Review of the importance of customer relationship management for business success

1. CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP
MANAGEMENT
Implementation of a CRM strategy to
maintain customer retention

2. WHAT IS CUSTOMER
RELATIONSHIP
MANAGEMENT?
Customer relationship management
involves the practices and
strategies that businesses use to
analyze and manage customer
information in order to improve
relationships, strengthen customer
retention and drive sales growth
(Rouse, 2104).

3.  Attract customers- CRM assists in
attracting new customers to the
business
 Interest customers- CRM maintains
a relationship with customers and
keeps them interested
 Delight customers- CRM educates
and delights customers so they
trust and enjoy the brand
 Do more for your customers- CRM
allows the business to reward
customers for their business
 Retain customers- CRM assists in
keeping customers by frequent
communications increasing brand
loyalty
CRM Components

4. CRM BUSINESS PRACTICES
 Data base fits needs
 Workforce Training
 Market Automation
 Collaboration
 Data Mining
 Keep it Simple
 E-mail Marketing
 Targeted Offers
 Relevant Content
 Call to Action

5. IMPROVED CUSTOMER SERVICE
Since CRM systems are created with people
and relationships in mind, a business would
largely benefit from using CRM to improve,
develop, and maintain these relationships to
retain and strengthen customer loyalty
(Burnham, 2013).
CRM also assists in improved customer service
as the management system allows for real time
consumer-retailer interactions with problems or
issues being addressed quickly and efficiently.

6. RETAILER AND
CONSUMER
CONNECTION
Retailers can connect with consumers
in a variety of ways to strengthen brand
awareness and loyalty. Providing
content in the form of blogs can assist
customers in solving problems that they
may have. This type of information can
be easily shared via social media and
viewed by a wide audience of
consumers.
Creating tailored e-mail
communications can further enhance
the consumer-retailer connection.
Providing a call to action on websites,
e-mails, ads, and blogs can initiate
customers to move from the
consideration stage to the decisions
stage of the buyers journey.

7. IMPROVED CUSTOMER
SATISFACTION
Educated customers feel empowered and
satisfied. This provides a sense of trust and
respect towards the organization which lays the
foundation for the development of brand
loyalty. CRM can assist in providing improved
customer satisfaction and continued
interactions between the consumer and the
retailer.

8. CUSTOMER CROSS-SELLING
Cross-selling can significantly boost revenues by
suggesting additional products to shoppers based
on their current purchases or purchase history.
Cross-selling can involve complementary products
based on the items they are currently looking at, or
they could be related to other products they may
have looked at in the past. Having an effective CRM
system can provide effective analytics that predict
consumer shopping behaviors and preferences
which may assist in indicating effective cross-sell
products of interest (Lazazzerra, 2105).

9. PREVENT CUSTOMER
DEFECTION
Customer relationship management helps
to identify customers that may potentially
defect from the organization. Using CRM
analytics to identify potential customer
defection behaviors, retailers can
develop a strategic plan to prevent these
customers from leaving. According to
Real Results Marketing, “an annual
increase of 1% in customer retention over
each of the next ten years results in 20%
increase in annual earnings” (Real Results,
2015, para. 1).

10. RETURN ON INVESTMENT
An effective CRM system will increase
sales efficiency by improving productivity
by 30% (Leung, 2013). By developing
sales forecast accuracy, identifying
potential leads, tracking performance,
and providing trend insights, customer
relationship management can help
manage sales potential and revenue
growth. This will assist in developing a
strategic plan for future organizational
stability and sales expansion.

11. CURRENT TRENDS IN CRM
SOCIAL MEDIA
E-MAIL MARKETING
Business use social media to create a two way
conversation with customers. Retailers can use social
media to keep their brand in the consumers awareness.
Brand mentions and specific keywords frequency is
monitored and analyzed to help retailers get a clearer
picture of their customers (Rouse, 2014).
Creating an effective e-mail marketing program further
enhances the customer relationship by providing
personalized and individualized communication
between the retailer and the consumer.

12. CURRENT TRENDS IN CRM
CUSTOMER COMMUNITIES
MOBILE CRM
Retailers are now tapping into the mobile technology
market. By using strategies unique to mobile devices,
such as location based or voice recognition, marketers
can further enhance their CRM strategy (Rouse, 2014).
Online customer forums or communities assist retailers in
monitoring consumer attitudes, beliefs, and preferences.
Retailers may discover new product ideas in these
communities or enlist feedback from community
participants.

13. HAPPY CUSTOMERS = CUSTOMER LOYALTY
“Implementing and delivering a
customer service or experience strategy
based on delight or ‘wow’ may feel like
a more positive and better approach to
customer experience, it turns out that a
strategy of minimizing disappointments
could offer a better return on our
investment of time, money and
resources” (Swinscoe, 2014, para. 6).

14. CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP
MANAGEMENT IS THE KEY
Maximizing customer relationships using the
technologically integrated CRM business
approach can provide businesses with :
 Enhanced customer care
 Improved productivity
 Better sales and marketing information
resulting in enhanced customer retention
and sales profitability for the business
(Wooden, 2015).

15. References
Burnham, J. (2013, January 4). What is CRM? Sales Force. Retrieved from
https://www.salesforce.com/blog/2013/01/what-is-crm-your-business-nerve-
center.html
CRM Trends. (2015, September 30). Direct marketing best practices. CRM
Trends. Retrieved from http://www.crmtrends.com/directmarketing.html
Lazazzera, R. (2015, March 4). How to increase revenue and improve the
customer experience with upselling and cross-selling. Shopify. Retrieved from
https://www.shopify.com/blog/17579484-how-to-increase-revenue-and-
improve-the-customer-experience-with-upselling-and-cross-selling
Real Results Marketing. (2015, October 3). Preventing customers from leaving
you. Real Results Marketing. Retrieved from
http://realresultsmarketing.com/services/prevent-customers-from-leaving-you/

16. References
Rouse, M. (2014, November). Customer relationship management (CRM)
definition. Tech Target. Retrieved from
http://searchcrm.techtarget.com/definition/CRM
Salesforce. (2015, September 30). 7 CRM best practices to get the most out of
your CRM. Salesforce. Retrieved from https://www.salesforce.com/crm/best-
practices/
Swinscoe, A. (2014, April 11). The customer service strategy with the best ROI.
Forbes. Retrieved from
http://www.forbes.com/sites/adrianswinscoe/2014/04/11/the-customer-service-
strategy-with-the-best-roi/
Wooden, R. (2015, October 3). Building relationships for business and personal
Success. HubSpot. Retrieved from http://cdn2.hubspot.net/hub/76666/file-
17385930-pdf/docs/key_crm_benefits.pdf