Recently Erik Tavenner from Infor wrote an important article on 3 benefits of CRM that point out the essence of the value of CRM in building trust, gaining loyalty and engaging customers.  We'd like to share this with our readers.  Also note the additional resource links listed at the end.

Enjoy,

Dick

3 Benefits of CRM

In a world where everyone is fighting for attention and then trying to keep it, companies need to put the customer first in order to build trust, gain loyalty and engage in a meaningful way.  It’s no longer enough to simply connect with your customer and expect that you will be met with willingness to do business – you have to earn it.  Using CRM is key to helping you do just that.

Here are 3 key benefits of using CRM that will put you on the road to building lasting relationships with your customers.

Making the Complex Simpler

Your business needs can be complex, but simplifying with a good customer relationship management (CRM) can help to alleviate the challenges of trying to manage them. The value of simplifying with CRM can be realized when as part of your CRM strategy, your focus is also on simplification when it comes to design, the way it’s used, the ways it’s customized and enhanced for project management, how it generates reporting and invoicing, and at the end of day how it helps your business add value to your customers.

Success with CRM should be easy and simple with the user experience at the forefront because CRM success hinges on user adoption. Without user adoption, CRM is obsolete because it is through adoption that users gather the data that makes CRM valuable first to the users and then to your customers. If a member of your sales team find that there is excessive data in the system that makes finding important information difficult, they may abandon using it all together for a much easier option— particularly if they are already accustomed and comfortable with that other option.

"Equally Different" is a term that is helpful to describe the capabilities and benefits of a business solution to attract, keep and develop profitable customers. A long-term business system that is created with Infor CRM and its business partners for a business like yours.

F. Scott Fitzgerald is quoted as saying, "The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function."  Imagine how beneficial that is for a person. Such a person can get a quicker, more complete picture of the situation. This capability allows the person to consider the advantages and disadvantages of one idea and then quickly move in their mind to the other, without bias holding back progress.  This human capability of holding opposing thoughts also allows the expansion of possibilities from divergent thinking followed by a clearer ability to come up with the converged thinking to that better final answer.  Wow - that is highly valuable in any business! 

So how can something be equal but also different?

This concept can be related to parents with multiple children.  In my case, my wife Carlie and I are proud parents of two daughters that we adore and love equally.  We are proud of each equally for the way they have turned into responsible and caring parents themselves.  Our daughters are also very different in their personalities, in their motivations and how they interacted with others.  Each has different strengths they use daily for making decisions and managing their personal and professional lives.

Selling could be more Effective

While visiting with a growing small business founder and CEO recently, Robert mentioned that one of the key challenges in the business was to have a more integrated system and not so many parts and pieces that are not talking with each other. There were segmented groups of people (silos) that were not working as a fully functioning team.  Information with one group was not easily shared with another group.  Robert wanted help in designing and creating an "integrated CRM system".  He had read the Aberdeen Group report that "businesses integrating disparate systems enjoy an 88% greater year-over-year increase annual revenue compared to others".

Freedom of Choice Rings True 

For America, July 4th has a very special place in our history and our culture.  It signifies our desire for freedom and the choices brave souls made over 240 years ago.  Having the "Freedom of Choice" pervades our lives and gives us options that many others across the world would love to have.

Daily my firm will have conversations with clients and prospects about choices they have available. We learn about the challenges they need to address and the advantages of valuable improvement opportunities. We'll share insights about what works for similar businesses scenarios and what has not worked. The 18 requirements of Success with CRM is a helpful checklist along with avoiding the three most expensive mistakes ebook.

CRM ROI  - Return on Investment of $8.71 per dollar invested

What is it worth to you? This is the essential question to ask when trying to understand the return on investment of CRM.

Find about the study that estimated the average ROI to be $8.71 for every dollar spent!

How necessary are customer relationships, referrals and communication between employees to the success of your business?

Choosing a CRM system should be held to the same standards as any other business decision.

The following is a helpful outline for leading a successful CRM initiative. The importance of communications and education themes are highlighted throughout!

It's important to layer in the proven success principles: 60% is on people, 30% is on processes and 10% on technology. Too many times this order is just the opposite. The following is from our friend at Infor: Erik Tavenner, Solutions Consultant.

Too many businesses have separated sales, marketing, and service operations.  Silos of information cause lack of productivity with your staff and frustrated customers who are waiting for the right answers.

Problems Solved

Often times, many people are frustrated by the lack of integration and automation within the CRM market. Below is a list of major problems that ConvergeHub solves.

• Most existing CRMs for SMBs do NOT deliver on the original Customer Relationship Manager (CRM) promise–a single affordable and integrated system for Sales, Marketing, HR and Support…to manage your team, build your business and manage all your customer relationships.

• Many are silo, or desktop apps that don’t help all your team, or require too much expense to integrate.

When I'm collaborating with entrepreneurs and executive management, we'll get to discuss the business benefits that matter most to them when deciding upon and then implementing a Customer Relationship and Management system.  The following are 7 key benefits that will be discussed.

1.  Build loyal relationships by maximizing the effectiveness of every person's interaction.

We all know that successful business revolves around the depth and breadth of the relationships we have with prospects, customers, clients, partners, vendors, employees, etc.  CRM provides the one trusted source where your company's domain knowledge about people and companies resides.  Consider the added advantages of knowing more about these types of people relationships and turn that into actionable information.

Understand more about the 60% importance of People in a well-used CRM system.

The following is from our friend, Erik Tavenner, Solution Consultant at Infor

The old sales joke is - Everyone’s favorite radio station is WiiFM.

Your Internal Customer has to know “What’s In It For Me” – WiiFM, to Buy-In

The CRM project manager must Tune in to what users want to hear.

Management wants Reports – Users Don’t want to do reports

The mission is to identify how using CRM makes the data for the reports. 

WiiFM – manage your time / calendar and sales opportunities in CRM you don’t have to do Trip & Pipeline reports anymore – they become Automatic! And effortless – AND you get those frustrating hours in “Excel Hell” back –you used to “Waste” building reports. To accomplish this you must have and show users bulletproof yet simple Outlook Sync & Mobile platforms.