CRM tools & philosophy

administrator — Mon, 19 Mar 2018 12:13:20 +0000

Are you interested in increasing number of clients, reaching high level of repurchases, optimizing the deal flow process, keeping the most profitable clients and increasing the value of their purchases? The answer lies in marketing and sales excellence … and part of it relates also to the implementation and use of appropriate CRM system.

What is CRM?

CRM is an abbreviation for “Customer relationship management”. The term relates to the philosophy, set of beliefs, tools and relationships with clients.

Traditionally, companies focused on products and services being offered. However, trends turned upside down … so that modern organizations focus on clients and relationships. CRM is about being flexible and master addressing clients’ needs.

A proper CRM system is a must for marketing and sales excellence. It enables the company to keep the existing clients and increase the profitability of doing business with them.

CRM tool and the advantages of its use

A term CRM is often used also as a synonym for tools and accessories that make relationship management easier and faster. Key activities to which they relate are as follows:

determining strategic business opportunities
data management
monitoring behavior, client satisfaction and profitability by clients
comprehensive control over the relationships

CRM tool offers a systematic centralization of client information, giving sales representatives the possibility of deeper insights into client’ behavior and characteristics and thus increasing the sales efficiency.

Leading CRM systems

Businesses increasingly appreciate CRM system’s simplicity, transparency, speed and flexibility.

Essential parts of CRM systems are:

leads and contacts data management
database of information affecting buying decision for leads and contacts
calendar (appointments, tasks, reminders, key milestones, etc.).
user account management
supervision, goal setting and performance monitoring
performance analysis and sales forecasting

In order to address the dynamics of the modern business environment, most of the CRM systems are available as SaaS solutions as well as mobile apps.

Better CRM systems additionally offer integration with applications such as Gmail / Microsoft Outlook, Google Calendar / Outlook calendar / Mobile phone calendar (iCal), Google Drive / Dropbox, MailChimp / MailPoet; SAP / Microsoft Dynamics; IP telecommunications etc.

It is very important that the CRM tool provides limited access, as it can otherwise lead to unwanted misuse of information …

How big investment in CRM tool is reasonable?

Every company requires a CRM system – in the form of a paper block, Excel document or top-notch application. The level of investment in the CRM system depends on the added value a CRM system may contribute to a company …

Several applications are already available at reasonable prices. Prices for a one-user license normally vary in the range from 15 € / month up to 250 € / month.

Note! CRM as such is a philosophy. The program itself is not a solution for improving excellence in marketing and sales. The real potential is achieved only when marketing and sales network covers all operations.

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Key success factors – a must for a good corporate strategy?

administrator — Mon, 19 Mar 2018 11:39:36 +0000

Key success factors (also referred to as KSFs) refer to one of the crucial strategic tools. Correct understanding of the key success factors is a good base for a well-structured company differentiation.

Although key success factor refer to a different concept as key performance indicators (also referred to as KPIs), these two are in fact intertwined. As long as the monitoring system is properly set up, the management monitors the effectiveness and efficiency of operations with key performance indicators, designed based on the key success factors.

Key success factors are key to proper development and execution of strategy.

Let’s name most obvious key success factors for shoe industry in order to understand what this concept is all about – i.e. quality, price, comfort, branding & marketing, style & aesthetics, design & fashion, reflectance of the customer’s style, technology etc.

Not all key success factors are of similar importance for the target group.

Luxury shoe brands will most likely differentiate based on key success factors such as:

Brand image
Unique design
High quality (production, material)
Prestige
Reflectance of the customer’s style

… while casual/sport shoe brands focus more on:

Reasonable price
Comfort
Brand image
Sponsoring athletes
Technology

Once a manager understands key success factors, he/she understands why for example a shoe giant Geox, that technologically revolutionized the shoe industry with its breathable shoes, has dominated the casual shoe brands for years. Furthermore, also expanding to casual clothes segment seems rather logical and much wiser decision as luxury shoe brand segment penetration.

Often key success factors have some critical level of acceptance. The company needs to respect it in order to ensure its existence on the market. Often, these factors relate to security, regulation, privacy, ethics, quality, price etc.

Once critical success factors and key success factors are defined, they should be supervised on a regular basis. Strategy is a living thing, especially if its build mainly based on intangibles such as image, brand, trends etc.