Do Internet Marketers Need Software to Help With Customer Relationship Management?

Internet marketers come in all shapes and sizes. There are some marketers who can't seem to force themselves to stop building and developing relationships with potential customers. Then there are others who seem to have a terrible time breaking the ice and managing to make the contact with customers that is necessary to build long-lasting and loyal relationships. While almost every type of marketer can benefit from CRM software, it is the latter group that needs it most.

Why do you need CRM Software if You're Marketing Online?

Once upon a time, there was some degree of anonymity involved in marketing via the Internet. That was part of the appeal of it for many marketers. They could take on any personality or personae they desired and build a loyal readership with little more than a gimmick and an avatar.

Times, they are a-changin'!

Today, we live in the age of social media and network building. Internet marketing is no longer a solitary venture. It is filled with joint ventures and Internet marketing partnerships. It's built on social media networks. Relationships are more important today for Internet marketers than ever before.

The problem is this: the average Internet marketer has the attention span of a squirrel on Ritalin.

You want to build relationships. You like the people you're working with or trying to work with. You like your customers and appreciate the fact that they trust you enough to pull out their wallets to buy your product. It's not an intentional breach of propriety that has you missing phone calls, forgetting webinars, or failing to send out important details in emails. It's that Internet marketing ADHD kicking in once again.

You've got about ten thousand irons in the fire. You can even be intending to call, Skype, or meet-up at the appointed hour but get buried in work and don't even realize the appointed hour has passed until five hours later when you absolutely can't stand to look at the computer screen for another minutes because your eyes are so dry and tired.

Here's how CRMs (customer relationship managers) help.

Organization

They keep all the appropriate files, folder, images, documents, and emails together on one location on your computer. You don't have to worry about sifting through a two gigs worth of documents hoping to find the right one or worry about matching up an image that's saved in your photo section, an email that's still sitting in Outlook, and instructions you printed out and haven't seen in a month of Sundays.

It's all together for you in one location on your computer (this could be considered time management too with all the time it will save you gathering this information when it's time to make the call or attend the webinar). Plus all your contact information for the client, JV partner, or team members is right there together with the relevant details.

Time Management

You know by now that time is money in the business of Internet marketing. You don't need anyone to tell you that. But, how often do you lose track of time and forget to do things that are important for your business?

With the right CRM program you'll never forget to make a blog post, send out a newsletter, contact a joint venture partner, or even forget your Mother's birthday again. You can even set things up so that you receive an email or text alert letting you know that there is something important you need to do right now! How cool is that?

In the end, you'll have more MONEY and TIME on your hands.

Information

Ultimately, fast access to information is the real beauty of a competent system for CRM. You'll have all the information you need to answer questions, provide quotes, give estimates, etc. with the click of a mouse. Even the disorganized mind of the most attention deprived Internet marketer on the planet can enjoy real improvements in income and sanity when using a solid system to manage customer relationships, information, data, and details.