Do you have an exit strategy for your business?
Like most business owners, do you have grand plans of one day selling your business for a tidy profit and enjoying the kind of retirement we all aspire to? However, speak to any business broker and you’ll discover this is easier said than done.
To build a saleable asset that is attractive to buyers, you must have a strategy in place surrounding your data. One tangible way that you can significantly increase the value of your business is to build, document and protect your intellectual property. If you plan to sell your business, the value will be higher if you can show a strong track record over time.
Your strategy will have a better chance of success if it includes measurable objectives. This is something a CRM system is ideally positioned to support you with.
According to business brokers, there are three components that affect the sale value of your database:
The Size, quality and content of the database
The effective Segmentation of data
And the value to your customers
Other than building your list, let’s look at another way that Zoho can help you to build valuable IP.
One of the features of Zoho CRM that our clients report has had the biggest impact on the management of their prospects and customers is also one of the simplest. The ability to be able to create a note and associate it with the contact record it relates to.
The notes feature serves two critical roles in a business, the ability to be able to easily and efficiently share updates with other members of your team as well as serving as a welcome memory jogger when it comes to doing your follow ups.
The system will automatically track which member of your team added the note along with the time and date they did so for easy reference and reporting.
It really helps to facilitate the sales process by tracking details about why a buying decision may be delayed, objections to sale, product interest and even personal information that helps you to build rapport.
This is also a terrific way to build and the protect the intellectual property of your business.
The last thing you want is all your IP being stored in the minds or paper notebooks of your team. If one of your employees goes on holiday, gets sick or even leaves the company, all the information they have gleaned about your business and your clients leave with them.
By implementing an internal process that any information, feedback, comments or updates that are acquired about your company’s contacts get entered as a note into your CRM, you are safeguarding your businesses IP and therefore building a saleable asset.
A business is worth a lot more when any new owner or investor can gauge the strength and degree of the customer relationships, together with the unrealized opportunity that lies within those.
A CRM system can give you the ability to document, measure and protect this valuable IP.
When you do come to sell your business, having a well-managed and up-to-date CRM will be a major selling point and help you to get the best possible price for your business.
There are 5 key areas where you can strengthen the use of your CRM system and build further capital value within your business;
Comprehensive Contact Records
Client Affairs – Structures & Products
Clients Goals & Interests
Customer Feedback
Put simply, the more you know about your customers, the more valuable you are to them AND the more valuable they are to you.
To learn more about how you can build a profitable database resulting in valuable intellectual property, complete our Business Diagnostic to claim your complimentary systems review & personalised demo of Zoho CRM