Getting to Know You, Getting to Know All About You
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by: sageindia
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Date: Mon, 16 Nov 2009 Time: 12:37 AM
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Retaining your most valuable
assets during a recession
Every business needs a loyal customer base - customers who will keep
coming back to you – through thick and thin. And above all, you need to retain
your most highly valued and profitable customers. That’s why it’s pertinent for
your company to ask, and find out, what drives your customers’ loyalty?
To help answer this question, you will need to find out who your
customers are, what they want/value from you and what drives them to come back
to you time and time again. In a recent article on the MyCustomer.com website[1],
an example was cited of how a major French supermarket chose to keep selling a
premium product, despite its recent fall in sales, because an analysis of their
customers’ behaviour from their CRM system revealed that it was their most
valued and loyal customers who were the main purchasers of the product. Instead
of risking the loss of these essential customers, they chose to make a loss on
the premium product in hopes of gaining sales from elsewhere.
A CRM solution enables you to focus on improving loyalty by making it
easy for you to capture, analyse and utilise relevant customer data. One of the
most popular areas that a CRM solution can assist you with is developing and
maintaining a customer loyalty programme. By using the data you collect on your
customers you can analyse their specific preferences to design discounts or
offers that match their needs. The marketing functionality of a CRM solution
helps you to easily create targeted marketing campaigns that are tailored to
your customers’ requirements and give a personal touch.
According to the latest Gartner marketing report, “The Top Six CRM
Marketing Processes for a Cost-Constrained Economy,†by Kimberly Collins, one
of the main marketing activities during a recession is to safeguard the
customers you have. As we all know, it’s
much less expensive to retain your existing customer than to acquire new ones. With a CRM system, you can determine the
value of your customers and understand customer churn. Early detections of reasons for customers to
churn can allow you to take action before the customer walks away. Companies with an effective customer
retention programme will more likely reduce churn from their profitable
customers.
By focusing on your customer base and enhancing customer loyalty, you
are leveraging your most crucial assets, making your marketing programmes
accountable and driving notable results during tough economic conditions.
Imagine your top sales rep calls your best customer to sell him a new
product. What he doesn’t know is that the customer initiated a service ticket
last week which was not responded. Needless to say the call goes badly.
Same Customer different scenario- This time your sales rep and your
customer service rep know everything about the customer and the health of the
account. You know how much he has bought over the years, how timely his
payments are and how seldom he raises issues. So they satisfactorily resolve
his concerns and boosts his confidence in your company. And as a result, he
pays in timely manner and agrees to purchasing the new product.
Does the second scenario sounds impossible? Not so, This is the power and effectiveness of CRM. By integrating your Sales, Marketing and Customer Service Functions, CRM makes it easier for everyone inside your company to work together and share critical information. Sales, marketing and customer service teams gain the tool they need to find new customers, close sales faster and build lasting, more profitable relationships.
For more information please visit http://www.sagesoftware.co.in
About the Author
Content writer on different software products for Sage Software India.
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