6. What is CRM?
01.CRM is a business strategy that aims to understand, anticipate and manage the needs of an
organization's current and potential customers.
02.It is a comprehensive approach which provides seamless integration of every area of business that
touches the customer-namely marketing, sales, customer services and field support through the integration
of people, process and technology.
03.CRM is a shift from traditional marketing as it focuses on the retention of customers in addition to the
acquisition of new customers.
04.The expression Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is becoming standard terminology,
replacing what is widely perceived to be a misleadingly narrow term, relationship marketing.
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7. The purpose of CRM
01.The focus [of CRM] is on creating value for the customer and the company over the longer-term.
02.When customers value the customer service that they receive from suppliers, they are less likely to
look to alternative suppliers for their needs.
03. CRM enables organizations to gain 'competitive advantage’ over competitors that supply similar
products or services.
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8. Definition of CRM
Customer relationship management (CRM) is a technology for managing all your
company's relationships and interactions with customers and potential customers. The
goal is simple: Improve business relationships to grow your business.
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9. Who is a Customer?
The “C” in CRM can have a narrow definition or a wide
one. For instance, customers can include not only those
who buy from you, but also your suppliers, your partners,
your employees and your investors. Each of these
“customer groups” will have different needs that have to
be managed. For the purpose of this booklet, we will focus
on the “customer” as someone who buys your products or
services. This can be either a business customer or an
individual.
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10. The importance of CRM in business
A first is how customer-centricity increases the productivity of
core business processes such as sales, support and marketing.
Better lead qualification and reduced time spent sending leads
through the sales funnel can increase sales by as much as 29%. A
proactive Visma business unit in Finland recently finished an 18
month CRM project, and even managed to double its sales per
salesperson(!). Similarly, for support, customer-centricity
increases customer satisfaction, which can reduce churn rates
with as much as 27%.
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11. Why did CRM develop?
CRM developed for a number of reasons:
1.The 1980's onwards saw rapid shifts in business that changed customer power
2.Supply exceeded demands for most products
3.Sellers had little pricing power
4.The only protection available to suppliers of goods and services was in their relationships with
customers.
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12. What does CRM involve?
CRM involves the following (4):
1.Organisations must become customer focused
2.Organizations must be prepared to adapt so that it take
customer needs into account and delivers them
3.Market research must be undertaken to assess customer needs
and satisfaction.
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13. Strategically significant customers
"Customer relationship management focuses on strategically significant markets. Not all customers are
equally important" Therefore, relationships should be built with customers that are likely to provide value
for services Building relationships with customers that will provide little value could result in a loss of
time, staff and financial resources.
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14. Markers of strategically significant customers
Strategically significant customers need to satisfy at least one of three conditions (3):1. Customers with
high life-time values (i.e. customers that will repeatedly use the service in the long-term e.g. Nurses in a
hospital library) 2. Customers who serve as benchmarks for other customers. In a hospital library
consultants who teach o.n academic courses 3. Customers who inspire change in the supplier
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