Analytical CRM: the potential of information
CRM software, an acronym for Customer Relationship Management, refers to :
- not only a customer relationship management strategy,
- but also a set of tools at the service of the latter.
Indeed, a CRM software enables the centralisation and exploitation of interactions and data relating to actors outside the company (customers, prospects, suppliers...).
Today our focus will be on analytical CRM and its features and functionalities that can be useful for increasing a company's business. But to better understand how it works, we will also talk about other CRM software, since to achieve optimised results, their combined use is the winning solution.
In this article, Appvizer provides you with the ABC of CRM software with a focus on analytical CRM.
What is analytical CRM?
Definition
CRM is a very broad concept, which concerns the company and its vision as a whole.
CRM, at a general level, designates the set of strategies and tactics inherent in the management of customer relationships, with the aim of maintaining, acquiring and increasing their value.
Going into the specifics, Analytical CRM acts on the data generated by Operational CRM. Its objective is to analyse and transform this information so as to have an increasingly sophisticated knowledge of customers.
The differences between operational, analytical, collaborative and strategic CRM
We have seen the characteristics of analytical CRM. At this point, however, one might ask what differences there are with the other 3 existing types.
Strategic CRM promotes a business strategy aimed at retaining and acquiring highly profitable customers. To do this, a fully customer-centred corporate culture must be pursued.
Operational CRM deals with processes aimed at automating, standardising and improving direct company-customer contacts.
It essentially applies to marketing, sales and customer service. Here are some activities pertaining to operational CRM
- processes for automating after-sales support tasks,
- management of promotional and communication campaigns,
- automation of sales force activities, etc.
Finally, collaborative CRM aims to improve internal communication within the company. All stakeholders must be able to immediately access and share all the information they possess concerning customers.
☝ The product-oriented approach is now considered outdated by most business and strategy experts.
What is the importance of analytical CRM?
Analytical CRM works in close cooperation with operational CRM. In fact, the information gathered through the work of operational CRM is processed, through a series of methodologies and tools, into reports that are essential for getting to know one's customers better and enabling managers to implement more targeted decisions.
Analytical CRM must be carried out over the long term to see the fruits of its labour: salespeople will be able to draw up a precise profile of the customer, understand what he or she wants and how he or she reacts to promotions, new sales and proposals from the company.
The last functionality of the analytical CRM is the analysis of the relationship between the company and the customer: for example, how to handle complaints with the call centre service, the monitoring of loyalty surveys and the speed of response of the direct mailing service.
All analytical CRM work is useful for:
- customer portfolio reporting: how to categorise customers according to certain factors established by the company such as geographic area, age, gender, frequency, habits, purchasing behaviour, reaction to promotional campaigns;
- the creation of targeted promotional campaigns for one's own clientele: creating communication and marketing campaigns based on the information gathered on one's own clientele in order to be able to correctly establish the target, the budget and the promotion channels;
- the automated analysis of statistics: the customer relationship cycle and the performance of commercial campaigns are compared with the ROI of the company's other activities and with the choices of management.
The importance of operational CRM in the Italian landscape
Retaining customers, developing increasingly targeted and customised marketing campaigns, increasing sales... all these objectives require meticulous planning and preparation, unthinkable without the right tools.
According to the CRM & Marketing Automation Observatory 2019, 74% of companies in Italy have a CRM system. This figure, growing steadily year after year, speaks for itself: CRM is now an indispensable tool for remaining competitive and performing.
And you, were you aware of the differences between the various types of CRM? Are you familiar with these processes? What are your impressions on the subject? If you wish, you can exchange with us by commenting below.
How to implement an analytical CRM system?
The first step is to collect information in order to identify a common customer base and divide it up in accordance with the company's value creation policy.
Next, it is advisable to create a database containing
- names,
- addresses,
- telephone numbers,
- purchasing records.
To this general list, we need to add a more specific analysis of the preferences of each private (B2C) or business (B2B) customer in order to devise events and sales sales that can motivate them to make purchases or implement an implementation strategy.
The third step is to choose analytical CRM software that can intelligently organise and store the collected data. Analytical CRM software is able to implement a data mining strategy to correlate all the data collected on the customer and on a specific group of customers.
In this way, it will be easier for you to make your next purchase or identify a group of customers on which to focus your next advertising campaign or to project a specific product range.
The advantages of analytical CRM
Greater marketing possibilities
Analytical CRM software allows you to capture and analyse customer information and make precise analyses to optimise exchanges. Better meeting customer expectations and refining the quality of the product or service offered is a real asset provided by CRM software.
Access to information is facilitated and analytical crm promotes better knowledge of each customer's profile. The relationship between the customer and the company is more controlled and allows sales to be forecast. Promotional offers and proposals to discover certain products are indicated to targeted customers.
Article translated from Italian