Customer Relationship Management, or CRM, is one of the most successful strategies for businesses of all sizes. CRM focuses on improving profit per customer by improving the quality of the relationship that your company has with each of its customers. When your customers feel that they have a more personalized relationship with your business, they’ll be more likely to come back and spend more. If CRM isn’t already embedded in your company’s DNA, consider how successful CRM implementation plans work.
What Are the Most Important Steps in CRM Implementation?
Understand Your Shortcomings
Why do you want to implement CRM in the first place? What problems will CRM solve? All too often, we see companies rush into CRM without first evaluating their circumstances. Before you embark on any CRM project, gather heaps of data. Interview as many customers as you can to find out how they feel about their relationship with your business. Speak to CSRs and sales to find out what makes it difficult for them to forge strong client relationships.
Take a closer look at your internal business processes. Can you adjust them to give clients more involvement? Are unnecessary tasks or excessive exchanges between employees keeping your customer service team from focusing on the customer? A good rule of thumb is any activity that doesn’t generate value for the customer is one you can live without. Once you know your flaws, you’ll be able to address them precisely through meaningful changes.
Set Goals for CRM
How will you know whether your company implemented CRM successfully or not? Without clear objectives, you won’t be able to accurately measure the impact of your implementation. Select KPIs that relate to CRM and pull as much historic data as you can to see where you stand now. Consider comparing to industry benchmarks or other organizations to spot where you’re lagging and where you excel. Set new KPI targets and observe how CRM affects them.
Numbers alone are only half of the equation. Add a timeframe to your goals to make sure your implementation doesn’t drag on or balloon in cost. Set short-term and long-term goals for each of the KPIs you chose. Some useful ones to consider are profit per customer, purchase frequency for returning customers, customer satisfaction, and the number of referrals per customer. Aim for a 1-year target goal and build from there with 3-year or 5-year goals.
Choose the Right Tools
How are you going to track all of those KPIs? How can you strengthen your internal processes to facilitate growth in those areas? CRM tools can help you measure progress towards your goals while also making it easier to interact with your customers in ways that boost your KPIs with minimal effort. However, your company may already have some tools in place. It’s important to make sure that new software is compatible with existing tools and practices.
The most successful customer relationship management implementations are guided by expert consultants who understand CRM and the tools that support it. Book an Intro Call with Project Genetics to learn how we can help your company implement CRM.
