Customer Relationship Management includes the principles, practices, and guidelines an organization follows when interacting with its customers. It is an approach to manage a company’s interaction with current and potential customers. It is often used to refer to technology companies and systems that help manage external interactions with customers. Elements of Customer Relationship Management range from a company’s website and emails to mass mailings and telephone calls. It helps to improve business relationships with customers, specifically focusing on customer retention and ultimately driving sales growth. The entire point of Customer Relationship Management is to build positive experiences with customers to keep them coming back so that a company can create a growing base of returning customers.
There are a number of reasons why Customer Relationship Management is something which is necessary for the success and durability of any business or organization dealing with customers. Listed below are some of the reasons why Customer Relationship Management is essential:
Better Alliance with Customers
Customer Relationship Management leads to satisfied customers and eventually a higher level of business every time. It goes a long way in retaining existing customers and ensures customers return back home with a smile.
Improved Effectiveness and Working
Customer Relationship Management gives you unprecedented insights into how your customers feel and what they are saying about your organization – so you can improve what you offer, spot problems early and identify gaps.
Reduction in Customer Defection Rate
Customer Relationship Management emphasizes on training and development of the employees to become more customer-oriented. Due to Customer Relationship Management training and development, employees show care and concern towards the valuable customers; therefore, the customer defection rate may be reduced to a great extent.
Reduction of Excess Efforts
Having a Customer Relationship Management system as the backbone for all systems that support internal processes, reduces integration efforts and manual tailoring. This increases a company’s ability to execute on strategic goals.
Streamlining of Procedures
One can automate customer service processes using Customer Relationship Management. It helps to deal with customers’ complaints or suggestions more effectively and quickly. By streamlining the business process, you can minimize human error. Not only that, Customer Relationship Management gives you better traceability of employees’ actions on customers’ queries.
Customization of Market Offerings
Companies can customize a product or service depending on the data available with the firm. The firm can facilitate customer-company interaction through the company contact center and web site. Such interactions help to develop customized products.
Businesses and firms use a number of techniques to cultivate, maintain and enhance Customer Relationship Management. Some of the techniques that are commonly practiced are listed below:
Data Warehousing and Data Mining
Customer Relationship Management analysts develop data warehouses and use data-mining techniques to develop and maintain long-lasting relationships with valuable customers. A data warehouse is a company-wide electronic database of detailed customer information. The data analysts use data mining techniques to examine the huge amount of data to find out interesting facts of the customers. The mined data can be utilized for various marketing decisions such as product design and modification, product pricing, maintaining dealer relationships, etc.
One-to-one Marketing
Some firms adopt a one-to-one marketing strategy. Such firms treat their customers as partners and take the help of customers to design new products or to improve their services. If the customer gets involved with the firm, then they are more likely to remain with the firm.
Loyalty Programmes
Firms may use a variety of loyalty programs to retain customers. Firms may provide special discounts to frequent customers. Firms may also provide gifts and other benefits to loyal customers.
Priority Customer Programmes
Some firms introduce priority to customer programs. The priority customers are given priority in after-sales service, delivery and resolving complaints. The priority customer programs are followed by several organizations, especially in the hospitality industry.
In order to ensure efficiency and success of any business or firm in the long-term, the maintenance of Customer Relationship Management is turning out to be extremely crucial, especially in this age where technology has further helped in bringing customers and businesses closer. Hence, build your business further by building your Customer Relationship Management.
Published in the monthly bulletin August 2019 issue of The Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI)