Success of every business depends upon how good a relationship it has with customers. This basic fact has catapulted the concept of customer relationship management to the forefront of many businesses’ strategic planning. With increasing competition, companies are forced to deploy new strategies and think over the old ones.
The dimension of business has changed over the years. In earlier times, customers did not have many choices and they had to choose whatever 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 being the king today, it becomes quite easier for them to look for other options in case they are not satisfied with the services offered.
Customer relationship management, which is essentially directed towards maximizing profitability, by adopting customer centric strategies, helps organization to differentiate themselves amongst its peers. CRM is the sum total of all the employed methodologies encompassing all the functions of business including sales, marketing, human resource management, customer service etc. It is instrumental in coagulating consumer’s loyalty, reducing overall costs, increasing revenue, improved cross-selling opportunities and streamlining inter-related business process by having a holistic approach. People, process and technology are prime constituents of customer relationship initiatives. These constituents help in identifying consumers’ needs and behaviour which in turn leads to better relationship between customers and companies. Right execution and implementation of CRM gives organizations a huge competitive advantage. Even a minor shift in the consumers’ perception about how companies are treating them, makes a big difference to the business’ money flow.
Today, consumers want to have an experience while shopping. They are the active participants in the process of selling and buying and they prefer to return back with happy experiences. Various researches show that one satisfied customer manages to bring five new customers whereas one unsatisfied customer takes away nine existing and potential customers. This fact makes it very imperative for organizations to provide high quality pre-sales and after sales services. Another observation is that, it’s easier to retain an existing customer compared to make a new one which also helps companies to devise new ways to serve customers.
