For a company, customer relationship is particularly important. Indeed, it is thanks to them that trade, large and small, can flourish. The turnover of the company depends on the number of customers, the number of sales, and above all, the loyalty of the customers. And precisely, this last point is often overlooked, especially by small businesses.
However, customer loyalty is a crucial point for the good health of a company, it allows on the one hand the recurrence of sales of a product, but also allows a company to be able to offer other products of its range according to a commercial strategy called “Cross-selling. In this case, have you ever heard of CRM or Customer Relationship Management? As a business owner, this is surely a term you have already been told about, however, do you really know what it is and what its issues are? Do you know the different CRM methods and do you know how to use them?
CRM is an effective way to retain customers
Customer Relationship Management, which could be translated as “customer relationship management”, is a grouping of methods aimed at learning more about your customers while retaining them. The CRM usually takes the form of a database containing various information about your customers. This database can be managed automatically or manually, however, to manage it manually, you have to have time to deal with it. Large companies will prefer to manage this database automatically. Salesforce CRM is a comprehensive tool that follows the entire course of your prospects and provides excellent sales forecasts. You can easily plan your future business strategies and marketing campaigns using the right measures.
The particularity of CRM is that this software has the capacity to record all kinds of elements related to your customers: email address, telephone number, name, address, but also their purchasing behavior, their buying habits, the way they behave when they are on your site, the time they spend there…
At first, glance, managing the customer relationship may seem complex and difficult to set up. However, it is a formidable and particularly effective tool when it is well mastered. Far too many people neglect this and miss out on many clients for lack of a CRM strategy.
How to recover customer data to enrich its CRM?
There are many methods for collecting data from customers to enrich its database. Loyalty programs, for example, are fairly effective means. Likewise, thanks to satisfaction surveys, you will also be able to collect data and retain your customers. However, if you are looking for a foolproof method, then start an email campaign as soon as possible. Regular or punctual, targeted and personalized, sending emails to customers can offer up to 20% additional traffic on your site. It would therefore be a shame not to take advantage of it.
Like managing the database, sending advertising emails or not can be done manually or automatically. It is best, of course, to opt for automatic shipments based on several criteria. For example, you can schedule the sending of an email inviting you to consult your site 10 days after the person has registered. Otherwise, you can schedule an email a few days after someone has visited your site without making a purchase.
As you can see, sending emails is particularly interesting because it is a good way to build customer loyalty.
What are the real benefits of CRM?
CRM offers many advantages. Indeed, in addition to attracting regular traffic to your site, this will also allow you to retain your current customers while converting visitors, into customers. In addition, thanks to CRM, you can easily access all of your customers’ data since it is listed in the same place. Few clicks, you access all the data that interests you, which will save you a lot of time.
In addition, CRM is a tool that can evolve over time. This kind of software is really very practical especially if you have a lot of customers. Indeed, keeping the data of some customers up to date is possible to do it manually. But when you have dozens, if not hundreds, for several years, you cannot manage all of this data.
Finally, thanks to a well-fed, you will be able to facilitate communication in your company. And for good reason, if your company has several salespeople and one of them has to deal with a client that a former commercial has already had to deal with, he can consult the database to find all the information he may need.
Discover new CRM strategies
In the past, IT did not exist. Therefore, to manage the customer relationship, salespeople had to constantly write down important data in notebooks. Those who had good memories kept this data in their heads, but unfortunately, it was not a foolproof method. Thanks to CRM software, managing customer relationships has become much more accessible, especially since today there are new CRM strategies. Among the most effective, we find social CRM and mobile CRM. Social CRM consists of recovering customer data by taking advantage of social networks. Indeed, in our time, the majority of people use social networks, it is, therefore, possible to easily supply your database using social networks.
The mobile CRM, on the other hand, allows mobile devices (smartphones, tablets, etc.) to be used wisely. Thanks to the mobile CRM, you will be able to recover some very interesting data. However, it is essential to make your site responsive so that it can be consulted in a fluid and pleasant way from a mobile device. Indeed, today, the majority of people consult the internet from their smartphone or tablet because it is more practical and they can do it, no matter where they are. So if your site is not suitable for a consultation on a mobile device. You could lose a lot of potential customers, which would be a shame, you have to admit.
To finish
Managing the client relationship is a long and sometimes difficult process to set up. That said, for a company, the clientele is the central pillar. Successful customer loyalty is not always simple, which is why it is essential to take advantage of all the tools made available to you. Obviously, managing the customer relationship is a time-consuming process, therefore, if you do not have the time or the skills required to manage all of this yourself, do not hesitate to get help from a CRM professional.
Either way, if you want your business to last over time, you absolutely must build a large customer database, as well, you must successfully convert visitors to your site into new customers. Then you will just have to retain them so that they become regular customers. Do not neglect the customer relationship, it is much more important than you can imagine.