The Benefits of Paperless Platforms and How it Impacts CRM

With technology advancing at an exponential rate, businesses are given many opportunities to go paperless across all platforms. Every form of documentation can now be stored and shared not only disk but through cloud computing. The biggest opportunity to capitalize on going paperless is through the continuous communication between business and customer – customer relationship management. Companies can keep in touch with their customers via emails, mobile apps, phone calls etc. Snail mail is still definitely an option and also necessary in some cases, however, it is becoming frowned upon for many obvious reasons.

Mass email campaigns are becoming easier and easier while still leaving a personable and professional impression on the recipient. With customer relationship management systems and email marketing applications like Zoho, Mailchimp and GoMax, we can be in healthy communication with tens of thousands of people every day without spending a minute of our time. This extra time allows us to customize crm systems and for constant improvement upon an already in-place strategy. For example, Mailchimp allows for data management and analytics on an extremely specific level such as where recipients click most and how many. We can see the percentage of email opens on mobile vs. computers and we can constantly tailor emails to better suit the recipient’s needs, consequently improving the customer’s perception of the company and creating a better CRM experience.

Mobile apps are becoming a standard across almost all industries. It allows customers and companies to engage on a much more focused, yet casual front. Companies can use push notifications to casually let customers know about what is happening lately. If their app is powerful enough, they can send personalized reminders to customers - ex. Happy Birthday. The bottom line is that customers prefer to use their phone to communicate or at least appreciate the option. They feel more valued as an individual when they communicate through it and with recent cell phone data plans, they can almost always afford to communicate through it.

            Despite constant innovation and technological advancements, a simple phone call can be the best course of communication. There’s no question that telemarketing has left a bad taste in the mouth of many, however, a phone call can be very effective if it fulfills the following criteria: A. The representative is personable, light-hearted and relate-able. B. There is good faith in the phone call – i.e. The representative is checking to see if the customer has any questions after recently doing business. C. The customer is expecting a phone call or is at least not caught off guard.

            Finally, the most obvious benefit of going paperless – it is eco-friendly. This means companies are not only saving money but they have created a positive point of perception from the community’s point of view.