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What is crm? »Its definition and meaning

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Anonim

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is a term that refers to the practices, strategies and technologies that companies use to manage and analyze customer interactions and data throughout their life cycle, with the aim of improving business relationships with customers. CRM systems are designed to collect information about users through different channels or points of contact between the customer and the company, which could include the company website, telephone, live chat, direct mail, contact materials. marketing and social media.

What is CRM

Table of Contents

CRM is a tool, program or application aimed at solving the management of customer relationships, generally it is to the management of three basic areas of a company that are: marketing, commercial management, customer service or after-sales service.

CRM systems can provide detailed information to the customer about users' personal information, purchase history, purchase preferences, and concerns.

The customer service functions of a CRM system optimize customer satisfaction and loyalty, this produces a very positive impact in terms of cross and recurring sales.

This system implemented in a company is part of a customer-directed strategy, so all the actions taken in this regard have a final objective, which is to improve customer service and, of course, relationships with users. potential of the company.

One definition of CRM is that its software allows you to maximize and share a customer's knowledge and thus understand their needs and anticipate them. In other words, CRM compiles all the information on a client's business transactions in detail and maintains them in their history.

While a CRM system can't spark as much buzz these days as social media platforms like Facebook or Twitter, any CRM system is similarly built around people and relationships. And that's exactly why it can be so valuable to a fast-growing business.

Any business starts with a base of great customer relationships. The seller connects with people who need his product. However, as your business evolves, these business connections grow more sophisticated. It is not just a transaction between the buyer and the seller; It is a relationship where the merchant begins to manage a large number of connections, over time, within each company with which he does business.

This information needs to be shared between multiple teams in your own organization that are in contact with the same customers. In this way, a CRM system can serve as a nerve center for handling the many connections that happen in a growing business.

Here is a document on CRM in business marketing made by the School of Industrial Organization of Spain.

Characteristics of a CRM

Among the most important characteristics that a company should look for when implementing a CRM system are the following:

Customization option

The CRM program has qualities that make them work regardless of the type of company or industry, however, it is very important that this system is able to adapt and make all the changes to adapt to the needs of said company.

The best thing is that these types of adjustments or customizations do not cause additional investments or complications, that is, that administrators can carry out the work on their own in a simple way, without ruling out that in some cases the intervention of the provider is necessary.

Management of contacts and opportunities adapted to the business

The way in which each company manages its contacts and business opportunities is extremely important, for that reason it is essential that it have solutions oriented to its sales processes and established cycles. It is easier to adapt the processes to the company, than to modify all those that are already established, in addition to saving time and money.

When choosing a system it is very important to give priority to this issue, since managing opportunities and customers in a correct way establishes success for any sales department, but if on the contrary you work with a system that is not adapt to them, it could lead to a long delay with serious consequences.

Adaptation with accounting processes

Money is one of the main resources for a company to function, for this reason accounting and financial information is of the utmost importance and must be clear when making decisions and doing business deals or negotiations.

The adaptation of a system to the accounting of the company is another of the characteristics of CRM, since within it you can see open balances, invoices, estimates, payments, receipts and everything you need to have on hand when time to make a sale or negotiation.

In addition to the above, this system provides the advantage that sales executives can send quotes from CRM to the accounting system and automatically prepare the sale and invoicing, in addition to reducing the chances of errors.

Connection to the company website

At present, every business or company must have a website, since it is very important to be competitive in the market where it is developed. These sites are a strategy that serves to, in addition to projecting the image as a corporation, attracting new clients and generating leads.

The CRM system must be integrated with the company's website and together with the sales team, collect all the information necessary for the creation of more successful sales strategies.

Mobile access

One of the greatest benefits offered by this type of software is mobile access, with this type of technology, sales representatives have the advantage that they can work from any place or device.

Sales representatives spend most of their time out of the office, thanks to CRM software with mobile access, employees can access company information, such as requesting inventories, accessing contacts or customers, send emails, among others, in this way workers will be productive inside and outside their workplaces.

Preparation of reports

Before implementing a CRM tool, it is important to consult with the supplier to see if it has the capacity to generate detailed reports, as well as analyzes of its operation.

Through the reports you can make an evaluation of the team's performance, create new strategies and at the same time detect any failures that may occur.

Support service

Having a support service from the chosen provider is a feature that should not be overlooked when putting a CRM system into operation and choosing an allied partner. The ideal is to have the help of a company willing to resolve the concerns of your collaborators regarding the system, educate them and provide them with the necessary support throughout the implementation process.

Types of CRM

There are three types of CRM they are: Operational CRM, Analytical CRM and Collaborative CRM, some of them are dedicated to the internal management of the company and others in the interaction with customers.

Operational CRM

This type of CRM can be divided into two parts that are:

Front Office

This is mainly dedicated to the operational part of the company, that is, marketing, sales and customer service.

Back Office

It is not very common in this type of CRM as it focuses on the accounting and finance functions.

Analytical CRM

Its main function is to analyze and understand customers using technology in which large amounts of data are processed. In this way, the marketing and sales area can make permanent adjustments and improvements in their practices. The result will be the loyalty and profitability of your customers, to classify them in the most appropriate way.

Its main function of the analytical part is to measure and understand the interactions of the client portfolio with the company.

Collaborative CRM

Collaborative CRM is characterized because it is responsible for the interaction, through different communication channels, between the company and the client. In this way, the company can establish a link with its customers, offering them the services or products that adapt to their needs, taking advantage of the multitude of channels that a CRM offers thanks to new technologies.

Some of these channels are email, chat, telephone, etc., which, today, can be accessed from any device and anywhere. Thus, the company can centralize and organize all the information and data that the customer provides through the CRM.

Collaborative CRM has two key functionalities:

  • Establish multi-channel communication between all the departments of the company, as well as interact with customers.
  • Improve the relationship with the organization's clients.
  • Features of a CRM software

    In the market there are many options when choosing the ideal CRM for a company, but the choice depends on the characteristics and needs of it, therefore the opinions of each of the departments, marketing, sales, customer service must be discussed, administration and in this way have a clear vision of the requirements and needs of each of them.

    The most important functions of a CRM are:

    • Contact management: A CRM system should allow adding and organizing contacts in a simple and flexible way.
    • Sales phases: It should be possible to easily view all contacts and they should be classified according to the sales process in which they are: exploration, proposal shipments, sales won or sales lost. Through the CRM, any of these steps can be carried out, in addition to being able to move a client from one stage to another.
    • Daily dashboard: One more function of the CRM is that each of the members of the work team can view through a dashboard the most important figures for their work area, such as the number of contacts generated, the number of customer, etc.
    • Document management: A person takes a long time looking for the necessary documents to prepare the offers and give a quick response to a client. For this reason CRM helps save time by using templates containing business proposals, email templates, etc., allowing easy access to current negotiations.
    • Automatic data capture: This tool allows to collect the most important fields of the client such as emails, name and telephone.
    • Reports: It should allow the creation of reports automatically and customizable to the needs of each company. These reports should be easily exported to various formats.
    • Mobility: Easily accessible for the different devices you use (computer, table, mobile).
    • Integration with marketing actions: If the company uses marketing software to carry out email marketing campaigns, the CRM system must be able to synchronize with the platform to better optimize the operation of this device.

    Examples of CRM Software

    Zoho CRM

    It is a management software that is stored in the cloud. The latter is in charge of centralizing and controlling relationships with all those involved and relevant in the business business process, particularly customers. This CRM collects the information from the database and lists all the customer's history. It is a tool for the centralization of Marketing, Sales, Services, Management and support processes. This type of software is perfect for an SME, due to its simplicity of use, flexibility, scalability and low cost.

    CRM VW

    The information stored in the VW CRM service represents a data contribution of enormous value to the company. Distributors of this brand are those who have direct contact with buyer customers, with their preferences, concerns, suggestions, complaints, etc., and this information is transferred, through the VW CRM service, to the manufacturer.

    Among the benefits that this system provides to the company are:

    • Control and manage the database of car manufacturers to obtain maximum competitiveness.
    • Manage promotional campaigns, both for new vehicle sales and for workshop jobs.

    Sugar CRM

    It is a free administration CRM that allows you to manage all the information of a company's clients. This system allows a computer to function as an internet server no matter where it is installed, since it can be accessed through the network. Among its advantages can be named:

    • It is a free CRM in its open source version, that is, it has no license cost.
    • It is very simple to use.
    • It has translation in more than 24 languages.
    • After installed, it can be accessed through the internet.

    Hubspot CRM

    In 2014 it launched its customer relationship management system, this was during the Inbound Congress and since then it has become the free tool, which offers more advantages to any type of business of any size or commercial sector.

    HubSpot CRM is an intuitive and easy-to-use application for managing a company's sales and relationships with its customers or prospects, which provides the best-value software functionalities of this group. In addition to making it easier to organize, monitor and increase sales, it provides companies with various tools that are perfectly suited to inbound marketing and the most modern processes in the area. Its functions are: registration of contacts, registration of activities automatically, sending and monitoring of email templates.

    Salesforce CRM

    It is a platform for the management and relationship with clients considered the number 1 in the world. This CRM application stored in the cloud for sales, marketing, services, and other areas does not require experts in Information Technology for its configuration and management. Salesforce provides a wide variety of CRM systems and categories in order to meet the needs among them are: Marketing Cloud, Sales Cloud, Analytics Cloud, Service Cloud, Data Cloud, Community Cloud which serve more than 140,000 customers. Its cost is calculable to be adapted to any type of business.

    CRM in the real estate sector

    The meaning of real estate CRM indicates that this is a management system that allows optimizing the management of real estate, correctly managing all business processes, facilitating communication with customers and the organization of the company. It is used to follow up and find out what has happened to a client, what the team members have done and how to distribute the work among them. Its main function is to sell more.

    The main objective of a CRM is to save time and money, since the most precious asset in a company is the time they have and the more efficient they are, the more money they will generate.

    Today, the real estate market is undergoing a transformation in which both agents and action models and procedures are changing the way they proceed and participate.

    In the same way, the real estate industry must consider marketing trends that highlight knowledge of customer needs as one of the pillars of total quality, as well as develop market analysis and data processing techniques to understand trends and define the basic characteristics of the product that is intended to develop and guarantee sales or propose a more viable rental and accommodation market.

    If the real estate sector wants to survive a market where uncertainty prevails, it is necessary to work on quality offers and proposals in which the client is the center of them and also participate and be an active part of the process.

    To develop the best strategies, it is necessary to understand the demand, that is, to understand that:

    • Know who needs it.
    • Know what is needed.
    • Know where it is needed.
    • Know what or who you compete with.

    Characteristics of a Real Estate CRM

    Some of the main characteristics of a real estate CRM are:

    • Schedule.
    • User and information management.
    • Contact management.
    • The administration of real estate.
    • Possibility of section of the property.
    • Records calls.
    • Visits.
    • Follow up with each prospect.
    • Sending notifications by email.
    • Control of the commercial area.
  • Management of marketing campaigns through forms and emails that are editable and personalized.
  • For small businesses, a CRM system can simply help you put your data in the cloud, making it accessible in real time, through any device. However, as it grows, a CRM can quickly expand to include more sophisticated features to help teams collaborate with colleagues and clients, send personalized emails, gain insight from social media conversations, and gain a holistic picture of the business. health of your company in real time.

    Companies that use CRM systems streamline their procedures and generate more sales opportunities, with updated budgets and optimal sales processes. In the same way, these companies can make better segmentations and have information to provide an excellent quality sales and after-sales service.

    Frequently Asked Questions about CRM

    What does the acronym CRM mean in Spanish?

    It means Customer Relationship Management, which in Spanish would be, Customer Relationship Management.

    What companies use crm?

    E-commerce companies, direct sales of products or services, consultancies, real estate, etc.

    What is a crm platform?

    It is a virtual management model oriented for marketing and is based on customer satisfaction.

    What is crm for?

    For companies to manage and analyze their relationship with customers, in this way, they can improve their services and increase sales.

    How is crm related to erp?

    These two are related because they both use the same business model.