Successful CRM requires more than just technology
Maintaining and developing customer relationships is a major challenge - especially for SMEs and traditional companies. They are confronted in the market with start-ups that have enormous technical know-how and place the user at the center of their processes from the very beginning.
Companies are increasingly trying to position themselves in a similar way. They are investing in technologies such as customer relationship management solutions, for example, to use data to create a 360-degree customer picture. But this requires more than just technology. It needs a Vision.
Example from practice
Industrial companies in particular are stocking up on technologies for CRM and marketing automation. The challenge here is that often only the corporate management is aware of the purpose of these tools. The benefits are often not clear to the specialist departments that have to implement the solutions. In addition, companies define their vision, for example for the transformation of the sales department, using a technology. However, this usually ignores the needs of the employees, who have specific requirements for the tool.
The result: divisions such as sales cannot deliver the desired results in a timely manner. To explain the purpose of the software to the departments, a click dummy is a good way to make the possibilities of the new software comprehensible. This can then be used to define new requirements, such as mobile retrieval of customer data for sales colleagues.
CRM needs a vision
The example shows: The vision defines the purchased software. Not the other way around. If the 360-degree customer image is the vision, the program must fit this specification. In addition, flexibility plays a major role. Only in this way can the personal requirements of the departments be integrated and continuously adapted.
CRM and the role of the customer journey
Experience shows that product owners of CRM systems often spend little time with customers. However, it is essential to know one's customers and to understand the current customer journey in detail. To do this, all employees in the field must be involved and all requirements of intermediaries and end customers must be recorded.
Define goal
The analysis makes all potential for improvement obvious. At this point, it is important to define the goal with which the customer journey is to be improved: Best customer experience in the market? What does that mean exactly? Fast delivery times? Personal advice? Cost reduction?
Develop target state
Once the goals are clear, the target journey is defined. If the goal is more personal support, we focus on resources and tools. If the focus is on costs, we design the journey with an emphasis on process efficiency.
The target journey highlights the discrepancies between the current customer experience and the target journey. It shows the concrete requirements for processes and tools, especially those for the CRM system. With this knowledge, companies can now create new structures and use tailored technology.
What makes a good CRM system
In an era of generically high product quality, customer processes are the primary differentiator in the market. The goal of market differentiation cannot be achieved through a CRM system with standard processes or as a simple extension of the ERP for the sales force. A CRM tool must be customizable as a platform. In this way, it is possible to design unique customer processes and modify backend systems accordingly.
Artificial intelligence
Historically, CRMs have been big data pots. With the increasing flood of data, they are becoming more and more full - and thus more and more valuable. Anyone who buys a CRM system today should therefore make sure that they not only buy a data pot - but also suitable tools for evaluating the data and recognizing new patterns in it.
Making the best possible use of development potential
With optimized CRM, companies can not only increase their efficiency enormously. They can also see at a glance which of their customers have the highest development potential. Of course, the customers benefit as well: Ideal CRM goes hand in hand with the best possible service. From our point of view, this is an absolute win-win situation and therefore the step of digital transformation is worth considering for every company.
The author is a senior consultant and CRM expert at Namics
Furthermore read the Interview with Namics CEO Bernd Schopp in the current issue of the ORGANIZER.
