Intangible Results Brought to You by Customer Relationship Management

By Dick Wooden on March 23, 2019 at 10:00 AM

Intangible benefits are the kind measured using "soft" criteria. Management may like hard numbers, but top-level executives appreciate and understand the value of "soft" benefits as well. These intangible benefits increase efficiency, contribute to customer and employee loyalty, and enhance your reputation.

Expect These Intangible Benefits from CRM

1. A more smoothly functioning company

Consider measuring the time spent looking for needed information versus time spent utilizing information and getting on with your job. It can be shocking how much time sales personnel spend on administrative matters that can be automated or simplified, 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 soliciting feedback from the employees who use CRM. An alternative measurement is the employee turnover rate for those 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, you might measure how quickly sales personnel are able to access needed facts and figures as well as implement required sales and business procedures.

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4. Improved use of mobile access devices

Each of us has a different learning curve that impacts our future use of equipment and technology, but we all use it. Observe and find ways to measure the comfort level over time of field personnel who use the CRM apps on their mobile devices.

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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 coordinates with customer service, consider measuring the time it takes to respond completely to a customer or a prospect request.

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Are you delivering what your customer expects - every time?

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 the usefulness of a survey to rate the reaction of existing and future buyers to your sales and marketing professionalism.

8. The ability to differentiate your company from the competition

Many studies continue to examine the competitive advantage resulting from CRM. Do your own research by measuring the increased customer loyalty as well as customers’ perception of your company versus your competition

9. Support for organizational change(s) with your firm

Think of the potential for lost knowledge if a sales person leaves your company- are the relationship details part of your CRM system? To determine this benefit, consider measuring the time lost training new sales and marketing personnel.

10. Improved understanding and better control over expenses

CRM can assist with financial oversight, 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.

The intangible rewards from CRM to improve and grow your business are great. What rewards has your business gained with CRM? Which ones from this list would you like more of? Let us know today – we believe we can help you experience more of a good thing.

Editor's Note: This post was originally published in February 2010 and has been completely revamped and updated for accuracy and comprehensiveness.