Customer Relationship Management

Companies without a good connection between their workers and their customers, run the risk of losing business.

Customer relationship management (CRM) software can help companies streamline their interactions with customers to ensure a consistent message to the customer and maintain good and sustainable relationship.

With the goal of providing “a single face to the customer,” the basic principle behind CRM is that any employee in contact with the customer should have access to all information about the company’s past interactions with the customer.

Why CRM is a Customer and Competitive Necessity ?

• It typically costs 5-10 times as much to acquire a new customer as it does to retain an existing one.
• “Some companies can boost profits by almost 100% by retaining just 5% more of their customers.” Harvard Business Review (Reicheld & Sasser)
• A recent McKinsey study showed that the average new customer spends $24.50 at a given web site in the first 3 months as a shopper. The average repeat customer spends $52.50 every 3 months.
• Most companies lose 50% of  their customers in 5 years (Harvard University)
• On average only 15% of a site’s customers consider themselves loyal to it. The loyalty rating among people who had experienced a problem was only 6%. Customers who had not experienced problems indicated a customer loyalty rating of 19%. The loyalty rating among customers who had experienced problems but were satisfied with the way they were handled: 21%. (Digital Idea) 
• 70% of repeat purchases are made out of indifference to the seller, NOT loyalty. (eLoyalty)
• The web customer is ‘only 1 click away from your competition’. 

Technical Definition

Customer relationship management (CRM) is a term that refers to practices, strategies and technologies that companies use to manage and analyze customer interactions and data throughout the customer lifecycle, with the goal of improving business relationships with customers, assisting in customer retention and driving sales growth.

• CRM systems are designed to compile information on customers across different channels or points of contact between the customer and the company
• Channels could include the company's website, telephone, live chat, direct mail, marketing materials and social media. 
• CRM systems can also give customer-facing staff detailed information on customers' personal information, purchase history, buying preferences and concerns