Friday, July 8, 2011

Creating Loyal Customers through Cloud CRM

Cloud CRM, or customer relationship management, applications are opening doors for increased customer satisfaction while simultaneously lowering a company’s cost of providing for those experiences. By creating environments where a business can quickly and easily implement software solutions, on infinitely scalable hardware platforms, the cloud computing providers have made for effective channels of two-way communications between the business and its customers.
Hosting a CRM application on a cloud platform makes sense for the business because it:
  • Greatly reduces costs. Original applications required dedicated servers hosted directly in data centers (for the best performance.) In addition to the tens of thousands of dollars required to pay for software licenses, the cost of purchasing and maintaining server hardware could become astronomical to the business.
  • Provides near-instant scalability. Things happen fast in today’s online world. Being able to fulfill demand by quickly creating additional server instances can spell the difference between success and failure.
  • Eliminate Need of Dedicated Professionals. Many of the current cloud CRM solutions are so automated and easy to use, the business using such solutions no longer need an IT professional on their own staff. With the wages now commanded by such trained professionals, this savings alone often times more than covers the cost of implementation and maintenance of the Cloud CRM solution.
With this establishment of what Cloud CRM is and why it makes sense, now let’s discuss a focus on how to use this new technology platform to create loyal customers.

Many of today’s tech savvy customers are quickly becoming used to having information about their purchasing habits collected by equally savvy companies. In order to get maximum use of the data collected, businesses are regularly implementing Cloud CRM solutions. With a little fore thought and systems design, even the smallest businesses might realize a number of benefits in providing superior customer service through the cloud.

What are some of those benefits? The following list will briefly describe the more effective ways the business can ensure a happy customer experience; one that has higher chances of being repeated.


5 Benefits To the Business Of Implementing Cloud CRM Solutions


Capture & Management of Customer Information
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If information is power, then the effective collection and management of customer data allows the company the power it needs in order to provide quick, easy and cost effective customer service. Cloud CRM solutions which make the harvesting of customer info its top priority should be at the top of one’s list when seeking a CRM solution.

Brand Recognition
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Whether employing social CRM modules in ones relationship management or simply taking advantages of cloud scalability, having low cost, immediate delivery of the company’s marketing message increases brand awareness, and does so at previously unrealized cost and effort.

Sales Cycle Management
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Even the simplest retail sales have specific sales cycles. Cloud CRM solutions provide the company with both customer data as well as meta data associated with how the customer behaves. Having immediate access to when a customer buys, what they are spending their money on, whether or not returns are happening, and if so, to what level, and more, can provide management with a more complete picture of the entire sales cycle. The use of that information in constructive and relevant manners could make the difference between increasing sales to existing customers and seeing quotas go unmet.


Ease of Delivery of Priority Customer Service
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Most customers want to feel they are the only thing important to the company. It can be a challenge to know which customer should be treated with priority and which ones should simply be respected, but not necessarily promoted to the level of those getting the very best treatment.
The harsh reality is that there are certain customers who pay much more to a business with the expectation of being taken care of. This does not, of course, excuse a company for ignoring or otherwise offending all of their customers, but with the information made available to the sales associates via a Could CRM solution, those who spend the most will be immediately identified and treated as the company wishes them to be.

Highly Personalized Service
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Even with the last benefit having been stated, one of the most alluring aspects of a business using Cloud CRM is the ability to personalize many of its interactions with its customers at little to no extra cost. Today’s computer power and Internet delivery speeds makes it very easy for a cloud based solution to present an employee with a massive amount of data when dealing with the current customer. Even in an online approach where the company provides the customer with direct access to their individual account information, the use of Cloud CRM solutions can provide a richer more robust user experience.

At the end of the business day, it is usually the customer’s purchases which make the company’s world go round. For a minimal investment in Cloud CRM technologies, the savvy business can provide for superior customer relationship while still holding down its costs of doing so. Happy customers tend to spend more money. They also tend to tell their friends, family and associates.