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(…and how will it help my business)
First things first.
The obvious question you may have after googling the term CRM, and (almost immediately) getting lost in the vast amount of information that you come across is this: What is CRM, after all?
- Is it a new hype or a business trend that separates winners from losers, at least until the trend fades away and gets replaced by a newer one?
- Is it a magic system that will replace hard work and turn my business into an auto-pilot profit machine?
- Is it another mysterious business TLA (three letter acronym) that will demonstrate your professionalism when talking to other “pro”-s over a coffee?
- Is it another costly business model that will revolutionize the operation of corporate giants, will earn another luxury limousine for a bunch of “consultants”, but will be of no use for the rest of us?
None of the above, no.
But before I proceed to my definition (or rather: explanation) of CRM, why don’t we have a look on what others, including industry leaders and independent third-parties had to say when trying to describe CRM in 25 words or less:
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is a broad term that covers concepts used by companies to manage their relationships with customers, including the capture, storage and analysis of customer information. Source.
Customer relationship management (CRM) consists of the processes a company uses to track and organize its contacts with its current and prospective customers. CRM software is used to support these processes; information about customers and customer interactions can be entered, stored and accessed by employees in different company departments. Typical CRM goals are to improve services provided to customers, and to use customer contact information for targeted marketing. From Wikipedia.
CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management. It is a process or methodology used to learn more about customers’ needs and behaviors in order to develop stronger relationships with them. Source
CRM is a comprehensive way to manage the relationship with your customers — including potential customers — for long-lasting and mutual benefit. More specifically, modern CRM systems enable you to capture information surrounding customer interactions and integrate it with every customer-related function and data point. Source
So, what is CRM after all?!
Do you find it confusing, or way too complex? Take it easy!
Simply put, CRM is the way you handle your customers or clients all through your business relations. All the rest are details!
Furthermore, it means, that if you already have customers or clients of any kind, then you are already managing your relations with them (ie. you are using CRM)! Yes, even before you got to know the term CRM! Be it a spreadsheet in Excel, a notebook (a paper-based one), or just the sheets of paper with phone numbers and dates on them, that are unavoidably messing up your desk by the end of the week: it’s all about managing your contacts with clients to make the best possible impression (and to maximize profit for your business).
Now you have probably guessed it by now, but there are more sophisticated ways of managing these relations, than your Excel tables (let alone the Post It papers you stick on your monitor).
Today, there’s a whole industry out there, developing softwares (”official” CRM is 100% computer-based), streamlining workflows and elaborating strategies to make these relations as simple and as efficient as possible.
And while the world economy is spectacularly stumbling, this industry keeps on growing at a blazing pace.
The reason for that is simple. It’s because CRM is working. It’s because it results in better customer relations, and, therefore, higher profits.
There is a common misconception, mostly due to the gazillion CRM softwares on the market, that CRM is a technique, or an IT-related thing. The fact is, that CRM is not the tool you use or the software you run when interacting with your clients.
CRM is a strategy you form, deciding how you will interact with your clients, and the decision that you will interact with them only in this, strategically founded and clearly defined way. The tools, softwares and techniques you use to implement this strategy is, as I said merely a matter of details.
So you think that CRM could be of help for your business, too? I’ve got good news for you: you’ve come to the right place. Make sure you subscribe CrmR.us, so that you won’t miss any of the great and useful content that is yet to come. Can’t wait any longer? Look around to see what we already have to offer!