The main type of interaction companies put on top is a business-customer interaction. The success of such relationships results in revenue size: if the experience is chaotic, no doubt you have few sales; but if it is structural, your chances to win clients are huge. The key instrument in building a reliable connection with audiences and setting strong internal communication is customer relationship management (CRM).Forrester data reveals the following tendency: 75% of companies who use CRM platforms see considerable outcomes in customer satisfaction metrics. So, developing a CRM strategy encompassing various internal and external business processes is necessary for achieving desirable results. Let’s learn about the specifics of building a successful CRM strategy.
Many refer to CRM as software that helps manage and store data. But this is only a tool, and its efficiency is not guaranteed without a solid strategy. So, a CRM strategy is a plan that encompasses all business aspects like data management, marketing, sales, and customer service and aims to improve client satisfaction and grow revenue.
Consider this example: you have developed an active social media life and acquired potential customers via those channels. They come to you, and you somehow write them down in the spreadsheet. But clients won’t turn themselves into paying ones, so it is your responsibility to lead a person through the whole customer lifecycle that doesn’t end after the successful purchase. A unified and defined CRM strategy is a cornerstone for company profit and customer trust.
Every product development plan is worthless without a strategy. The same applies to CRM implementation. Creating just an application without planning how it suits customers’ and employees’ needs leads to the following consequences:
The key aspect of any strategy and overall product development is meeting business needs. But more than just thinking of making the biggest profit is required. It depends on the customer relationship’s success. CRM strategy helps to organize the customer lifecycle in such a way that it is seamless for a user and an employee as well. If customers are satisfied, they are ready to buy and stay with you.
Effective CRM strategy comes with many advantages, which we will take a closer look at below.
As with the software, CRM doesn’t aim to attract users and employees and make a smooth transition. Its primary purpose is to be beneficial from the product’s view. However, a strategy cares about user adoption and promotes seamless learning of the platform and its features.
A structured customer relationship management approach aims to collect data and store it in the system. It focuses on transforming information into valuable insights that serve as the basis for data-driven decisions. The strategy also involves easy access to different data sources by employees of any level.
CRM solutions can optimize all workflows and business processes. They can automate repetitive tasks, provide project management tools, offer advanced analytics, generate reports and leaderboards, and illuminate all business aspects.
CRM implementation helps uncover all the details that are not visible when choosing a chaotic approach to customer relationships. With the help of specifically designed software and its deployment strategy, you can offer users better means for using your service based on their needs and pains.
One of the business objectives is to ensure the efficiency of the investment, which is measured by the return on investment (ROI) indicator. CRM systems, with enhanced analytical and reporting features, clarify how the company goes and what net profit is expected.
A winning CRM strategy consists of multiple steps: planning, researching, developing, integrating, improving, and maintaining. To better understand the specifics of every process, let’s dive deeper into each of them.
The CRM strategy development process requires a vast resource base of time, budgeting, and expertise. However, having cutting-edge software is not enough to get the desired results. You need to understand how to apply it in practice. That is why the first step is to define your needs and business goals. Ask yourself these questions: “Do I want to improve customer satisfaction? Or optimize business processes? Or grow my sales rates?” A clear understanding of the purpose defines all other steps, including CRM software functionality.
First, define your target audience to better identify what your users will need. Research their expectations and pains. For instance, survey employees on what features they lack when doing their tasks. Many other research methods will help you reveal user personas and their needs.
Before you upload all the data into a new CRM software, it is crucial to analyze the existing status of your data. Using dictionaries, you must review available data sources, data format, and its meaning. The next step is data cleaning, which refers to identifying missing data, removing duplicated data, fixing inconsistencies, and setting the correct data format for further data collection.
CRM strategies encompass different types of users. Let’s take an example of a cargo transportation company that wants to launch a CRM system. The types of users are the following:
The needs of every user category are different, so the solutions realized through a CRM strategy are also different. That is why you have to study all your business’s users and create a detailed user description. This step will contribute to the following UI/UX design creation procedure. The information about the users will serve to build a responsive interface and platform navigation.
Before you opt for CRM development services, it is essential to define your platform’s core functionality. If you build multiple, even advanced features but they are not suitable for the user’s needs, your effort will be in vain.
Building user maps is a helpful method for feature prioritization. In this method, you define the main touchpoints and functions users need.
Choosing the proper approach to implementing your UI/UX strategy ensures maximum effectiveness and convenience for the future CRM strategy. In the section below, we have collected our team’s main design principles to create effective and user-friendly systems.
We will not open America for you by saying that the design always aims to provide convenience and efficiency to all individuals engaged in the CRM. Therefore, before starting the development, it’s crucial to understand the current needs that the system should cover. As a result, it would help increase the productivity of internal employers who work with the system and increase the users’ adoption levels as well.
Intuitive navigation is a major principle that should be prioritized during the development process of UI/UX solutions. It ensures that once your customer gets into your system, he will not become confused by complex or entangled design solutions. Everything has to be intuitive so that the user doesn’t face any challenges.
During the development process, it is crucial to ensure that the developed solution works flawlessly under any circumstances. This implies that the developed design solution works impeccably on all devices and systems. For instance, if the user tries to open the developed product on a tablet instead of a PC or laptop, he will not feel any downgrade inconvenience or accessibility.
It’s always better to see once than to hear a hundred times, right? For that matter, we’d like to present you with an example from our recent case studies that could give you a general understanding of what a complete system may look like. Below, you will find some interface components of the developed ERP system for the company engaged in the construction activity.
The development team’s goal was to include in the interface a maximum number of useful tools without sacrificing efficiency or unnecessary complication.
The designers added a spacious tab on the left side of the program interface to provide quick access to all components that might be necessary during system interaction.
During the creation of the product, we focused on the client requests and specifics of the constructor industry to provide quick and qualitative results.
Once you create a CRM strategy, the next important step is integration. Developers and testers’ teams should seamlessly implement new software solutions with existing systems. They should also ensure that data flows work as expected and no important information is missed.
Everything new should be introduced appropriately. For internal employees, conduct training, webinars, and practical lessons on how to use new tools quickly and efficiently. For end users, provide tutorials when they enter the platform. This will increase user adoption and user engagement.
Creating the proper CRM development strategy evolves around the user-centric approach in combination with the creation of convenient design solutions and a total understanding of the current business needs. These simple yet crucial factors create the basis of efficient CRM solutions. If you want someone to elevate your current system or create it from scratch, contact our service to receive a solution that meets your business goals and exceeds customers’ expectations.
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CRM Design: Why It’s Important That Users Like It
Customer Relationship Management system or CRM is a tool every business needs. This technology enables gathering all customer data in one place, allowing its users to process that data efficiently. The statistics show that 92% of businesses claim to boost their revenue using CRM systems. Designing easy-to-use and intuitive software is essential to smooth and […]
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