How do you know your business requires CRM?
It is very easy for a business to get caught in the latest ‘customer trap’ when it is being driven by the information technology (IT) market. Every business does require CRM; the question is to what level?
Trends
Many businesses are pushed by the current trend to change their business strategy, especially around CRM. There are basically three trends that effect a business:
Consumer
The customer is an ever-changing image, to be really successful with CRM you must recognize the customer trends that are effecting the business.
If a business does not understand a customer profile and the changes that have occurred then it is not possible to provide true customer relationship management.
Products
It is the business providing the products that meet the changing customer trends. Products need to be reviewed constantly perhaps enhanced or even removed. Supermarkets are a perfect profile to look at for viewing ‘product trends’, they constantly add and remove products and they constantly view customer buying profiles and set out the pattern of the store to meet the strongest buying trend. This may not always be by using the latest ‘technology’, it could be by just reviewing shells at the end of the day, but the super market is at the minimum watching for the two basic trends in CRM.
Technology
Ensure that the business is ready to install the new technologies, is the customer data upto it, or is it time to start again? Do you need to review every technology being used or just one area. Will it assist the business, is it going to grow with the business requirements or is the technology just another ‘trend’? Relationship management should not be an alternative to existing functions/technology; it could be a logical extension to enhance those in existence, though it could radically change some of the operational processes.
It is very easy for a business to get caught in the latest ‘customer trap’ when it is being driven by the information technology (IT) market. Every business does require CRM; the question is to what level?
Trends
Many businesses are pushed by the current trend to change their business strategy, especially around CRM. There are basically three trends that effect a business:
Consumer
The customer is an ever-changing image, to be really successful with CRM you must recognize the customer trends that are effecting the business.
If a business does not understand a customer profile and the changes that have occurred then it is not possible to provide true customer relationship management.
Products
It is the business providing the products that meet the changing customer trends. Products need to be reviewed constantly perhaps enhanced or even removed. Supermarkets are a perfect profile to look at for viewing ‘product trends’, they constantly add and remove products and they constantly view customer buying profiles and set out the pattern of the store to meet the strongest buying trend. This may not always be by using the latest ‘technology’, it could be by just reviewing shells at the end of the day, but the super market is at the minimum watching for the two basic trends in CRM.
Technology
Ensure that the business is ready to install the new technologies, is the customer data upto it, or is it time to start again? Do you need to review every technology being used or just one area. Will it assist the business, is it going to grow with the business requirements or is the technology just another ‘trend’? Relationship management should not be an alternative to existing functions/technology; it could be a logical extension to enhance those in existence, though it could radically change some of the operational processes.