Maximizing Profits for your Company using CRM Properly: A Series

A positive attitude can only take your customer service so far--a. structured Customer Resource Management system is necessary to keep current customers happy and attract new ones.

Photo by Copernico on Unsplash Part One: Goals of CRM

Disclaimer: The author is not affiliated with any specific entities cited.

In the age of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) technologies, many companies forget that CRM is not merely a data-tracking software. Data-tracking and technology are not the only pillars of customer relationships. Technology cannot replace person-to-person interaction, and CRMs are the most effective method of keeping customers happy and your profits maximized. Companies are not taking advantage and excelling at every aspect of CRMs, and they are losing profits because of it. To further prove the point, here are some statistics of successful CRMs, courtesy of Brad Hodson:

· Revenue increases of up to 41% per salesperson

· Decreased sales cycles of over 24%

· Lead conversion rate improvements of over 300%

· Customer retention improvements of 27%

· Decreased sales and marketing costs by 23%

· Improved profit margins of over 2%

LinkedIn Sales Solutions on Unsplash

With these statistics, it is hard to argue that CRMs are not worth the investment when utilized to their full potential. An exemplary CRM implementation has multiple factors that make it up:

1. Knowing your goals

2. Knowing the plan and “Employee Buy-In” to the plan

3. Customer retention

Knowing your goals and being open to change

CRM should help a company achieve its goals. You should identify these goals (yes, made visible for yourself and others to see) and mold your plans around achieving these goals. Then break down into smaller objectives, and a good CRM will revolve around these. There is no "model" CRM or plan for every purpose- this plan should be flexible around smaller interactions to achieve the larger picture.

Photo by Kaleidico on Unsplash

Having an end goal allows for change along the way. If the CRM plan is unsuccessful, you should communicate with your team and implement staggering changes to maximize profit. Do not be afraid of change- but remember that your customers and employees must also adjust to that change. Staggering significant changes will allow both employees and customers to slowly adjust to change, move you to a more effective technology/plan/guideline, and make your company's CRM plan more effective.

Part Two

Part Three