As Forrester states, ‘CRM is both a strategy and a set of tools, but not a press release. You need to pay attention to how well you are tracking toward your goals over the long term.’
Today’s customer-centered markets continue to rely on customer relationship management software.
But CRM tools are only as powerful as our ability to measure and utilise what they offer. In fact, many companies have trouble assessing the value of their CRM strategies.
Instead, organisations tend to focus on mundane metrics like active users and miss out on their true purpose. Metrics – the right ones – are key to a successful CRM initiative.
And when companies begin to align essential data with their business goals and CRM initiatives, it enforces the discipline needed for CRM success.
Shifting CRM Focus To Five Basic Factors
Building a successful CRM initiative requires a company-wide shift in focus.
According to a recent study by Forrester, this kind of success is based on five fundamentals: promoting user adoption; streamlining business processes; establishing executive sponsorship; practising sound customer data management; and defining the right objectives and measures for CRM initiatives.
Maximising the efficiency of CRM software is largely dependent on employee use, but also on how it’s implemented as a whole. If implementation and execution are well-controlled, these tools will deliver effective customer experiences.
Use Customer Information To Your Advantage
With the rise of data and customer information, AD&D professionals are more important than ever.
And they can use these new tools to create a personalised customer experience, which is increasingly imperative for businesses due to the following factors:
● Voice-of-the-customer (VoC) programs are becoming the norm. In order to meet the increased demand for a differentiated customer experience, businesses need frequent customer insights. According to Forrester, ‘84% of respondents perform both quantitative and qualitative research to gather customer feedback on a regular basis.’
● Social media technology is skyrocketing. More and more customers are using social media to get help with a product or service. In fact, Forrester highlights that in a survey commissioned by Facebook, 64% of consumers would prefer to message, rather than call, a business. AD&D professionals should take advantage of this trend by providing different avenues for interaction and optimising their CRM software.
● Employee engagement creates satisfied customers. The employee/customer relationship is something that should be celebrated and rewarded within organisations. After all, Forrester says, ‘At the core of a customer experience ecosystem are interactions between your employees, partners and customers.’ Aligning work practices based on customer engagement will not only keep employees motivated but make for more happy customers.
According to Forrester, ‘A CRM program should link tightly to business goals, focus on customer benefits, clearly identify the processes and constituencies that it will affect, and specify the associated information and functionality needs.’
Become Customer-Focused To Define CRM Success
If organisations focus their efforts on the right metrics and implement the necessary tools to become more customer-focused, they will be able to define CRM success.
To get the most of your CRM metrics, defining the best strategy for your company is imperative. Once you’ve mapped out your overarching goal, focus on business-specific metrics early on – but don’t get so bogged down with numbers that you lose sight of your main objective.
Measuring what customers value is the difference between a repeat sale and a flop. Try focus groups or customer surveys to find key issues and use metrics to measure whether your employees are engaged with the software. After all, a CRM solution is only as effective as employees allow it to be.
Managers can help guide employees toward success – and engaged employees will boost customer experience.
The Next Step
Defining CRM metrics is the first step towards achieving CRM success. Once defined, they can be linked to business goals alongside CRM strategies and tactics.
With over 15 years of experience, we at redk are here to help guide you towards CRM success. Reach out today.
