What is CRM?
CRM (Customer
Relationship Management) is NOT a ‘Technology' or a ‘Software'.
Rather, CRM is A Methodology. It is A Methodology to acquire New
Customers, Increase Sales, Provide Quality Customer Service and Drive
Additional Sales from existing customers. No wonder CRM is the fastest
evolving business strategy being adopted by businesses today. A recent
article by the Harvard Business Review reported that increasing
customer retention rates by 5% increases profits by 25 to 95%! In
fact, it determined that Customer Retention is the key to increasing
profits. The article continued by stating that quality customer
support is one of five primary determinants of loyalty. The number one
reason why customers defect is the perception of poor service.
Managing customer relations efficiently enables a business to
identify the right customers, target them with the right offers at the
right time, and deliver that information using the right channel; for
instance, via an email campaign, direct mail, phone calls, trade
shows, etc.
So
how does a Software and CRM work together?
CRM software are designed and programmed to make an organization
work within the parameters of Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
guidelines. As a starting point, customer data is consolidated into
one, central database and is then used on a network by all sales,
management and marketing personnel.
What are the benefits of a Central Database?
While we could think of
several benefits of using a central database, the major ones are:
· The benefits of accessing and sharing the same data
across the entire organization
· The benefits of sharing details of all sales activities,
customer issues and notes on customer files.
· The
benefits of generating reports on customer buying patterns, products
purchase history, unhappy customers, most profitable customers,
customer outstanding issues, top performers, sales from new and
existing customers and almost any other report one could imagine.
· The benefits of organizing and delegating different
tasks within the organization and monitoring the status of those
assigned activities.
· The
benefits of storing, sharing and performing all customer related
correspondence (email, fax, phone calls and letters) from one central
location.
· Elimination of paper work
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Without the ability to integrate customer data into a central
database, it is impossible to achieve the 360-degree customer view
that is required to build loyalty and increase the customer's value to
an enterprise. In addition to sharing data locally, remote access
sharing of database contents with mobile sales reps and other
employees is made possible.
Without accurate record storage and quick access to information,
sales reps get far behind on their call lists; and once "hot
prospects" turn ice cold. Speed of particle flow and speed of delivery
are vital factors for survival; so access to data -- the same data
from a variety of positions -- is a must. Sales, Shipping, Service,
Accounting and even the executive branch must all have the same data
at the same time, all the time. CRM guidelines dictate that any single
employee who interacts with a customer needs to share the transaction
information. That information should be made available and easily
accessible to others.
Now
that we have all our data in one place – what's next?
Possessing accurate customer information is not useless data. It's
a sea of information. With proper data entry and data mining (in the
form of reports), companies can benefit from CRM systems like never
before. It allows for intelligent and informed decisions at the right
time. To see all of that in action, we will go through a few scenarios
and self-running demos with you.
What's Next?
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