Why should you switch to CRM Software from Excel?

In this new age of businesses, customers are the main focus for every organization out there and companies crucially need to address customer relationships to satisfy their customers. For new businesses and companies, Excel is generally the first tool to manage customer databases and it is because of the multiple benefits it has been offering. However, the purpose of Excel is to manage customer databases, perform calculations, analyze data, and clean them. However, the requirement of any company or organization doesn’t end here. “Can Excel be used as CRM?”, the answer is NO!. Excel spreadsheet can never be a replacement for CRM spreadsheet. While debating on CRM vs Spreadsheet (CRM comparison spreadsheet), one can certainly grasp that Excel cannot replace a CRM system and assist businesses in managing customer relations efficiency.

Excel spreadsheets sure are good enough for some tasks, but when it comes to customer relationship management, they surely lag behind a lot when compared to dedicated CRM Software. The experience that businesses obtain by using CRM tools cannot be attained by using Excel spreadsheets. So, companies need to manage their customer relationships and for that, they need to move from Excel spreadsheets to a more efficient alternative, CRM Software. The Excel to CRM transformation has proved to be a great advantage for companies who have faced time delays and data management problems due to the integration of spreadsheets. According to Fortune Business Insights, the impact of COVID-19 has accelerated the demand for CRM tools. With CRM sales tools, you get the best management experience that isn’t seen while using Excel Spreadsheets. So, with Apptivo, let’s see the reasons why you should switch from Excel to CRM. After analyzing extensively, we have come to this conclusion on CRM vs Spreadsheet debate. The CRM migration process is completely hassle-free when you sign up for Apptivo.

CRM Enables Better Collaboration

When working with Excel spreadsheets, you and your employees are restricted to your workspace and you can’t possibly collaborate to provide your customers with a better experience. This is because Excel spreadsheets help with creating and managing a database, however, it is not an effective tool for collaboration. It is challenging for employees to manage and retrieve data on time when the database is large.

It comes as a great advantage when using CRM Software instead of Excel that you are facilitated with the benefits of collaborative features enabling you and your teams to work together as managers could assign leads instantly after a call, reps can switch between calls in case of absence of the concerned person, etc. Apptivo CRM provides you with a variety of collaborative tools to improve your work efficiency and yield great customer experiences. The CRM sales tools of Apptivo allow you to manage your upcoming events, log calls, add notes, and track the employee activities through News Feeds.

It’s Simple & Unified

While you continue to work in Excel, you necessarily need to maintain a lot of other applications too so that you can carry out all the tasks related to sales. Emails, Calls, Calendar, Invoicing, etc. all of these would then need their separate application and in doing so you waste a lot of your valuable time and miss out on better organization of data. This is challenging for employees who have to perform multitasking while keeping track of all the information in every application that is in use. Furthermore, the application of Excel spreadsheets restricts the ability of employees to work efficiently and makes them work more on data management instead of focusing on customer interactions.

When using Apptivo CRM, all of these features and benefits come integrated into a single application so that you can improve your productivity, save time, and organize your data in a better way. Apptivo has 65+ applications that cater to the business purpose of different departments in a single organization. All the data is available in a single cloud application that can be accessed easily from anywhere at any time in a secured environment.

It Features Automation

In Excel, you are stuck with manual data entry, wasting a lot of your valuable time on it. It includes the application of a number of formulae that become complicated to manage when the data is large. You also make your data prone to errors as manual data entry is not much reliable. A single incorrect entry makes the employees rework again on the entire datasheet. It is time-consuming and inefficient, especially when there are better applications that identify and correct the errors easily. It is also quite tedious to update the database as there are no automation tools that can support the efforts of employees.

With Apptivo CRM, you don’t have to open the Excel file each time a lead gets to you and put in all the data from their form into your spreadsheet. You get the benefits of automated activities so that when new leads are added to your sales process, they automatically get added to your database. Furthermore, the provision of email sequencing lets employees send timely emails automatically to the leads at predefined intervals. The Triggers feature helps to send notifications or make changes to the records automatically based on certain criteria. Likewise, the conversion feature helps employees automatically convert records from one application to another with a single click.

It Facilitates Tracking of Events

With Excel, you don’t get an option to send emails, make calls, manage leads, etc. so tracking your leads isn’t reliable with Excel. It can store data but it is not interactive. It is not efficient when it is about tracking. Employees have to record every information manually, thereby increasing the waiting period of customers and leads.

CRM Software uses advanced features that facilitate powerful tracking capabilities. But with a CRM, you can track your emails, get a response from your leads, and get notifications when a lead checks on your business. All of these features are present due to the real-time information present in the CRM so that you can track your leads and be more productive. Apptivo CRM gives you the advantage to get detailed information on your leads on your dashboard, send automated emails, and call when they are interested in your business.

It Features Advanced Reporting

The sales process is one that should be monitored so that you can track the performance of your leads, your conversion rates, and the overall productivity of your business. Even though you can visually represent data in Excel, the pie charts, pivot tables, and bar graphs in Excel have a limit to the data that can be processed by it. Excel can’t process complex data and massive records.

But a CRM system enables you to create different types of reports based on the type of data. With Apptivo CRM, you get the benefit of creating a variety of reports on leads, reps, and expenses. So that you remain aware of the way your business is performing. The advanced reporting system of Apptivo is effective as it helps to monitor not only the leads but also track the performance of employees. While the dashboards provide real-time data on the records, the reporting feature generates reports according to specified values with an advanced filtering system.

It Facilitates Integrations

Excel doesn’t feature integration with any other business software and you need to handle individual processes on native applications. But when using a CRM, you get the advantage of integration with a variety of other software may it be mailing, calendar, contacts, or any other software. Apptivo CRM allows integration with a lot of other applications from invoicing, calendar, contacts to even Microsoft Office applications including Excel so that you can move your data across platforms more easily. Apptivo offers a complete user experience owing to its secured integration with the best applications and softwares across the globe.

It Allows Customization & Ensures Data Security

Spreadsheets in Excel don’t allow much customization and the data you enter follows a certain format. And with Excel, you don’t have your documents secure as they can be shared without the concern of an authorized person. With Apptivo CRM, you get a fully customizable interface where you can control different things according to the conditions and maintain records accordingly. Alongside, you also get the security of your data as it is present on the cloud. So, if you aren’t even in your office, the privacy of your data is fully assured.

With Apptivo, you get access to highly customizable CRM applications and services that support your business processes and yield enhanced collaboration among your employees. Apptivo’s high-end CRM is your way to improve your sales and grow your business. Check out our Data Security and Privacy Policy.

Conclusion

CRM & Excel are both great tools but when it comes to sales, CRM Software is a better choice as it provides a solution to most of your sales needs and business purposes. You don’t have to use a lot of different applications to cater to your sales needs, CRM gets it all covered for you in a single application. Apptivo allows you to improve your business experience and remove the limits in your sales growth.

Also, Read

• Role Of CRM In Travel And Tourism Industry
• What is the Importance of CRM in the Healthcare Industry
• Know the difference between Sales Pipeline Vs Sales Funnel