Diversity Solutions

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is a business philosophy that has evolved over recent years due to increased global competition. Suppliers are beginning to recognise the buyer as the driver in the economy, and are beginning to operate differently in order to accommodate this change in buyer behaviour.

Globalisation and large improvements in communication and technology have allowed goods to be produced, transported and manufactured in various parts of the world in order to benefit from costs efficiencies. This, in turn, has meant that many manufacturers are able to make similar products and consequently, there are more choices on the market for the buyer.

This has not only been the case in the manufacturing Industry, but also in the service Industries too. Companies are finding that in order to compete effectively with other contenders in their field, they must have a USP (unique selling point).

A CRM package is a pre-requisite for success in most Industries. Allowing as organisation to collect, store and analyse all information about their customer for the next form of communication. Marketers are beginning to understand they can no longer limit their marketing effort to just getting customers to purchase more.

A CRM package will provide you with a detailed understanding of who your customers are and what they want. It also builds a full profile of the client which s then made available to other members of the Organisation and allows your team to see each others schedules and to network more efficiently throughout all communications.

The diagram above shows the varying levels of CRM in many Organisations. Most enterprises are to be found somewhere between stages 2 and 3, showing that many do not take full advantage of the advantages presented by CRM software.

Research has shown that Businesses embark on CRM projects for a variety of reasons, but more than 85% expect to increase revenue by better understanding their customers. Unfortunately, the insight to understand customers better is sometimes buried in a database of lost among different departments. A CRM application will ensure that your business sells, markets and cares for your customers based on their specific needs and preferences.

Companies now realise that customer service is a key differentiator to increase customer loyalty. The contact centre is now viewed as a valuable asset for building lasting and profitable relationships. By analysing your relationship with your customer, businesses can:

1) Increase customer loyalty and lifetime value by tailoring service levels.
2) Track customer satisfaction by product, segment and cost to serve
3) Increase customer satisfaction and decrease costs by predicting service issues and finally, turn service calls into sales opportunities through enhanced cross-selling.

The diagram above shows the importance of analytics for a customer-focussed CRM application. It is possible to see how the functionalities of CRM have improved as time has passed, and how there is still room for improvement in the future. A customer focussed CRM requires all business processes throughout the extended enterprise to be optimised.