When the CRM salesperson told you how this database would improve customer relations and boost sales, you had no reason to doubt the claims. Is your database disappointing?
Now that you have implemented it and see the monthly costs, are you sure that the investment is the best use to drive sales?
Unfortunately, a CRM does not solve the internal challenges around resource constraints, skillset, and building a customer database if you do not know who your customers are.
Many organisations see a CRM as a means to overcome resource constraints. Surely this latest generation tool will save person-hours, thus freeing up resources. Yes, it will, but only after you invest many marketing and sales hours into making it work. Unfortunately, this bus does not drive itself. Thus, resources must be dedicated to running the database to reap its benefits. Modern database solutions have exceptional power but are only as good as the customer data entered by sales and marketing and the time required to make the best use of that data. Once the information is available, it requires the right marketing programs to resonate with customers and the sales follow-up to close deals.
If I asked 5 people to produce a spreadsheet of results with the same data, I would get 5 very different looking sheets with varying degrees of expertise in the spreadsheet. Any new software application needs experts. Thus, it is important to have skilled resources to take advantage of the CRM and have the right skill set, education, and execution.
A business that sells direct knows its customers. Still, if you sell through a retailer, channel partner, or distributor, chances are you don’t know who your customers are. Your channel partners own the customer data and are reluctant to give up that information. Thus, to build out a database, you need to find other ways to find your customers.
Is your CRM database disappointing? If you don’t have the resource, the skills or the customer list, a new solution has been developed by the Australian company Tonic called RegisterToday. This low-cost solution solves the businesses problem of finding their customers and building out their first-party database. Customers can be consumers, businesses or trade salespeople. It can then help with the right content to resonate with customers needs and wants to drive the right sales outcomes. The solution also helps deliver the communication to the right customer versus all customers.
If you would like to know more, please get in touch with Angus@tonic.com.au