CRM (customer relationship management) is most known for providing tools that enhance customer engagement, track sales activities, and codify work processes. Modern CRMs, however, can do a lot more than that.
Today’s CRM platforms are centralized hubs that integrate with all of your other business software tools to provide a complete work management solution.
You can combine your email marketing tools, your internal (Slack) and external (VoIP, text messaging/SMS) communication channels, and your customer support systems under a single umbrella, providing a streamlined experience for your employees and customers alike.
And that is just the beginning.
In this article, we take a look at the top 10 must-have integrations you should be using with your CRM.
1. Email marketing systems
Integrating your CRM with email marketing systems like Mailchimp or SendGrid can improve your email marketing campaigns through:
- Easy access to customer information- Integrating your CRM with your email marketing system allows you to work from a centralized and up-to-date database of customer information.
This can inform more effective customer segmentation, personalization, and targeting.
- Improved sales and marketing alignment- Integrated CRM and email marketing tools can better align your sales and marketing processes, leading to more effective customer engagement and improved lead conversion rates.
For help finding an email marketing tool that can meet the needs of your business, check out our email marketing comparison guides:
2. Customer support systems
When customer support systems like Zendesk are integrated with your CRM, your customer service efforts can be improved in a number of ways.
- Holistic view of customer interactions- CRM and customer support software integration allows customer support data to be synced with CRM sales data.
This provides a centralized, holistic view of customer history and allows support reps to access relevant information quickly and easily.
- Automated ticket routing- Through CRM integration with customer support systems, your support ticket routing can be automated based on predefined rules and customer attributes stored in the CRM.
This can provide a more streamlined customer support experience with faster resolution times and higher resolution rates.
3. Chat-based communication tools
When chat-based communication tools are integrated with CRM, the ease and efficiency of internal and external communications are improved in a number of ways.
For internal communication, chat tools like Slack enable real-time communication within organizations and promote better collaboration through features such as file sharing, real-time alerts and notifications, and chat feeds dedicated to specific teams, projects, or topics.
For external communication, live chat software like Intercom enhances real-time customer support and engagement by allowing your support reps to handle multiple chat sessions simultaneously, boosting efficiency and reducing customer wait times.
4. Video conferencing tools
Adding video conferencing tools like Zoom to your CRM toolkit can enhance your internal and external communication significantly.
Internally, video conferencing can help teams connect face-to-face from anywhere in the world. This can help build camaraderie among teams with remote workers.
Even teams that work primarily in person can use video conferencing to improve meetings through presentation features like screen sharing.
Enhancing customer-facing communication is where video conferencing really shines.
Showcasing your products and services to prospects through virtually guided tours in a visual and engaging manner can reduce cycle times and contribute to more closed deals.
5. VoIP services
Through integration, VoIP services (Voice over Internet Protocol) like Twilio or RingCentral allow you to make calls directly from your CRM.
Your CRM will automatically capture all the call data (date, time, length of call) and transcription features allow you to capture every word.
This saves your sales reps time and focus, reduces redundant data entry, and provides you with valuable insights into customer interactions that can be used for training and messaging refinement.
For help finding a VoIP service provider that can meet the needs of your business, check out our VoIP service comparison guides:
6. Accounting software
Integrating accounting software with your CRM can lead to numerous benefits for your business, including:
- Seamless invoice processing- CRM integration with accounting software allows you to streamline your sales-to-invoice workflow, reducing manual data entry and saving time.
- Enhanced forecasting- When accounting software is integrated with your CRM, you can analyze historical transaction data to better predict future sales and revenue trends.
For help finding an email marketing tool that can meet the needs of your business, check out our email marketing comparison guides:
7. Scheduling tools
Integrating scheduling tools like Calendly with your CRM can help you streamline appointment management and improve overall efficiency through:
- Automated appointment booking and real-time availability- Integrating your CRM with scheduling tools enables your customers to schedule appointments directly based on real-time availability.
This eliminates scheduling errors and streamlines the meeting booking process through features like calendar synching that automatically cross-references the schedules of all meeting participants to recommend available times.
- Automated reminders- Through integration with scheduling tools, your CRM can send automated appointment reminders to customers and reps.
Reminders can be sent via email or SMS, reducing no-shows and improving attendance rates.
8. Social media platforms
Social media platform integration with CRM can provide valuable customer insights that improve social media engagement through targeted reach outs and personalized messaging.
Plus, your team can respond to your audience directly, in real-time, which can help you foster a strong sense of community and take advantage of potential promotional opportunities.
You can also monitor social media conversations related to your brand, products, and industry.
This helps you stay informed about customer feedback and emerging trends, allowing you to address issues proactively.
9. Quoting software
Integrating your CRM platform with quoting software like PandaDoc and QuoteWerks helps you strike while the iron is hot, leading to shorter sales cycles and higher conversion rates.
It also helps your team stay on top of pending deals with automated follow-ups, notifications, and reminders.
10. Survey software
Survey software tools like SurveyMonkey or Typeform make gathering customer feedback faster, simpler, and more comprehensive.
- Automated survey distribution- Integration with survey software allows you to send surveys to customers directly from your CRM based on predefined triggers such as a completed purchase or closed support ticket.
This saves time spent sending surveys manually and also enables targeted surveys to be distributed across a broader cross-section of your customer base.
- Improved feedback analysis- By integrating survey software with your CRM you can easily track feedback results and better identify areas that may require attention.
You can turn these results into visualized dashboards that display updated information in real-time and provides an up-to-the-minute picture of customer sentiment.
FreeAgent CRM is the best CRM platform for integration
FreeAgent CRM is designed for today’s world of work and our robust toolset is ideally suited to supporting the varied work processes of modern businesses. FreeAgent is:
- Easy to use: FreeAgent works like you expect modern apps to work, providing a user experience that feels fresh and familiar. Teams love working in FreeAgent, leading to high adoption and greater ROI.
- User-configurable: FreeAgent can be configured by you to work the way you do. This means you don’t need outside support to add a form field, adjust a CRM automated workflow, or try out a new process.
- Customizable: With FreeAgent, apps, forms, and configurations are all completely customizable, allowing you to capture and connect your data in any way you like.
To see FreeAgent in action, get a demo, and discover for yourself how FreeAgent can help you have workdays full of impact.
