There is an increasingly popular business notion that it is getting harder and harder to find new business. To some degree this is true. To a larger degree, though, it’s not. What might be better stated is that it is getting more difficult to find new business using old marketing methods. Indeed, marketing in manufacturing today involves more than simply word-of-mouth reputation.
In order to compete on an ever-shrinking global stage, the recruitment and retention of customers must involve a business intelligence system that gathers its data from a variety of sources and a variety of portals of information flow. In a system that brings together people, procedures, and supporting programs, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is the necessary business model for the 21st Century.
CRM is often found as part and parcel of a larger enterprise resource planning software package (ERP). CRM goes beyond simply answering service calls and maintaining sales records; rather, it’s a customer-centric business philosophy that holds intelligence about the customer as key to building differentiation between competitors in the marketplace. As a business realizes that their operation creates and maintains customer relationships on several levels, the need for collecting and sharing customer data becomes of paramount importance. We can describe this as business intelligence in the form of data collection and sharing.
With the centralization of real time customer data, customer service has a basis upon which to build out deeper and more meaningful relationships with customers. In particularly strong and sophisticated ERP software systems, all company departments benefit from having such customer data at their fingertips. In short, what CRM business intelligence does is create an informed discussion for the customer service person, and an enhanced experience for the customer in that discussion. Consumer need protocols are established through a CRM application, and those protocols are updated through each and every customer interface experience engaged company personnel.
Perhaps one of the best ancillary benefits of using such business intelligence in a CRM modality is this investment in the process that the customer feels from the experience. That is to say, in the manufacturing and job shop industries today, customers demand that they be considered as more than just numbers to a company. This is particularly true when it comes to service web, telephone, or other direct points of contact between company and customer.
Again, customers are perhaps the greatest resource for business data that can be used to enhance not only present relationships, but build more business through new and repeat sales orders. Whether it’s new or repeat business, every opportunity for sales must be seen as a new opportunity to build the customer loyalties that add long-term value to any operation.
This entry was posted
on Monday, June 23rd, 2008 at 9:00 am and is filed under CRM.
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