Organizations use Customer Relationship Management (CRM) technology to track their business relationships with leads, prospects, clients, and other people and companies of interest. Many RelSci clients leverage a RelSci CRM integration alongside their CRM to better manage these relationships. Although RelSci and CRM can be used as separate tools, RelSci can also integrate with an organization’s CRM of choice to provide a one-stop shop for relationship management.
RelSci offers two CRM integration solutions. Our easy-to-use plugins bring RelSci data and functionality into Salesforce or Microsoft Dynamics. They’re quick to set up and ideal for organizations that want to get started quickly. For clients looking to implement a customized solution, we offer the RelSci API. The API provides a flexible way to incorporate RelSci data into any CRM.
What is a CRM?
A CRM provides a centralized location for all relevant data on prospects and customers. It gives teams the data they need to target the right prospects, nurture leads, close deals, manage accounts, secure renewals, and more.
Widely-used CRMs include Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics, Oracle CRM, SAP CRM, and Hubspot.
Example CRM Use Cases
Firms use CRM solutions for a wide variety of relationship management use cases.
Managing Sales Cycles
For firms with complex sales cycles, remembering and tracking each client interaction can be challenging. A CRM solution addresses this problem. Get an inbound demo request from a potential prospect? Add them to the CRM. Have a productive call with a potential executive sponsor? Note it down in the CRM. Customer Relationship Management enables firms to track account developments all in one place, so that they don’t lose any data that could help them close the deal.
Renewal and Retention
Account management teams can track usage, communication, and renewal information in a CRM system. Many CRMs offer add-ons, like Gainsight, that focus on customer success and retention. These supplemental tools often incorporate regular touch points with clients to ensure that they are satisfied customers.
Analyzing the Pipeline
Many CRMs offer sophisticated reporting that helps organizations understand their pipelines and improve their sales strategies. Organizations use CRM technology to discover which lead sources convert most often, help with pipeline analysis and sales forecasting, and more.
How RelSci Fills Gaps in Today’s CRM Solutions
More and more organizations have recognized that CRM is an essential tool for running a modern business. Yet many struggle to maximize the value of their CRM solution. RelSci’s technology can help fill several gaps that prevent organizations from fully leveraging their current CRM solutions.
Identify Warm Introductions to Prospects
Organizations that need CRMs are often large and complex. As a result, they have a lot of hidden relationship capital – a valuable and often under-utilized asset. Integrating RelSci data into a CRM solution enables organizations to understand how they connect to a lead or prospect. Warm introductions to the right people are critical for moving large deals forward – they can convert leads to demos, secure initial meetings, or bring key executive sponsors on board. RelSci identifies the relevant colleagues who can make these introductions and surfaces this information directly within an organization’s CRM.
Clean Up Duplicate and Out-of-Date Contacts
A CRM system is only as good as the data an organization puts into it. When firms rely solely on their internal data to populate their CRMs, they become full of out-of-date and duplicate contacts as prospects move jobs. Regularly updating CRM data is a significant resource investment that few firms are willing or able to make.
RelSci’s sophisticated tracking of executive changes and board member moves makes it easy to follow prospects as they change roles. Having direct access to this data helps organizations solve the problem of out-of-date CRM data. RelSci’s Salesforce and Dynamics plugins display an individual’s current role alongside their prior positions, enabling CRM users to understand when their prospects have moved on. A custom API solution enables organizations to flag or update prospect records whenever RelSci shows a new role.
Identifying out-of-date contact data is critical, not only for sales and marketing, but also for account management. The departure of an executive sponsor or other power user often signifies that an account may be at risk. RelSci’s data flags these changes so that account managers are aware of risks and can save accounts.
Access Deeper Intelligence on Accounts and Contacts
A typical CRM contact profile includes the basic biographical information that internal teams compile, such as contact information, current title and role, or recent interactions. Organizations can supplement these CRM profiles with RelSci data to get a deeper understanding of their accounts and contacts. RelSci data can illuminate:
- Where a prospect went to school, where they used to work, and what boards they sit on;
- What charitable causes a prospect supports;
- When a prospect recently changed jobs, joined a new board, or sold stock;
- When a prospect was recently mentioned in the news.
RelSci also provides deep information on accounts. When a current point of contact goes radio silent, RelSci data can reveal another potential prospect at the same company. RelSci company data also enables organizations to sort and prioritize accounts based on company size, industry, financials, and more.
Identify the Right Time to Reach Out
CRM systems are often filled with hundreds or thousands of potential prospects, far more than a sales team can manage at a single time. RelSci’s CRM solutions include targeted News and Alerts that keep teams updated on developments at their prospects. These alerts provide a ready excuse to reach out and re-engage with a prospect at exactly the right time.
Standard CRM Integrations – Salesforce and Microsoft Dynamics
RelSci offers off-the-shelf plugins for both Salesforce and Microsoft Dynamics. These plugins enable client organizations to access the full functionality of RelSci.com without leaving their CRM platform. They require little effort to install and minimal developer involvement, so they are ideal for an organization that wants to get up and running quickly. RelSci provides step-by-step installation guidelines to all clients who license a CRM plugin.
When the RelSci Salesforce or Dynamics CRM integration is installed, each account or contact profile includes a RelSci module.
The plugins also provide a more in-depth view via the RelSci tab, which integrates the full RelSci.com site directly into an organization’s CRM instance.
Custom CRM Integration – RelSci API
The RelSci API is a great alternative to the plugins for teams looking to customize their CRM integration. Organizations can leverage the API to sync organizations and people within their CRM to their RelSci counterparts, then pull in the data that’s most valuable to the firm – career history, biographical data, top relationships, news alerts, etc.
RelSci’s API can also be used to develop a clean contact database to power your CRM. By syncing each CRM contact to RelSci’s database, organizations can automatically flag duplicates or out-of-date records. API users can also integrate RelSci employment data to automatically update records with the latest intelligence, removing the burden of doing it manually.
Organizations Without a CRM
Organizations without a CRM installed don’t need to wait for one to get started with RelSci. Users can upload contacts from a range of sources, including Outlook, Gmail, LinkedIn, and a mobile device, into the RelSci.com platform. Uploading contacts to RelSci creates a valuable repository of relationship capital that organizations can use to identify warm introductions and connect with prospects. RelSci also offers the ability to add proprietary contact data and notes to each profile, providing light CRM functionality to organizations who do not have a full CRM solution in place.
Learn More
Whether you’re considering which CRM to buy, in the process of deploying a new platform, or looking to improve the ROI of your current system, RelSci can contribute invaluable functionality that integrates cleanly with your CRM. Request a Demo today to learn more about our CRM integration options and how they can optimize your team’s CRM usage. During the demo, be sure to ask your representative or account manager about the new relationship management tools on RelSci’s roadmap.