CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT(CRM)

•Customer focused business is one of the top business strategies that can be supported by information technology.

• Now a days many companies are implementing CRM as a part of customer centric business strategy to improve their chances for success in today’s competitive business environment.

• An enhanced relationship with customers leads to greater loyalty, retention as well as profits.

Customer relationship management (CRM) is a widely implemented strategy for managing a company’s interactions with customers, clients and sales prospects.

It involves using technology to organize, automate, and synchronize business processes like sales activities, marketing, customer service, and technical support.

CRM can also provide the customer data required to conduct personalized marketing campaigns.

Rapid growth of the internet and its associated technologies has greatly increased the opportunities for marketing and so the relationships between companies and their customers are managed.

CRM - Introduction

CRM systems include a family of software modules and databases that that enable a business and its employees to provide

Fast Convenient Dependable Consistent service

to its customers

The overall goals are to find, attract, and win new clients, nurture and retain existing clients, entice former clients back into the fold, and reduce the costs of marketing and client service.

Three phases of CRM (indicating the relationship between a business and

its customers)

CRM is an integrated system of Web-enabled software tools and databases accomplishing a variety of customer focused business processes that support the 3 phases of the relationship between a business and its customers.

Three phases are A

cquire E

nhance R

etain

Acquire Enhance Retain

Direct Marketing Cross-sell & Up-sell Proactive Service

Customer Life Cycle

CRM Functional Solutions

Three phases of CRM

Acquire

This is the process of attracting customers for their first purchase.

A business relies on CRM software tools and databases to help it acquire new customers by doing a superior job of contact management, sales prospecting, direct marketing and fulfillment.

Enhance

Web enabled CRM account management and customer service and support tools help keep customers happy by supporting superior service from a responsive networked team of sales and service specialists and business partners.

CRM sales force automation and direct marketing and fulfillment tools help companies cross-sell and up-sell to the customers, thus increasing the profitability of business.

Retain

CRM analytical software and databases help a company to identify and retain the existing customers through targeted marketing and relationship marketing programs.

Application Components of CRM

CustomerFax

Email

WebTelephone

Marketing & Fulfillment

Customer Service & Support

Retention & Loyalty Programs

Contact & Account Management

Sales•Cross-sell•Up-sell

CRM software helps in sales, marketing, contact customers and capture information from customers through telephone, fax, email, company’s website personal contact etc.

CRM systems store the data in a common customer database that integrates all customer account information and makes it available throughout the company via internet, intranet or other network links for sales, marketing, service and other CRM applications.

Sales

CRM provides the sales representatives with the software tools and company data sources like product information, sales quote generation capabilities etc to support and manage their sales activities.

It also give real-time access to customers account status before making a sales call.

For example it would alert a salesperson of unresolved service, delivery or payment problems that can be resolved through a personal contact with the customer

Marketing & Fulfillment

CRM systems help marketing professionals t

o do direct marketing C

apture and manage customer data in the CRM database

Assist in the fulfillment of customer responses and requests by quickly scheduling sales contacts and providing appropriate information on products and services to them.

Customer Service & Support

CRM system provides service reps with software tools and real time access to the common customer database shared by sales and marketing professionals.

CRM helps customer service managers create, assign and manage service requests by customers.

CRM provides customer support through call centre service, help desk software, web based self service (from companys website) etc.

Retention & Loyalty Programs

Enhancing customer retention and loyalty is a major business strategy and primary objective of CRM.

CRM systems help a company to identify, reward and market to their most loyal and profitable customers.

CRM- Conclusion

A CRM programme is one that not only acquires customers and provides them service, but also retains its customers. This can be done by practicing the following :

Providing technical assistance & customer service

Provide methods to manage & schedule follow-up sales calls

Developing service strategies for all customers

Storing customer interests in order to target customer selectively

Tracking all communication with a customer

Providing a system to rectify service insufficiencies

Providing a system to schedule and mange repair and maintenance and ongoing support

Identifying potential problems before they occur

Providing a method to handle complaints and issues.

Benefits of CRM

CRM allows a business to identify and target its best customers – those who are most profitable to the business – so they can be retained for lifelong for greater and more profitable services.

Challenges of CRM

Sometimes there is high rate of dissatisfaction or failure in CRM.

The major reason for failure is the lack of understanding and preparation.