Customer relationship management is not the same as customer relations nor public relations. And even though these words may all seem one and the same to most of us simple folk, I can guarantee you that in the world of business it has a very different meaning. Customer relationship management is an internal business function which can affect the sales growth in your company. In this article I will explain the basic of this function and some of the pitfalls of using it.
Customer relationship management is a business strategy which uses certain software tools, and methods to affect the way the business and its staff relate to customer, for the purpose of increasing sales. The idea behind this function is this; the gathering of customer information, and the using of that information to create software that can better satisfy the needs of the customer, source new customers, make the selling process run smoother for sales staff and the effect management of all other function. To simplify things even more I am going to give you an example.
Suppose you have a corner pharmacy in your home town. Now let us suppose that you have quite a regular flow of customers into your pharmacy- some are loyal customers while others just pass by. Now let us imagine that you want to be more informed about the ailments of your frequent customers, so that you can let them know when a new medicine or treatment has come in which might help them. You would have to have some sort of system with their information about the ailments and also their contact numbers. Now if you decide to call in a CRM expert, they will set up the software and guide you as to how to enter the information of the customer so that when a new product comes in you can contact that client, with the new information and they will also train the staff as to how to integrate the systems, so that everybody knows what to do. This will lead to an increase in sales, based on the facts that you have identified a need of the customer and also how to satisfy that need. The customer who feels you know their case personally will also be more loyal to your pharmacy.
With is a very basic example of how the customer relationship management function has helped you deliver better customer services. Now in a bigger company there would be many other departments which need to be synchronized with this process. There is the sales department, the marketing department and the customer services and support. Also the IT department have to be up to speed with the technology being implemented.
The reason for some of the challenges when implementing the Customer Relationship Management is this. In order for CRM to work, it has to be implemented by everyone and it needs to be done properly. Now some of the employees find some of the tools are difficult initiate or they simply do not put any effort into the proper functioning of the system. Poor planning and poor integration can cause this system to fail, and it is unfortunate because if run properly it can result in a big increase of sales.
Customer relationship management, if implemented correctly can have a major impact on your business and if you are think about using this process then I suggest you do some research to discover more.
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