Capitalize on Complexity

In the real world, potential leads, and the sales people you're paying to turn those leads into closed deals are spread across time zones, languages, and even different sales channels-web, phone, in-person, through partners and sometimes even through partners of partners!

CRM can make this complexity not only manageable, but can turn a complicated situation into a more profitable one for a company. While competitors are spending time trying to schedule conference calls between continents to work on sales strategy, an organization with a good CRM package will already have all of the information they need to close the sale.

Customer Relationship Management is not only a software package, but a philosophy on how business should be done that utilizes technology to further customer-centric ideals. If a company wants to put the customer at the center of everything they do, they are well on their way to successful adoption of CRM-the strategy and the technology.

Sales Force Management

For a sales force large or small that operates in different locations, Customer Relationship Management can ensure smooth hand-offs for customer care before, during, and after the sales. A dynamic database is the piece of the CRM system that gives everyone the same view of the customer. All of the information about a customer is there, and, unlike a contact management system that relies on labor-intensive human updating to keep contact details current, CRM systems are designed to take as much work as possible out of keeping customer information up-to-date and accurate.

If a customer in South America writes an e-mail asking about upgrading their service plan, this e-mail will automatically be entered into the customer's profile. No more time-consuming, and sometimes cryptic case notes. No matter where they are geographically, anyone in the organization who has access to that customer's profile will see the relevant e-mail when they pick up the phone to talk to this customer.

This rich profile of the customer opens up a range of possibilities when it comes to up-selling and cross-selling, and can help a sales manager see the health of everyone's accounts.

This single view of the customer also bridges the gap between different departments in a company: customer service can diplomatically ask past due customers with an inquiry if they'd like to settle their account; marketing can see which customers respond to different messages and track the effectiveness of campaigns; documentation managers can see what kind of calls new users are making to customer support, and can change the instruction manual accordingly.

Customers Are People, Too

Besides all of the time and contact management tools in CRM, there are many features that directly affect customers. For instance, when CRM is integrated with a phone system, a customer's information will pop up on the computer screen of whoever is taking their call. This saves the customer from having to repeat their question or concern over and over. "Warm" handoffs, with everyone already knowing the customer's issue before the first hello, will make a customer, who might be feeling frustrated already, feel as if they are in competent, able hands.

Another feature customers can appreciate is reminders. Just as CRM makes contact management easier for sales people and everyone else in a company, CRM programs can automate sending out renewal or service reminders to customers. A good CRM solution can actually empower the customer while making them less expensive for the company to maintain. For instance, giving clients an e-billing option every time they come online to check their account information can save a company huge amounts in paper and mailing costs, and make the customer happy that they are receiving one less piece of mail.

Analyze and Adjust Accordingly

Customer relationship management tools can make the brief time clients and companies spend together more useful for both parties. All of the information that comes from these interactions can be used to get a better picture of who your clients are, what they are doing with your company, and what they would pay to do with your company if you gave them a chance.

It's this slicing and dicing of customer information that makes contact management look like a monkey next to its evolved cousin, CRM. All companies have different kinds of buyers-from the person who is very price- and feature-sensitive and will spend large amounts of time researching before they buy to the person who has more things to do than time to do them and needs to make their purchases in the quickest, easiest way possible. These two types of customers are both profitable in their own right, but a company could lose both of them if they're lumped in together.

Customer analytics, as this feature is usually called, isn't just useful when it comes to looking at past behaviors, but can be used to look ahead. Some of the more advanced CRM solutions, especially the ones that are industry-specific from the most mature vendors, have "red flag" features that can detect unusual currents in the vast flow of information that happens everyday.