Why do I need CRM

"Why do I need CRM?" - This question is usually asked by managers - users of various CRM systems, on which management assigns the job of filling the CRM system with data. Why is it so difficult to briefly and succinctly answer the question? Let's see what CRM is in principle.

"Customer Relationship Management" in translation into Russian is a little more understandable, but not yet completely. Each of us has a circle of friends: family, relatives, friends, colleagues. And, of course, there is some kind of relationship with each of this circle. What is your relationship with Vasya? - Close, friendly. - And with Peter Ivanovich? - Business. It’s unlikely that you often thought about this, but in one way or another, you constantly manage relations with each participant in your circle of friends.

Surely many had this situation: "For a long time I have not been to my grandmother, I should have stopped by to visit her." Why, in fact, visit my grandmother? To pay attention to her, to fulfill the duty of a good grandson, to communicate. Or to spend time together, discuss news, relatives, elections. Most likely, you yourself will definitely not answer this question, you just know that it’s time to visit your grandmother. Or, for example, an old comrade calls you: "Hello! Something has not been selected anywhere for a long time. Let's go to the club on the weekend?" At this point, your friend is managing a relationship with you.

Think about it, because if you have the status of "best friend", it obliges you to more than if you are "just a friend." For the sake of a best friend, you will go to the other end of the city at 3 a.m. And for the sake of yesterday's random acquaintance? Or, for example, in a company, after drinking too much, you told everyone what a funny story happened with Petya, and Petya was offended by you because he did not want everyone to know. And the next day you apologize to Petya and invite him to the bar at your expense to make amends. So you manage the relationship with Petya.

But back from friends and family to customers. If you have customers, then somehow you are selling something. And it doesn’t matter whether it’s a product or service, what level of competition in your market and what your income. You have a client base, and you need to maintain and maintain it at a minimum, and expand it as a maximum.

The time has come to get a diary or notebook with notes from the desk drawer and proudly say: “Here is my client base!” In the diary, a bookmark on the current date, the corners of the pages of past dates are torn off, important events are recorded in a special column at the bottom of the page. Successful meetings are highlighted with a pink marker, and “broken” ones with a blue marker. Seem to be? Now let's collect statistics from the diary: how many of the meetings you held at the pose-the week before last ended successfully? How many clients after the negotiations did you make another appointment and on what date? How many total meetings do you have planned for next month? And what date did you have a meeting with S. Ivanov? You will be able to answer all these questions quickly only if the number of clients in your database is very modest.

On an “industrial” scale, customer relationships require software that allows you to perform a minimal set of operations: search, filter, and sort data. Of the additional functions, automatic reminders and newsletters greatly facilitate the work with clients.

You probably remember without the diary and a sticky leaflet on the monitor the birthdays of your parents and closest friends, the nickname of the dog’s best friend, the names of your long-time classmates. Do you remember when your colleague’s birthday is from the second office, the one on the right? Hardly, because even the name is hardly remembered. And this is not surprising, because he is not one of those people who need to remember such details. The human brain constantly sorts information and arbitrarily assigns status - which is important, that is not important, that you can get out of your head. Why, having a hundred or two clients in the database, is it difficult to keep in mind all the important dates, names, events? Firstly, the amount of information is too large, and secondly, your brain is unlikely to find this information significant. CRM system is an additional "memory". You just need to enter the data, and at the right time a meeting reminder will appear or your client’s birthday greetings will automatically “go away” to the mail.

Imagine a new face appears in your company. Some acquaintance of acquaintances whom one of your friends invited to spend time together. How you react to it depends on your character, manners and mood, but no matter what, your communication with a new acquaintance will begin with “control questions” to each other. And most likely these questions will be from the category of “general”: what you do, where you live, what you get carried away. Of course, you will tell something about yourself. Also from the "general" category. This is called "cold contact" - you do not have a history of communication with a new acquaintance, you collect information, give it status and refer it to some group within your circle of friends. Moreover, you can do all this completely unconsciously, but at the end of the evening you will definitely conclude: "What an interesting person he is!" or vice versa "We have nothing in common with him!". The next time you meet a new acquaintance, depending on your first experience, your communication will become more specific, because you have already collected the initial information about each other. Either you have a lot in common, and you assign it a new status, or prefer to leave acquaintances familiar.

The same is the case for the customer when contacting you for the first time - a “cold contact” for you. Like you for him. But then the client received the information he was interested in and with the words "I need to think" leaves. If you didn’t take his contact phone number from him, you can only hope that the client will nevertheless return. You do not manage these relationships, you just have to wait for the client’s decision. And if the client returns, but you will not be in the office? Your colleague, having first seen this client, will also deal with “cold contact”.

Corporate CRM-system necessarily implies a single information space where customer data is stored. If you took the client’s contacts and entered them into a single corporate base, as well as saved the essence and outcome of your negotiations, then the next time the client contacts your company, any manager will be able to turn to the relationship history. Having information about why the client came last time, what was suggested to him and how the meeting ended, your colleague will not deal with a “cold contact” even during the first contact with the client. Compare situations:

Client: - I visited you yesterday and talked with your colleague.

Manager: - Yes, I am aware that you were interested, I can offer you the following options …

Or:

Client: - I visited you yesterday and talked with your colleague.

Manager: - Tell us what you agreed on.

For the client, you and your colleague are equivalent representatives of the company to which he turned. And if you do not have information about the appeal, you have to “conquer” the client again. That is, you are dealing with “cold” contacts every time. In the first scenario, the client does not have to spend time talking about why he came and what he needs - the manager already has this information. A positive image of the company is formed in the eyes of the client, as employees are aware of his needs, which means they are engaged in them. Give the client the opportunity to feel significant!

If a client has contacted the company with a complaint or complaint, it is especially important to make it clear that they are dealing with it. After all, if a client dwells on the thresholds of offices in search of a solution, and each time they ask him “tell us what happened?”, Then you can hardly count on this client’s loyalty to the company in the future.

Attracting new customers is usually the task of the marketing and advertising department. But how to understand how efficiently they work? For example, last month they hung an advertising banner, and a hundred new customers appeared in your database. In order to evaluate the effectiveness, it is necessary to calculate the number of customers that the banner “brought” and the profit that the company received from these customers. For this, it is necessary that the source is indicated in the corporate system - how did the client find out about the company, and there should also be information on settlements with the client. You also need to know the level of costs, in this case, the banner. If the company uses various sources for advertising, you can make their rating and visually see which advertising source is the most effective.

So, a customer relationship management system is needed for:

1. Storage customer base

2. Analysis of the customer base

3. Customer Relationship Planning

4. Quick reporting of customer service

5. Automation of frequently performed operations: sending letters, SMS, reminders of planned events

6. Evaluation of the effectiveness of marketing activities

But we did not answer the question stated in the title: "Why do we need customer relationship management?". Indeed, why bother managing relationships, especially with clients? Then, why do you visit your grandmother, go with your best friend to the club and take Petya to the bar. To find the way to the heart of the client, so that he wants to come back to you again and again. After all, the presence of regular customers is the key to a solid foundation for the prosperity of your company.

• Why do I need CRM
• why do we need management