Too many small-to-medium businesses are stuck in a backwards mentality, thinking: "I am an small to medium enterprise (SME). Is it really necessary to invest in a CRM program? My sales team is doing fine with Excel files." But not there is a business cost to not innovating. Do your employees have access to the information they need — anytime and anywhere? Can they easily access a complete view of a customer’s entire history with your brand? If so, is the information centralized and up to date?

I think a lot of companies answered "no" to these questions. Though the customer relationship management is, of course, more complex for multinational enterprises, it remains essential for smaller companies to deeply engage their customers. A CRM effectively nurtures the loyalty of existing customers by optimizing customer experiences through better understanding of their behaviour and history. It arms business of all sizes with critical customer information, thereby empowering the business to drive growth in their customer base. Our latest State of Salesforce report found that 46% of respondents said that Salesforce has had a direct impact on business results and customer satisfaction. Small to medium businesses are often equipped with tools used inconsistently across different departments and functions. The result? Flawed processes that need to be optimized in order to improve team performance and achieve business outcomes.

CRM solutions such as Salesforce understand the plight of SMEs and have adapted their offerings to be more accessible for small and medium company structures. The evolution of customer engagement, coupled with the dominance of cloud technologies, brought forth solutions that allow companies managing a relatively small customer base to tailor to their needs.

Beyond a technology solution, it is important for SMEs to find a partner who truly understands the challenges they face to truly deliver business outcomes and drive deeper customer engagement. Connect with one of our experts to get started on your business transformation journey. Or, download our State of Salesforce report to see how leading organizations are deepening customer relationships.