Why Your Lab Needs a CRM Solution Post-COVID
As the lab industry moves into a post-COVID era, there are aspects of our business that won’t ever return to the way they were in the Before Times – some for the better. There will be more opportunities for labs to increase market share that didn’t exist before. There will lessons in efficiency learned during the pandemic that we will carry forward. We certainly learned not only that some employees can work from home, but that those individuals can be more productive and happier. (Related, I would not care to own any commercial property right now.)
One of the shifts we’re already seeing is that the power of Customer Relationship Management systems (CRMs) are going to be more of a necessity than the “luxury” some may have thought it in the past. It’s not that competition has dramatically increased per se, but the expectations of both B2B and B2C customers has increased.
I ran across this article on CRM Trends for 2022 on HubSpot, and there’s some good points in it. While the author, Lucy Fuggle, outlines 20 trends, there are three that are especially specific to our industry:
- There are fewer barriers for first-time CRM users. We are certainly seeing this with our clients. A lack of both resources and technical knowledge in how to implement CRMs effectively are still keeping some away, but I definitely agree that as the value of a good CRM is understood and the implementation is easier, more will make it part of their IT system. A big concern in considering an off-the-shelf CRM is that in addition to being expensive, it’s complicated. While you’re being razzle-dazzled by all it can do, ask yourself what you need it to do. It is a zero-sum game: The fewer “features,” the easier it is to use.
- Businesses are automating more processes using their CRM. “In 2022, we predict CRM will become more synonymous with automation.” Absolutely – although in general and specifically for our industry, that automation is going to need to be tailored to each lab. Part of the reason we got into the CRM game is that we do not live in a “one-size fits-all” world, and we’ve created a solution that it is essentially pre-customized for labs, right out of the box.
Keep track of what needs to be followed up on – easily and quickly.
- A company of one is big enough for CRM. Smaller labs and industry-related organizations are going to see that CRM is the answer to managing all your contacts, keeping up with the work pipeline, tracking your data, and making sure you are on top of your sales leads. I will add that with so many of us permanently telecommuting, those alerts reminding you when you last spoke to Anne at ABC Labs and when to follow up is going to be mission critical.
A Solution for Our Industry: fulCRM
Our story into offering a lab-specific CRMbegan as all our best ideas do: listening to the client. The typical scenario went like this: as soon as a C-Suite executive realized the advantages of and the need for CRM, they just as quickly were discouraged by the cost and implementation complications typical of big-name-brand CRMs. So we went about developing a solution that was lab-specific, affordable, and easy to implement and operate.
The reaction has been overwhelmingly positive as clients appreciate how easy it is to build customer loyalty and escalate customer satisfaction: two aspects that are important and key to expansion and growth. Sales and service teams get an easy way to track contacts, issues and resolutions, and management gets visibility and insight into performance, so everyone can work together towards a better bottom line. (Think of it as our version of herding cats!)
The benefits of a solution like fulCRM:
- Follow customer trends and issues
- View client and representative data instantly
- Capture all activity in one convenient view
- Get automatic reminders about follow-ups
- Group, assign, track, and close incidents quickly and easily
- It’s easy to install, easy to use
- …and the best part: it’s out-of-the-box for the laboratory industry.
Going forward, we’re going to see more labs embracing this critical tool. We really hope to eliminate the archaic and untrustworthy method of tracking customers with bulky spreadsheets. Things are moving too fast for that these days, and clients and customers are expecting more.
As we say: “You can’t manage what you don’t measure,” and our CRM software can do that for you without intense training sessions (give us one hour), or exorbitant licensing fees (costs are scaled for affordability).
Get the CRM that was designed with you in mind.
CRM curious? Watch this short video introduction to fulCRM, and then reach out to schedule a demo. You’ll see how easy CRM can be and how much more efficient and profitable it will make your operation. But the final thought I’ll leave you with is this: if you’ve considered a CRM but hesitated, please give it another hard look. I believe 2022 and beyond will demand it.