External Collaboration Functions of CRM

An aspect of Customer Relationship Management that is
extremely important is the external functions. This
might include vendors, distributors, and suppliers.
These relationships and processes support the
customer’s experience in many ways.

When a company has a good relationship with a desired
supplier then they are able to offer the customer
certain items. If a business does not have a good
relationship with a supplier then the customer can
suffer if that is the only supplier that offers a
particular item. This will force a customer to go to
another business who can give them what they want.

The relationship with vendors and suppliers also
contributes to the prices a company might offer for a
certain item.

If a company can only purchase certain merchandise
from a supplier at a 5% discount then they may not
even shelf the item.

This is because they don’t stand to make much of a
profit once the item sells and it is a bigger loss to
them if the item doesn’t sell and they have to mark it
down as a clearance item.

If there is a good relationship with the distributor
and the company gets a 40% discount on everything they
purchase from them then they can offer the items at a
cheaper rate because they will make more of a profit
from the sale.

The external collaboration functions impact the
customer directly when they want to purchase a certain
item that is not offered or when they are offered an
item at one business significantly cheaper than from
you. Read More......

CRM Strategy

The strategy for Customer Relationship Management may
differ within each company. Depending on the company
needs and focus they might consider the entire
workplace responsible for total CRM or only the sales
team.

Most companies who take Customer Relationship
Management seriously believe it is the entire
organizations responsibility to ensure total customer
satisfaction. It is believed every job works
hand-in-hand and everyone is working toward the same
goal.

That goal is an excellent customer experience for
every customer that walks in the door. Each department
works together and when one link in that chain breaks
then the entire experience can be tattered.

Everyone must work together toward the same goal of
customer satisfaction to provide the best results for
Customer Relationship Management possible.

Many companies who rely entirely on their sales team
looks at Customer Relationship Management differently.

A company who might look at it differently is a life
insurance company sales team. Everyone in the sales
office might believe that the customer experience is
entirely up to the sales representative.

They are responsible for getting their own clients and
making their own sales and if they lose a big client,
no one is to blame but the sales rep themselves. This
can ring true for car sales businesses and the like.

Companies view CRM or Customer Relationship Management
differently. Not all companies believe it is the
entire organization’s responsibility to keep the
customer happy and provide an excellent experience.

It usually depends on the business and how they are
setup. Read More......