Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is a core business practice that almost everyone reading this post is familiar with at some level. You have likely read about CRM, attended workshops and seminars on the subject, and perhaps even believe you have implemented a CRM initiative. While customer relationship management is certainly not a new business practice, it is also not a practice that most executives understand or leverage to its maximum capabilities. In today’s post, I will provide an overview of CRM and how you can apply it to your business.
What Is a True CRM Software System – How Do You Define CRM Solutions?
I cannot tell you how many times I have heard an executive or entrepreneur tell me how wonderful their CRM system is, only for me to ask them a few questions and find out that what they thought was a CRM system wasn’t. Customer Relationship Management is an integrated process for managing customer interactions at every stage of the customer lifecycle. This system works to offer the right product or service to the right customer at the right time and price via the right contact point. CRM is much more than a product or service; it is an integration framework, or business strategy. A customer-focused business has consistent, dependable, convenient, and value-added interaction with customers in every encounter.
True CRM Software Systems by Definition Should Focus on Customer Acquisition and Customer Retention
An effective CRM implementation aids in the acquisition of new customers, improves customer satisfaction and retention rates, and adds to the lifecycle value of customer relationships. Current market forces and new technologies are dramatically changing the dynamics of the customer relationship. Market power is shifting from sellers to buyers, and competition for customer loyalty is rising. The bottom line is that customers are raising the bar. Customers increasingly expect instant, 24/7 access to information and resources (product data, company information, pricing, project management, technical support, etc.). They want rich, value-added information that is easy to find. Customers are beginning to expect a personalized experience – a personalized welcome message, individual relationship knowledge, the ability to review their status in real-time, and so on.
Simply put, customers/partners/investors/suppliers/venders no longer stand for repeating the same information again and again to differentiate your company, its products and services, and its value propositions from the competition. Adding an additional layer of complexity to the current marketplace, today’s customers randomly traverse communication channels – from the Web to the phone system, to a fax, to email, to instant messages etc. Regardless of the channel, your customer will expect to be recognized. Companies need to do business the way that customers are demanding: at anyplace and anytime. An end-to-end CRM solution helps solve this multi-channel challenge.
Components of a Properly Implemented CRM System Are a Function of Business Drivers
The implementation of CRM helps you evolve into a customer-centric business. As a customer-centric organization, you can more effectively share information, analyze the overall health of your business, build greater customer loyalty, and gain a competitive edge. Relevant customer and/or product information is easily accessible to employees, customers, and partners. Your organization should evolve to include a minimum of the following traits of a customer-centric business:
- Online Customer Interaction
- E-commerce
- Lead Management
- Experience Management
- Task Management
- Surveys and Data Mining
- Literature Fulfillment
- Knowledge base
- Analytics
- Campaign Management
- List Management
- Online encyclopedia/glossary
- Sales Process Automation
- Forecasting/Funnel Management
- Service Automation
- Support Automation
- Client History
- Quality Assurance
- Online lead capture
- Email Management and Support
Your CRM system should empower your organization with tools to manage all aspects of the sales process: prospecting, lead tracking, opportunity management, reporting, etc. It should provide a single, real-time view of the customer, allowing you to instantly determine: account status, pending deals, service request, history, profitability, etc. Additionally, a CRM implementation should allow you to become much more effective in the management and allocation of your time. Finally, a customer-centric CRM system provides many benefits to your marketing infrastructure. CRM allows you to develop and execute campaigns based on powerful, real-time data. You can mine for data, and tailor marketing campaigns to different market segments and customer profiles.
Proper Customer Relationship Management Provides Actionable Marketing and Sales Information
The CRM toolset provides comprehensive tracking capabilities so marketing results can be captured in real time, allowing for any necessary adjustments to be made. CRM allows you to more effectively manage your extended enterprise relationships. Additionally, a CRM application allows you to route leads, opportunities, and service requests to the appropriate party, and then track the performance. Partners/customers can then browse products and pricing information.
Should you desire to expand your indirect marketing efforts, a CRM-based infrastructure enables you to manage channel partners as an extended virtual sales and service organization. The proper CRM application has a single, complete view of the customer, with instant access to all relevant customer data. Equipped with real-time access to specific customer account information, this customer service infrastructure delivers a high quality experience to the end-user. Web-based self-service also enables you to provide world-class service, providing customers, partners, and/or investors with 24/7 access to appropriate information.
The implementation of a CRM solution specifically tailored to your unique requirements allows personnel to bring excellent customer service to an entirely new level. A CRM system is designed for employees interact with your entire value chain. It is an enterprise relationship management system from customer to employee to supplier. A specifically tailored CRM solution provides you with a central, single source of information with a complete history of the relationship’s activities to date. The ability to present a complete and consistent view to a relationship is invaluable. A specifically tailored CRM will allow you to:
- Maximize customer acquisition efforts,
- Retain profitable customers for the long term,
- Foster customer loyalty, and
- Enhance profitability by leveraging every role, channel, and customer touch point within your company.
If your business has not adopted Customer Relationship Management as a key business driver, then you are missing out on a substantial opportunity.
================
The original source for this post can be found here: http://www.n2growth.com/blog/customer-relationship-management/
Re-posted with author Mike Myatt’s permission, he runs a great blog at http://www.n2growth.com/blog/
================
For more information on implementing CRM software systems that are focused on customer retention, customer acquisition, and revenue generation, please read:
CRM, ERP, BI, and IT Investment — Where Do You Find the Business Benefit?
================
