In a tough economy, staying in touch with customers is more important than ever. Customer Relations Management (CRM) requires consistent involvement, and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) can help integrate new strategies for maintaining strong connections. Customer relations will always boil down to a personal connection between a business and consumer, but new technology can eliminate roadblocks that kept businesses from meeting their customers’ needs. The right email service, for example, will not only enhance your business’ logis
tical process, it will also provide a valuable line of communication between you and your customers.
Social tactics, new technology and proven business techniques combine to make up modern customer relations. Your business won’t be benefit from every new development, but an CRM boost could be just what your business needs to keep customers happy.
New Directions For CRM Improvement
Recently, businesses have turned to Pinterest to softly promote their business. While it’s not unusual to use social media to gain new business and continue old business, Pinterest is a little different than Facebook and Twitter in that it’s more introspective and personal. In essence, Pinterest helps people create their own online imaging page, and many companies from IT to Target are getting in on it. Developing a Pinterest page for your current clients is one new direction to take your business and make it grow through an alternative CRM improvement.
New Assets For CRM Improvement
When you live and work in a digital world, traditional customers service techniques stand out like black sheep. A phone call or email follow-up with a grace period of a few days used to be acceptable, but in a social world, personal contract is expected. Companies are finding live person chat may be more effective in resolving select customer needs (while potentially driving sales). Don’t spend your CRM budget reacting to the competition’s latest developments. Find the thought leaders in your niche and keep up with the latest offerings so you can choose which to implement in a timely manner.
Exploring Options Is Always Best
You’ve got work to do—whether its expanding your online store or developing a new product. While you shouldn’t use up too much of your time trying to choose the best, newest and latest approaches to CRM, you still need to consider the impact on your business of some major decisions. Should you go with CRM software in the cloud, eliminating the need for expensive hardware? Or maybe CRM hybrid software and infrastructure, offering the best of both worlds?
Open source CRM is very popular, but is it right for you and your company? A CRM can produce immediate results, so are you prepared to deal with a wave of new customers all at once. Nothing is perfect, so expect to deal with a few bugs as you transition over to any new CRM platform.
Keep in mind your capacity for troubleshooting in-house before you commit to a cheaper self-serve option. If you can’t handle the IT load, cheaper infrastructure might end up costing you more in the long run.
CRM, Rapid Growth, And You
Once you find what works for you and your company, choosing a strategy and sticking with it makes all the difference in whether you’re growing rapidly or just trying to stay afloat. You might be comfortable with the new CRM software, but your employees usually carry the brunt of the day-to-day work. Give your employees time to adjust to a new CRM system, and if a new process compromises something that was working, don’t be afraid to merge the two concepts. When you hit your stride with CRM, there’s no doubt that you will recognize it for what it is.
CRM is the backbone of your business. Without a satisfied customer base, how would you pay the bills? Take chances to improve CRM processes and you could find new customers headed your way.