| Current Category is: Customer Service | Select Another Category | |
|
|
| Home | Search | Categories | Links | About Us | Contact Us |
|
|
 |
CRM - Its Relevance
In today's demanding economy, the first line of any business during economic uncertainty is to get closer to the customer. Customers often want information along with a quote or invoice on the spot. With lack of information, the customers do not fix loyalty to a particular product or service and tend to depend on impulse decision. The companies are no exception to this. In the process "hot prospects" turn ice cold. Speed of information flow and speed of converting information into prospect are vital factors for survival. So access to data is a must. E-business has revolutionized the way for business to interact with customers. What is CRM? Business's effort to get closer to a customer is considered Customer / Constituent Relationship Management (CRM). CRM is a concept that combines management thought and business practices. CRM is about developing, implementing business strategies through supporting technologies to narrow down the gap between an organization's current and potential performance in terms of customer acquisition, growth, and retention. The sole purpose of CRM is to connecting the company to its customers and providing direct support. It is an effort of the business to personalize, source business intelligence and warehousing customers' requirements. CRM is re-designing of functional activities to drive the process of re-engineering. Its focus is on managing and optimizing the entire customer life cycle. Customer / Constituent Relationship Management (CRM) encompass the totality of the business processes that an organization performs to identify, select, acquire, develop and retain its customers. CRM encompass a wide breadth of functionality. CRM improves Return on Assets. The asset in this case is the customer and potential customer base. In other words, Customer / Constituent Relationship Management (CRM) refer to management of all interactions with the customer that an enterprise indulges in. Why CRM? Today, enterprises are finding that they no longer have the initiative. Customers are now empowered by ready access to information and have greater access to businesses than ever before they are demanding. It is essential to excel with each customer by sales, service agents, traditional face-to-face interaction, while contacting by phone, fax, and e-mail correspondence. Management is interested in improving productivity, profitability and enhancing management/operational information and reduction in cost of handling customers. The organisation is interested in high powered continuous information for analysis. CRM aims in improving the ability to plan and use finite resources, increase customer support, improve the customer experience, improve morale for customer support personnel and reduce the cost of providing service and support. CRM integrates all the different requirements of different functions to that of customer's requirements by co-coordinating and unifying all points of interaction to provide a big and better picture on customer satisfaction. This functionality is portrayed as: ? CRM (Customer / Constituent relationship management), ? CRM process management, and ? CRM access management. CRM is critical to all industries, a dominant business driver. CRM based business objectives are for improving customer service, enhancing customer relationships and reducing distribution (channel) costs. Customer / Constituent Relationship Management (CRM) helps an enterprise build a database about its customers. Therefore, management, and functionaries of management could access information about all areas for value addition. Benefits of CRM ? To develop and design strategy for their business ? To develop business intelligence ? To develop innovative solution ? To improve customer service relationships as a competitive differentiator. ? To integrate customers' view in changing market conditions ? To achieve business objectives, increase service level commitment ? To provide investment protection by increasing profitability, productivity & cost reduction. ? To re-engineer business strategies. ? To transform business. ? To transform to a common form of user interaction with the enterprise. ? To identify primary determinants of loyalty. ? To understand the reason why customers defect. Hurdles in implementation: ? Lack of awareness, ? Affordability ? Slow adoption rate, ? Lack of proper databases ? Usage of old processes ? Implementation of CRM in a phased manner. ? CRM is seen only as a technology that automates certain processes ? Lack of understanding of the concept Conclusion There are many reasons why CRM has not taken a leap. Though there are technologies and systems to gather useful information about their customers, they either not use the system to collect information or do not use the collected information. CRM solutions are seen among many as just a software packages for call centre management and not as a strategic initiative to customer relationship management. An effective CRM is the one that enables an organization to easily gather critical information that becomes a valuable resource for improving both the top (revenue) and the bottom (profit) lines. The top line is improved by increasing sales through better data management, and improving marketing effectiveness by collecting, analyzing, and using valuable customer information. The bottom line is improved by reducing service times and costs, and by improving the general productivity of the staff. Some realise the importance of service as a differentiator due to stringent competition. It is service that drives organization to CRM solutions. This will only change when management truly understands and is committed to CRM as a way of doing business. A total appreciation of CRM is gaining momentum. J. Solomon Prabakar
MORE RESOURCES:
Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Over Deliver - The Key to Customer Satisfaction Client satisfaction starts with meeting or beating the contractual obligations of the relationship. There are also some intangibles that can help you to over deliver to a client. Does Your Customer Talk Back To You? What is your customer saying about you? Do you really know? Does your customer really know who you are?If you don't know what your customer thinks about you, your business, your product and your services, then you might as well close shop!A customer is the lifeblood of every business and you must always strive to be in tune with what your customer thinks and how they feel. Don't leave your customers unattended and in the dark. Whats The Customer Service Buzz About Your Business? If you're a regular reader of my column you know that my number one pet peeve is bad customer service. Nothing chaps my backside more than paying hard-earned money for a product or service only to have the provider of said product or service become apathetic, obnoxious or just downright rude after the transactional smoke has cleared. Creating the Right 'Viral Reputation' Unless you are brand new to business, or have been under a rock for quite some time - one key marketing technique (which isn't new) - is called 'Viral'.Based on the word 'virus' - viral marketing or viral business simply means it 'spreads' like a virus. Customer Service A Chickens Way Anyone who knows me knows my favorite fast food restaurant is Chick-fil-A. Aside from the fact their chicken is especially good and I can always get sweet tea, I have a valuable business reason for eating there - they serve up amazing customer service. Why Passenger Surveys are a Transport Operators Best Friend Public transport operators who already use passenger surveys may not fully appreciate the multiple benefits that surveys can bring. Not only are surveys an efficient method of market research that will help identify areas of passenger dissatisfaction, they are also perfect for measuring the effects of improvements and can, at the same time, help promote new initiatives to customers using the service. Modern Call Center Solutions - Keeping in Touch is the Key Call center solutions solve a range of age-old problems. As far back as ancient times, the success of a business has always depended on how well that business can communicate with clients and meet their needs. 11 Ways to Get What You Want - Be a Clever Customer! We all want great service, whether we are buying our weekly groceries from a store, or want a billing hitch resolved at our local utilities provider. Whether it's getting our car fixed, or a great meal in a restaurant. 11 Moments of Truth These moments come when a customer or client?1. Hears someone else praise you or your work. How To Build a Profitable Business It's never too soon to start saying thanks to your clients, vendors and referral sources for what they contribute to your business. Everyone loves to be appreciated and acknowledged, so start now and do something every month. How To Build Stellar Client Relationships Your opportunity to build a stellar client relationship starts with managing the gap between your perception of how things are going and your client's.Begin the process here . Get Customers to Stop Calling You--12 Easy Ways to Save Money with Online Customer Support Despite rumors to the contrary, the Web is not dead. More people are using it, they have faster bandwidth, and in many cases Net-time is taking over TV-time. Automating Your Help Desk Workflow Do you know you can open, answer, close and report help desk information without human intervention?Automation is a powerful feature provided by most enterprise level help desk products; however, most organizations rarely take advantage of these features. Based on a survey conducted by RightStar Systems, only 5% of the help desk managers interviewed were using automation to its fullest capacity. Make Sure You Get The Customer Perspective Businesses that fail, often forget to seek out the customer perspective. I have talked to some folks at businesses that were less than succesful, and when asked if they actively seek out customer comments, the answer invariably is no. What Every Manager Should Know About How to Learn from the Complaints of Customers and Employees Listening to complaints, whether they're reasonable or not, is a part of every manager's job. Sometimes complaints can be overwhelming. Customer Service Tips for Mail Order Businesses Can we be too good to our customers? No way! Our customers are the backbone of our business! They're right no matter what! But I'm sorry to disagree with you. As small, honest and legitimate businesses - we have a tendency to place our product quality above money. Customers - Hold Onto the Ones Youve Got You probably spend a great deal of your time looking for newcustomers or clients. However, are you sure your doingenough to hold onto the ones you've got. Listening to Customers - 5 Tips In a strange juxtapositioning of articles, this month's UK 'Management Today' has three pieces, relating to the importance of listening to customers.Susan Rice, CEO of Lloyds TSB makes it clear how vital it is for great leaders to listen and hear. Be the Customer: See Yourself as Your Customers Do What do your customers experience when they interact with your business? As a mystery shopper, I help businesses see themselves through the eyes of their customers by posing as a typical customer and evaluating their service, quality and cleanliness. Was it easy to find what I needed? Were the employees polite and helpful? Was everything neat and clean? Was I thanked for my business? What happened when I made a return?Whether your business is an international retailer or a small one-person shop, what you don't know about your customers' perceptions of your quality and service can hurt you. Writing The Book On Great Customer Service Q: One of the big chain bookstores recently opened up near my small book store. Already I can see my business starting to decline.
|
| Home
| Sitemap
| Disclaimer
| Privacy
| Contact
Us © COPYRIGHT 2011 BRAINBELLY.COM |
