How CRM Helps Companies Market to Buyers
While marketing automation modules have started to attract a new wave of companies to CRM software, the long-term benefits of CRM systems can help businesses make the most effective use of their advertising and sales resources. According to leading industry experts, companies can leverage CRM applications in five specific ways:
CRM Software Manages Lead Qualification Efficiently and Transparently Introductions to new customers form the foundation of any successful business. Unfortunately, for many companies, Web sites and other lead generation tactics often supply marketers with far more prospective buyers than they can reasonably handle. In some situations, prospects receive only generic attention in the form of stock e-mails or direct mail pieces. For organizations that attempt direct sales, unqualified prospects can eat up valuable time from sales agents and call centers.
Advanced CRM systems can help busy sales teams sift through lists of leads to find the most productive opportunities. For instance, agents can focus on contacting customers that express an interest in making an immediate purchase instead of spending a lot of time with customers who plan on buying a product or service within three to six months. Queuing leads effectively can reduce waste while increasing short-term conversion rates. CRM systems that manage longer sales pipelines can interface with other marketing tools that more effectively prime new customers for eventual contact from sales agents or other company representatives.
CRM Systems Identify Where to Place Ad Dollars Early CRM systems tracked customers using simple demographic information, such as zip code, age, and income level. The latest CRM applications can go deeper, by gathering detailed information from customer surveys and from private databases. Deep knowledge about customers can include a full transaction history, combined with details such as:
Building detailed profiles about a company's most valuable purchasers can help focus external marketing budgets on the kinds of methods and messages that generated those customers in the first place. For example, consumer product manufacturers can discover the right mass media mix on which to spend their advertising dollars. Likewise, B2B vendors can learn which direct mail pieces, conferences, or personal meetings generated the most return on investment through higher sales. More effective marketing translates directly to higher sales with even higher profits.
CRM Applications Build Relationships Instead of Transactions Veteran marketers often bemoan a trend that spells the end of many traditional "points and miles" customer loyalty programs. According to customer surveys in a variety of industries, many of today's buyers get more satisfaction from building deep relationships with quality companies than from achieving arbitrary reward levels. Instead of making repeat purchases that help tally Green Stamps or Gold Points, today's savvy customers prefer to do business with companies that exceed their expectations with every interaction. Some of the most popular new CRM applications blend traditional sales tracking tools with customer satisfaction measurements. Systems that allow marketers to appeal to a company's most satisfied customers help extend awareness of products and services by mobilizing legions of raving fans. Meanwhile, the same systems can highlight potential trouble spots and offer early opportunities for service recovery. Reinforcing positive experiences and turning problems around help companies retain existing customers while creating new streams of referrals.
CRM Software Helps the Solution Become the Message Marketers accustomed to cookie-cutter follow-up approaches have discovered that leveraging customer data can shrink the purchasing cycle significantly. Many companies rely on generic modes of reaching out to warm leads that wait for a personal conversation before focusing on customized needs and solutions. Organizations that want to accomplish more with fewer resources have discovered that CRM profiling tools can more effectively automate the front end of the traditional sales pipeline by focusing on the right solution for the customer. For example, a relocating professional interested in purchasing a downtown condo might complete online forms with a few different real estate agencies. Using a traditional marketing approach, agents might respond with automated listings that may or may not include the kind of property requested. Today, with the help of sophisticated CRM systems, the same agent can send a highly personalized message with targeted recommendations for their prospect. When the agent follows up with a phone call, he or she can view the exact suggestions made while building a relationship focused on the customer's needs.
CRM Systems Leverage Customer Service Opportunities Many of the latest marketing automation CRM tools help measure the life cycle for a product or a service. For example, a manufacturer can learn more about how often a typical customer likes to replace a product with a new model. Likewise, a service provider can offer a prompt to renew a subscription or to return for service. However, effective organizations have discovered that treating every customer service issue as an opportunity to extend their brands. Therefore, companies that use CRM systems to track their long-term relationships with customers can weave an effective story into even the most frustrating experiences. In a car dealership, for instance, service agents keep extensive details about routine maintenance and service repairs. Using a comprehensive CRM system, the sales professional that sold a vehicle to a customer could learn about a request for a repair quote following an accident. By reaching out and facilitating a service request, the salesperson can extend his or her relationship with a customer to include support during a personal challenge. Whether or not the customer decided to purchase a new car or to schedule the repair, the dealership has earned the kind of positive attention that generates referrals and repeat business.
Case Study: CRM Software Helps B2B Best Practices Flourish
With a new CRM system from Oracle Siebel, consultants found themselves spending more time building relationships with clients instead of managing inter-office paperwork. Meanwhile, analysis tools within the CRM application allowed company managers to predict downward trends in their own business cycles. Armed with that knowledge, sales agents found motivation to make deals that filled gaps in the projection while assuring customers of consistent service.
Case Study: MotorVation's CRM System Increases Two-Tier Sales Auto dealerships face some of the most challenging cycles of any sales organization. Most customers make a purchase only once every few years, making it hard to build loyalty through repeat visits. At the same time, steep competition challenges dealers to retain their existing purchasers while recruiting new buyers using any means necessary. MotorVation provides dealers with discount incentives to distribute to test drivers, making it easier to close more sales. However, the promotions company faced its own challenges while juggling the needs of its clients and their own customers. By implementing a comprehensive CRM system from Entellium, leaders at MotorVation streamlined their own customer relationships while making it even easier for their clients to look good in the eyes of car buyers. Using a sophisticated CRM application, MotorVation handles direct fulfillment and follow-up on behalf of test drive participants. The system's customizability makes it easy for project managers to integrate new promotions and to interface with existing systems at new dealership locations.
CRM Software Generates ROI on Nearly Any Kind of Budget According to leading sales professionals, implementing even a basic CRM application can help companies market to prospects more effectively while increasing repeat business from customers. As flexible tools from leading providers continue to evolve, sales professionals can look forward to generating powerful results by leveraging marketing automation and other critical CRM features.
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