 Introduction You may be unfamiliar with CRM, but for those of you that have some understanding, you are probably already relating it back to the larger companies. Yes, CRM is adopted more by the larger companies because it offers a highly effective and efficient management system for customers. This doesn't say that it cannot be adopted by small businesses although it will be considered more by the larger small businesses than any other. So, what is CRM you say? CRM is an integrated software application that automates (fully or partially) the process of managing customers commonly in the fields of sales, marketing, and customer service. This is done by a number of methods together all working to streamline the customer management process in order to build and maintain strong customer relations within the business.
Ok, there is no better way of building relations with customers than talking and liaising with them directly, but sometimes our resources and time just doesn't make this feasible. Often, the customer will end up talking to someone personally, but they may have gone through a system (created using CRM software) that directs them to the person that they need to talk to specifically (the expert you may call them). As you will see, this is just one of the many possibilities that CRM has to offer.
Automated E-mail Responses You may have employees that specifically deal with e-mails from customers and sometimes, it can be hard to respond to all queries. For those that you fail to respond to, you may have just lost a valued customer.
The CRM software sets up a system of rules that monitor incoming e-mails and if they have a key word, say, 'info' in the 'Subject' title, then the software automatically replies back to the customer with a pre-constructed standard response. You may have told customers, for more information, send an e-mail to this address (e-mail) using 'info 01' as the subject title.
If an e-mail has been sent where the query has not been identified by the CRM software, it will be filtered through to the administrators who will deal with the e-mail personally.
Businesses that integrate CRM software have reported that the software has reduced e-mail administration by around 50%.
Telephone Call Centres
Like we briefly highlighted earlier, CRM systems can 'route' and 'queue' customers to their required destination of advice/information. This automated routing is used by literally hundreds of businesses and a common example would be the Sky Television Customer Services. Basically, when you call, the customer is given an option for what service they require by pressing, say, 1, 2, 3 or 4 on the phone handset as quoted by the automated recorded dialogue.
The route can sometimes be more complex, directing the customer through a number of transfers before they arrive at the appropriate operator.
Most of the systems will have a database of all the customers including personal details and purchase history. By asking the customer to enter their personal id number (if applicable) when they first call, by the time the customer arrives at the operator, they will be able to identify the customer and talk to them more personally.
Direct Marketing
CRM can also be used for marketing purposes. Because the software builds a database of all the customers, by using its intelligence it can identify trends for each individual customer on what they are buying, what they are likely to buy in the future and when they are likely to buy, to say the least. This information can then be used to help compile mail shots and arrange telesales using accurate targeting. To summarize - CRM software can be used to market to your customers individually.
Article Index
1 Customer Relationship
2 Automated Ordering
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