The Opportunities And Challenges When Getting Started With A CRM
Customer relationship management (CRM) is more than a support software for customer data, retention and other business processes. It is a stepping stone toward a business culture that is more conducive to success and harmony. This is what Tal Frankfurt, founder and CEO of Salesforce partner Cloud for Good and Forbes Technology Council Member, believes when you utilize your CRM at its fullest. Frankfurt believes whether your business is in the for-profit, nonprofit or higher education space, a quality CRM can help break down departmental silos, open up communication and create visibility through actionable data for your organization. A CRM system provides benefits both internally and externally for your organization.
Internal Value Of A CRM. Frankfurt splits the benefits of CRM between internal and external value. Internally, a quality CRM has the ability to bring teams together and offer greater access to data across the entire company. With mutual access, he points out, collaboration and quality communication proliferate throughout the organization, unifying staff in a singular pursuit for a greater customer experience.
External Value Of A CRM. Externally, CRMs generate significant value through digital transformation, such as the ability to create greater visibility into customers and their interactions with your company. The best example Frankfurt shares is this ability through a concept known as Customer 360, referring to the 360-degree view a CRM can grant through the consolidation of data, “The goal is to achieve a single, unified view of the customer so that you can more efficiently cater to their needs and create more meaningful and mutually beneficial experiences.”
Choosing Your CRM
The first step in deciding on the right CRM for your business is to know what you want out of it. Some questions to consider: how does your current technology operate across departments? What are the pain points? Which departments would most benefit from better overlap with disparate departments through technology? What aspects of your customers’ experience would benefit most from more internal overlap? Frankfurts notes to also involve your organization’s key stakeholders and thought leaders from all sections of your business to understand where the biggest opportunities for growth lie.
