Customers these days have plenty of choices when it comes to their purchases. And even a single slip up by the company can cost them their customer(s) business. It follows therefore that keeping customers satisfied is highly difficult. And move over customer satisfaction; this is the time of customer delight. Customers no longer look only for the products and services that can meet their basic needs; they want the company to make them happy. And with customers ruling the roost, this is hardly surprising! And why just existing customers? Companies need to explore new leads to access potential customers as well to keep the revenue stream flowing.
Let’s say a sales rep met a customer who told him something that could result in a potential sale. But that sale rep got transferred to another territory and another one replaced him in that territory. And where did the information that the customer had given the first sales rep go? He made a note that he left in a drawer and the company lost a potential customer!
So, how is it possible to maintain all that information about customers and to use it when the time is right? The answer to this question lies in the concept of Customer Relationship Management (CRM). CRM is an indispensable nerve of every business in the current scenario where each and every entity is facing cut-throat competition from its competitors.
CRM provides the business with a platform that helps to achieve customer satisfaction and helps increase business. It allows the business to effectively manage its relationships with its customers so that the company can grow. How does it do so? Here a few ways in which CRM helps a business survive and thrive in the modern business environment:
Staying in touch with customers
CRM facilitates smooth interactions with customers. The quick and two way communication process is also an effective way of conveying new ideas from both sides. In today’s scenario where there is a cut-throat competition among the business entities to make their inroads into the customer’s life, CRM affords a crucial opportunity to business entities to get in touch with their existing and potential consumers. Maintaining regular touch with customers helps in understanding their changing tastes and preferences as well as obtaining instant feedback from them regarding goods and services.
Instant and relevant feedback:
As referred to above, CRM can help in getting instant and relevant feedback from the customers which is highly essential for enhancement of product and service quality. This feedback if acted upon in real time by the business can pave the way for customers to stay with the company. On the contrary, there is the possibility where customers instantly switch to a rival since the company was too busy to take their opinion into account!
Storage of data
CRM helps in storing millions of bytes of customer data in a single centralized system. This data is properly sorted, tabulated and otherwise arranged to make its retrieval a smooth process thus aiding in processes such as database marketing, data mining and data warehousing. This retrieval of data helps in providing the correct data at the correct time to decision makers. This saves a huge amount of time money and resources for the company.
Taking advantage of opportunities
The collected data and its analysis help the business to get to the right customer at the right time which is essential for a business to take advantage of upcoming opportunities. Although one may manually collect the data or information from various sources, this problem is compounded if the data is large in size (which it is in most cases). Even so, its proper categorization and analysis can be done only through a CRM software. Manual classification and the analysis process is quite cumbersome and may require spending a lot of money and time. Business opportunities arise in real time and these could become trigger points that either facilitate growth and expansion or on the flip side, become threats that can badly affect the business.
The management of customer relationships is probably the secret which determines the success or failure of any business. And why only customers? Market leaders in various domains have already started to employ their CRM systems to cultivate mutually beneficial relationships with all stakeholders; employees, suppliers, marketing partners, members of the financial community and even competitors. Surprising, not anymore!
- Customer satisfaction and increase business.
- Recognize the customer’s tastes and preferences.
- Customer’s feedback help in improving the service quality.
- Save the time of customer and travel agency.
- CRM software reduces manual work.
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