Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is the technology that empowers businesses to enhance customer relations for improved loyalty, communication and profits.
CRM solutions help companies organize, collect, and analyze customer information across websites, emails, phone calls, chats and other channels to build better relationships. In doing so they stay connected with their customers while streamlining business processes.
Customer Satisfaction
Customer satisfaction is one of the cornerstones of customer relationship management, impacting repeat purchases, customer loyalty, word-of-mouth referrals and much more.
Satisfied customers are three to ten times more likely to make repeat purchases and generate more customer reviews and referrals than unsatisfied ones.
Successful businesses know that satisfied customers are more likely to recommend your products or services to friends and family – leading to additional revenue and positive brand awareness.
Businesses aiming for customer satisfaction must invest in both their people and processes in order to do so successfully, supporting and motivating employees as necessary in order to meet customer service goals.
Companies with consistently high satisfaction levels outshone their industry peers in terms of market share growth and profitability, according to studies over three decades. Studies also indicate that customer satisfaction scores have remained relatively constant over time.
Customer Loyalty
Customer loyalty is one of the cornerstones of customer relationship management and affects almost every metric for any business – sales, profits and growth among them.
Loyal customers are defined as those who make repeated purchases from your business and spend more money with it than other customers. Studies indicate that loyal customers typically spend approximately 67% more than newcomers on products and services.
Loyal customers are also likely to refer your services or product to others, helping your business expand and increase revenue. They provide an invaluable source of referrals.
Your company must create experiences that meet customer needs, while making them feel at ease doing business with you. Your CRM can assist by storing customer details and connecting that data to various marketing automation tools.
Customer Referrals
Referrals are an integral component of customer relationship management. Referring customers can increase customer value and create a steady revenue stream for your business.
Referrals can also provide you with valuable insight into customer perception of your products and services, with many customers only making referrals if their experience was exceptional.
Sending out a short survey after each purchase or service can help your business identify those customers most satisfied with your offerings, and those most likely to recommend your business to friends or colleagues. A 0 to 10 scale is often employed when conducting this research, with 10 being the score most likely to recommend your business to others.
Provide customers with an effortless referral program is key to effective customer relationship management, making it easier for loyal customers to share their positive experiences with friends and colleagues. Offer rewards for new referrals like cash, store credit or discounts off future purchases – these programs should make customer retention much simpler!
Customer Retention
Retaining customers is an integral component of customer relationship management strategies. Retaining existing customers, increasing ROI and strengthening loyalty are all vital aspects. Retaining them also leads to new customer acquisition.
Retaining existing customers is less costly than acquiring new ones, and returning ones spend more and buy more frequently than new customers. They also refer friends and family so it is key that as much attention be focused on keeping these loyal customers than bringing on new ones.
Track your retention rate to monitor whether it is improving or declining, as well as what factors contribute to it. For instance, if your low-level customers are leaving quicker than your higher-level customers, upgrades might help solve this issue or providing enhanced services may help make up the difference.
Customer satisfaction surveys are an effective way of collecting feedback. By understanding user needs and devising ways to best meet them, these surveys help close the loop and build a positive brand perception.