Rules for CRM

Before You Start

1. CRM is more than a product, it’s a philosophy.

When your company chooses to implement a customer relationship management (CRM) system it’s taking a dramatic step forward in customer commitment. And, since customers drive your business, you’re leaping ahead in your ability to generate and manage revenue, too. The benefits of CRM come not only from the product you purchase, but also from the implementation plan you follow. The more thoroughly you embrace a company-wide CRM philosophy, the more your company will benefit from the features your CRM software offers. CRM philosophy is simple: put the customer first. This is a modern development of the old “the customer is always right” adage on which so many successful businesses have been built. When your business looks at every transaction through the eyes of the customer, you can’t help but deliver a better experience to your customers — which in turn increases loyalty to your company. And, through customer-focused business practices, you often find new ways to streamline old methods and jettison administrative overhead that no longer benefits you or your customers.

2. Customers are everywhere: clients, vendors, employees, mentors.

It used to be easy to define the word “customer.” But companies are becoming more diverse, with multiple locations, employees who telecommute, and vendors who function as partners. The idea of “customer” has broadened to include a wide range of end users of different kinds of corporate information. For example, employees are customers when they need self-service information on 401(k) plans or other benefits. Shareholders are customers when they’re looking for financial information. Vendors are customers when they need detailed specifications before they can proceed with a project. A colleague is a customer when you need to deliver time-critical data. And, of course, the buyer is always a customer whose experience is critical to your bottom line. With a CRM system, you can serve all of the groups who rely on your company for important, timely information.

3. Don’t confuse CRM with contact management.

Many midsized corporations have used some form of contact management software successfully for years and, at first, CRM may not seem much different. However, if you take a closer look at CRM, you’ll see that its capabilities go far beyond contact management. CRM systems contain more information about your customers. With CRM, your support and service agents have immediate access to all the information they need to completely resolve customer inquiries. Your field sales reps can look up more than just customer contact information before they make a call—they can also evaluate past sales history, credit information, and other financial data. They can even look at information for the company’s other offices and run reports to find out what’s been ordered and what special prices or terms the customer receives. Open tech support calls or other issues are also visible. And, with some solutions, copies of invoices, e-mails, and past proposals can all be reviewed—on screen and on the spot. In sum, if your sales reps and customer service agents need a complete picture of your business’s customers to succeed at their jobs, choose CRM. On the other hand, if your business needs a system that provides a snapshot of its customers, but comes with a low total cost of ownership, then a contact management system may be a better fit.

4. CRM solutions are different for midsized companies.

Some software companies selling CRM would have you believe that you need to buy what they call an enterprise solution that includes all the bells and whistles required for the largest of global enterprises. But for small to midsized companies this may mean paying for more capacity than is required.