“If you’re selling to everyone, you’re selling to no one.”
This adage is proof that sometimes, you just can’t beat a cliché. After all, in the business of sales and lead generation, you can’t afford to approach all customers with the same tactics.
Customers expect personalization. They expect a sales message tailored to their needs. And they expect a seamless experience from beginning to end, even when it takes place across multiple channels.
To accomplish that, you need data—lots of it. Then you need a way to organize it and put it into action. And that’s where a contact center CRM integration comes in.
While a CRM might be new to you or it might be old hat by now, many call centers struggle to use this common software solution to the fullest.
However, explore this guide to contact center CRM and software integrations, and by the time you finish, you’ll be able to:
CRM is short for customer relationship management. While CRM might also refer to the process of managing customer relationships, it is more commonly used as shorthand for a CRM software solution.
A powerful CRM solution enables organizations (including call centers) to track and manage all of their interactions with customers and leads. Rather than having to manually track communications and data in separate spreadsheets, applications, databases, and more, a CRM system collects all communications (e.g., opt-in info, past calls, texts, emails), quotes, purchases, and sales team tasks associated with a given lead or client in one convenient place.
This consolidation gives marketing, sales, and lead gen teams easy access to customer data that can improve both sales and customer support. Plus, when you integrate your CRM and contact center software, the two systems will automatically pass data back and forth between each other.
This data automation can help contact center teams supercharge their efficiency and provide seamless customer experiences across multiple channels.
Call center CRM integrations come in one of two forms: native or third-party.
Native integrations leverage built-in CRM systems. Typically, these native, built-in systems are leaner applications developed especially for use by contact center sales teams and agents.
Third-party software integrations utilize APIs (or application programming interfaces) to connect contact center software solutions with the full capabilities of an external CRM solution. For instance, Convoso’s cloud-based contact center software is able to seamlessly integrate with popular CRMs like Salesforce, Zoho, Microsoft Dynamics, Hubspot, and Zendesk.
Which type of contact center CRM integration is best for your operation will depend on the complexity of your business and its budget. For instance, leaner sales teams with smaller budgets may be able to perform quite well while using a native, built-in CRM integration that automatically updates lead information and performs basic list management tasks. However, more complex contact center operations—those more likely to already possess a preferred CRM system—will benefit from the more robust capabilities offered by a third-party offering.
In either case, contact center teams of all stripes will want to choose their software wisely and select an option that enables them to enjoy the benefits of CRM integration.
A study of leading contact centers zeroed in on the top three issues standing in the way of efficiency and great customer experiences:
The right approach to contact center CRM integration can help alleviate these issues by offering the following benefits.
Today’s contact centers need to utilize a range of channels to reach, convert, and retain customers. With increases in call blocking and flagging hampering contact rates, they can no longer rely on just voice—they need SMS, email, social media, and more.
However, that doesn’t mean they can just add those outreach channels and expect overnight success. To implement a truly omnichannel contact center strategy, those channels need to be unified with data. A CRM integration can do just that, by consolidating leads and customers’ cross-channel history, purchase data, and more in one place.
Importantly, CRMs will also do so automatically, meaning that every time a sales or support rep engages a customer—on any channel—they’ll have the latest information that they need to close a deal or solve an issue. Rather than rely on time-consuming manual data entry in various spreadsheets, the modern CRM helps deliver contact center automation for greater efficiency.
This last point doesn’t just elevate a call center’s efficiency in dealing with customers and prospects, though. By creating a central data source of customer knowledge and company performance, different departments—from marketing to sales to customer service—can more easily share insights and collaborate.
All together, the automation, increased efficiency, and improved access to data delivered by contact center CRM integration can lead to better sales performance. Leveraging CRM data, both inbound and outbound calls can be routed to the agent best-equipped to handle that call, thanks to rules-based smart routing. In turn, that agent will be equipped with the data they need to deliver a personalized sales experience. (They can even utilize dynamic scripting software that incorporates CRM data right into their sales pitch.)
Of course, while the CRM is one of the most common (and most essential) contact center integrations that businesses should pursue, it’s by no means the only one available.
When searching for the right dialer software for your business, consider whether a dialer offers software integrations like these that can deliver even more efficiency to your day-to-day.
Supplementing smart routing capabilities, lead distribution software integrations help categorize leads and connect them to the right reps. By segmenting leads based on their source and a customer’s stage in their journey, outbound sales and lead gen teams can adopt tailored sales approaches based on customer intent, cut down on response times, and increase speed to lead.
Plus, with improved lead tracking capabilities, sales teams can get more granular in their reporting. By understanding which lists and lead sources are performing best, you can take action in real-time to improve performance.
These integrations can outfit your business with the latest in contact center AI technology. While dialers like Convoso might offer intelligent virtual agent (IVA) solutions within their software, some dialers require the use of third-party integrations. This technology utilizes conversational AI to initiate conversations across multiple channels, pre-screen leads with qualification questions, and automatically route leads that have expressed interest.
Meanwhile, inbound intelligent voice response (IVR) technology guides inbound callers through customizable menu options before routing calls that require escalation. AI-powered IVR integrations can reduce agent workloads and cut costs by directing callers to self-service solutions.
TCPA compliance should also be top-of-mind for call center managers everywhere. A range of TCPA compliance integrations are available to help your business track compliance and support the implementation of best practices. One common use case of these integrations is for maintaining compliance with “Do Not Call” rules. For instance, Convoso’s integration with Contact Center Compliance (dnc.com) gives customers the ability to automate lead filtering based on up-to-date local and national lists.
Similarly, a variety of call center quality assurance integrations are available. In addition to monitoring dialing and conversations for compliance, call center QA software can provide a cost-effective solution for monitoring agent performance and streamlining coaching.
While your dialer solution will always be the cornerstone of your contact center’s technology strategy, this guide to call center integration makes an important point clear: To unlock maximum performance in sales and lead gen, you don’t just need a powerful dialer—you need a dialer around which you can build a complementary and comprehensive tech stack that unlocks a host of new capabilities.
That stack of software solutions centers on effective contact center CRM integration and extends to the diverse integration possibilities we’ve outlined above. With these solutions on your side, your contact center operation can bolster productivity and drive scale at speed.
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Looking for a dialer that will give you the competitive edge all year? Get a FREE DEMO of Convoso’s powerful autodialer software and automation-driven suite of tools and integrations.You’ll be amazed at the difference.
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Convoso powers conversations at scale, providing the leading contact center software for sales and lead generation teams. As a MarTech innovator, its award winning solutions include the fastest, most powerful omnichannel dialer, as well as Voso AI , conversational AI technology.
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