Here is the latest from our round up of CRM industry news. Today we firstly look at a story from Enterprise
Apps Today talking about the importance of improving customer focus.
Moving onto utilising external data into your business, compatibility
with your current systems and three great tips for implementing CRM within your
business.
Bringing customer focus to CRM
Customer relationship management (CRM) systems
are intended to organise data on customers and sales practises. They are not designed to actually improve
customer relationships; that’s where the CRM strategy comes in.Without a customer relationship, is there
really any point in implementing a CRM system?
Instead of trying to put everything into the
CRM system and ending up with too much data that is impossible to sort through,
here are four important tips that can help every business manager bring the
customer focus back to CRM.
- Don’t try to do it
all. The best way to get started with a solid CRM
strategy is to start off slowly and focus on an initial plan point. Ease into it rather than trying to do
everything that the CRM system is capable of all at once.
- Make sure CRM support is
ready. The marketing, service, and sales teams all
must be trained on the new processes and workflows that help them deliver
excellent customer service. Each
department should be aware of the other’s policies and procedures so that
no one is in the dark.
- Give customer service
reps information. Ideally, the CRM system will bring all
channels, processes, and context together within a single mechanism that
everyone has access to. This allows
customer service representatives to do their job because they will have
access to complete and consistent data at all times.
- Keep the customer’s
perspective in mind. Offering a tailored experience to customers as
they interact with the company is an excellent way to build a loyal client
base. At every step, make sure that
the context is understood and content is relevant to the customer. Allow customers to customise their own
experience when possible.
Source: http://www.enterpriseappstoday.com/crm/how-to-bring-customer-focus-to-crm.html
The benefits of integrating
CRM data from different sources
Customer relationship
management (CRM) software allows business managers to create reports from
different data sources to produce robust information that can really help to
boost the bottom line.
A good CRM system will use
both external and internal data sources to integrate related facts and
information and report on the findings.
Internally, the system uses the data obtained and maintained by the
business, such as account data and general business information. External data sources come from outside the
business and can shed new light onto business practises.
All managers know the value
of comparing a report showing only internal information with one that
interprets and analyses information from a number of sources. The evolution of CRM software has made this
type of reporting even better, with findings based on comparative analysis,
deductive analysis, and predictive analysis.
Preferences, configurations,
and settings are all customisable within the CRM system application to the
extent that managers can set rules and special conditions that shape their
analytical findings to match the business’ needs. However, it is worth mentioning that the CRM
system is still capable of producing business intelligence dynamically.
An integrated CRM system with both
internal and external sources is an invaluable asset to any business hoping to
find niche data to help hone marketing campaigns and retain existing
customers. A streamlined and integrated
system can also improve the productivity of the sales and marketing
departments, provide multichannel access to customer data, and give a clearer
insight into customers.
So, why would any business not want
a fully integrated CRM system in this Information Age? Given all of these benefits, it simply
doesn’t make sense not to have one.
Source: http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/insidecrm/integrate-crm-data-from-different-data-sources-61112
Is your CRM system compatible with other applications?
If there is one lesson that children learn at
an early age, it is the importance of playing well with others. This same principle should apply to a
business’s customer relationship management (CRM) system.
In today’s world, many companies need to work
with other businesses in order to sell their goods and services. This means that in addition to maintaining
relationships with their customers, they must also manage relationships with
their business partners.
Most CRM systems are actually designed to
achieve this dual goal, but some of them do a better job of integrating with
third-party applications than others. In
fact, some CRM systems have add-ons that are made for partnership
management. These add-ons often work to
help manage the reseller-seller channel better.
Partner relationship management (PRM) applications
Many companies simply don’t use the add-ons
available to them or their CRM system doesn’t integrate sufficiently, so
managers often resort to spreadsheets to manage their partner
relationships. However, there is a
subclass of CRM systems that focuses on partner relationship management, which
is mostly marketed to larger companies.
PRM systems are usually marketed to larger
companies because they often have a more complex operating system and maintain
multiple relationships with a variety of sales channels. However, a PRM system could benefit smaller
organisations as long as there are resources to integrate it.
For smaller companies that don’t have the time
or financial resources to fully implement a proper PRM system, their existing
CRM system can be used to manage both customer and partner relationships. This means that they will need to make use of
the available add-ons or make customisations to their workflow.
Support:
http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/insidecrm/partner-relationship-management-can-your-crm-play-well-with-others-61276
Three great tips for smooth CRM implementation
There comes a time when a business can no longer squeeze efficiency and
performance out of its legacy system, which means that existing workarounds are
simply not making the cut. When this
happens, it is time for a customer relationship management (CRM) system to be
adopted.
Adopting a CRM system sounds like a great idea; after all, it can reduce
the workload, improve efficiency, boost sales, and make customers even
happier. However, it is the
implementation that can wreak havoc on daily operations, especially when no one
is prepared.
Successful CRM isn’t just about getting the software to work. It is also
about complementing processes and people connected with it. In order to make
the most of implementation, keep the following tips in mind:
Never
assume. Get
rid of all assumptions and the mind-set that certain things must be done a
specific way. Evaluate business
processes and eliminate extraneous steps.
This can be done before implementation.
Start
off small and build from there. Regardless
of the developer, CRM systems are robust and offer a ton of features including
reporting, processing, integration, communications, and tracking. There is no rule that says a business must
use them all right away. Start off with
the easy stuff and take it from there.
Listen
to the staff. The
most important voice to hear, apart from the customer, is the staff. After all, the staff will be the ones using
the CRM system daily and dealing with the customers. Give employees the opportunity to learn about
the new technology and embrace it.
Sharing their concerns is beneficial to the entire organisation.
By making the implementation process as smooth as
possible, the end goal of a cleaner, more organised operation will inevitably
be achieved. Keep in mind that this is a
process as much as it is a goal; adopting a CRM system is only as effective as
its implementation and practise.
Source:
http://campustechnology.com/articles/2014/05/07/how-to-prepare-for-a-successful-crm-implementation.aspx
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