Shops that sell in chat usually start by writing customer names in a notebook or a spreadsheet. As customers grow and more people answer chats, the information scatters: nobody can find it, and nobody knows where each conversation stands. That is when shops start looking for CRM software. This article does not explain what a CRM is (see What is a CRM?); it helps you choose software a chat shop will actually use.

What kind of CRM software suits a chat shop

Many CRM tools are built for sales teams that phone customers and book meetings. An online shop talks to customers almost entirely in chat, so the right software sits next to the chat, and customer details come from the conversation instead of being typed in again.

7 things to check before you choose

1. Do contacts from every channel land in one list?

Customers who message from LINE OA and from your website chat should be in one list. When the same person writes from several channels, the software should help you find and merge them into one.

2. Can you see customer details next to the chat?

While replying, your team should see the customer's name, phone, address, tags and notes at once, without opening another page.

3. Do you have to type every field yourself?

Customers often type their phone number, email or address in the chat. Good software fills these in for you, so nobody copies them by hand.

4. How finely can you group customers?

Check that you can tag contacts, set customer stages, filter by channel, last conversation date or amount, and save a filter as a group to reuse. See Tag customers and group them for examples.

5. Is the customer history complete?

A good history is in time order: conversations, edits, orders and payments. Whoever picks up the chat next knows the story without asking the customer again.

6. Can your team work together in it?

A shop with several people on chat should be able to assign a salesperson to each customer and keep notes the whole team sees. Read more in Customer notes in chat.

7. Can you move data in and out?

Before you choose, ask whether you can import your existing contacts from a CSV file and download them again. Customer data belongs to the shop: you should always be able to take it out, and to delete a contact when the customer asks.

A 14-day trial that tells you if it fits

Day one: connect the chat channels you already use and import your existing contacts.
Week one: have your team answer real chats in the software, tagging and taking notes as they talk.
Week two: filter for a group you want to follow up, such as customers who have gone quiet.
Last day: ask your team whether they find customer details faster and whether fewer customers slip through.

What contacts in Easyrobin can do

Customers from every connected channel in one list, with possible duplicates (same phone or email) suggested for merging.
Phone numbers, emails and addresses customers type in the chat are filled in with a tap.
Tags, customer stages with your own names and colours, and a salesperson for each customer.
A customer timeline: edits, tags, cases, orders and payments.
Import contacts from CSV and download them as CSV, including a format for LINE OA broadcasts.

See everything on Contacts.

Summary

The right CRM software for a chat shop sits next to the chat, keeps details from the conversation for you, and gives the whole team one set of data. Before you choose, try it with your shop's real chats and see whether your team finds customers faster and follows up more completely.

CRM software for online shops: how to choose