Focusing a company's goals on customer satisfaction is a major benefit of CRM.
Another advantage of implementing CRM is that it redefines marketing strategy so that it is more effective
Transforming to a CRM system aligns your organizational structure with actual business operations
A key advantage of implementing a CRM system is that it re-concentrates the single focus of product performance onto the customer
CRM is a bridge linking an organization to its valued customers
Implementing a CRM system dramatically affects everyone involved. It requires a political, cultural and organizational change.
CRM cuts a wide swath across the entire organizational body that it demands a more cohesive approach toward meeting goals
Current incentive systems may work against CRM because they reward only a portion of the customers' relationships with the company. Therefore, your organization may lack an incentive program that supports a CRM system.
The challenge of implementing a CRM involves the cultural resistance to the change it requires. You also need to embrace the international market and create an infrastructure to facilitate the new system.
To find out what your customer wants, you need to understand and identify the elements of the CRM loop. The CRM loop is the fundamental cycle of activity that drives CRM programs:
- Comprehension and Differentiation
- Development and Customization
- Interaction and Delivery
- Acquisition and Retention
The four stages of CRM loop are an interdependent and continuous cycle of activity. All your initiatives and objectives must be intrinsically connected to this core cycle of action to get the best results.
As you transition from one stage to another, you will become more adept at implementation processes and achieve deeper insights that will improve each successive effort.
So how does the CRM loop work? What are the purposes of the four stages? And how do they interrelate with each other? This underlying core of activity will be your primary method for gaining knowledge and understanding your customers. The CRM loop will also help you decide what subsequent actions to take. This helps you identify, connect, and hold on to your most valuable customers.
Comprehension and Differentiation: As you learn, you will be able to zero in your valued customers quickly. And you will also attract new ones with similar learning's. Retention comes by listening vigilantly so you are prepared to modify your services when customers change their preferences.
Development and Customization: Use analysis and research to comprehend what your customers' value. Then use your understanding to show customer that your organization is differentiating its service based on what they have told you and what you have learned independently.
Interaction and Delivery: A basic principle of CRM is to develop products and services based on customers' needs and expectations. Although most companies can't afford to customize products for individual customers, they can customize their products for a proven customer sector.
Acquisition and Retention: Besides marketing and sales channels, customers interact in many ways with your organization, including shipping and distribution and customer service. With new information, you can progressively enhance the value you deliver to your customer.
Value is the quality of product, the service, the convenience, the ease of use, the responsiveness, and the excellence of customer service. Value isn't just about the price of the product.
A customer interacts with an organization in many ways, including shipping, distribution, and customer service.
The infrastructure provides the solid foundation, but the core competencies provide the heart and soul of a successful CRM system. It is here that the philosophy of CRM is expressed. The first vital core competency is the fine art of up-selling. Up-selling in a CRM environment means identifying your customer's needs and then matching their needs and then matching their needs to complementary products and services. The result is a richer, more profitable customer relationship.
One aspect of up-selling is event-driven marketing. By implementing up-selling software, you can track customer contacts and establish triggers to identify prospects for additional sales.
A second core competency of a successful CRM system is direct marketing. Direct marketing is the pre-sale interaction with potential customers. This involves the use of advertising techniques to influence and provide your customer with the information needed to make a purchase decision. As your business grows, you will be deluged with requests for information; be sure to manage the fulfillment end of this potentially overwhelming process.
The third core competency of a CRM system is customer service. The goal of an effective customer service program is to provide support and to assign, create, and manage service requests for the customer.
Walking hand in hand with customer service is field operations, the fourth core competency. Field service is the hands-on extension of customer support. It comes into play when a problem cannot be solved over the phone.
In a nutshell the core competencies of CRM are:
