What is a CRM? You know the answer, right? Of course you do!

A CRM is a customer relationship manager. It’s a tool that helps you manage all of your interactions with prospects, leads and customers/clients.

Sounds simple. But the above is a CRM’s features. Its benefits are what really count.

So what is a CRM, REALLY?

In a nutshell, a CRM really is a way for you to manage and grow your relationships. Full stop.

Here’s what we mean:

Business is all about sales. That is, no sales, no business.

But who makes sales? People. Who buys? People. 

And what are people really going for when they buy something? They want the service or product to solve some problem they have:

1. They’re a publisher and they have a problem keeping track of subscriptions.
2. They’re a CEO and they need to make sure there’s enough money forecasted so that they can open that satellite office.
3. They’re an office manager and they want to make sure that all their employees and freelancers have been paid on time.
4. And so on.

So they look into purchasing a tool that will solve the problem.

And they look at different products and services and they end up purchasing something. And from whom do they purchase? A sales professional: a person. And why do they buy from that person? Because they’ve come to trust the salesperson when they say that the product or service will solve the problem.

And why do they trust the salesperson? Because the salesperson has acted in a way that is trustworthy. And they have acted this way over some period of time (weeks or months).

And what do we have when we interact with someone over weeks or months so that we come to judge them trustworthy (or not)?

We have a relationship.

So then… what is a CRM, really?

It’s a relationship manager.

That’s it. Bottom line, a CRM allows you to manage all the relationships you have. To grow and strengthen them.

It’s a tool that allows you to hold notes and data (purchases, touch-points, sales leads, the location where a lead is in the sales funnel, etc.) … about your relationship. You can look in it to see when you last “touched” someone … in your relationship. It will tell you if your relationship is over (a prospect asked you never to contact them again).  Or it will tell you if a “dead” lead has suddenly downloaded another free report (your relationship begins anew).

And so on.

A robust CRM means robust relationships. And what do robust relationships mean? Sales!

The CRM maintains all the many, many, many details of the transactions in the relationship-building process, allowing you and your team members to actually create a true bond with your vendors, contractors and prospects.

The features of a robust CRM

How does a CRM help you grow relationships? First, it allows you to manage many connections inside your business and. It gives you the tools to share information to people throughout your company, in all departments, particularly if they have contact with the same customers.

It can become the very hub of your company, helping you “read” all the many streams of information and data coming in and going out of your company via your sales, customer service, marketing, administration, and accounting departments.

It allows everyone in your business to manage their relationships and interactions that bring success to your company. A CRM lets you easily see and access such data as contact information, service issues, marketing campaigns, and sales opportunities, and more, all from an easy-to-use and access dashboard.

In a nutshell, a good CRM lets you collect and access business information and insights in one place – in the cloud – allowing all of your employees to focus more on creating relationships with your prospects and customers.

A perfect CRM and ERP for your publishing enterprise

MagHub is a cloud-based customer relationship manager and enterprise resource planner platform built specifically for publishers (print or online). It’s extremely accessible and offers you and your team members terrific support and assistance to anyone who might need it.

What’s more, we are the only CRM/ERP tool you will need to run your publishing business. From editorial, to distribution, subscription management, production, sales, HR, and administration/finance, MagHub is there for you.

Interested in learning more about what a CRM is for publishers? Then request more information about MagHub.