A number of factors have contributed to the growth of CRM as a source of competitive advantage. They can be categorized into four classes
- Market drivers
- Customer-related drivers
- Business drivers
- Technological driver
In the past, many companies have begun CRM projects without identifying a right strategy to support the business goals nor focusing on change management initiatives to be able to support the radical modifications of the processes involved.
Very first step in a CRM project is to create of a customer relationship strategy.
Systematic customer management begins with the definition of target audience and the collection of quantitative and qualitative data on these target groups. A consumer segment is chosen which is most promising and attractive to the firm
- Listening: The emphasis is on customer loyalty; hence it is very important to find out key values and needs for each customer class.
- Knowledge: It is crucial to identify the most profitable customers.
- Growth: Developing a trust worthy relationship with the customers through communication of value propositions.
- Results evaluation.
To get all this right, companies need to review and integrate its infrastructures and business processes.
It’s important for the company to manage all contact points effectively, to gather all necessary information, and have the insights that drive the decisions. Every new data or piece of information about the customer has to besaved and processed to improve the process. All the information collected must then be made available to all the company employees, and thus be able to offer a customized service answering specific needs.
All this becomes possible with right CRM implementation-when a CRM programme is made up of strategies, CRM information systems, and process re-engineering.
