In Forrester’s words, ‘All CRM goals should have metrics that you can tie back to specific goals and strategies.’
Businesses are placing an emphasis on customer experience and customer satisfaction now more than ever before.
With rapid advances in technology and increasing customer demands, CRM software – and the way it’s used – can be the make or break of a sale. As we at redk previously highlighted, defining CRM metrics is the first step towards achieving CRM success.
When CRM metrics are carefully tracked, companies are able to take prompt action to maintain successful habits, as well as make improvements where needed.
Forrester lays out five steps to define the right CRM measures for your organisation, and our team at redk has broken them down for you.
Set Clear Goals and Understand Their Value
Your organisation must pinpoint how its CRM strategy will bring the most value in the long term.
For example, if your company wants to increase revenue at a lower cost, it is imperative to understand the value of this goal and put it into action with this in mind. Metrics can be used to trace each specific outcome after a method for estimating the expected benefit has been defined.
QUOTE: Forrester offers this example, ‘If your goal is to increase revenue by adding profitable new customers to your customer base, the benefit calculation is the number of new customers multiplied by the annual value of a customer.’
Base CRM Strategies and Tactics on Defined Business Goals
Organisations must work as a whole to achieve success with their CRM software. Each customer-facing department should have well-defined tactics for working towards business goals.
In the following chart, Forrester provides example strategies for marketing, sales and service teams. ‘For example, if your business goal is to reduce the cost of sales, then your CRM tactics could be to increase sales per rep or shorten sales cycles.’
Each department has an achievable goal in place and then creates targeted strategies to fulfil it.
Identify which CRM Measures will Best Serve Your Organisation
The wide array of CRM metrics available allow organisations to customise their initiatives.
From the number of customer referrals and purchase frequency to the amount of sales calls per opportunity and sales cycle duration, customer service metrics are customisable.
Your organisation must lay out the appropriate operational functions to measure. Forrester suggests companies, ‘establish a baseline of performance before starting the initiative, and define the increment of improvement you want to achieve in the future.’
Alignment Equals Success
Forming business goals, establishing strategies and identifying CRM measures are all moot points if they are not linked.
For example, if your company is seeking to increase revenue from current customers, the strategy could be to upgrade; the tactic could be to implement new programs that offer services; and the metric could be to measure profitable customers’ length of relationship with the business.
True CRM Success Depends on Employees
Implementing CRM software may be overwhelming for employees who are used to working with what they know. They might be inclined to complete their tasks without fully utilising the tools offered from the solution, leading them to believe it is more of a hassle or distraction than a useful addition.
As important as it is to track customer metrics, it’s equally vital to track internal user satisfaction. Some areas to track are the number of accesses and the amount of times manual processes are used, as well as the percentage of satisfied users by way of survey or focus groups.
In short, your software solution is only as powerful as your employees allow it to be.
Defining, Strategising and Aligning with redk
Aligning business goals with metrics and strategies will put your organisation in a strong position to respond efficiently to customer requests.
Using these five best practices will help you define the CRM metrics needed to track success.
With over 15 years of digital consulting experience, we at redk are ready to help you define your metrics and implement the strategy that guarantees success. Book a call with us today.
