One Step Ahead

Redfoot Solutions

What is the one thing we all have in common and need in order to stay in and grow our businesses? The answer, of course, is customers. The problem for many is they are getting harder to find and even harder to convince to part with their money. Once you've got them you also need to convince them to stay and conduct more business with you. After all, as the saying goes, it is easier to sell to an existing (happy) customer than it is to attract new ones. In the current economic climate a lot more emphasis has been put on strategy by companies: strategies to win new business, keep customers, up-sell customers and cross-sell products. Something that we like to call Customer Relationship Management (CRM).

Now I know what you are thinking, I have heard this buzz word CRM and it has a dubious reputation, often hearing people say the tools are expensive, no one keeps it up-todate and it just simply doesn't work. Well, that is because CRM is not only about the tools that are available it is about the business process and company ethos.

In broad strokes, CRM is about tracking and managing any and all interactions between you and those you deal or hope to deal with; marketing your products and services into sectors where they are most effective, so your cheaper products to your smaller customers whilst offering your flagship products to your larger companies or in a nutshell, offering the right product to the right person to the right company.

Today's market has a vast amount of CRM tools that cater from simple contact management to fully integrated systems whereby you truly get the holistic view of the relationship and the benefits that brings. This by no means says that you all need to go for the larger systems and spend more of your hard-earned pounds. However, it does mean that you have to review your process, review your procedures and then pick something that makes that work. It is no good purchasing a flashy system to just record who spoke to which customer on what day. However, on the flip side, if you want market trends and the complete 360 degree view, you need to have a system which allows that and works for you. There are other external tools and methods which all have a bearing on what CRM is and the process and delivery mechanisms.

More modern definitions also include proactive marketing of yourself and your products by using social networking sites. The core of both of these concepts is information, be it raising market awareness or gathering and using this information to better manage and market to your customer's. The ever-present threat is, if you do not know your customers business and their business with you, then the door is open for someone to come along and improve on what you are offering.

Odds are some form of customer relationship solution already appears on your To Do list or you may even have ticked it off as done. After all, we all have email, word processing, spreadsheets, folders, Blackberry-type devices, whiteboards, accounts, etc. and therein lies the problem. Just to tick all the boxes, let's have a quick look at areas which should have, or could benefit from, a central source of shared information, a CRM package.

An obvious starter and easy validation for some form of customer relationship system is sales. The list of tasks and permutations vary depending on how long or complex your sales cycle is but, as a generalism, selling is a cascade of tasks, call backs, checks, scheduling, tracking and reporting. Too slow, a missed call, the wrong information and you run the risk of the customer looking elsewhere. Now multiply that by all the prospects or customers you have and it is not difficult to see the potential to miss out on opportunities.

Another obvious validation for a CRM system is knowledgeable marketing. The old rule of 5% of my marketing is effective, I just don't know which 5% can be significantly improved if you market the right products to the right people at the right time. Have they bought before, is it due for renewal, have they bought similar products before? There now exist intelligent marketing tools which will report back on the links a person clicks on. Add that information to the customer record and you have a focused mailshot waiting to happen.

If you have a helpdesk or warranty system you not only need to have the customer's details readily to hand to service them and keep them happy but, ideally, should track reported issues to identify trends and act on them. Do the calls indicate an opportunity; is there an issue with a product or batch?

However it is important to stress that a CRM tool is not the only answer. Do you think that, after it is installed, you start earning many thousands of pounds from the software and you become leading experts and have excellent customer service – that just doesn't happen. CRM is something which has to be worked at, it has to be developed and you need to have the right tools. It is about creating a customer-centric culture within your company which displays a 360 degree view of the customer and your relationship with them.

Some of our customers use CRM tools and have learned to change the way they think and react about customer service and customer interaction and this is what they have to say:

"My business could not function without our CRM software. It is perfect for logging customers, tracking orders and maximising sales opportunities. It is a wonder how any business survives without CRM software especially when times are tough! The cost outlay is certainly offset against the amount of time saved through increased efficiency and increased sales!"

Chris Nash - Forever Wedding Rings, Southampton

"Without our CRM Solution we would never have been able to manage and provide the level of customer service we now pride ourselves on. The software without any doubt has enabled us to keep in regular contact with both our customers and suppliers with minimal effort. For us this has allowed us to become more efficient and in turn increase profits. The software is so powerful we constantly find ways to improve the way we work by the reports about customer activities and trends we get out. Resulting in providing our customers with a better service."

Darren Robertson - Century IT Services, Southampton

Redfoot Solutions
T: 023 8098 8704
E: sales@redfootsolutions.com
W: www.redfootsolutions.com