What is a CRM strategy?

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CRM strategy is often seen as part of, if not the corporate strategy, to achieve the company’s goals of growth, productivity, and quality.

These specifications can usually be met by a targeted improvement of secondary success factors such as speed, reliability, trust, competence and an emotional bond via a (very) good customer experience ( contact points with the customer).

Therefore, the concept of CRM strategy in the strict sense is also considered as a strategy for customer processing and is always the start for the introduction of CRM software.

All efforts focus on the customer

How do we achieve the objectives we have set?

It is the profitable customers who increase the company’s success and value. Today, customer centricity has already been used in many companies. This thinking should also be reflected in the daily work. So customer relationship management (New German: Customer Relationship Management, short: CRM) has to be introduced throughout the world.

Here is the corresponding CRM definition,which immediately includes the digital strategy.
“CRM is a customer-oriented corporate strategy that, with the help of modern information and communication technologies, tries to achieve profitable customer relationships in the long term through holistic and individual marketing, sales and service concepts. to build and consolidate.”

Thus, the focus of every CRM strategy is:
The development of a concept for the development of customer relationships.

The contents of a good CRM strategy

What needs to be done about this?

A comprehensible and motivating strategy

• 1. describes the company’s vision of a perfect customer relationship
• 2. the goals with the hard facts (KPIs), the desired = to live corporate culture and many creative visions gives
• 3. the way to achieve these goals: in dealing with the customer, at the touchpoints and along the entire Customer LifeCycle (customer lifecycle)

This means that the route mainly covers customer segments, CRM processes and interaction channels between customer and company.

Basic consideration of the CRM strategy

When formulating a customer relationship strategy, the basic basic questions are initially asked:

• In which communication and sales channels should the individual customer (segments) be handled?
• How can a high level of satisfaction be achieved with valuable* customer groups?

The answer is: Only if the immediate services and interactions between customer and company are designed in a customer-oriented manner.

The basic strategies can now be derived from this.

*Explanation:

A customer’s profitability depends not only on the intensity of the business relationship, but also on its duration. Keyword: Customer Life Value. For this reason, the future potential of a customer is increasingly being attached to the future potential of a customer in the customer’s valuation.

In addition, it can be seen that the benefits of a customer relationship not only arise from the actual transaction (e.g. sales growth), but also have an influence on “soft” factors, such as recommendations.

What does “customer orientation” mean today?

What consideration does the customer expect?

The customer is king, because the offer has become high and comparable. It is therefore rather difficult today for companies to stand out solely through technology, product or price. But the appreciation towards the customer still has an impact as a positive competitive factor that should not be underestimated.

This appreciation is reflected in the efficiency of the company in meeting customer expectations in relation to

• Quality, because every customer expects quality, professionalism, innovative strength and an outstanding service from the company
• Speed, because we are all (as customers) happy about a quick response to our questions, wishes and complaints

Building and maintaining profitable and long-term customer relationship

This goal can only be achieved

• on increasing customer satisfaction among dissatisfied customers
• on stabilising satisfaction with already satisfied customers
• on measures to strengthen customer loyalty to the company

Thus, “customer orientation” requires the company to provide a high quality of entrepreneurial performance and communication skills.

• Customer orientation of the range of services is demonstrated by a high product and service quality
• Customer-oriented interaction must meet customers’ expectations in dealing with the company, e.g. in the event of complaints or inquiries

Think up and implement CRM measures

How are the processes?

These measures include:

• the organizational and personnel framework conditions
• Optimization of customer-related business processes
• their support through a CRM system
• systematic planning, control and improvement of these changes

Convincing the CRM strategy

In all these measures, it should not be forgotten to inform, motivate and share in the success of employees. Only with employee acceptance can the CRM strategy be successful.

It is therefore recommended to introduce a CRM manager with a team in the company for complex project execution, project controlling and change management.

Designing excellent customer relationships

What does this mean for the departments?

The customer wants a transparent, convenient, fast purchase process. That is a fact.

For the departments with customer contact, this means in concrete terms:

1. CRM in Marketing:Targeted Customer Approach
2. CRM in sales:systematic processing of opportunities and synchronized cooperation between foreign and internal services
3. CRM for service: outstanding service for complaints, reorders, spare parts and service technicians, etc.

There are many best practice examples for the implementation in combination with a CRM software.

The digital implementation of the CRM strategy

What support do the departments need?

The conclusion is rightly: CRM software is needed to increase the time and quality for the customer. A system that best meets the company-specific requirements for transparency and efficiency of data and processes.

“A CRM system thus describes the technological realization of the CRM strategy.”