Then, why Customer relationship management?

Do some businesses thrive and survive without Customer relationship Management? The answer could be a yes and a no, and no happens where there is no deliberate attempt to discharge CRM. There may be no such a thing as a completely ideal customer, but forming proper relationships with clients will get all parties closer to the best-case scenario, that is the win-win business.

?Not all customers are equal! Some are more loyal, spend more, cost less, return better revenue, and are active advocates for the business, whose goods and services they are most happy with. Those customers are invaluable, and it is critical to do everything to retain them. Before we put steps and processes in place, it is important to understand that customer.

?A key measure of CRM is the customer lifetime value (CLV). This looks at the value a business receives from retaining customers over a long period. Once the business has full insight into these fundamentals and commonalities, then the right customer engagement strategy can be deployed, entailing the rewarding of the best customers.

?With the right customer engagement strategy, most customers are nudged into behaviors that characterize the ideal customer. Most customers shall not pass the pick list items, but those with a significant number of purchased items should be engaged more.

?The customer who needs our products or services, and appreciates their value is key. This is the translation of the value addition we offer. That customer will buy more than one product or service, paying on time, and having the repeat purchases. These should be targeted accordingly.

?We could also look at those customers that engage the business regularly. Many times, these valuable engaged customers represent a 23% higher share in profitability, revenue and relationship growth. This renders them very valuable to the business.

?As a business, better to focus on those customers that are committed to your offering in the long term. Stats show that 43% of the customers spend more on brands that they are loyal to, and that a business’ overall profitability can increase by 25% to 125%, when its churn rate is reduced by 5%.

?Engaged and loyal customers should advocate for the business publicly. Let’s appreciate that most people trust their close friends, family friends, and peers for recommendations. So, they bring in customers without spending to the already pricy acquisition strategy.

?That ideal customer complains less. He or she would rather follow the right processes to provide constructive feedback rather than alarming the public through social media. The business then uses this feedback to improve, evolve, and even craft solutions that are tailor-made to the genuine feedback received from the customers.

?The pampered customer will trust the brand more. About 68% of customers spend more on brands they trust and spend, on average, 25% more on these brands. With the trust, the loyalty and repeat business, plus the referrals are assured. As such, customer relationship management is worth cultivating in the business.

?Again, the best way to cultivate this is through customer engagement. You cannot expect customers to be loyal and trusting if they have a one-night stand relationship with your business. Regular touch points with the customers are very pertinent. This can only be built if CRM is fostered by the business.

Businesses should view customer engagement in a holistic way, and as part of customer experience. It should be integrated in ways that are simplified, personalized to all customers and designed to maximize engagement. This will certainly impact the top of mind for the prospective customers as well, and also the pursuit of the true-north of the business.

Ultimately, customer engagement is very pertinent for any business. Businesses that understand this and practice effective customer engagements will certainly have the largest and growing customer base, loyal and reliable for posterity.