Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

The success of any business depends on how good a relationship you have with customers. This basic fact has catapulted the concept of customer relationship management to the forefront of strategic business planning of many. With increasing competition, companies are forced to implement new strategies and reflect on old ones.

The size of the business has changed over the years. In the past, customers have many choices and they had to choose what companies use to offer. But now a days, the number of products has increased and there is not much difference in the quality of same category products offered by companies. Customers are the king today, it becomes much easier for them to seek other options if they are not satisfied with the services offered.

Customer relationship management, which is essentially directed towards maximizing profitability, by adopting customer centric strategies, helps an organization to stand out among its peers. CRM is the sum total of all methodologies used, covering all business functions including sales, marketing, human resources management, customer service etc. It 's important to coagulate consumer loyalty, reducing overall costs, increase revenues , improved cross-selling opportunities and streamlining inter-business process with a holistic approach. People, processes and technology are the main constituents of customer relationship initiatives. These components help to identify consumer needs and behavior which in turn leads to a better relationship between customers and companies. Proper execution and implementation of CRM gives organizations a huge competitive advantage. Even a small change in consumer perception of how companies are treating them, makes a big difference to the business' cash flow.

Today, consumers want to have an experience while shopping. They are active participants in the process of selling and buying and prefer to go back with happy experiences. Several studies show that a satisfied customer manages to bring five new customers, while an unsatisfied customer takes away nine existing and potential customers. This fact makes it imperative for organizations to provide high quality pre-sale and after-sales services. Another observation is that it is easier to keep an existing customer than to make a new one that also helps companies to devise new ways to serve our customers .......