project questionnaire on customer relationship management for an oil trader
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Customer relationship management (CRM) is not just the application of technology, but a strategy to learn more about the needs and behaviors of customers in order to develop stronger relationships with them. As such, it is more of a business philosophy than a technical solution to help deal with customers effectively and efficiently. However, successful CRM is based on the use of technology.
Implementing a customer relationship management (CRM) solution can involve considerable time and expense. However, there are many potential benefits.
An important benefit can be developing better relationships with your existing customers, which can lead to:
• Increased sales through better synchronization due to anticipation needs based on historical trends
• identify needs more effectively by understanding customer-specific requirements
• cross-selling of other products by highlighting and suggesting alternatives or improvements
• identify which of your clients are profitable and which are not
This can lead to better marketing of your products or services by focusing on:
• Targeted marketing communications targeted to customer needs
• a more personal approach and the development of new or improved products and services to earn more business in the future
Ultimately this could lead to:
• Increased customer satisfaction and retention, ensuring that its good reputation in the market continues to grow
• increasing the value of existing customers and reducing costs associated with supporting and maintaining them, increasing overall efficiency and reducing total cost of sales
• improving profitability by focusing on the most profitable customers and dealing with the non-profitable in more profitable ways
Once your business begins to effectively care for your existing customers, efforts can focus on finding new customers and expanding your market. The more you know about your customers, the easier it will be to identify new prospects and increase your customer base.
Even with years of accumulated knowledge, there is always room for improvement. Customer needs change over time, and technology can make it easier to find out more about customers and ensure that everyone in an organization can exploit this information.