*This is a guest post. The thoughts and opinions expressed are those of its authors and do not reflect on Techaeris or its staff.
The CRM industry grows by time and customer relationship management is fast becoming an asset to every tech company across the world. CRM makes business offers available to online customers and thus companies are able to satisfy more customer needs as opposed to analog or physical marketing.
Currently, a vast majority of tech companies have at least a billing system or a product-focused integrated resource management system. These are systems that are used to record, monitor as well as analyze product-related information, logistics, and revenues. According to creatio.com, CRM software collects customer data on a daily basis.
The continuous wish for more cost-effective marketing options as well as more impressive means of communication has cleared the space for direct marketing. Direct marketing is a case where direct communication happens between the company and potential customers through a preferred media. However, a customer database is needed to support the stage before sales are made, marketing activities as well as the whole customer interaction processes.
It is however advisable that all companies using CRM prudently examines their CRM selection in order to eliminate an early need to appraise your CRM tools so as to match the ever-changing market needs. Who needs a CRM system, therefore? CRM is a customer-based utility that unites business activities from the moment customers make their first contacts with the company until they become regular visitors. This is particularly meant for businesses which:
- Are interested in eliminating employee absence time
- Have more than one employee handling customers
- Need to see projected revenues more precisely
- Want to monitor activities of the sales team
- Want to increase customer retention rates
- Want to conduct more effective campaigns for marketing purposes
Effective CRM systems have in-built marketing features that employ more customer-centered approaches. Online CRM solution supports data collection on market conditions, competition, and information on any target market shareholders. It however improves the capacity of a company by incorporating records on pre-sale activities, projections on sales, and previous or current marketing campaigns.
Global markets are highly flooded with goods and services, both households and corporations. Companies must, therefore, improve their levels of competitiveness by studying market segments and increasing marketing efforts. CRM software collects market data on goods, prices, preferences, and demand levels.
CRM systems collect and store customer-related data and stores them in one entity. This makes access to company databases much easier as the different departmental teams can get the needed information simultaneously as well as make changes and improvements which take effect as fast as they are made and becomes accessible to the other teams.
The right CRM for a company is that which has the capability to integrate customer-centered after care services. These include feedback collection also known as satisfaction surveys, manage customer complaints as well as foster maximum customer satisfaction. This approach gives IT companies the ability to:
- Recover lost clients
- Increase lead conversion rates
- Crease retention rates
The numerous CRM databases are therefore always available for review and analysis and thus offers much more advantages to the companies. In this article, we discuss the types of CRM databases and their roles in tech companies.
Customer satisfaction
Customer turn over can be reduced by routinely monitoring customer satisfaction with the company products and services. This data provides the basis for improvement of product quality as well as customer interactions with the company and employees. As already mentioned, less effort is needed to retain an existing customer than it is needed to acquire a new customer.
Tech companies use this CRM database to shed light on the level of customer satisfaction and needs for improvement before the customers get solutions to their dissatisfaction elsewhere.
It is also important to understand the most common causes of customer dissatisfaction. For instance, internal resources and business processes. This can only be leveraged by streamlining internal company business processes. The company can also gather information from a few trusted customers to establish the exact business process or resource that is lowering satisfaction levels. This can then be adjusted or modified.
Sales activity database
A record of sales processes and activities is as important as customer data. Also reffered to as leads management tool, the sales activity database carries information on every event from the time leads show interest in the company or product, the time and activities that occur when they place an order, until when the deal is closed.
CRM helps to harmonize the various communications and interactions between the company and several customers or between employees and the several customers and presents this information on a single display system or dashboard.
This CRM database helps the company to study and understand the stages of sales processes as well as the various sales projections. It also makes it easier to project company revenues as sales successes can be easily established from the dashboard.
Customer data
The various CRM functionalities are more specifically based on customer records. This CRM database records basic customer details such as name, address, contact, related contact persons, and customer-related marketing information such as annual income, interests, and many other details. This CRM database supports the growth of customer bases and helps to increase retention rates by providing helping sales reps to send more personalized communications to leads and customers.
Research shows that it is 20% easier to retain existing customers than it is to recruit new customers. Having personalized interactions with customers is therefore more likely to give your customers inspiring experiences and the conviction that the business cares for them as opposed to always engaging customers from the “guest” point of view for lack of information about them. Addressing customers with their names or asking them about previous engagements for instance makes the customer feel much more valued by the company are they are more likely to return.
Order data
Order data makes it possible to know the type of orders customers make as well as how much individual customers spend. Tech companies need to know the customers who spend most on their products in order to provide them with more special attention and increase their return rates as they are very key to the company’s financial liquidity. The online CRM tool monitors the spending trends of customers, quantity of products they purchase, time they do most of their purchases, and so on. This database is also important as it can be used to calculate the total yield or profits generated during the life cycle of a customer.
Campaign management data
CRM system supports various company marketing campaigns. These can either be occurring through event creation, direct emails, phone, and many more options. It makes it easier for the business to define a target group and make campaigns more focused as well as be able to receive campaign feedbacks during and after the events.
Last Updated on February 3, 2021.
