Why a CRM is Essential for Coworking Spaces (And How to Choose the Best One)
A customer relationship management platform (CRM for short) is what organisations use to manage relationships and interactions with both existing and potential customers. Its primary function is to streamline operations and communications to ensure a smooth customer - and employee - experience, while improving profitability.
A CRM system is used by sales teams, operational staff, marketing, recruitment, and more. It’s a tool that facilitates transparency across teams - businesses can look at the lifecycle of a customer and leverage information stored in the system to communicate with them in a more personalised and time-sensitive way.
A CRM tool lets you store information, identify opportunities for revenue, record problems and manage marketing tasks in one place, with key information readily available at the appropriate team members’ fingertips. Without a CRM, you’d have to navigate multiple systems and spreadsheets, and that could lead to costly mistakes.
Why is CRM integration so important?
It’s important for a CRM for coworking spaces to integrate with its existing tools and systems. In a coworking-specific context, examples of integration include things like your door access system, WiFi, accounting platform, meeting room scheduling tool, document signing, etc. Integration enables information to flow neatly in and out of your CRM, giving you a 360-degree view of your workspace (or workspaces).
Today’s generation of CRM systems have built in intelligence in the form of reporting and analytics tools. They can automatically generate insights relating to your space based on a number of variables, from which meeting room is generating the most revenue on a specific day, to member churn in specific time frames.
More granular insights, if used to inform strategy, can lead to better outcomes, from both a revenue and coworking member experience perspective.
How can a CRM improve member relationships?
The best CRM for coworking - when used to its full potential - can significantly improve the member experience. Without one, and with so many people joining and utilising your space, it can be hard to keep track of where people are in their journey.
Your CRM keeps track of everything, even as the journey becomes more complex.
It pulls all the information into one place. For instance, you can see who has and hasn't paid their membership fees, who’s attending your events, how long each member has held their membership and when their membership is up for renewal.
Your CRM is also important from a member user experience perspective. Your members use your coworking CRM to interact digitally with your space, whether it's to sign their agreement, book a hotdesk or sign up to an event. They can engage on desktop or on their smartphone through their coworking space CRM app.
Here’s a more detailed breakdown of coworking CRM functionalities:
1. Seamless resource booking
Coworking CRM systems simplify the process of booking desks and meeting rooms so that your members can access resources as and when they need to. They simply open their app, check availability and book their spot. With Nexudus, members can see a floorplan of your workspace and filter desks according to their features.
A modern CRM like Nexudus can also provide personalised support using AI chatbot technology, allowing your team to spend time on other tasks.
2. Community connections
The community aspect of a CRM plays a big role in building connections. Features such as member directories, community boards and events calendars help members stay connected even when they’re travelling for work or working from home. Virtual coworking members can also benefit from the community.
3. Finance made easier
Managing invoices and billing can be time consuming when spreadsheets are involved, but a CRM solution makes things easier by automating invoice processing and financial reporting. Members and coworking staff can view bills and keep track of payments, and coworking operators can automate reminders for overdues. Your CRM can also help you to identify cross-selling and upselling opportunities.
4. Security enhancement
Let’s face it: security is a crucial aspect for any coworking manager. A coworking CRM can integrate with access control systems to set permissions for members. Members can use digital keys to access the building, with the CRM ensuring that only authorised people can access certain areas of the building.
5. Information resource
Data is powerful, and ultimately, your CRM is your main source of information when it comes to all things member engagement.
You can gain insight into how your space is being utilised, which resources are proving most popular and at which times your coworking space is being utilised most. This information can be used to inform everything from the physical layout of your space to how you market your resources online.
3 tips on implementing your CRM
Implementing your coworking customer relationship management system should be relatively easy, especially if you opt for a supportive vendor who will guide you through the process in a transparent and supportive way.
Here are a few things you might want to prepare:
1. Ensure stakeholder buy-in
Your CRM project will involve everyone in the organisation, so it’s important for investors and management to be informed so they can help build credibility. Before implementing or even choosing your CRM, sit down with key stakeholders and present the pros of your shortlisted CRM options, and what they can do for you.
2. Appoint a project manager
You may want to appoint a project manager - the person who will oversee the implementation and ensure that the required steps are completed on time. This will be someone who is proactive, organised and enthusiastic about your CRM journey (perhaps it’s you).
You could also appoint a CRM ‘oracle’ - this is the CRM expert, or super-user, who’s up for testing the features of your new CRM. They’ll also act as the go-to person for CRM support for internal employees. They’ll be clued up on new product releases and updates, and can spread the word about how great your new technology is.
3. Shout about it!
How will you spread the word?
Internal marketing is crucial when it comes to marketing your new software. Get creative with a series of blogs, posters, newsletters and social media posts that promote and educate users on your new CRM. You could even host a mini launch party to build momentum and get people using it from the get go.
3 tips on maximising your CRM
So, your CRM is in place - but are you using it to its full potential? The key to maximising your CRM lies in taking it at a steady pace without being afraid to test new features and functionalities. Here are a few things to keep in mind:
1. Take it one step at a time
Don’t feel like you need to jump in at the deep end. Doing so could overwhelm both you and your users. Start with the core features and functionalities that your team will use on a day-to-day basis before introducing them to the more complex or strategic ones. Confidence comes with practice, so there’s no need to rush.
2. Prioritise learning
Think ahead to training and development, and lifelong learning. Learning is a priority at Nexudus, and our customers can learn about their CRM through the Nexudus Academy - an online learning platform designed to help users understand and maximize the use of Nexudus’ coworking management software.
The Academy includes courses, video tutorials, certifications and best practices.
3. Adopt data-driven decision making
Don’t let the analytics capabilities of your coworking CRM go to waste. Once you’ve become accustomed to the operational side of your CRM, explore its analytics. Use the metrics to build a picture of member preferences and usage patterns. Fine-tune your marketing campaigns through customer segmentation and personalisation.
Are you ready to demo?
Demo-ing a CRM system is a good idea because it allows you to see the software in action, explore its features, and assess whether it can facilitate your daily workflows before committing to a purchase. You can explore features and functionalities that are important to your space, ensuring it can meet your needs.
Why not give Nexudus a go today?
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