The demands that customers place on companies' marketing and sales departments have changed. They see it as a matter of course to be the center of attention and to be professionally accompanied on their customer journey. Companies that use modern customer relationship management (CRM) to optimally support the customer journey generate leads, conversions and sales.
Troubleshooting in the CRM area
Companies with problems in marketing and sales are looking for the causes of low sales. It is not uncommon for Customer Relationship Management to be associated with problems. There are arguments such as that working with customer relationship management costs valuable working time or that the quality of support deteriorates due to less customer communication. The strongly technology-oriented view reduces customer relationship management to the generation of data. The problem with this perspective is the fulfillment of company requirements without taking customer requirements into account. Given this premise, it is no wonder that specialists and managers in marketing and sales complain about the high number of failed CRM projects that (unfortunately) exist in practice.
Success factors for CRM projects
The foundation for the success of a customer relationship management project is laid before the implementation. It is important that realistic goals are defined and formulated before the customer management system is introduced, which are in line with the corporate strategy. The objectives result in a CRM strategy, from which a roadmap with clearly defined areas of action and responsibilities is derived that is binding for all parties involved.
It is also crucial to explain the reasons for introducing a CRM and the benefits for the company internally. It is important to explain the end users and the customer journey using concrete application examples. The integration of customer relationship management via interfaces into the existing system landscape with the aim of exchanging and entering relevant data should also be well planned.
Since many companies prefer a customer relationship management system, it is important to clarify in advance whether individual customizations are necessary and what costs will be incurred.
Recognizing the benefits for the customer journey
Many companies think they have considered all the factors and are still surprised that customer relationship management projects fail. One reason is that customers are not consistently placed at the center of thought and action. The classic company-centric viewpoint is too predominant. Customer relationship management can only unfold its full benefits or utilize the user bandwidth of possibilities to their advantage if the journey of each customer is known.
Every buyer persona including the touchpoints and possible reactions should also be known. The great opportunity of modern CRM systems lies in the touchpoints. As digitalization omnichannel approaches become a matter of course and the number of touchpoints multiplies, customer relationship management solutions help to reduce complexity and maintain an overview.
Customer relationship management makes it possible to view and support every customer journey systematically and holistically.
Customer data - opportunity and valuable asset
Any CRM is only as good as the way it is actually used in day-to-day marketing and sales. According to studies, around 50 percent of the available data potential is used inadequately or not at all. There is a lack of clearly defined workflows and standard processes that users can use to successfully steer a customer's journey towards conversion. If the data is not systematically analyzed, you lose the potential to better understand customers and gain so-called customer insights.
The less analytical the foundation of a customer journey is, the more weight is given to the factor of chance. In the age of digitalization, it is not always possible to predict which touchpoints and paths a customer will choose next on their journey. Companies that are well prepared and can score points by responding quickly and providing the right content reduce bounce rates to a minimum.
In summary, these are the most important points:
- The customer is at the center of all marketing and sales activities
- company-wide standardized customer communication
- quick and comprehensive fulfillment of all customer needs at the touchpoints
- making the customer experience as pleasant as possible
- continuous monitoring and quality assurance
- adjust the customer experience strategy if necessary
CRM, customer journey and artificial intelligence
The argument that working with a CRM costs too much valuable working time can be invalidated by using artificial intelligence (AI). With the help of AI, it is possible to automate frequently recurring tasks, combine data and present users with suggestions for action. While only standard tasks and sub-processes are currently automated, AI makes it possible to understand a customer journey in depth and tailor it optimally to the individual customer. Current evaluations and in-house analyses carried out with the help of AI provide information on the degree of fulfillment of KPIs. They serve as important insights for further marketing and sales projects as well as for comparisons with the competition.
Conclusion: consistently exploit potential
In a market and competitive environment shaped by digitalization, a CRM offers valuable opportunities to turn the customer journey into a unique customer experience and stand out from the competition. New technologies - such as the use of AI - enable companies to respond faster, more specifically and more individually to the needs of customers as part of a customer journey. The customer journey is increasingly becoming the centerpiece for the success of modern customer relationship management systems and has a major influence on decision-making processes in all departments involved.
Share
