The Bottom Line of CRM: Know Your Customer - Sponsored Whitepaper

CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP ANALYTICS WHITE PAPER

THE BOTTOM LINE OF CRM: KNOW YOUR CUSTOMER

Customer relationship management (CRM) has become a top priority for companies seeking to gain competitive advantage. However, confusion reigns about exactly what CRM is, how to best implement it, or even what role it should play in enhancing customer interaction. Worse yet, even after investing hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars in CRM systems, most companies are no closer to understanding their customers than they were before the system was put in place.

CRM itself is not a technology, but a process of gathering and retaining information about customers and their interactions with your company. CRM was practiced by businesses long before CRM technology came along. Consider a typical business that flourished a century ago - the mom-and-pop grocery store on the corner. The owner practiced CRM every day - he or she knew all his or her customers, what days they came in, the size of their families, their favorite foods, and what they needed even before they walked in the door. Wouldn't it be nice if your employees had such intimate knowledge of all your customers' needs!

Of course, keeping close tabs on hundreds or thousands of customers across the globe is not something employees can do in their heads. We rely on databases and automated tracking tools to do that for us. Operational and collaborative CRM covers the nuts and bolts of this process - interacting with customers, managing the process and sharing actions with various channels and trading partners. Analytical CRM integrates customer data coming in from various channels into a single system to provide a decision making platform. Such channels include the various components of CRM systems - call centers, customer service automation, marketing automation, and sales automation