The Various Aspects of CRM Strategy
Customer relationship management has many different aspects that should be taken into consideration when constructing a CRM strategy, if it is to be comprehensive and effective.
Customer relationship management refers to the many different processes and aspects involved in an organization’s various dealings with customers and clients. It can roughly be divided into some broad phases, which should all be considered when crafting a complete CRM strategy.
The very first one for an organization just starting out would of course be new acquisitions, which is concerned with making new contacts and selling existing services and products to new customers. This is very important in the earliest stages of a company, when success or failure at building a customer base would dictate survival. A startup intending to sell office machines to companies would be well advised to focus on new acquisitions as much as possible, for instance. This might figure into the strategy through the use of incentive programs for salesmen, as well as via intensifying marketing and advertising to prospective clients.
Once a customer base has been set up, it of course also becomes important to maximize these relationships. This may be done through two more aspects of customer relationship management, which are up-selling and cross-selling. These are similar processes that involve improving the monetization of particular customers by selling more premium and expensive products and services, and new products and services, respectively. Going back to the office machine scenario, these processes can clearly be seen in selling upgraded models or by promoting other machines to existing clients.
Of course, dealing with customers is not all about maximizing revenues and profits, but also about maintaining these relationships. This is done through the interrelated processes of customer retention and customer service. These refer to the various support activities that an organization performs apart from its main services or products. In the case of companies that provide technologies or hardware, these would include technical support and repair options. Apart from providing valuable support to customers, these activities, if performed well, would also help keep relationships healthy and thus ensure continued patronage.
Now, planning a strategy in light of these various aspects may seem quite daunting and difficult but with the proper approach, it can be done systematically. In many cases, the use of objective measurements and data gathering can help managers get a firm grasp on both what is currently happening and what needs to be done. In the management sense, these measurable quantities are known as metrics or key performance indicators.
As their name itself implies, key performance indicators or KPIs are important metrics that are intimately associated with one or more key organizational objectives. They should be chosen in alignment with the CRM strategy and the various goals that make it up. The role of these important metrics is to allow managers to get a concrete picture of organizational performance. In most cases, even just the process of selecting and defining the appropriate metrics to use as key performance indicators can greatly help in clarifying the internal business processes and strategies of an organization. The implementation of any strategy will surely be helped by the judicious use of KPIs.
