Customer Relationship Management

Delivering value in this industry goes beyond the usual Value = Quality/Price equation. Now the new equation to be Value = Quality/Price ? Where? Stood for the unknown factor that the industry is seeking today.

CRM denotes Customer Relationship Management, a policy to know more about customers' needs and psychology so that a permanent rapport can be built up with clientele. After all, winning the heart of customers is winning business. Though there are many technological modules to CRM, it would be fallacious to think about it in terms of technology. It would be more beneficial if CRM is considered as a process which provides lot of information about customers, sales, marketing effectiveness, responsiveness and market trends.

CRM allows businesses to use technology and human resources to perceive the frame of mind of customers and the value of those customers. If it brings desired results, a business can

.Offer better customer care;
.Enhance call center efficiency;
.Cross sell products more effectively;
.Help sales staff close deals faster;
.Simplify marketing and sales processes;
.Find out new customers and
.Increase customer revenues.

Buying software and installing it doesn't make CRM work. To activate CRM effectively, it is essential for an organization to decide what kind of customer information it requires and how to interpret the obtained information. For example, many financial organizations have a tendency to keep records of phases of customers' life so that they might market appropriate banking products like mortgages or IRAs to them at the right time to fit their needs.
Next, the organization must take a look at all the different ways of information about how customers enter a business, where and how these data are stored and how it is currently used. There are countless ways a company can deal with customers; for instance mail campaigns, Web sites, brick-and-mortar stores, call

centers, mobile sales force staff and marketing and advertising efforts. Real CRM systems associate each of these points. These collected data flow between operational systems (like sales and inventory systems) and analytical systems that can help in sifting through these records for patterns. Company analysts can then comb out the data to get a total view of each customer and locate areas where better services are needed. For example, if someone has a mortgage, a business loan, an IRA and a large commercial checking account with one bank, it suits the bank to serve this person well each time it has any contact with him or her.

Not really. However, need for a CRM project can be evaluated by counting routes a customer can take to reach the company. The more routes you have, the greater need there is for the type of single centralized customer view a CRM system can provide.

It takes a bit longer than many software sales people will lead you to think. Some vendors even claim that their CRM "solutions" can be installed in less than a week and will start working within a week. Such packages are not very helpful in the long run because they don't offer the cross-divisional and complete customer view needed. Complexity of the project and its modules decide the time it takes to put together a well-conceived CRM project.

.Responses to campaigns
.Shipping and fulfillment dates
.Sales and purchase data
.Account information
.Web registration data
.Service and support records
.Demographic data
.Web sales data

.Categorize your CRM project into manageable pieces by initiating pilot programs and short-term milestones. Pilot project includes all the necessary departments and groups that get projects rolling quickly but is too small and flexible to allow tinkering with the way.
.Make sure your CRM plans include a scalable architectural framework.
.Don't underestimate how much data you could collect (there will be LOTS) and make sure that if you need to develop systems you'll be able to do that.
.Be attentive to what data is collected and stored. One might be led to grab and then store EVERY piece of data one can, but very often there is no reason to store data. It is a waste of time and money to store useless data.
.Recognize the uniqueness of customers and respond appropriately. For example a CRM system should have been built in assessing flexibility.

The biggest returns come from aligning business, CRM and IT strategies across all departments and not just leaving it for one group to run.

From the beginning, poor communication among everyone associated with the customer relationship chain can lead to a broken image of the customer. If the level of communication is inferior, then the implementation of technology will be without proper support or buy-in from users. For example, if the sales force isn't completely sold up to the system's benefits, they may not insert the kind of demographic data that is indispensable to the programme's success. One Fortune 500 Company is on its fourth try at a CRM implementation, just because its sales force resisted all the previous efforts to share customer data.

.Know everything about your customers.
.Organize focus groups to make sure that they need self-service.
.Define clear business ends.
.Assess the technology for its technical and financial qualities.
.Is it in accordance with your customer base? Will it enhance profitability?
.Team Work is necessary. Get customer support, IT and other divisions involved every step of the way.
.Training to employees.
.Expect this to be an interactive process that calls for making changes as you learn more about your customers.
.Evolve a competent mode to measure results.
.Under promise and overdeliver.

Five Novel Courses to Customer Worth

When you have your valuable customers at the center of your attention, make certain that you appreciate customers based on:
.The total value of their relationship with your company;
.The potential value of their relationship;
.The profitability of their relationship;
.The insights they can provide to your company and
.The influence that they have over other customers.

Our thinking of our customers' worth must have deep vision and insight so that we can employ our resources on attracting and keeping right type of customers. This approach, in turn, will enhance the productivity of our CRM efforts and will make our position better for innovation and development.