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It’s no secret that the labor market has been dealing with a persistent talent shortage. Recruiting and retaining top talent has always been a challenge for businesses across the country, especially small businesses.This issue has been a hot topic Local and national media, as it affects almost every industry. With so many companies struggling, how can small businesses attract top talent as they compete with larger, better resourced and more recognized organizations?
One way for small businesses to stay competitive in the job market is by integrating innovative software such as CRM and marketing automation to improve operational and employee efficiency. Employers looking to streamline operations and thereby reduce employee workloads can increase job satisfaction and foster loyalty.
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Reduce workload and simplify day-to-day operations
according to the exact 2022 State of Small Business Hiring Report, of the 32.5 million small businesses in the US, more than half (58%) had one to four open positions in the past three months. Additionally, a third (33%) experienced burnout and 31% were unable to take or enjoy vacations. Also, 41% said their stress levels had increased significantly. Frankly, small businesses are understaffed and overworked. For small businesses, lightening the workload and simplifying operations becomes a necessity.
CRM software can address both needs. It gives employers and their employees a 360-degree view of their customer operations, reducing wasted time and facilitating faster collaboration. Customer requests, leads, or important information are often ignored. Once the team realizes the mistake, they have to drop everything back and fix the problem. Providing employees with a single view of operations allows teams to quickly determine who is doing what and where additional attention is needed. This helps ensure no work slips through the cracks and avoids time-wasting email chains back and forth.
CRM also provides time-saving tools critical to reducing workload and streamlining operations. Customer-facing self-service portals such as full step-by-step guides and FAQ pages enable customers to search and find solutions to common problems and needs. These freelance employees can focus on more strategic tasks. Many of the best CRMs also integrate easily with third-party communication applications, such as Outlook, Microsoft Office, and Google Workspace. Users can seamlessly share data and actions on a single platform without having to manually import and export data from one solution to another.
Converging CRM and Marketing Automation
Today, many businesses use a single software application for their entire customer relationship needs. Unfortunately, this approach adds cost and requires employees to spend extra time switching tasks and managing a more complex technology stack. With CRM, small businesses can combine their customer relationship management capabilities with marketing automation to gain a unified view of the entire customer lifecycle. This enables teams to better drive sales by engaging with prospects and customers with targeted messages to simplify and automate outreach strategies.
Integrating marketing automation into CRM also helps integrate marketing campaigns and simplify content creation. Small businesses with individual or small marketing teams can take advantage of automated tools to speed up the creation and delivery of marketing communications. Many marketing automation tools also offer built-in reports that generate valuable customer insights. Teams can more accurately target customers with:
- Discounts and Promotions
- Welcome message for first-time visitors
- Pop-up, short-term promotion
- Customer anniversaries and birthday special offers
The integration of marketing automation with CRM software enables businesses to perform key functions such as increased lead capture, enhanced engagement, improved conversion and improved retention, just to name a few. At the same time, these solutions help save time, freeing marketing and design teams to focus on more creative activities, such as building meaningful, targeted messaging.
Related: 3 key trends leading the CRM revolution
Improve job satisfaction and build loyalty
During the Great Resignation, more and more employees questioned their role in the company. How it serves their career development and how companies value their impact.However, the most recent one Harris Poll Employees were found to spend only 45% of their workdays on primary job duties. They spend most of their time busy with repetitive tasks, administrative duties, and other activities outside of their job description.
In the past, employees may have been comfortable with job title changes. Today, it is even more important to provide employees with the ability to better perform critical tasks. Employers can do this by leveraging CRM tools, marketing automation and engagement insights. Use a cloud-based CRM application to make operations more accessible. This enables businesses to offer more flexible and remote-friendly business models – a powerful negotiating tool in today’s competitive job market.
Using a CRM to simplify processes, reduce employee workload and make operations more accessible will allow employees to focus on more purposeful and impactful responsibilities. It allows employers to offer more flexible business models that do not distort operations. This will directly and positively impact employee job satisfaction and loyalty, helping small businesses continue to attract and retain top talent.
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