QUESTION
Outline the benefits of implementing customer relationship management (CRM) strategies for providers of goods and/or services and their customers.
Explaining how companies have exploited advances in IT and the internet to enhance relationships with customers, describe the effect that technological change is having on sales and sales management functions.
SOLUTION
With the onset of globalization and the boom of internet has made the world an easy place to live in. The working at home and office has both changed due to internet today. Daily something new is being invented and life is becoming easier. The most recent innovation which helps in the workplace is the introduction of CRM or customer relationship management. It helps to understand and deal with the issues of the customer more smoothly. It facilitates faster pace of work and thus saves on time. It helps in collecting of customer data. These data are then used to do the transactions. After transactions, data are being used to get the customers in touch to resolve any problem or in matter of any concern. The outcome of CRM leads to contentment both within the customer and the employees for whom work becomes easier. As it saves time, it also leads to more profit in the organization. To decide on the future goals of the company, CRM is helpful. It aids in the decision making process of the company. For CRM to work effectively the system requires customer name, address, past transaction details, payment done, data regarding demography, complaint if any etc. would help the managers to come to a decision regarding the same. This also helps the organization to reduce the number of department in the firm which in return increases the profit of the company as the manpower requirement reduces. The gathered data in the CRM system diminishes the cumbersomeness of collecting each information of the customer manually. In a click the manager can retrieve all the data about a customer and track him anytime without having to search for each information. CRM helps in providing goods and services to the customer more effectively and efficiently. As the information of the customer is stored, the manager can exactly get the requirement of the customer and make a future decision of the requirement of the market. On the basis of that, they can introduce another product which the market demands. The manager with the help of the data can find the customer information and make calls to provide any service which they might need. Contacting customer and delivering goods or services in no time is only possible due the CRM system today. With thorough details of the customer, it makes the decision making process easy as they can understand the demand of the market on the basis of their demography and past purchases. New concepts can also be fabricated with the help of CRM in the system. Information stored in the CRM system will also help the marketing team to understand what is working in the market and what is not by seeing the past buying pattern of the customers. So the advertisements can also be made accordingly. All these will actually help the customer to get better services and better products. All the things which help the organization in return help the customer to get apt goods and services.
The benediction of internet on mankind has transformed the working of organizations dramatically. Sales figures with the help of internet have raised manifold. In the onset of social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and Orkut, helps the companies to advertise their products on these sites. They not only showcase their products, but also can write and spread the information about the utility of the products. They can share pictures, get people to like on them and even open a full page solely dedicated to a particular product. All these can be done without cost. They can also write comments on Facebook and Orkut and the management can post on Twitter can let the world read about it. Everyone around gets the information about the product. People of those companies can also befriend with the target market and explain them about the needs of the product. With the help of new applications in the networking sites, they can promote their product and help the consumer better understand them. They can also coax them to buy them. Not only these social networking sites are helping the sales of products, but online shopping websites like Fashion and You, Jabong.com etc. are also helping the products to get sold. Potential shoppers do not need to visit stores to buy products. They can simply visit the website of the company, buy products online and get them delivered on their doorstep. This whole thing saves them time and money. Thus the sales also increase as connectivity of a certain product with the customer also increases. Apart from these shopping websites, simple Gmail chat and Yahoo chats can also be used to explain people about a certain product and a sales manager can sell the product online. Skype can be used to give demonstration of the product to the customer if needed. This also helps the customer to understand the product better and a sales manager also gets an opportunity to build a face to face communication with the customer which might help in selling of the product. Professional websites like LinkedIn and Skillpages can not only advertise products but can also to promote the brand name of the company. Employment services can also be percolated by the posts and messages to the potential candidates. Candidates too can get in touch with the management of companies where they wish to work. Websites like Deals and You posts offers of services which are generally low in cost. Thus people who can’t afford much can get deals from these companies and utilize. So we see that through internet all segments of customers can be reached.
From the above discussion, we get to know the different sales function which CRM helps. It helps to attract and retain customers when the data are coordinated and kept on place. With the help of the information gathered, the sales manager can decide on the future actions which need to be taken. Proper plan is made on the basis of customer demography, past purchases and money transactions. The mode of payment also matters while taking a decision for the future. The data stored in the system regarding the customer can help the manager to build leadership strategies. He can tell his subordinates or the front line crews how to coax and sale a customer of a certain age group. How to handle men and women and how exactly to entice children regarding a certain type of product. All these can be understood easily by just seeing the information of the customers. This will help in building customer relation and also to will give rise to the sales volume. CRM also helps the management to function effectively. It gives rise to good practices like fast customer handling, solving the problems of the customer in no time by just a click of a mouse, it can save time of the management and the customer both. It helps the management to keep all the information stored in an organized way so that whenever need arises, they can retrieve the data. All these help the organization to save time and money. Efficient service also helps the organization to build a long lasting relationship with the customer which leads to brand loyalty and raises sales volume.
Reference
The Importance Of Crm Customer Relationship Management. (2007). Free Online Article Directory. Retrieved from http://www.articlesbase.com/management-articles/the-importance-of-crm-customer-relationship-management-97415.html
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