The Power of CRM and Document Management Systems Integration

Implementation of a CRM system automates and standardizes management of client relationships, making it possible to build long-lasting and profound partnerships.

Just think about it, one system allows to monitor and manage the entire history of interactions with every single client. Whether such interaction forms a part of a marketing campaign or a sales cycle, it is stored in a CRM system in a perfectly organized manner.

Without doubts, CRM systems come very handy for managers that deal with the sale of goods and services on a daily basis. What they benefit from is the system’s ability to systematize all the information that flows through different communication channels and to provide convenient access to it.

An additional advantage is the possibility to contact clients, by making calls and sending emails, directly from the CRM. This significantly saves the managers’ time, enabling them to quicker progress through the sales cycle.

The Notorious Document Management Routine

Although communication with clients is at the core of the sales process, managers also spend a considerable amount of time preparing various documents to be directed to clients.

Hardly anybody will argue with the statement that document management is a complicated endeavor, and here is why:

• It is a very labor-intensive and time-consuming activity. Starting from a proposal and ending with a contract, all these types of documents have to be prepared for each client individually. Together they form a considerable document workflow.

  Even in the companies, where templates have been designed for each type of document, managers still have to spend time to fill them out. Moreover, in practice, when editing papers, people tend to depart from the established requirements. This makes it hard to orient within each file and navigate in an entire document flow.

• Effective document management is impossible without giving a knowledgeable answer to the question of what has been sent to a client and when at any point in time. The transaction process is by no means quick, but its successful completion directly depends on the speed with which a sales representative reacts to client’s inquiries.

  So when there is no full history of the document exchange with a particular client or it cannot be accessed on a single mouse click, the closure of a deal comes under threat. Having to contact colleagues to find the right document or to look through numerous computer folders significantly slows down the work, leads to the loss of precious time and results in customer dissatisfaction.

• Almost any document created by a sales representative needs some sort of reaction, such as approval, signing, or clarification.

  The absence of a simplified and transparent document circulation procedure with an option for status and corrections tracking turns the lives of managers in nightmares. Click To Tweet

  They fall into the trap of lengthy email threads with supervisors and countless hours spent next to a scanner.

Neither of these challenges posed by the document management routine should, however, set you back, as all of them can be easily tackled through the introduction of a document management system and its subsequent integration with a CRM.

One of such integrated technological solutions has been recently developed by Velvetech. PandaDoc document automation platform has been successfully integrated with Creatio, formrly bpm’online, one of the major CRMs in the market.

The confluence of features of these two systems enabled a smoother and more efficient workflow. For sales representatives, it opened up new opportunities, which will certainly result in more closed deals and happy customers.

Learn more about the benefits of PandaDoc integration with Creatio, formerly bpm’online, on our separate page devoted to the solution, which also demonstrates the operation of integrated features in practice.

4 Benefits of an Integrated Solution

Both CRM and DMS are excellent solutions for automation of client relationships and document management. But if integrated they form even a more powerful tool that can help to save time, reduce expenses and generate higher revenue.

What concrete benefits will the interoperability of these two systems bring to your business? Let’s have a look at some of the major ones.

1. Full Document Management within CRM

Stop tossing the tabs. Having a document automation platform integrated with your CRM, you get the privilege of handling the communication activities and processing documents in a single window.

Create, access, and edit all of your files from the CRM system. Use the stored in it contact information to immediately share the produced papers with your colleagues and clients. The regular update of the document status in the system makes it easy to track the work progress.

2. Reduced Time Spent on Document Creation

Facilitate your business processes by reducing the time spent on producing documents. With the integration, gone is the need to manually insert the case-specific information into a template.

The relevant data from a CRM system, including information about contacts, products, and pricing, is automatically populated into the designated fields in your document. Some DMSs, like the mentioned earlier PandaDoc, provide a number of professionally looking templates to be used by default.

If you need customized templates for your proposals, contracts, or any other documents, they can be created in just a few clicks.

3. Workflow Automation

Forget about scanning documents and transferring them to your colleagues and clients via email. With an integrated system in your office, you can send all of your papers for approval or signature directly from a CRM system. All the required contact information is already stored in it, making sharing an easy activity.

Once your file has been sent, benefit from the opportunity to track its flow. The status of the document, including its opening, signing, and correction, will be regularly updated in the system. You can be sure that none of your proposals or contracts will vanish in the huge document turnover.

4. No Time Wasted for Files Search

The merger of the two systems means that you can view all the documents related to a specific Opportunity, Lead, or Account in the corresponding modules. Documents will never get lost, and when at a critical stage of the sales cycle a manager is spared from wasting his time on searching the right files in computer folders.

With the needed documents at hand, a sales representative is capable of providing an excellent client experience that will ultimately lead to a closed deal.

Your Turn to Move Forward

Interoperability of a customer relationship and a document management systems can definitely give you more than their separate exploitation. If your company is interested in adopting the new integrated technological solution, then you will certainly need professional services of an experienced software development partner.

As a proven technology expert, Velvetech can offer you both ready-made and custom CRM software solutions. Our PandaDoc connector for Creatio is intended for companies who use both products and want to enjoy their integrated features.

We can also develop a special module for the integration of CRM and DMS of your choice. This way you can benefit from a customized solution that meets the specific needs of your business.

About the author

Paul Jackson

Focused on CRM consultancy in his professional life, Paul shares his hands-on experience in the automation of business processes with Velvetech’s blog readers.