what stage of the sales funnel.
Deal Stages in NetHunt CRM
Sales funnel in NetHunt CRM
Integrations
With a lot of work, time and effort, you can set up data transfer from some other programs to Excel. But in practice, no one does this – the data is transferred manually. The CRM system provides direct integration (in one click) with many popular services: mail, instant messengers, telephony, website, etc.
Automation
Excel has quite a few functions that can save you from routine manual work. But they are all designed for mathematical calculations, not for maintaining a customer database. Excel, unlike CRM, will not send letters to customers, assign tasks to subordinates, or remind you of a meeting.
