Customer relations with organizations are critical to improving the overall business and customer satisfaction. Customer relationship management (CRM) allows businesses to gain profitability, connect with their customers in every aspect, and streamline the business process (Khodakarami & Chan, 2014). While customer relations are crucial, connecting with other individuals such as suppliers, sales representatives, and other service users is fundamental in providing efficient services and strengthening relationships. While implementing a CRM system within an organization, capturing customer details, their online behavior and preferences will inform the management of creating meaningful customer relationships. In essence, the data captured by the CRM tool should help the organization manage its external interactions with existing and potential customers, ultimately driving its success. The data will play a significant role in identifying sales opportunities, discover prospective customers, and create effective marketing campaigns.
Identifying the most significant pieces of information during data collection will adequately inform the CRM and management. The first critical information is full of customer names. Addressing the customers using their names signals the organization's desire to know and relate with their customers deeply. Secondly, capturing their home address will allow organizations to keep track of their customers` geographical locations for better service delivery. Thirdly, having their email address will allow the marketing team to keep in constant communication with their customers, sending out campaign information and newsletters about the services they offer. The next data to collect is the customer experience. This data will be critical in informing the organization of how the customers use its products and services.
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Further, collecting data on customer purchase preferences will help the organization understand what influences their customers` purchase decisions. Such information will help the organization retain its business and make necessary adjustments. Another data to collect is how customers discovered the business. It is imperative to understand and evaluate the effectiveness of the marketing team and campaigns. Seventh, customer buying behavior is also significant in classifying one's customers as either active or dormant buyers. This information will enable the organization to drive sales higher. Next, collecting data on customer social media interactions can help the marketing team tailor campaigns befitting their social interactions. Moreover, the information can be critical in pushing more marketing campaigns to potential customers.
Ninth, information on customer sign-in date on the organization's website will inform the organization on which customers are slipping away and develop strategies towards repossessing them. The management can then reach out to them and inquire if they need additional support. Lastly, collecting information on customer feedback will help develop better strategies and initiatives to improve the overall business and customer satisfaction. For instance, asking customers whether they can recommend their products to other people will help inform the organization on Net Promoter Score. Requesting further clarification on such questions will provide adequate information on customer preferences and behavior.
Leads are critical to an organization's progress. However, without a lead scoring model, these organizations waste a substantial amount of time pursuing more leads. In essence, a lead scoring model encompasses a point-selection criterion useful in evaluating leads (Harrigan et al., 2015). Among the ten data points identified above, customer buying behavior, social media interactions, customer experience, and customer purchase data can be used in a lead scoring model. Ultimately, understanding customer behavior will generate more points and infer more interactions and interest from the customers. Moreover, such leads will inform the sales and marketing teams how best to determine potential customers and streamline the two departments' alignment.
References
Harrigan, P., Soutar, G., Choudhury, M. M., & Lowe, M. (2015). Modelling CRM in a social media age. Australasian Marketing Journal (AMJ) , 23 (1), 27-37. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ausmj.2014.11.001
Khodakarami, F., & Chan, Y. E. (2014). Exploring the role of customer relationship management (CRM) systems in customer knowledge creation. Information & Management , 51 (1), 27-42. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.im.2013.09.001
