Why CRM is important
Yesterday it was that time again: I had a concern that I had to discuss with my Internet provider. Inwardly, I was terrified, because I already knew how it would work: Nobody really knows what I had discussed with my colleagues before, my concern cannot be clarified 100% and at some point I end the phone call, exasperated, although no final solution has been found has been. Unfortunately, I keep hearing about similar situations, even though the solution is obvious: customer relationship management.
What is customer relationship management (CRM)?
Wikipedia defines customer relationship management, also called customer relationship management (in short: CRM), as follows: “[CRM] describes the consistent alignment of a company with its customers and the systematic design of customer relationship processes. The associated documentation and management of customer relationships is an important component and enables in-depth relationship marketing. In many industries (e.g. telecommunications, mail order, service companies), relationships between companies and customers are long-term. These customer relationships are maintained using CRM, which should have a significant impact on the company's success. "
In summary, it is about the relationship between company and customer. On the one hand, the focus is on the customer and the establishment of a customer relationship comes first. On the other hand, customer care, customer loyalty and an improvement in customer relationships are also important in customer management. Both aspects pursue the goal of creating a good and positive customer relationship that has a positive effect on the company's success. Successful implementation of customer management requires documentation and management of relationships, for example to ensure seamless service without any information gaps when accessing customer data.
Why is customer relationship management important?
In the previous explanations, the core of CRM was already shown: the focus is on the customer and a relationship is established between him and the company. The aim is to win new customers, to look after existing customers, to convert customers into satisfied or loyal customers and to build long-term customer relationships. These aspects directly influence the core objective of any company: generating and increasing sales.
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No turnover is generated without customers and companies cannot survive in the long term. Because of this, customer relationship management is of such great importance for every company.
Which areas of the company does customer relationship management influence?
Taking into account the definition listed above, customer relationship management has an impact on the entire company, including all areas with indirect contact points. For example, the following direct and indirect contact points can occur:
The distribution is in direct contact with potential customers, acquire new customers, for example, or to generate repeat purchases from existing customers.
The marketing is responsible for the external representation of the company and placed, for example, advertising messages on the website for potential new customers and existing customers.
The customer has direct contact with (potential) customers, for example, questions to clarify to the products.
The accounting department checks and records incoming invoices from customers.
For example, IT is responsible for the website that (potential) customers visit.
These examples show only a few possible contact points, but the complexity of holistic customer management becomes clear. If each department were to store and manage its customer data separately, duplicate, contradictory or even missing customer information would result. The example mentioned at the beginning that every department has different customer information, the customer has to explain his problem again and again and he is not helped, becomes reality. This problem can be solved by means of systematisation, for example in the form of customer management systems or CRM tools
Holistic customer relationship management as a success factor
In order for you to be able to build, maintain and retain really good relationships with your customers, you need to develop and live holistic customer relationship management - throughout the entire customer journey. CRM is not an issue for individual departments, but should come from the management, so that the basic idea of CRM is firmly integrated in the corporate strategy and all areas are included. This aspect was already made clear in my example above, because all departments in a company have direct and indirect contact points with (potential) customers. An article from Springer Professional Also addresses the importance of holistic CRM concepts as well as the actual implementation of CRM in companies. This article refers to a study by Barc Research: Around two thirds of the companies surveyed stated that customer relationship management (CRM) is anchored in their corporate strategy. However, the study also showed that holistic CRM concepts are rarely used.
If we look again at Wikipedia's initial definition of customer relationship management, then, in addition to the holistic aspect, the documentation and management of customer relationships also play an important role, because this enables in-depth relationship marketing. This means that only the documentation of the individual contact points of each department with the customer enables the best possible support in the future and thus the generation of repeat purchases and successful customer management. A CRM system can be used to document and systematize customer relationships.
What can a customer management system actually do?
Basically, CRM software supports you in implementing your CRM strategy holistically and in bringing a structure into the implementation of your internal customer-oriented processes. For example, a customer relationship management system provides a uniform database so that every employee has the same information about customers and updates to customer information are visible to all employees.
For more information, see these articles:
How to convince with a CRM system where there was previously chaos.
What can such a CRM solution, i.e. CRM, actually do? The top 6 properties.
And so that you choose CRM software that supports you in the implementation of a holistic CRM concept, you should make sure, among other things, that the CRM system offers individual modules for your areas, e.g. for the marketing, sales and customer service departments. In addition, integration with your existing software is also possible in order to create a common system landscape. You can find out more about this in this article: What information is needed when choosing a CRM system?
Since the extensive selection of CRM solutions can quickly become confusing, time should be planned for extensive research, various offers obtained and different systems tested. Because only when you have found the right CRM system for your individual requirements and needs can you use it to your advantage, achieve success in customer acquisition, increase customer satisfaction, maintain long-term customer loyalty and increase your company's success.
So, start now and get into deeper CRM research. Our free requirements catalog supports you in defining your requirements for your CRM system: