What is CRM and Examples?

In the digital age, businesses have started to shift from transactional to relational. It is a dawn of a new era where organizations are bound to have more opportunities to ensure high customer satisfaction. In the quest to attain and retain customer loyalty, customer relationship management is at the center of it.

Effective and reliable CRM solutions will continue to help organizations garner more profit margins. Remember that customer satisfaction, customer service, and customer experience are the three musketeers that businesses prioritize through robust customer relationship management. Ultimately, CRM propels businesses to become highly customer-centric.

In a modern sense, CRM or customer relationship management refers to a combination of strategies, technologies, and practices. And businesses use these practices to take a closer look at customer interactions. Today, businesses can perform advanced analytical analysis of customer data to improve the overall customer lifecycle.

One of the benefits of CRM is it becomes easier and natural for businesses to improve their relationships with existing and potential customers. The fact of the matter is that customer retention and loyalty have become integral to drive growth in a competitive business landscape. Companies also use CRM for strategic management, which allows businesses to understand their interactions and engagements with customers.

• How Starbucks Uses CRM

You can look at customer relationship management through modern-day social CRM solutions. Companies like Starbucks use social CRM programs to establish a direct connection with potential customers through social media platforms like Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.

On the flip side, Gartner reports that churn increases to 15% for companies that don’t respond to customer messages on social media platforms. CRM allows these food giants to integrate their social media presence and render more customer satisfaction with better product promotions.

• How Amazon Uses CRM

In the realm of online shopping, a company like Amazon has managed to establish a robust eCommerce position. And part of it has to do with its advanced and effective CRM system. You may not be aware of it but Amazon has arguably the best CRM infrastructure in the eCommerce space.

It uses customer data related to purchases and then makes instant personalized changes to improve the online user experience. For instance, Amazon tracks purchase orders and browsing history of users to better configure email and marketing campaigns.

In fact, one of the defining features of Amazon is that it allows its users to configure their accounts and make purchases with a single click. In hindsight, the comprehensive and effective CRM system allows Amazon to dive into changing preferences of customers and simplify the shopping experience.

• How Tesco Uses CRM

Like other retailers, Tesco uses a reward system to retain its loyal customers. It allows customers to earn a single point after spending one pound. What’s more is that shoppers can use these points to trade Clubcard Vouchers of Tesco.

The retail giant also partnerships with many restaurants, hotels, and gas stations that create opportunities for users to earn more points. In line with the CRM, Tesco focuses on targeted marketing practices. In the quarterly mailing, Tesco has up to 4 million variations. This approach allows Tesco to ensure their product offers and discounts are personalized for all customers.

One of the main ethical conundrums and perceived disadvantages of using a CRM solution involves privacy and confidentiality. In the past, there have been several ethical issues associated with CRM. But in the digital world, the use of CRM points at the data privacy and secrecy of customers.

In fact, it is the main reason several US states have data privacy rights in place to protect consumers’ rights.

For example, California has CCPA guidelines for businesses and soon will adapt CPRA regulations to further increase the protection of consumers’ rights.

How you handle customers from sales to service and even in marketing endeavors will define your business longevity and success.

In most cases, businesses collect sensitive data that involves bank details and credit card information. But redundant processes and poor data security protocols often compromise this information.

On the bright side, more advanced CRM systems take into account data privacy and confidentiality more seriously. Not to mention, more businesses have started to feel obligated to collect and store CRM information responsibly and BPO companies are using CRM software in call centers with success as well. 

Still, when it comes to customer participation, there are bound to be some unethical loops. The objective of businesses using CRM solutions should be to maintain sensitive data with the consent of users and ensure compliance.

Ideally, companies should have a balanced approach and attitude towards data privacy and confidentiality. The last thing businesses should do is mis-sell the personal information of customers and violate data privacy laws. In the long run, unethically collecting and storing consumer data is bound to have a negative impact on businesses.

Customer relationship management through applications and software is one of the biggest markets. At its core, CRM software works as a tool that allows businesses to combine their marketing, customer support, and sales efforts. As such, there are different types of CRM systems and tools available so you can create the best suite of customer relationship management tools for your business. 

Furthermore, CRM software helps companies simplify their operational processes and policies. As a result, it propels sales teams to opt for better results. CRM application also allows businesses to effectively manage their relationships with vendors, partners, collaborators, and team members.

In the grand scheme of things, CRM software processes information straight from the company’s communication channels, email, website, telephone, live chat, social media, and other marketing activities. This approach allows businesses to understand what makes their target audience tick and then strategically develops a product that can fulfill the needs of customers.

With the help of CRM software, businesses maintain interconnected relationships with customers. Consequently, it speeds up business processes and increases profitability at the same time. More companies’ sales teams have started to use mobile CRM applications through smartphones to get instant access to updated customer data at anytime and anywhere.

Players like Coco-Cola, Apple, and Amazon use CRM on a large scale than most companies in the world. These leading companies use a CRM solution to align their consumer data with strategic goals. It may sound straightforward, but it requires endless effort to personalize the overall user experience for a diverse target audience that spans throughout the world.

Like Amazon, Apple uses its CRM system to drive more growth. As long as you have a registered Apple ID, you can take advantage of other services like Apple Music, iCloud, App Store, iMessage, FaceTime, etc. The objective of Apple is to step up customer relationship management standards by offering more synchronized Apple-based services across modern Apple devices. 

The strategic use of a CRM involves prompt CSRs. Once you organize customer data through CRM, it makes it easier to interpret for sales teams and managers. Also, it avoids duplication of records and allows companies to flag incorrect and incomplete records. SAP is a CRM with customizable tools that support different strategies across a company, from sales and service to marketing and analytics.

In the CRM industry, Oracle CRM, Salesforce Sales Cloud, and Microsoft 365 represent strategic examples. On the other hand, SAP, Oracle, and Adobe Systems have become top-tier providers in the CRM landscape. It is incredible to think that Microsoft 364 can integrate over 200 apps through a cloud CRM. The same solution also offers automated email responses, custom workflows, and stand out features.

Salesforce insights highlight that businesses that use CRM solution create more trust among customers and increase the likelihood by 93% to buy more products or services.

And when it comes to web-oriented CRM, Salesforce Sales Cloud continues to be at the top. It features intuitive customer tracking and monitoring features that allow companies to develop short-term and long-term sales strategies.

Businesses that want to achieve new heights of success will have to personalize their customer experience. In the beginning, managing and tracking a handful of customers is straightforward. But when the flow of customers increases, you need to adapt and embrace a reliable CRM solution.

In retrospect, uniform customer relationships make more customers loyal. Of course, “how” you personalize your customer interactions depends on the preferences and actions of your customers. Nonetheless, the key is to embrace modern CRM technologies that can address common issues, tailor specific requirements, and propel businesses in the right direction.