What is CRM? Definition, Benefits, Types and CRM Strategy Tips

Business is a buying and selling activity carried out by a service with the aim of obtaining income or profit. If you examine the development of business in Indonesia, currently every existing business can be said to be developing well.

In fact, many have taken advantage of today’s technological advances as a support for business development. One of them is by doing CRM

What is CRM?

This word may indeed sound foreign to some of the general public.

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CRM can be said as one of the other activities that exist in a business world that has a specific purpose. Even this one activity has a fairly important role, especially in efforts to develop a business.

Even though it still sounds rarely mentioned in words used in daily activities, the understanding of CRM itself is important for new business people who are setting up a business.

Understanding CRM as a Current Business Strategy

In the business world, there needs to be a special strategy that must be carried out to be able to improve business development so that it is easy to compete.

One of the business strategies that is currently being targeted by many business people to develop their business so that it can be more advanced and able to compete with other businesses is CRM.

This acronym for Customer Relationship Management is a business strategy used to attract sales prospects with consumers in order to continue to survive and get higher satisfaction.

A brief explanation of what CRM is might still feel lacking because there are still many other things that need to be understood and known about one of these business strategies.

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This process, which combines the roles of technology and humans, has a specific goal of helping a business to have better prospects in the future.

With the good prospects that this business has, the reciprocity of services provided to consumers will also be good. So that the selling value of a business to these consumers can be maintained.

Using this CRM strategy, a business can easily find out how and what the needs of customers or consumers are.

Not only that, the behavior of each customer can be seen through the patterns in the reports generated by the  CRM application  used.

Benefits of CRM for Business Development

1. Increasing consumer satisfaction

After knowing what CRM is, then the first benefit of using CRM as a business strategy is being able to increase customer satisfaction with the business. In this case, an increase in business prospects will be seen in terms of better relationships with clients.

If consumers will get good satisfaction, then the business relationship with the consumer itself can survive well too. Through  the sales crm application , you as a business owner can increase customer satisfaction which can be used on computers or cellphones.

2. Production cost reduction scheme

Next is the reduction in production costs that will be seen after implementing a good CRM strategy. Even though at first using CRM is somewhat difficult, over time this strategy will get easier to implement.

It doesn’t require more or expensive costs, instead with CRM, a business will experience a   significant reduction in production costs. 

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3. Maximum profit

Because this strategy is a collaboration with other business partners through a strategy called what is CRM, the processes that occur in the business will also be divided according to both parties.

The profit that will be obtained is even more optimal so that it can be used as capital back for a business.

4. Business is more productive

The next point in the benefits that can be obtained by using the next CRM strategy is more productive business processes.

Improved business processes that are more efficient will be obtained after using CRM as a strategy to enhance business development. So that with this business will be more productive and produce products that match demand.

5. Develop a better business

The last sequence that is included in this list is a business that will grow better by using CRM. After knowing what CRM is and being able to carry out this strategy well, the business that is being run will be better.

Mutual relationship between business owners and customers will help promote better development.

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Critical Components of CRM

In building good relationships with customers, CRM requires several components in order to run effectively and precisely. Some of these components include:

  1. Centralized Database: A place for managing the storage of data information regarding customers, transaction history, and business interactions in one repository.
  2. KPI analysis: Aims to measure and predict the effectiveness of ongoing campaigns and see the resulting impact on the company.
  3. Contact management: Useful for integrating various important information in the form of emails, documents, tasks, and managing meeting schedule.
  4. Marketing Automation: Helping business interests for deeper marketing developments, such as increasing  customer engagement  and personalization.
  5. Opportunity Management: Manage market growth and demand, then make  sales forecasts  based on future economic predictions and historical sales results.
  6. Integration: Effectiveness of team and company performance through various implemented business systems.
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Types of Enterprise CRM

1. Operational

This first CRM has the main function of streamlining and automating sales and marketing of  operational costs .

Besides that, the service process in this one business strategy is also an important thing to develop, because it will produce customers or consumers who have prospects for the business itself.

2. Analytical

As the name implies, this type of CRM functions to analyze and provide visualization of data about customers from a business. By using this type of strategy, it will be easier for a business to make decisions that are more efficient and on target.

With this, the question of what is CRM will be answered after understanding one of these types of business strategies.

3. Collaborative

The performance of customer service is the main focus of what this type of collaborative CRM is, because it can provide more information about customers.

However, it is not only the exchange of information between business partners that is the main focus, but also support for good inter-team cooperation.

4. Management

The next type of CRM has a picture that is almost the same as operational and analytical CRM types, because it uses the same basis for focusing on its goals.

The combination of strategic systems of the two types of CRM can enable the use of customer insights and information for sales.

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5. Strategic

Last but not least, there is a strategic, customer-focused CRM. A business can improve and maintain interactions with customers better by using   this type of business strategy .

With this, the relationship with these customers will be better and can be established in the longer term.

Tips for Building a Good and Right CRM Strategy

1.Clear vision

The vision will be one of the tips that will be needed to build a good CRM system, so it must be as clear as possible. From this vision later a business will be able to track the progress of the team in achieving the goals set.

Every company must have a clear vision as a basis for increasing sales.

2. Establish good communication

Good service will leave a positive impression in the eyes of customers, so they feel valued by the services provided by a business. This includes listening when they talk, answering all their questions, paying attention to courtesy, and so on.

Make sure to always maintain good communication with colleagues or consumers to improve business development.

3. Provide solutions

Providing solutions is a good tip for building the right CRM, because what CRM is is a strategy that has mutually beneficial relationships with colleagues and customers.

The solutions provided must be in accordance with what is requested by the customer, so that this can also be a reason to establish a better relationship with the customer.

4. Consumer appreciation

This award can be by giving discounts or special vouchers. Besides being able to encourage their interest to shop more, giving appreciation can also make customers feel more valued for their loyalty to the business itself.

The appreciation given is also a form of appreciation for consumers who have purchased products from a business.

5. Use enterprise systems

The last tip is to use a system that has been used in a company or business, because what is CRM will always use a basis that is in accordance with the original purpose.

By always using a system or initial goals that are in accordance with the company or business that is being run, the results of the CRM strategy will be successful.

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Problems Often Appear In Corporate Business CRM

1. Time

A common problem with CRM is that it takes more time to execute this strategy successfully. Especially if the strategy still uses a manual system, relying on human services to complete all processes that occur.

This of course will take longer to enter data into storage, so it will be ineffective.

2. Storage

After problems that often arise in terms of time on what is CRM, then problems will also arise when data has been successfully entered in storage or archives. Collection of information especially from customers will vary from each employee of a business or company.

This can happen because there is no similar means to accommodate information from these customers. They will only collect this information after they can enter data.

3. Communication

What strategy is CRM from the previous explanation, of course you can guess that this one strategy requires good communication between colleagues and customers. However, the problem that often occurs in this one strategy lies in the communication itself.

Some companies or businesses cannot even achieve their main goals by using CRM because the communication is not good.

4. System

The fourth point of the problem that occurs in the CRM strategy to help develop this business is the system used. In general, the system used to carry out this strategy must be in accordance with the goals or systems that have been previously set for a business or company.

If the system is different from the original purpose, it will be difficult to achieve results from using CRM for business.

5. Service

Most customers will expect a fast and excellent response when they have a problem that needs a solution. But unfortunately some of these companies or businesses are still somewhat lacking in terms of providing services to customers.

This can be one of the problems that can hinder CRM from achieving its initial goals.

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Solutions to Every Business Enterprise CRM Problem

What is CRM from a company may assume that customer satisfaction is determined by the price and quality of a product. In fact, this is not entirely true.

Based on research conducted by The Rockefeller Corporation, the facts show that the reason customers are dissatisfied with a brand is because the services provided to them are not optimal. Every customer wants to be treated more “personally”.

By recording complete records of customer purchases and interactions with companies or businesses, CRM empowers Customer Service to personalize interactions with customers to resolve issues and maintain their satisfaction with company services.

Then what is CRM will be able to maximize the best service for customers, so that a better relationship will be established for future plans.

The last solution that can be done to be able to solve all problems in a CRM is to take advantage of the current technological sophistication.