marketing sales

WHAT IS CRM STRATEGY? ADVANTAGES OF IMPLEMENTING CRM AND 7 STEPS FOR STRATEGIC PLANNING

WHAT IS A CRM STRATEGY?

CRM is a concept that aims to maximize customer satisfaction and profits by placing customer relationships at the center of business and placing the highest priority on "what we can do for our customers.
Therefore, a CRM strategy is a plan or policy that aims to build relationships with customers and to increase stable sales generation. In the recent business environment, it is difficult to obtain results from sales and marketing activities aimed at an unspecified number of customers due to the diversification and complexity of customer needs caused by the spread of the Internet. Therefore, strategies that use customer information as a starting point are attracting attention. By implementing a CRM strategy, you can strengthen and build the value of your relationship with your customers, turn existing customers into fans, and generate stable sales.

BENEFITS OF IMPLEMENTING A CRM STRATEGY

Visualization of customer needs

BY UTILIZING CRM, DATA SUCH AS CUSTOMER ACTION HISTORY, PURCHASE HISTORY, AND BUSINESS MEETING HISTORY CAN BE MANAGED CENTRALLY, MAKING IT EASIER TO VISUALIZE CUSTOMER NEEDS. UNDERSTANDING CUSTOMER NEEDS IS ONE OF THE GREATEST BENEFITS OF CRM, AS IT IS USEFUL FOR RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT OF NEW PRODUCTS AND SERVICES, AS WELL AS FOR COMMUNICATION WITH CUSTOMERS DURING BUSINESS NEGOTIATIONS.

Implementation of data-driven sales and marketing activities

BY PLANNING STRATEGIES BASED ON CUSTOMER INFORMATION ACCUMULATED IN CRM, DATA-DRIVEN SALES AND MARKETING ACTIVITIES CAN BE IMPLEMENTED WITHOUT LEAVING THE WORK TO THE EXPERIENCE, INTUITION, AND SENSE OF THE PERSON IN CHARGE. THIS ALSO HELPS TO PREVENT THE DIVISION OF WORK AMONG DIFFERENT EMPLOYEES, ENABLING ALL EMPLOYEES TO ACHIEVE A CERTAIN LEVEL OF RESULTS.

IMPROVE CUSTOMER SATISFACTION (CS)

CRM MAKES IT EASIER TO UNDERSTAND WHICH PRODUCTS AND SERVICES ARE BEST SUITED TO CUSTOMERS' NEEDS AND TO IMPROVE CUSTOMER SATISFACTION. IN ADDITION, CUSTOMER INFORMATION AFTER PURCHASE CAN BE STORED IN THE CRM TO ENABLE DATA-DRIVEN APPROACHES AND AFTERCARE, WHICH WILL IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF CUSTOMER SUPPORT AND LEAD TO GREATER CUSTOMER LOYALTY.

High affinity with SaaS (subscription) business

CRM strategy is an approach that is highly compatible with SaaS (subscription) business. In the case of a subscription-based business model, customers purchase products and services on a monthly or annual basis, so it is essential to keep them coming back and becoming fans so that they will continue to renew their subscriptions. This will help to improve the repeat rate and lead to business growth.

INCREASE IN LTV

LTV is an abbreviation for "Life Time Value. It is also referred to as a marketing term that translates as "customer lifetime value" in Japanese. CRM strategies are more likely to lead to higher LTV because they aim to develop and execute sustainable, long-term strategies with customers. Increasing the overall LTV of a customer ensures consistent sales, even in situations where the number of new customers is low.

SEVEN STEPS TO DEVELOPING AND PROMOTING A CRM STRATEGY

1. Organize issues and goals

WHEN BUILDING A CRM STRATEGY, FIRST ORGANIZE WHAT ISSUES YOUR COMPANY FACES. BY ORGANIZING THE ISSUES, YOU CAN CLARIFY HOW TO UTILIZE THE CUSTOMER DATA ACCUMULATED IN CRM. FOR EXAMPLE, IF THE REPEAT RATE IS A MANAGEMENT ISSUE, YOU CAN ANALYZE INFORMATION ON CUSTOMERS WHO DID OR DID NOT LEAD TO REPEAT PURCHASES IN THE PAST AND SET GOALS SUCH AS INCREASING THE RESOLUTION OF THE CUSTOMER BASE.

2. KPI SETTING

THE NEXT STEP IS TO SET KPIS THAT ARE NECESSARY FOR MEASURING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE CRM STRATEGY. ALTHOUGH KPI INDICATORS VARY DEPENDING ON THE COMPANY'S PRODUCTS AND SERVICES, MANY COMPANIES TEND TO SET THE FOLLOWING INDICATORS AS KPIS IN THEIR CRM STRATEGIES.

Order amount
Number of Leads
Continuity rate
Customer Unit Price
Conversion rate
Lead time

3. Persona setting

THE NEXT STEP IS TO ESTABLISH PERSONAS. PERSONAS ARE THE IMAGES OF CUSTOMERS WHO ARE EXPECTED TO BE SERVED BY THE COMPANY'S PRODUCTS AND SERVICES. PERSONA DESIGN IS IMPORTANT BECAUSE A CRM STRATEGY MUST CONSIDER SALES ACTIVITIES AND MARKETING INITIATIVES THAT START WITH THE CUSTOMER. BY ESTABLISHING SPECIFIC PERSONAS, YOU WILL BE ABLE TO BETTER UNDERSTAND YOUR CUSTOMERS AND DISCOVER THEIR NEEDS WHEN BUILDING YOUR CRM STRATEGY.

4. Setting up the customer journey

After establishing personas, the customer journey should be established. The customer journey is the series of processes that lead customers to recognize and purchase your products and services. By setting up a customer journey, you can visualize the customer's behavior and the purchasing process. This makes it easier to understand what information customers are attracted to and what actions they take in each phase.

5. CRM TOOL IMPLEMENTATION

IN ORDER TO SUCCESSFULLY IMPLEMENT A CRM STRATEGY, IT IS IMPORTANT TO IMPLEMENT A CRM TOOL THAT SPECIALIZES IN THE ACCUMULATION, COLLECTION, AND ANALYSIS OF CUSTOMER INFORMATION. IT IS DESIRABLE TO IMPLEMENT A CRM TOOL THAT IS SUITABLE FOR SOLVING YOUR COMPANY'S ISSUES, AND IT IS RECOMMENDED TO SELECT A CRM TOOL BASED ON THE FOLLOWING POINTS.

Ease of data entry
Support system is very generous.
High security
Ease of data linkage with various tools

THE LATEST RECOMMENDED CRM TOOLS ARE DETAILED IN THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE.

6. Aggregation and accumulation of customer information

ONCE CRM IMPLEMENTATION IS COMPLETE, IT IS TIME TO START COLLECTING AND STORING CUSTOMER INFORMATION, WHICH IS OF PARAMOUNT IMPORTANCE; IT IS NO EXAGGERATION TO SAY THAT THE ABILITY TO CONTINUOUSLY COMPILE AND STORE CUSTOMER INFORMATION IS THE TURNING POINT IN THE SUCCESS OF A CRM STRATEGY. IN RECENT YEARS, MANY COMPANIES HAVE REALIZED THE IMPORTANCE OF UTILIZING CUSTOMER DATA AND HAVE BEEN IMPLEMENTING CRM. HOWEVER, THE REALITY IS THAT MANY COMPANIES HAVE IMPLEMENTED CRM, BUT HAVE RUN INTO BARRIERS SUCH AS EMPLOYEES NOT LOGCONDUCTING SALES ACTIVITIES.

The data above is based on our own survey of "Reasons for not logfor sales activities".

THE RESULTS OF THIS SURVEY INDICATE THAT MANY SALESPEOPLE WHO HAVE IMPLEMENTED A CRM SYSTEM HAVE THE OPINION THAT "IT IS TOO MUCH WORK TO INPUT DATA" OR "THEY DO NOT FEEL THE NEED TO INPUT DATA," ETC. IF CRM TOOLS ARE DIFFICULT TO USE, THE FREQUENCY OF USE AND DEGREE OF UTILIZATION WILL VARY AMONG SALES MEMBERS, AND THE RELIABILITY OF OBTAINED INFORMATION AND ANALYSIS RESULTS WILL DECLINE. THIS LEADS TO A DECLINE IN THE RELIABILITY OF THE INFORMATION AND ANALYSIS RESULTS OBTAINED.

7. Review & Improvement of Measures

AFTER IMPLEMENTING SOME MEASURE BASED ON DATA, BE SURE TO VERIFY ITS EFFECTIVENESS. BY CONDUCTING AN EFFECTIVENESS VERIFICATION, YOU WILL BE ABLE TO UNDERSTAND WHAT EFFECTS WERE ACHIEVED BY THE INITIATIVES AND WHAT IMPROVEMENTS ARE NEEDED. REPEATEDLY VERIFYING EFFECTIVENESS AND MODIFYING THE PROCESS WILL BRING ABOUT NEW INSIGHTS AND ENABLE YOU TO FORMULATE AND EXECUTE A MORE ACCURATE CRM STRATEGY.

IF YOU WANT TO IMPLEMENT A SUCCESSFUL CRM STRATEGY, WE RECOMMEND YOU TO IMPLEMENT "UPWARD".

WE PROVIDE AND DEVELOP UPWARD, A SALES DIGITAL TRANSFORMATIONTOOL THAT HELPS MAXIMIZE THE VALUE OF CRM AND SFA FOR OUTSIDE AND DOOR-TO-DOOR SALES.

Customer data utilization flow with upward

BY UTILIZING "UPWARD," CUSTOMER DATA SUCH AS CUSTOMER PROFILE INFORMATION, BUSINESS MEETING HISTORY, AND ACTIVITY REPORTS CAN BE EASILY ENTERED, MANAGED, AND UTILIZED SEMI-AUTOMATICALLY WITH A SINGLE SMARTPHONE. WHEN THE PERSON IN CHARGE IN THE FIELD CREATES A DAILY SALES REPORT OR ACTIVITY REPORT, THE REPORT FORMAT IS AUTOMATICALLY CREATED ON "UPWARD" APP. IN ADDITION, VOICE INPUT AND BUSINESS CARD SCANNING FUNCTIONS MAKE IT POSSIBLE TO EASILY CREATE SALES REPORTS IN SPARE TIME.

The data entered daily is visualized on a map, allowing users to intuitively know which customers to visit next. Anyone can strategically visit not just the "easy-to-get-to" places, but the places that really "need to be visited.

Click here to download service introduction materials for UPWARD, a mobile CRM for outside and in-home sales

EXAMPLE OF CRM STRATEGY USING "UPWARD

HERE WE INTRODUCE THREE COMPANIES THAT HAVE ACTUALLY USED "UPWARD" TO IMPROVE OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCY AND CUSTOMER SATISFACTION BY STARTING WITH CRM.

Mitsumore Corporation

Mitsumore Corporation operates Mitsumore, a platform that matches service providers and clients for everyday problems such as moving and house cleaning. The platform requires daily communication with a large number of customers, and communication with each customer often crosses departments. Nevertheless, prior to the introduction of "UPWARD," each department managed their communication history individually, and the lack of sharing was a problem within the company. However, after the introduction of "UPWARD," the communication tools used by each department were linked to "UPWARD. The UPWARD system is now in operation as a storage location for the communication history with both businesses and clients that utilize Mitsumoa. By storing the large volume of communication that occurs daily on UPWARD, the history can be extracted in one go when a problem occurs. As a result, the number of problems with customers due to overlooked communication history has been reduced.
Case Study>> Mitsumoa Corporation

Japan Media Systems, Inc.

Japan Media Systems, Inc. is a trading company specializing in telecommunications equipment and environmental products. Prior to the introduction of UPWARD, there were no rules on how to manage sales activity history, and each department possessed data in different ways. This made it difficult to share sales activity history among departments, and it took time to respond to inquiries from customers. However, after the introduction of "UPWARD," business activity history, contract details, and transaction history can now be checked all at once, reducing the time required for checking and speeding up the response process.
Related Articles>> Japan Media Systems, Inc.

Kubota Corporation

Kubota Corporation is engaged in the business of selling and maintaining agricultural machinery and proposing farming management to farmers throughout Japan. By introducing "UPWARD," the company has reduced the need to carry around thick map books and catalogs and to write information on printed maps for management purposes. Instead, customer information can be referenced based on the location information provided by "UPWARD" at app. As a result, when farmers suffer agricultural damage due to natural disasters that occur frequently these days, they can use "UPWARD" to quickly share the damage situation with the entire company and follow up on restoration efforts.
Case Study>> Kubota Corporation

summary

Planning and implementing a CRM strategy can be expected to build long-term relationships with customers and increase sales. In order to implement an effective CRM strategy, it is important to input data accurately and reliably into the CRM system, so when implementing a CRM strategy, be sure to select tools and establish operations that facilitate data entry by those in charge of data entry. If you have actually implemented CRM, but are still having trouble getting your field staff to utilize CRM, please feel free to contact us.
Click here to contact us.