CRM For Agribusiness: Why Can It Increase Your Customers' Purchasing Efficiency?

The goal of CRM systems is to build of correct relationships with clients. CRM relationships systems are not just a technology for agriculture management and your client database management.

Correct applications of the system is the strategy that allows you to improve service quality when you focus on the preferences of your customers and their purchasing power. If your customer always orders the same type of fertilizers, for example, so why not offer him some special additives that will be good with fertilizers and intensify their effect? Unskilful management of customers' data using CRM technology will be the largest obstacle in the way of success and profit.

Old tools vs new technologies

If you are the only employee in your company, then you can just use a notepad, pen, and your memory. But if you have a large team, the number of customers is growing every day, and there is a lot of information related to each customer - starting from cultivated areas, the amount of livestock, to contacts and bank details. If all this information is written in a paper notepad, it will be very inconvenient and, moreover, the paper simply can get lost. And if you need to check something, you will have to look for required info for a couple of hours. It is like a Stone Age, isn't it?

If you need your business to be competitive, you must think about the automation of many business processes, especially of such simple ones noted above.

The IT market has already presented various solutions for automation of this job for many years ago. This industry was born from multipurpose solutions for any type of business. But not every field can benefit from the specific solution since business peculiarity varies. That is why today new IT solutions are created that allow you to take into account and automate all business processes of the company. And the agriculture field takes it's stand here as well.

CRM in automation process

But first, let's understand what CRM in agriculture is? This is a module for customer relationship management, in the case of agriculture - with suppliers, purchasers, grain elevators, farmers etc. It allows the user to store all contacts in a usable way, enter information about potential bargains, market indicators, get access to all the history of prices and relationships, as well as know about available volumes for purchase from various market subjects.

One of the most important features of such CRM modules is the decrease of the human factor impact and reduction of expenses. The system automates a lot of processes such as:

• it can bring together and show the best purchase offers;
• available sales options considering logistics and transportation to the destination; 
• it can keep count on the efficiency of work of each manager; 
• it allows you to work remotely; 
• each user has access only to his database. 

So you can perform everything listed above using only one app whether it be a mobile or web app. The development of such types of software is very popular today.

As we have already noted, specific automation systems must be selected for specific types of economic activities that analyze data as efficiently as possible in accordance with enterprise specificity. If companies engaged in steel production will require some methods of data collection and analysis, then, in agriculture, CRM software will require completely other algorithms of data processing. Agriculture is a complicated and multileveled field that requires a more thorough choice of CRM for automation and enterprise management.

Moreover, each separate enterprise in agriculture also requires the selection of corresponding software. Because apart from working with clients, CRM software helps process physical assets. So CRM in agricultural business should be developed for each area separately - whether it be crop production, cattle breeding, pig breeding, a fishery etc.

Tasks the CRM performs in agricultural field

Modern CRM apps for agribusiness have the opportunity to keep count of the equipment and agricultural machinery, keep count of number and weight, total head of livestock, keep track of seasonal and annual plants and different animals' growth cycles. On the basis of analysis of obtained data about the workflow of agricultural enterprise, CRM systems offer users the following features and opportunities:

• calendar planning and drafting of a task list in accordance with the natural cycles;
• warehouse accounting and inventory of equipment, material resources, the stock of products and raw materials; 
• balance and finances control; 
• financial statements and documentation management; 
• controlling working hours and control of staff work efficiency. 

A hint from Cleveroad: If you plan to order the development CRM software for agriculture, it is very important to test the system in a trial mode with MVP features only to understand what aspects of enterprise functioning should be in priority. It will help eliminate unnecessary features that simply waste software resources. For example, many companies in agro-industrial complexes already have a database of suppliers and consumers. So warehouse accounting, inventory of equipment and machinery, counting of total head of livestock, cultivated areas and crop planning must be foreground features of the system, mind it.

There are a few CRM services for an agricultural field that can be really useful for everybody engaged in this area. Let's check the most popular of them.

Cleveroad expertise

Our company also has something to be proud of. We were engaged in the development of a few mobile apps for farming and one website for a fishery.

Tools used by Cleveroad

• Support for API 9 level. Set of programming tools that allow the client to use Android versions starting from 2.1.
• RX Java. Library for composing of the programming code.
• Retrofit 2. HTTP-client for working with API in client-server apps.
• Dagger 2. Library for implementation of programming patterns.
• Bluetooth LE. Wireless network technology for data collection
• Java. A programming language for creating Android-based apps

Tools used by Cleveroad

• ASP.NET MVC 4. The technology we used for development of web applications. This technology is widespread/popular in terms of .Net Framework programming platform.
• Google Map API. Integration of Google Maps into the website for location of ponds.
• Twitter bootstrap. Framework for building a modern cross-browser or standardized interface. It makes it possible to create various elements of interfaces and website grid.
• MS SQL Database. The database which was the most appropriate option for this project.
• Verifone payment. Integration of Verifone payment systems into terminals.
• WPF. Visualization technology. It allowed us to create interactive user interfaces.
• Chart.js. The technology for the building of the chart that displays statistics.

Let's check an example of how CRM can increase purchasing efficiency. Managers are entering all data related to volumes of crops, grain, heads, including yield indicators and cultivated areas.

On the basis of this data, CRM for agriculture can sort out and bring together the most profitable options for a bargain. Besides that, the system stores the history of prices and calculations as well as allows to make calculations automatically.

All required data will be inside the system and access can be delimited so that each employee could have access only to his or her suppliers. In addition, a chief can monitor the efficiency of each employee via CRM, track changes and so on.

The goal of CRM systems is not to complicate life for it's users but to make employee's work comfortable and more transparent for the heads of the company. With the help of useful features, employees will be focused only on the main job. And they will get a full picture of events and forecasts due to special tools.

If you made a decision to create your own CRM tool then you need to consider all necessary features and key points you must follow to make use of your service. And we will list main principles of CRM implementation process for you.

For a start, it will give you plenty of benefits provided that you use it wisely. It will increase your sales and profits, employees' and customers' satisfaction as well as reduce your costs and assist in attracting new customers.

The more the company knows about the customer, the simpler it will be for the organization to offer customers new products that satisfy their needs most. CRM software for agriculture is a real magic wand if you use it correctly. As you see, it will be a good option both for working with customers and for the optimization of internal work. Many companies around the world succeed with using CRM, so become the next one to make use of it. 

But if you still think that this subject is very complicated for you, you can contact us. We will help you with the development of the customer relationship management software you need and explain how to use it. Our experience - your idea! And together we will create the best product. Subscribe to our blog and stay with us!

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