Customer relationship management and how it benefits you

With the GDPR deadline gone and a renewed interest across the market in maximising the potential of email marketing, martech company Wiraya's annual CRM Barometer has revealed that two thirds of businesses do not have a dedicated budget for customer relationship management (CRM).

GDPR, or General Data Protection Regulation, was brought in to regulate how organisations in the EU use and retain data collected from their customers. An important part in this was to give control back to individuals over the data they share with other parties. It led to thousands of inboxes filled with emails asking people to opt back in to continue receiving marketing emails – a key component of many businesses’ overall marketing strategy. This has had the additional impact of bringing back into focus what makes good customer communication and what makes it unwanted.

Why is CRM so important?

Small- and medium-sized enterprises can benefit from CRM in that it has a proven track record to increase customer revenue, assist with trend forecasting, directly market to engaged customers, and even boost customer happiness.

In short, it’s a way of keeping track of customers and data that includes but is not limited to order transactions, addresses, enquiries, complaints and personally processed options. Many companies also choose to use a direct-response email marketing tactic to share new products and launches. In this method, the business uses a mix of data to better understand the customer and establish opportunities to up-sell, cross sell and target specific campaigns to them.

As your business expands, CRM can also help to establish customer/brand loyalty, as it provides a way for the organisation to personalise the customer experience and analyse its customer base to influence future plans and launches.

Lack of clear plans and processes

According to Wiraya's survey, 35% of businesses lack a clear plan and/or process when working with CRM.

An estimated 17% labelled themselves as ‘ad hoc users' of CRM, utilising it only on a spontaneous basis with no organisational structure and no role appointed to oversee CRM activity. 34% do have people with dedicated CRM responsibilities, but do not necessarily have well defined plans and processes.

To learn more about Dukes Bailiffs and how we can help your business better understand and strengthen its financial situation, visit our website here.