The massive consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry is made up of everything from cereal to toothpaste to cleaning supplies. Getting ahead of the competition and keeping a positive reputation requires attention to quality control and stellar customer service. If you’ve struggled to maximize profits, adding customer relationship management (CRM) solutions may be the answer.
How Does CRM Work for CPG Companies?
Ideally, CRM software takes center stage with customer communication and interacts with current and potential customers to ensure you won’t miss crucial touchpoints. Advances in artificial intelligence mean CRM systems are more intuitive and personalized than ever before. You can:
- Tap into the power of personalized marketing
- Collect customer data
- Predict future buying behavior
- Understand the customer journey
- Launch products wisely
The CPG sector is worth an estimated $2 trillion, but much of the revenue goes to brands such as Procter & Gamble, L'Oreal and Coca-Cola. Fortunately, small businesses can compete with the help of AI and new tools.
CRM software is particularly useful to startups trying to break into a heavily saturated market. You may not have the resources to compete with bigger corporations, but automation allows you to offer leads the same positive customer experience (CX) as a bigger name company.
Benefits of Implementing a CRM System
When companies first start, they may only have a handful of clients or serve local businesses, acting as a wholesaler. However, as your company grows, you should already have systems in place to serve the needs of both your business to business (B2B) and business to consumer (B2C) clients. A CRM system implements the structure you’ll need as your brand grows.
Here are a few ways CRM impacts CPG companies directly.
1. Improved Brand Image
When things run seamlessly, your brand makes a positive first impression on leads and customers. You’ll show them you’re highly organized and able to fulfill orders timely and accurately.
Imagine you own a small gas station and convenience store in a rural Illinois town. A local company bottles and sells juices to local stores. You give them a chance by placing a small order. They fulfill the next day and reach out with a system-sent automated email a few days later to ensure you are happy with the experience.
Each interaction you have with consumers or businesses, depending on your sales model, improves your reputation and ensures you build relationships.
2. Enhanced Customer Retention
In order to grow your business, you must keep the clients you have while attracting new ones. Each time a customer interacts with your brand, they form an impression. It's crucial to optimize every touchpoint and perfect the process.
The good news is that when companies invest in CX, they experience a 36% higher customer retention rate. Reasons for lower customer churn include better meeting the client’s needs, personalized experiences, and frequent communication.
3. Better Marketing Personalization
When you collect data on your customers, you can better personalize your messaging. Tracking buying behavior means you can reach out when there’s a new product the person might be interested in or their inventory is likely running low.
Depending on your CRM software, you may even be able to automate your ordering system and set up subscriptions to keep money flowing in steadily and orders moving. Your inventory will be unlikely to grow stale because you can offer special discounts to get stagnant inventory moving again.
4. Gained Trust
Around 67% of consumers say positive reviews convince them to make a purchase. You can tap into the power of CRM by seeing which customers order a product repeatedly. Reach out and ask if they’d be willing to share an honest review on your website or one of the review platforms, such as Google.
If your business is about packaging products for other businesses, you can ask them to focus on any unique needs you met for them or the quality of your work, fast turnaround or customer service.
5. Lower Product Costs
CRM systems can track which items sell most frequently, ensuring you always have enough in stock to meet clients’ ordering needs. You can keep the most popular things in stock and automatically reorder as you hit a threshold.
A CRM system can also track input from multiple channels and store it in one database. You can more easily find potential issues within the sales pipeline. You can also identify patterns for stronger marketing campaigns based on statistics tied directly to your customers.
Better Organization Equals Higher Profits
Anything you can do to organize your business processes can lead to higher productivity and profits. CRM software is just another tool in your SMB arsenal to help you find success and thrive as a CPG company.