How to improve customer relations through e-CRM?
e-CRM, electronic Customer Relationship Management, is a notion that no e-retailer can afford to overlook. Online shopping is becoming an increasingly important part of total consumer purchases: businesses must pay attention to their website visitors if they want to convert them into customers and then retain them.
In this article we uncover the challenges of online CRM, from e-commerce to marketing, and offer a comparison of software to easily manage your customer relationships online.
Definition: what is e-CRM?
Let's start by recalling the meaning of CRM (Customer Relationship Management).
It is more precise and accurate to speak of interactions with contacts in general.
These contacts can be of different natures: members, prospects, customers, clients, users, staff, suppliers and so on.
Evolution of CRM
We can mention the main components of CRM
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The CRM project in companies: in principle, it is the strategy defined in a company for the management of relationships with contacts. The CRM strategy defines the means and the way to manage interactions with customers.
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CRM in IT: this is the CRM system, the software as such. Its features enable employees to work efficiently by recording and analysing every interaction.
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The CRM processes used: this is the working method to be followed for each action. The functionalities of the CRM tool allow the implementation of procedures that serve the strategy.
e-CRM is born from the fusion of all these components and the rapid democratisation of the internet:
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the use of e-mail,
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the rise of e-commerce,
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SaaS (Software as a Service) or cloud solutions.
Indeed, e-CRM refers to an electronic or online solution for customer management. It can be implemented by both traditional companies and e-shops.
What does a CRM in the cloud do?
A CRM puts collaborative work at the centre of contact relations. In a cost-effective, centralised and intuitive way, e-CRM makes it possible:
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Centralise and share information in real time.
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Access an online database.
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Understand contacts and integrate them into a database.
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Track interactions with contacts through history.
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Identify the best business opportunities.
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Prospect the right contacts with effective monitoring.
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Sell by contextualising the commercial offer and loyalty.
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Improve the quality of support and customer service.
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Manage commercial activity.
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Analyse performance with a dashboard .
Why use an online CRM? 5 advantages
Still not sure whether to integrate an e-CRM? The most competitive companies know the importance of using a CRM programme. Discover the 5 main benefits.
1. Know your customers better
A good knowledge of contacts allows the company to improve the customer experience online, in-store, by phone, by email, by post or by video conference.
The company collects important data from every interaction with a contact. It is important to keep the history of these exchanges up to date. e-CRM centralises them in one place.
2. Improve prospecting and increase sales
Knowing your customers is the best way to effectively meet their expectations and to provide them with personalised commercial offers at the right time.
By segmenting the contact base according to the information collected and updated, campaigns automatically become personalised.
3. Improve customer satisfaction and customer loyalty.
Listening to customers and users, almost in real time, is also essential: we must be able to react quickly to the request, regardless of the communication channel.
Moreover, winning a new customer requires much more effort (human and financial) than winning the loyalty of an existing customer. A CRM tool connected to all channels to meet this objective.
4. Be more responsive and work better
Company teams must have the same information and documents in order to work effectively.
By using the collaborative capabilities of cloud CRM, both employees and salespeople gain productivity and increase sales.
5. Staying competitive
In a digitised world where the customer interacts in real time thanks to the internet, companies must have a connected tool.
Sales, marketing and customer service must have tools adapted to the digital world for the company to create or maintain a competitive advantage in the market.
The search trend on appvizer confirms this imperative:
Our trends and statistics engine lists the monthly search volume for software on appvizer. With a record of almost 30,000 searches for CRM software in January 2019, as well as an increasing search curve, the trend is clear. More and more marketers and sales executives are looking for a powerful CRM solution.
How an e-CRM works
How does a CRM work? 6 key features
What are the characteristics of an e-CRM tool? What is a CRM database? Discover the essential features, as well as what each one brings to the company.
1. Contact management
All contacts are centralised in the CRM software database. We also talk about CRM database. The various departments of the company have access to the information in the contact sheets, either to update them in real time or to search for information. Also, each sheet lists interactions with a customer, for example.
This contact management system is essential for customer relationship management. At a glance, the salesperson can see, for example, whether the customer has received his purchase or has paid for his order.
Completing a contact sheet correctly and keeping it updated with the correct information is crucial for all commercial departments: sales, marketing, logistics, invoicing, accounting, customer service. This also avoids having duplicates that lead to sometimes disastrous mistakes with customers.
2. Document management
A cloud-based CRM solution has the advantage of being able to centralise all documents and make them available to employees 24 hours a day. For example, an out-of-office salesperson can access an online quotation template and send it to a potential customer. If the customer signs the order, the sales representative uploads it into the document database. With e-signature, the customer can sign electronically.
Everything is dematerialised.
The customer's order is sent via the cloud. This action triggers the production or packaging of the ordered product for delivery, or the implementation of the purchased service. Logistics is notified immediately. The invoicing department issues the invoice and sends it to the customer.
The vast majority of CRM systems are interoperable with office suites, such as Microsoft Office 365, for example. This means that the CRM offers connectors to communicate with other software and facilitate the fulfilment of your tasks by importing/exporting information from the database.
3. Sales process management
A CRM system is essential for the company's sales force. We have noticed how publishers are improving their software to make it the perfect sales assistant.
Sales reps must effectively track prospecting, managing each contact and reporting on every step taken by each prospect: appointments, opportunities, sales, etc.
The main advantage of CRM software for salespeople: it is configurable according to the sales process. You can set up a sales funnel, a sales process, a way to manage leads and much more.
Many solutions help automate sales processes: they detect the best business opportunities and suggest them to salespeople!
Other functionalities are very attractive and requested by sales executives: a module that gives access to a catalogue of products to advise the customer and the geolocation function of the contacts. These last two features should be accessible from the mobile version of the CRM application.
4. Send targeted marketing campaigns
If your contact base is well informed and segmented, the marketing department can send personalised email or SMS campaigns to help your leads mature.
Objective: to guide and advise them until the purchase decision is made. The great interest of a CRM software is to be able to align marketing objectives with commercial objectives.
Customer profiles are well identified. The marketing department can send different messages according to the interest of the contact. Adapt the nature of the content according to the status of the contact: simple website visitor, prospect at the beginning of the reflection, hot prospect for whom a need has already been identified.
5. Performance analysis
You can set up the dashboard to have the information of key indicators and sales targets in the e-CRM software. The indicators help you make better decisions.
This dashboard has an analytical function: you can monitor the sales activity by having key figures in real time.
Depending on performance, you can adjust your commercial action plan to meet sales targets.
You can also make sales forecasts based on past activities and detect periods that lead to the prospecting or purchase of your customers. Some data helps you to identify the best customers or, for example, to calculate the cost of acquiring a new customer.
6. Customer service and support
This module is essential for the company: customer service uses a tool directly integrated with the e-CRM programme and the contact database. It is on this basis that every interaction with a contact, a user, a customer is preserved.
A support and/or customer service module allows your team to communicate with your customers regardless of the communication channel: telephone, email, chat, social networks, etc.
This type of module provides a sales tool that allows you to allocate the customer's request according to its nature and priority to the competent employee: technical expert, after-sales service, logistics, etc.
A customer care module allows the team to work more efficiently and be more responsive to satisfy the contact. The team can implement the appropriate corrective action in a short time.
To facilitate collaboration and responsiveness in customer service, some CRM software offers the possibility to provide customers with a knowledge base and a F.A.Q.
2 examples of e-CRM systems
Copper
Copper is a CRM that connects to the Google suite. The solution helps you manage all your contacts, documents and business proposals in one place.
With Copper you can work directly from your Gmail inbox:
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Add leads,
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Update offers,
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Search for past interactions,
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Create Google Calendar events ,
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Follow up on tasks.
Holded CRM
Holded CRM is suitable for all types of businesses. It is an intuitive and easy to use online platform, in just a few clicks the platform synchronises with the most popular ecommerce applications: amazon, shopify and prestashop.
With Holded CRM it is possible to import, sort and organise contacts in one click, as well as:
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Customise sales funnels,
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Schedule activities,
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Manage professional expenses,
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Access customer profiles at any time and from anywhere.
How to choose an e-CRM?
To find the best programme for your business, we invite you to compare the best e-CRMs on the market. It's all about finding the right solution for your current and future needs and the size of your company.
Collaboration features and interoperability with your existing applications can (and should) be decisive in your choice.
Finally, it is useful to see the modules offered by the CRM solution as an option. This can allow you to evolve, adding, for example, a functional module that meets new needs.
The editor of the CRM software you choose should also listen to your expectations and understand your environment, your constraints. He will advise you on the technical options.
Article translated from Spanish