Due to the recent popularity of our new CRM webinar “What is CRM? And 10 Reasons why CEO’s should be demanding it.” I have come to the understanding that many are struggling with a definition of CRM. Today’s blog post will hopefully help with that.
First, let me point out the obvious, CRM is an acronym for Customer Relationship Management. CRM has been around for thousands of years. It may have been termed other things like:
- Sales management
- Customer management
- Relationship marketing
- Customer service management
Trust me, as long as there has been buyers and sellers, there has been CRM.
I believe that CRM is a customer centric business strategy. Bob Thompson, CEO of CustomerThink Corp. & founder of CRMGuru.com, put it this way, “‘Customer-centric’ means giving your customers what they want. ‘Business strategy’ means accomplishing the goals of your organization. Accomplish both at the same time, and you’ve got the win-win that CRM is supposed to be about.”
There are those that believe the CRM is all about software. While there are plenty of CRM software system available:
- Sage SalesLogix
- SugarCRM
- Microsoft Dynamics CRM
- Sage CRM
- SAP CRM
But the truth is that CRM is about knowing who your customers are and making them unbelievably happy customers. Saying that CRM is all about software is like saying that accounting is all about software. Sure, software makes performing the action of accounting easier and faster, but accounting software does not do the accounting for you.
- More effectively sell and market their products and services
- Increase customer “happiness” and; therefore, increase customer loyalty
- Help an organization to remember and keep its promises to a customer
In its most basic form, CRM software helps users in:
- Identifying and targeting their best customers
- Implementing marketing campaigns with clear goals and objectives and generate quality leads
- Optimizing information shared by multiple employees
- Streamlining existing processes
- Allowing the formation of individualized relationships with customers
- Identifying the most profitable customers and providing them the highest level of service
- Knowing their customers, understanding their needs and effectively build relationships between the company, its customer base and distribution partners
