Affiliate Programs and Affiliate Reviews
CRM is a complex thing. It involves understanding your customers and your own business — two difficult things to fully grasp under any circumstances — and then using technology to convert that understanding into a positive impact on your business. Customers, and to a lesser extent your business, are always changing.
If you’ve ever implemented a CRM application or trained to use one, you’ve undoubtedly noticed that there are an awful lot of features that you never touch. Some just aren’t useful for your circumstances or for your particular vertical industry segment; some are overkill; some are just attempts by your vendor to anticipate a need that never materializes.
The facts about today’s customers are well established: They know more about your business than ever before, they’re talking to their peers and to the wider public about you, they want to be communicated with through the channels of their choosing, and they desire to have a more partner-like relationship with your company. So, what are you going to do about it?
CRM and marketing systems are all geared toward getting people to buy. After all, the whole point of investing in these tools is to increase top-line revenue. At least, that’s the argument we make to our bosses when we seek to implement them. Those tools are getting better all the time, and one area where the new tools excel is in helping speeds down the sales pipeline.
The last two years have been rough for many sales and marketing departments: Head counts have been cut, goals have increased, and the emergence of technology has boosted expectations. Those are recent issues, but the issue that persists is that sales and marketing are still too often working at cross purposes.
Building better relationships with customers is an ideal that’s not limited to any one market, community, industry or even country. The basics are the same, for the most part; they involves collecting data and applying it where appropriate to drive sales and customer loyalty.
Business software has long been described as “front office” and “back office,” which essentially mirrors the arrangement of real-world processes within most businesses. That arrangement made sense in the past — what went on within the business was usually shielded from the customer. That dichotomy often results in two realities.
Adoption is truly the CRM killer. If your employees won’t use your CRM system, your investment is an utter waste. However, the way many organizations look at adoption doesn’t help matters. All too many adoption failures are attributed to the users — those darned stubborn employees who can’t be bothered to deal with change, even when it’s for their own good.
By this point, most businesses understand that they exist in a new reality — the reality that allows customers to communicate with them and with each other in new, faster and in a more pervasive way. Some businesses are actually doing something about it, too — hence, the emergence of social CRM, social marketing, social service and a whole host of other social takes on key business functions.
CRM is not a technology; it’s a discipline that encompasses people, processes and technology. How many times have you heard that truism? How many times have you heard it from a CRM vendor? Many times, I’d imagine — but internalizing that concept is not as simple as it seems. Practicing a truly complete CRM approach is a company-wide endeavor.
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