What is CRM?

CRM encapsulates all aspects of interaction a company has with its customer, whether sales or service related. CRM is more than just software or a set of processes, it's a business culture solidly focused on winning customers and keeping the right ones.

CRM aims to give each user a customised view of the business data incorporating a variety of elements including historic and current data from the areas shown above. (Sales, Marketing and Customer Care). Other external systems can also be integrated with CRM such as financial and Enterprise resource planning system (ERP) to allow the user a complete picture during his day to day interactions with clients. CRM is thus a centralised hub which stores all the data from the various information sources within a company allowing full analysis and reporting which leads to better decision-making. A good CRM solution builds value for your business by opening up vital communication channels and creating a common client-focused knowledge database to better serve your clients.

Gain, nurture, contact and retain customers

Understand the buying habits and preferences of your customers and prospects so you can:

• Build and strengthen customer relationships to keep them coming back.
• Provide value-added services that are difficult for competitors to duplicate.
• Improve your product development and service delivery processes.
• Manage your order pipeline and optimise what's available to promise.
• Increase your staff's awareness of customer needs.
• Reduce customer frustration by not asking the same questions over and over.

By effectively integrating your marketing, sales and customer service functions, a good CRM system makes it easier for everyone inside your company to work together and share critical information.

An effective CRM system empowers your customers and prospects to do business with you - the way they choose! Imagine connecting your customers to your employees and business partners across any department, through any process and via any communication device - phone, fax, email, internet and keeping track of all of the information.

CRM brings many benefits to your organisation including:

• New sales opportunities - A good CRM system will classify your prospects and help identify your best customers. With detailed information on your customers you can accurately project and respond to their buying needs throughout the sales cycle. A good CRM system can help you automate routine sales tasks - allowing you to spend more time focusing on strategic sales issues.
• Improved customer service - The right CRM system allows your team to take a pro-active approach to customer service. With up-to-date and complete customer information at their fingertips, your employees can resolve customer issues more quickly and successfully create cross-sell or up-sell opportunities.
• Better decision making - CRM systems provide a single view of the customer across all touch points and channels, as well as delivering comprehensive reports of customer behaviours, marketing campaign results and sales activity. Each of these elements are necessary for smart decision making and long term strategic planning.
• Greater efficiency - With an integrated CRM system, you can gain immediate access to your organisation's critical customer information. A good CRM solution also increases internal efficiencies by automating workflow processes, reducing human error, decreasing process time and providing consistency throughout the entire organisation.
• More accurate and consistent forecasting can enable companies to manage stock more effectively thus increasing stock turn, reducing cost of holding stocks and freeing up working capital.
• Earlier forecasting of large orders that could provide stock shortages or production bottlenecks could be eliminated.