Latest news with #customerrelationshipmanagement
Reuters
31-07-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Mria Labs Enters CRM Market With Mria CRM to Bring Native Customer Management to Jira
DOVER, DE, July 31, 2025 (EZ Newswire) -- Mria Labs, opens new tab, founded by experienced Atlassian Marketplace professionals, has officially entered the CRM market with the announcement of Mria CRM, opens new tab — the first customer relationship management solution built natively for Jira. Designed to close a long-standing gap for Jira users, Mria CRM brings customer management directly into the platform where teams already manage product, delivery and support. The company has released a visual preview of the core modules and confirmed that the product is planned for release in fall 2025. A Long-Standing Gap in Jira For years, Jira has been the go-to platform for teams managing projects, product development and support operations. However, it has lacked a true CRM system that allows sales, product and delivery teams to work in one unified space. Teams often attempt to customize Jira for lead and deal tracking or rely on standalone CRM tools that break the connection with day-to-day project work. Mria Labs, with deep expertise in the Atlassian ecosystem, aims to close this gap. The company is building a native CRM solution that works where teams already work, with no need for syncs, external integrations or complex workarounds. From Experience to Solution Mria CRM is the result of years of working inside the Atlassian ecosystem and observing how teams push Jira beyond its original scope. While Jira is central to how many organizations manage delivery, support and internal collaboration, it has never offered a native way to manage customers. The need for a CRM that works directly in Jira has surfaced repeatedly, not just as a feature request, but as a structural gap that affects how teams sell, deliver and retain business. Mria CRM is being developed to close that gap with a fully native solution designed specifically for cross-functional teams operating in Jira every day. 'We've been part of the Atlassian ecosystem for years. We saw teams trying to use Jira as a CRM, and we did the same. We customized it, extended it, hit the same limits and ended up switching to a standalone system that broke the connection between teams. That's what we're fixing. With Mria CRM, we're building what should have existed all along: one system where product, sales, and engineering work together as one team, inside Jira, driving revenue and customer success,' said Anton Storozhuk, opens new tab, CEO and founder of Mria Labs. Mria CRM: A CRM That Is Jira Mria CRM is being developed as a Jira-native system to eliminate silos and sync issues between departments. It enables users to manage leads, deals, contacts and company relationships directly inside Jira, alongside support tickets and delivery tasks. The interface is designed to follow Jira's native experience, reducing the need for training or platform switching. The product is being developed on Atlassian Forge, ensuring deep native integration, consistent performance and adherence to Atlassian's latest architecture standards. The first visual preview showcases four core modules: See the first Mria CRM preview: Visual Overview of Mria CRM Core Modules, opens new tab Why a CRM in Jira? Mria CRM's positioning is clear: one account, one system, one team. Instead of switching between tools and managing scattered data, teams can keep all customer and project information inside Jira. This reduces complexity, improves collaboration and allows B2B organizations to close deals faster and retain customers without losing context between departments. Learn more in 10 Reasons You Need a CRM Inside Jira, opens new tab. 'Sales, product and engineering should not operate in silos. Our goal with Mria CRM is to create a single environment where customer success is not just a handover between teams but a shared effort, supported by one tool,' Storozhuk added. The Industry Context for Mria CRM In recent years, major work management platforms like ServiceNow and have entered the CRM space. Though not traditional CRM vendors, they recognized the growing need to unify customer data with operational workflows. These moves reflect a broader shift in the market: CRM is no longer seen as a standalone tool but as an essential layer within the systems teams already use to work and collaborate. Team collaboration platforms such as Microsoft Teams and Slack are also deepening their CRM integrations, signaling rising demand for cross-functional alignment. As customer relationships span sales, support, delivery and finance, the most effective CRM tools are being built directly into platforms where that work already happens. Mria CRM brings customer relationship management into Jira, the platform of choice for managing product delivery, support and core operations. Atlassian serves over 300,000 customers in more than 200 countries, and more than 40% of Fortune 500 companies rely on Jira Service Management as part of their IT and service delivery stack. While others are extending into CRM to close gaps between service and customer workflows, Jira already stands as an operational cornerstone for teams worldwide. Mria CRM completes that platform by embedding CRM directly in Jira. It enables product, sales and engineering teams to collaborate in one system, with no added tools and no loss of context. Mria CRM Launch Plans Mria CRM is currently in development, with the release confirmed for fall 2025. Mria Labs continues to share product updates through its website and blog, opens new tab, providing early insight into the progress and direction of the solution. A subscription for Mria CRM launch updates is now available, and the team is actively engaging with early subscribers to share planned capabilities and gather input ahead of the release. To learn more about why Mria Labs is building this solution, visit Why We're Building Mria CRM, opens new tab. About Mria Labs Mria Labs is the team behind Mria CRM, the first truly Jira-native CRM designed to connect sales, product and delivery teams in one system. Founded in 2025 by Anton Storozhuk, founder of Alpha Serve (acquired by Tempo Software in 2024), the company brings together senior professionals with proven experience in building, scaling and marketing Atlassian Marketplace apps. The team is united by a clear goal: to build a CRM that works as a natural part of Jira. Every decision, from product architecture to go-to-market strategy, is shaped by deep experience with Atlassian products and a strong focus on the real needs of Jira teams. More about the company: opens new tab Follow Mria Labs on LinkedIn, opens new tab and visit opens new tab to learn more about the product and subscribe for Mria CRM launch updates. Media Contact Anton Storozhukhello@ ### SOURCE: Mria Labs Copyright 2025 EZ Newswire See release on EZ Newswire
Travel Weekly
23-05-2025
- Business
- Travel Weekly
How to be a better salesperson
Jamie Biesiada Do you think of yourself as a salesperson? Not enough travel advisors do, according to Byrd Bergeron, founder of the Travel Byrds. "Travel agents don't think of themselves in the sales space," Bergeron said. "So what they do a lot of times is they focus on their customer service, and they're obsessed with the customer service." What they're not thinking about are things like their sales pipeline, how long it takes to close a lead, keeping every lead logged in a CRM or analyzing leads that were lost, Bergeron said. But thinking about things like that can better a business and increase revenue. Bergeron was speaking on the latest episode of the "Trade Secrets" podcast, which is all about sales strategies. Bergeron was a guest alongside Steven Gould of Goulds Travel, Luxera Travel and the Travel Advisor Resource Center. She offered an example of thinking more strategically about a travel agency as a business: She might go into her CRM, or customer relationship management system, and look at what each of her 11 advisors are up to. Perhaps there's a trend of an advisor losing leads because their potential clients aren't paying Travel Byrds' research and design fee. "I would say maybe we need to work on your pitch a little bit more," she said. "Maybe we need to build your value." Or, if clients are "ghosting" an advisor, she might work with them on their phone skills, she said. It's about "giving yourself the space to have data around sales, not just spending all the time working on customer service," she said. In fact, Bergeron herself spends very little time on customer service after she's made a booking. She has outsourced that to virtual assistants (VA). Gould said travel advisors are usually one of two people: They either love the sales aspect, or they love the booking process and researching destinations. "It's really hard finding one person who loves doing both sides of that job," Gould said. "Like Byrd alluded to, having a VA or somebody else that you can work with for that definitely helps fill in the gaps that you're missing in that regard." Listen to the full episode of the podcast for more advice from Bergeron and Gould, including practical techniques and insights. It's the first in a two-part series on sales strategies with Bergeron and Gould. The next episode will be live on Monday, July 10. Find "Trade Secrets" wherever you listen to podcasts.
Entrepreneur
06-05-2025
- Business
- Entrepreneur
These Are the CRM Features That Give You the Biggest Bang For Your Buck
Before you commit to a customer relationship management platform, make sure it has the features you need to grow your business and get the most out of your investment. Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. According to 97% of companies that use customer relationship management (CRM) platforms met or exceeded their sales goals in the past year. Only 3% fell short. How can you make sure you're in the 97%? The key is choosing a CRM platform with features that will give you the most bang for your buck and help you build a true omnichannel presence. Having advised numerous startups through critical growth phases, I've seen firsthand how the right CRM implementation can be the difference between scattered customer interactions and truly transformative relationship building. By asking the right questions and comparing a CRM's capabilities to your list of must-have features, you can find the ideal platform for your business. Related: These 4 Quick Wins Can Boost Your Customer Count and Revenue CRM: What is it good for? A quick search of CRM software will inundate you with lists of features, product demo opportunities and reasons why every solution is "the best." It's easy to get lost in a sea of options and features. While knowing what features will deliver the most value for your business is essential, you should first consider what a CRM is used for. Customer relationship management platforms can serve two core functions for your business: Creating an internal sales pipeline A CRM's ability to track prospects through the sales pipeline is highly valuable. Your platform will provide a clear view of where each prospect is in their journey, enabling you to monitor prospects from initial contact to conversion and beyond. This visibility allows your sales team to prioritize outreach efforts and allocate resources to the most promising prospects. For instance, in my work as a member of sales teams we would monitor the pipeline with a CRM and discover bottlenecks that added friction to the customer journey. Similarly, you can identify top-performing channels and underperforming outreach mediums. Once you know which channels your audience prefers, you can restructure your marketing strategy based on their needs. Related: Buying Prospect Data Seems Like an Easy Hack for Getting More Customers. But Is It the Right Move? Maintaining customer relationships Whether you're focused on building your local presence or need to connect with consumers at scale, forming authentic relationships is key to your success. A CRM is instrumental in nurturing existing customer connections. It stores detailed information about customer interactions, preferences and purchase history. Use this data to personalize communications and foster loyalty. Staying connected with existing customers encourages repeat business and opens the door for referrals. 6 must-have features you need in a CRM platform No matter which CRM solution you end up going with, it's imperative that it offers the following features: 1. Financial tracking Uncertainty seems to be the only economic constant these days. With that in mind, you have to make every dollar count when creating your marketing budget. A CRM with financial tracking tools will help you get the most out of every marketing dollar. Financial tracking tools also shed light on your sales cycles. This feature is particularly useful if your business has long sales cycles or expensive sales processes. You can use these analytics insights to determine whether the cost of an acquisition is worth the potential revenue. In my experience, implementing financial tracking has enabled clients to identify high-cost, low-return strategies and pivot to more profitable approaches. 2. AI CRMs with AI-powered tools help you avoid wasting your marketing dollars by providing actionable insights. Artificial intelligence boasts predictive capabilities, which forecast customer behavior and sales trends. This foresight makes it possible to proactively address customer needs and optimize sales strategies. For instance, AI can analyze past customer interactions to predict future purchasing preferences. You can use this information to target audience segments with personalized marketing content that speaks to their product preferences and pain points. Franchise Brokers Association (FBA) achieved astounding results after integrating AI into its marketing processes. FBA improved lead gen by 216%, ramped up content production by 250% and boosted revenue by 63% using AI tools. Related: The Marketer's Playbook for Retaining Customers and Bringing in New Ones — Even During a Recession 3. Multichannel communication tracking Omnichannel marketing is an underappreciated strategy that produces powerful outcomes. A CRM that consolidates all of your marketing channels can provide a unified view of customer engagement. You can create intertwined journeys that span email, SMS, social media and more. When working with clients to improve their reach and lead-generation capabilities, addressing multi-channel communications is always one of my top priorities. I've found that implementing multi-channel tracking reduces response times and improves customer satisfaction. 4. Automated workflows Think of all the times your team has gotten bogged down with tedious manual work. Workflow automation can handle tasks like follow-up emails and data entry, giving your staff more time to focus on dynamic work. Automating redundant tasks also helps keep your team from dropping the ball when nurturing leads and following up with customers. For instance, a leading CRM can automatically add appointments to team members' calendars. Your platform can also send automated emails to remind employees and their prospective clients of upcoming meetings. The result is fewer missed opportunities and better responsiveness. 5. Lead tracking and modeling A customer relationship management platform with lead-tracking capabilities visualizes the sales process. You can track every phase of the customer journey and identify which leads are ready to make a purchase. Top CRMs also include modeling tools, which allow you to assess the quality and potential of prospects. They can also help you capitalize on seasonality and other cyclical trends. I've found that chasing the wrong leads can derail a sales team's momentum and increase the risk of missed productivity goals. I encourage my clients to adopt lead modeling so they can take a more focused approach to lead nurturing and close more deals. Related: 7 Ways to Know You're Sending Marketing Emails to People Who Might Read Them 6. Serious security Data privacy has become a major issue among consumers and legislators. Your business is responsible for collecting peoples' data ethically. It's also responsible for protecting any information it collects and stores. Customer relationship management platforms ingest a huge volume of customer data. This makes them prime targets for bad actors looking to steal sensitive information. As such, choosing a CRM that complies with stringent security standards is non-negotiable. You need a platform that adheres to provisions like the GDPR or California Consumer Privacy Act. Features like encryption, audit logs and two-factor authentication are essential for maintaining customer trust and shielding your business from liability. Make it a point to select a CRM with robust security, even if you don't operate in a market that's subject to strict data protection. Several states have already adopted acts similar to the CCPA, and many of them model their regulations after the GDPR. Being proactive about data security and public privacy will help your business avoid compliance headaches down the road. Is it time to level up your business with a CRM? Investing in a CRM with these advanced features can significantly enhance your customer relationship management capabilities. Prioritize functionalities like financial tracking, AI integration and multichannel communication to achieve a strong ROI while promoting people's trust. The right CRM could just be the growth catalyst that takes your business to the next level.
