Planning a CRM program can be as simple as building consensus with the key stakeholders all of whom have a vested interest in customer retention. Or a complex endeavour involving a multi-month project to discover all the requirements via individual interviews with stakeholders from across the company.
Two recent experiences have highlighted the importance of ensuring you have integration within your CRM.
The first situation was in dealing with a major appliance manufacturer. I had the unfortunate situation of replacing two dishwashers in the same month but they had two different delivery addresses.
when the customer service representative asked me if I’d like to add any other appliances to the servicing and protection plan she unfortunately had no idea I was the same individual, who the week before had purchased a new machine and already registered the other appliances.
Despite my account name and payment details being exactly the same, because the delivery address was wrong she wasn’t able to view the full account details.
I’m sure you have experienced similar situations as you get past from one department to another and having to explain your situation numerous times!
Why does this happen?
One key factor is the company has never really mapped out their sales process from the CUSTOMERS perspective.
Often if you ask about the sales process you are shown an internal document or flow chart which looks organised but as this example shows is not customer focussed.
In addition companies are running their CRM systems in silos where sales, marketing and customer service information is not communicated holistically together.
Many well-intentioned firms are selecting and implementing CRM systems only to discover these missing links too late. So, if you’re looking to make improvements or implement a new system from scratch you need to ensure you and your CRM vendor are crystal clear on all the routes customers come to you and the inter-connected paths they follow through your various departments on the customer journey.
Without a clear customer focus how will you
