Introduction
Customer relationships management, as a program, has been embraced by most organizations. It has numerous components that operate together to achieve the main goals of the organization. CRM components are different in many aspects, but they all contribute to the success of the business. Therefore, there is no component that is not beneficial. In fact, there is no component that can be considered as inferior to another. They are all equal and contribute equally to the success of the business. The current trend encompasses the combination of two or more than two customer relationships management components. This article highlights some of the critical components that underpin customer relationships management programs.
Discussion
Customer relationships management program encompasses 8 components. An organization can settle on two or more than two components. This will facilitate the achievement of its goals and objectives. First, there is people management. This involves assigning tasks to the right people. Besides, this should be done at the right time because time is a resource. There is the need to employ people with the adequate skills and experience that can efficiently perform tasks. This can be achieved through adopting the right strategy (Reponen 2003, p.37). This can be followed by studying the skills of the employees and developing them. The final stage will be analyzing all factors that relate to employees, and selecting a strategy that will ensure that goals are met within the organization. Finally, the strategy of choice is implemented to facilitate efficiency in achieving goals and objectives.
Secondly, there is lead management. This encompasses studies on the patterns of sales in the market. An organization is required to do market campaigns so that customers are reached. There is the need to have customized forms and mailing lists. This will increase the number of sales lead that an organization can obtain. Proper market study will facilitate proficient tracking and allotment of sales lead. Capturing of large numbers of sale leads will enable the organization to benefit sales. Thus, the most crucial aspect is to track sales and maximizing on the same. This will ensure that proper forecast is done in regard to sales. This will also involve employing a qualified sales team to manage the sales of the organization.
The third component is sales force automation. This component incorporates forecasting, processing of sales and monitoring of probable interactions. This component is implemented because of its ability to identify revenue related opportunities. In addition to being fast, this process is efficient and cannot be ignored in an organization. Thus, it eliminates unnecessary delays and errors that are associated with tracking of sales and forecasting activities. This has seen its consideration as one of the beneficial components of Customer Relationships Management. Precisely, it cannot be left out.
The fourth aspect is customer service. The customer is the most influential person in a business. There is the need to study a customer’s purchase patterns and other related activities. Besides, the organization needs to collect all the information on its customers and provide the same to all departments. Departments like sales and marketing will acquire the right information that will facilitate the planning of their activities. Suitable solutions will be provided to facilitate customer loyalty. This will ensure that customers are retained within the organization leading to continued purchases (Raab 2008, p.2). This component cannot be ignored because it is essential in determining the amount of revenue received from sales. Customers are consumers of the products of the company and their needs and requirements need to be meet by the products of the organization.
The fifth component of Customer Relationship Management is marketing. This is the only way to get to the customers. It encompasses all activities that are required to promote a product to the public or a target group. Customer relationship management facilitates marketing because it provides all information of the potentials customers. Therefore, effective and efficient marketing is done because the required information is already available. Effective marketing will ensure that the organization achieves its sales target. It is through marketing that an organization’s products can reach the customers. There is a need to implement the marketing component and other components of CRM to see to it that organizational goals are achieved.
The sixth Customer Relationship Management component is work flow automation. This component is essential in cutting down costs in an organization. Besides, it is essential in streamlining all the processes within the organization. This is aimed at eliminating repetition of work. It also eliminates paper work and the possibility of errors. Likewise, time is saved, and activities are done with little wastage in relation to the money, resources and even personal efforts (Bergeron 2002, p.103). It encompasses efficiency in work operations and seeks to integrate people and processes. A good example is the automation of the production process to achieve efficiency and quality. There is also a likelihood that delays will be avoided and efficiency achieved in all departments. Resources will also be shared ensuring that the production cost is at minimal levels.
The seventh component of Customer Relationship Management is business reporting. This involves presentation of reports on the position of the company or organization. Customer Relationship Management is entrusted with the responsibility of providing access to information of the company. Reports can be used to estimate the performance of the business. This can also be essential in making comparisons in relation to the progress or performance of the company. Business reporting will also provide the required information at any point in time.
Lastly, Customer Relationship Management encompasses analytics. This involves the study of data to facilitate the study on the trends in the market. It enables estimates to be made in relation to the performance of the organization. This is through the use of charts, tables, figures and diagrams. This can be done using current or historical data. This is essential in making estimates that are in the form of forecast. This can also be pivotal in ensuring that there is increased visibility regarding the performance of the organization.
Conclusion
In summary, most business are using web services to enable them establish a combination of components that can be applied. Thus, they are not dependent on one component, but a combination of more than two components. This has seen to it that there is efficient and effective in all organizational departments. This has resulted in increased productivity and minimal losses. Proper coordination amongst the CRM components has facilitated achievement of goals and objectives. Thus, one component cannot work on its own. Again, there is no component which is inferior to another component. All components are important and are equal in terms of importance. Hence, an organization that needs to succeed must implement CRM components in its operations.
References
Bergeron, B 2002, Essentials of CRM: A guide to customer relationship Management, Wiley, New York.
Raab, G 2008, Customer relationship management: A global perspective, Aldershot, Hampshire, England.
Reponen, T 2003, Information technology-enabled global customer service, Idea Group Pub, Hershey, Pennsylvania.