The customer relationship management process in its simplest form involves pushing your potential customers through the sales pipeline; the idea is to ultimately convert them into customers. The key to this is understanding the customer lifecycle. Although there may be many versions of this cycle floating around the internet, there are some basic steps that they all follow: awareness, interest, education, purchase, post-purchase engagement, and loyalty. What you want is for customers who will advocate for and be loyal to your organization. Check out these tips for an effective CRM process!
Understand your customers!
Before you start, it’s important to understand the individuals whom you interact with. Try to segment your customers to see who you may need to prioritize. Take a look at what your customers are looking for, and how you can push them to the next stage in the customer lifecycle.
Connect with prospects
Take the extra step in connecting with those who have just become aware of your organization and are seeking more details. Whether this entails reaching out to individuals or simply ensuring that they have the resources available to find more information, it’s important to make this efficient and seamless for your prospects.
Monitor Opportunities
Keep track of those who you may need to move forward into your sales pipeline. Consider putting more time and resources into those who more closely align with your target customer. Ensure that your sales pipelines is clearly defined so you can understand where all your prospects fall within the pipeline.
Communicate
Track points of interaction with your customers. Be sure to re-engage with customers even after they have made a purchase to increase loyalty. This may even mean reaching out to individuals who had negative experiences during their customer lifecycle with your organization to show that you’re listening to them. Consider sending thank yous or surveys to show that your organization is committed to improving the customer experience as well.
Learn about these 6 Common CRM Mistakes!
It’s important to emphasize that there is no “one shoe fits all” solution. There may be certain aspects of your CRM process that requires more attention in comparison to other organizations. However, it is important for your organization to have a clear view of your sales pipeline to segment your customers and appropriately cater to them. For more information about CRM, check out our page.
