Top view of professional at a a table discussing meeting notes on laptops.

Keeping projects running smoothly with a CRM

Our team is made up of a diverse mix of people, including data analysts, sustainability consultants and software experts. In the last year, we’ve added two Client Relationship Managers to that list. Alice and Lois work behind the scenes making sure our clients are happy with the services they receive from us. In this blog post, Alice talks about what it is she does and why the role is so important when it comes to project delivery and client satisfaction.

Read Time

4 mins

Author

Alice Salt

As a CRM, I am the main point of support for many of our clients. My job is to bridge the gap between the client and our delivery team and acting as the main point of contact for both. I am the go-to person for any issues or concerns from either direction and I’m here to make sure things run smoothly! It’s a busy role which requires organisation and a lot of juggling projects, timelines, and deadlines.

When you’re looking for a sustainability consultancy to support you on your next project, consider one that offers account management or client relationship management as part of the package. It might cost a little more than going with a freelancer or smaller company, but it is worth it!

What are the benefits of having a CRM?

A lot of the work we do at Sustainit is technical, and data driven. Sometimes our clients don’t fully understand what it is we do (hence needing us to help them!). That’s the first point in which a CRM can help – translating complex topics into language that anyone of us can understand.

Customer service is our priority. We’re here to ensure client satisfaction by being responsive to our client’s needs and being on hand to resolve any concerns or issues if they ever pop up. By building these strong relationships with our clients and consistently delivering value, we aim to create long-term partnerships and happy clients! That’s the goal!

Whilst adding a ‘middleman’ can seem counterintuitive for things like speed and cost, we find the opposite. Since we introduced CRMs to Sustainit, we’ve seen increased efficiency thanks to better project management, streamlined communication and a better understanding for all parties on what’s going on at any given time.

A day in my life

I work with nine of our clients and on any given day I might have several meetings with them. These can be to discuss progress on a project and a space for both parties (client and delivery team) to ask and answer questions.

Between meetings, I do a lot of project management, typing up meeting notes, writing agendas and using Monday.com to make sure timelines are up to date and tasks are properly mapped out.

Part of my role is also to talk with clients about their end goals – what would they want if they had a magic wand? We often get together to look at how we can work together on future projects once the current piece of work is completed. I really enjoy these chats as it’s an opportunity to get creative in thinking up solutions we can deliver to some complex problems.

I tend to leave the trickier things to the afternoon – invoices and writing statements of work. Important but less enjoyable than talking with clients directly! I find that a good Spotify playlist helps a lot when I’m concentrating hard.

Looking ahead to your next project

Next time you’re considering an agency or sustainability consultancy to work with you on your sustainability data requirements, think about hiring one with a CRM (maybe even us!). Delivering on and running a complex data project can be tricky to juggle and relying on one person to do all of that can often lead to problems. As a CRM, I’m here as your friendly point of call, keeping things running smoothly whilst the delivery team get on with the nuts and bolts.

Have a project that you want to run smoothly?

Get in touch for a chat