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CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION TO TOPIC
Customer Relationship Management Defined
Most companies engage in some form of customer relationship management. When a company builds a customer list, assigns opportunities to sales representatives, or handles customer support cases, they are undertaking CRM-related activities.
CRM applications standardize, automate, and share these activities across organizations to improve how companies interact with their customers.
The principles, practices, and guidelines that an organization follows when interacting with its customers. From the organization's point of view, this entire relationship not only encompasses the direct interaction aspect, such as sales and/or service related processes, but also in the forecasting and analysis of customer trends and behaviors, which ultimately serve to enhance the customer's overall experience
Pre-CRM Practices
Before adopting a CRM application, companies should understand how they interact with customers in order to understand the benefits they can derive from CRM applications.
Some questions to ask are:
How do I segment prospects and present them with compelling marketing offers?
Does my sales force effectively manage opportunities and coordinate their sales process across individuals and teams?
How does my support organization handle customer issues?
Are my employees communicating effectively across teams and departments?
Does my management team have the insight across marketing, sales, and service to make the correct decisions?
CRM Strategy
CRM applications are an integral piece of the overall customer experience.
Figure 4
Figure 6
Figure 5These systems work best when a clear CRM strategy is in
place. Building a true customer-centric organization requires companies to:
Establish measurable business goals.
Align business and IT organizations.
Build executive sponsorship.
Allow business goals to dictate CRM customizations.
Solicit end users in product customizations.
Invest in training for end users.
Measure, monitor, and track results.
A CRM application should be part of a company's overall business strategy. Business alignment is key to user...