One of the main determining factors of business success is a good relationship which must exist between the supplier of goods or services and his or her clients. Closing a good sale depends on the knowledge of the tastes and preferences of the client.
Traditionally, businesspersons and their staff used to have a personalized relationship with clients. They knew where they lived, about their families, the purpose of their visits, the products which attracted them the most, and in this way, they developed strategies for making them feel satisfied.
Today, however, with globalized and fierce competition, and an enormous and invisible client base, the strategy of good relations with clients continues to be the way it used to be. What has changed is the method.
For achieving this effective handling of relations with clients, technology makes available useful tools which can be accessed free of charge, or at a low cost and which are easy to manage, that empower the business objectives that can be accessed.
These tools allowing you to organize and collect the information needed for optimizing the interaction between the seller and the client are called CRM (customer relationship management).
Although all innovating tools may require a process of learning and adaptation, CRM offers the businessperson, whether he is large, medium, or small, with a long list of advantages, among which the following stand out:
- Relations with clients: It facilitates interaction between the company and the clients through diverse communication channels, thanks to the storage of information of interest, such as the needs and preferences for products or services.
- Different from the competition: With the information available on clients, the company can know and segment the markets, developing effective and successful marketing campaigns.
- Supports planning: CRM creates a platform with emails, telephone calls, comments, minutes of meetings, etc. which are permanently available for all employees. It improves internal planning for the future, and allows forecasting sales volumes, measuring client service, and providing follow-up of the company’s performance.
- Immediate information: Employees have centralized and immediate access to the data of interest regarding clients, their histories, products, prices, etc., from any location, through a computer or a mobile device.
- Increases loyalty: With detailed information, employees can develop more personalized relations with clients and increase their levels of satisfaction.
- Capturing new ideas: Clients are a source of information regarding needs and preferences. Their opinions, registered in the CRM, are significant for improving the variety and quality of products and increasing the company’s productivity.
- Guiding strategies: With the histories and knowledge on the purchasing behavior of clients, the marketing department can resort to personalized communication, or aim it at specific segments.
- Increasing sales: Ample knowledge of clients allows the company to present the commercial offers adapted to their needs, thus increasing income, through a shorter sales cycle. CRM allows empowering the sales and marketing functions.
These and many other advantages make CRM a basic tool for the present-day commercial model. It may have disadvantages, but they are minimal and may be overcome with little effort:
- Acceptance by clients: There is the possibility that certain resistance to sharing information may emerge from some sectors.
- Learning curve: A period for becoming familiarized with the CRM program being used is needed. Part of the process includes staff training, for them to learn how to use the information and interact with clients and potential clients.
- Resistance:Resistance to innovation is lower as time goes by, but it may be necessary to dedicate some time to motivating staff for them to accept, adapt to, and employ CRM as an instrument benefitting clients, the workflow, staff performance, and company growth.As with all other technological tools, CRM is here to make things easier and reach greater performance and better results. Once the cultural barrier is broken (if it exists), the company staff and clients will feel gratified.At ZEWS, we help you choose the tool that best adapts to and benefits the interests of your company. We are a company with a long history in the design, redesign, and maintenance of websites, management of social networks, creation of digital content, advising on technology, and creation of digital strategies. We are here to serve you!