Operational Points for Successful CRM Implementation
With the rise of CRM cloud services, more and more companies are implementing CRM (Customer Relationship Management). But many companies are not able to utilize it as they think during the CRM operation phase.
In this article, I will introduce some operational points to make your CRM successful. So if your CRM operation is not progressing as expected or are considering implementing CRM, please refer to this article.
Table of contents:
- Why is CRM not working?
- Most basic points of CRM operation
- Plan your CRM
Why is CRM operation not going well?
CRM is a system to manage relationships with customers, mainly by accumulating customer information. CRM is just a tool, and it is people who handle it.
For this reason, in many companies where CRM operation is not going well, CRM has become a mere customer information management ledger.
Another reason could be that they do not have an accurate picture of the entire customer management process.
Most basic points for CRM operation
When thinking about CRM operations, it is necessary to divide the basics into three points and grasp at least these three points to increase business effectiveness through CRM operations.
Acquiring prospective customers (lead generation)
Lead generation refers to activities to create new prospects.
CRM not only manages customer information but also provides features that lead to potential customers. So there is no reason not to use it.
1.1. Use the form function
CRM has a function to capture potential customers. It is a function for setting up input forms mainly on websites, etc. In this form, minimizing the required fields is the key to winning a lead. Some research results have a low conversion rate if you have many input items, so create a form with the minimum required items.
1.2 Obtain information on potential customers
To work with forms to capture more prospects, you can fill out fewer forms to match the prospect's buying behavior. As the purchasing process progresses, get the information you need and add that information to your customer management system. If you design the form to retrieve new information as the prospects' purchasing behavior progresses, they can fill out the form without stress.
1.3 Record the behavior of prospects
By keeping track of your prospects' behavior in CRM, you're more likely to be able to identify potential needs. It includes participation in specific seminars, web page access history, and more, from which you can see the interests, interests, and hidden needs of your prospects.
1.4 Analyze the route to acquire potential customers
By capturing information on form usage, seminar and exhibition visitors, etc., in CRM, you can obtain information on prospective customers from various marketing activities. At the same time, understand which marketing activities are most likely to generate sales deals and incorporate them into the CRM. Ultimately, analysis using the CRM will lead to optimization of marketing activities.
2. Evaluating prospective customers (lead scoring)
Lead scoring is a process that evaluates acquired prospects based on their behavior and other factors to extract them with high sales probability, and many CRMs include lead scoring as part of their marketing functions.
2.1 Collaboration between sales and marketing teams
It's necessary to ensure that prospects created by CRM are turned over from marketing to sales and followed up. If your sales are not flowing enough leads, you should look again at scoring criteria, for example. Analyze the preferred lead patterns for each salesperson to focus on the prospect's behavior history and set up scoring.
2.2 Setting optimal scoring according to purchasing behavior
A prospect's buying behavior will take place within a certain period. You cannot assume that those who attended a seminar two years ago are still interested in your products or services. So prospects need to set the optimal calculation period, not just score by behavior. It's generally set in 30 to 90 days, after which your score as a prospect drops.
2.3 Scoring settings for each product or service
It's also a good thing to set up scoring for each because prospects have different buying behaviors, depending on the product or service. Set up scoring based on price, frequency of use, business impact, and more to evaluate potential buyers' buying behavior.
3. Nurturing prospective customers (lead nurturing)
The acquired prospects are nurtured through activities to mature their buying motivation and finally handed over to sales. Lead nurturing can not only increase sales certainty but also has the potential to increase sales per deal.
3.1 Different offerings for different acquisition paths
It is not advisable to deploy the same lead nurturing measures to prospects acquired via registration to different seminars or downloading materials. Since these prospects have very different needs, analyze the inflow path from the information recorded in the CRM and implement nurturing according to each target.
3.2 Periodic nurturing
Nurture the prospects extracted from the CRM regularly. Marketing automation is also effective as it automatically deploys measures to those who have registered for a specific form. Implement nurturing to ensure that you don't miss out on potential customers highly motivated to buy.
Plan your CRM
CRM operation plans these three points as a trinity, and it is necessary to take measures that are not limited to mere customer information management. Although this article is based on the purchasing process, the items that should be managed by CRM, such as the maintenance support process, vary from company to company. It is necessary to consider what kind of CRM you should build in your company by taking these factors into account.
If you're looking to implement CRM but don't get the results you want, or you're considering implementing CRM in the future, take this opportunity to think again about CRM operations.