Intangible benefits are those benefits measured using "soft" criteria. Management may prefer the hard numbers, but these top level executives can appreciate "soft" criteria benefits as well.
Intangible Benefits - Results Gained with CRM:
1. Overall smoother functioning within your company
To determine this benefit, consider measuring the time spent looking for needed information versus time spent utilizing information and getting on with your job. It can be shocking to learn how much time is spent by sales personnel on unnecessary administrative matters, or the amount of time a new sales person spends getting up to speed in a new territory!
2. Increased employee motivation and satisfaction
While this may be difficult to measure, consider measuring feedback from those employees who use CRM. An alternative measurement is employee turnover rate for those personnel who use the CRM system.
3. Better trained and more skillful sales, marketing and customer service personnel
CRM can provide an excellent training ground for personnel to quietly spend time learning facts and figures about your products and services. To determine this benefit, consider measuring the ability of sales personnel to quickly access needed facts and figures, including the implementation of required sales and business procedures.
4. Improved use of mobile access devices
This benefit is important given that each of us have a different technology assimilation learning curve that impacts our future use of equipment and technology. To determine this benefit, consider measuring the comfort level over time of field personnel who use the mobile devices.
5. More up-to-date information and easy access to this information
Up-to-date information and easy access are subjective measurements made by end-users. To determine this benefit, therefore, consider measuring the timeliness of needed information and the ease of accessing this information based on end-use standards.
6. Improved responsiveness to customer and prospect requests
Link a go-to person (manager, sales representative or customer service representative) to each customer request and work until the request gets resolved. To determine this benefit, which may be tied in with customer service, consider measuring the time it takes to respond completely to a customer or a prospect request.
7. Improved image of your company
Automation can play a leading role in building your company's image in the eyes of your customers. To determine this benefit, consider measuring the reaction of existing and future buyers to your sales and marketing professionalism.
8. The ability to differentiate your company from the competition
It should be noted that many studies have tried or are trying to measure the competitive advantage resulting from CRM. Consider measuring the increased customer loyalty as well as customer perception of your company versus the competition.
9. Support for organizational change(s) with your firm
To determine this benefit, consider measuring the time lost training new sales and marketing personnel. Determine the lost knowledge if a sales person leaves your company- are the relationship details part of your CRM system?
10. Improved understanding and better control over expenses
CRM can assist in this effort, assuming sales, marketing and customer care expenses are tagged to individual sales personnel and /or accounts. To determine this benefit, consider measuring expense per sales and marketing personnel and/or per account.
Based on this extensive list of tangible and intangible benefits, it would be appropriate to conclude that the rewards from CRM to improve and grow your business are great.
Original post: Results Gained with CRM
2nd post: Tangible Results gained with CRM
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