Forces for Commerce Students
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CRM is a business strategy to select and manage customers to optimize long-Term value. The basic theme for the company to become customer-centric (Findlay 2000). It focuses on the customer: identifying trends and pattern by collecting data from every possible interaction with the customer at all marketing, services supported or sales, whilst concentrating on customer-centric approach rather than product-centric. CRM allows a company to address all the types of customers it serves at different points in their life cycle. It also enables the company to choose the best marketing strategy that best fits a customer`s attitude and willingness to purchase its product and services.
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Organization often think that solution to their problem id purchasing a new or upgrading to a better technology. To make things worse, software and hardware vendors claim that their product is the most versatile and flexible, and one that will meet organization current as well as future needs. However, organizations fail to realize that technology is just a catalyst, enabling the flow of data or information to its destination. To achieve a CRM strategy, an organization cannot rely exclusively on the system solution.
Organization often think that solution to their problem id purchasing a new or upgrading to a better technology. To make things worse, software and hardware vendors claim that their product is the most versatile and flexible, and one that will meet organization current as well as future needs. However, organizations fail to realize that technology is just a catalyst, enabling the flow of data or information to its destination. To achieve a CRM strategy, an organization cannot rely exclusively on the system solution.
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In today`s highly completive business environment, every business is aiming at becoming more information oriented. Information plays a key role in development of strategy and organizations can use this information as value exchange with their customers thereby building a high brand value in the minds of customers. This world leads to high level of customers confidence and trust in the organization.
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“CRM helps organizations maximize customers satisfaction and customers-related resources utilization. It aims to improve organizational effectiveness by reducing sales cycle and selling costs, identifying new markets and channels of expansion, and improving customer value, satisfaction, profitably and retention” (Anderson and Jacobsen). However, companies should not think of CRM as a magic wand that will do wonders for them once they incorporate and integrate it with their business processes. An efficient road map must be chalked out to help the organization understand how an effective CRM strategy implementation will help the routing of relevant information flow via technology to appropriate people at critical times for decision-making support. Companies must also educate their employee towards their customers-centric approach and set and expect high standards of customers service from every employee. Once the organization and its employee align themselves to this customer-centric approach, upgrading to the CRM effort becomes very easy.
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By: Hussain Saamiu
