Close the Sale with Loyalty, not with Currency - CRM

By: Retail CIO Outlook | Tuesday, August 25, 2020

Retailers, by leveraging CRM software, can build a healthy relationship with their customers.

FREMONT, CA: People chasing after brands has become an old story. The new one is closing the sale with trust and loyalty and turning bitter experiences into good interactions.

To create a winning formula for engaging consumers and presenting multi-channel environments through the multi-channel ecosystem is a challenging task. CRM in the retail market is not a new concept. It has been prevalent for quite some time and helps retailers win the battle of sales in today's competitive times.

Going back to the 1990s, the markets were product and service-centered. Now, fast forward to 2010s, the retail scene has changed drastically. We live in an era where customers are more educated and aware. Along with this, the internet got fueled up higher competition in every sector, increasing customer choice. CRM has played a significant role in building a bridge between customers and retailers. It is very evident taking the current scenario, where the business and brands listen to customers and give them what they want. CRM, for retail, works on two frameworks, operational and analytical.

The operational framework includes the automation of business processes to build a long-term, profitable relationship with certain customers. While on the other hand, the analytical framework focuses on analyzing customer characteristics and behavior.

A massive number of potential strategies hung to CRM. A well-featured CRM integrated with data from the POS system can portray a perfect picture of sales, customers, benchmarks, marketing campaign performance, and other KPIs.

The analytical framework will be seeing increased growth in the coming years. To ensure, here are some trends that will dominate in the future.

1. Data Mining will increase

Data mining is a process using statistical, mathematical, AI, and machine learning techniques to extract and identify useful information. Companies have collected a massive amount of customer information. With the help of AI and deep learning, companies can mine deep to benefit customers and themselves.

2. How Social CRM will boost up relationship

Social CRM will help bring customers on a collaborative conversation platform. Companies will adopt social CRM not just to achieve customer data from various sources, but also to mold experiences for customers, which makes them offer value in return in the form of attention, engagement, and advocacy.

3. Cloud will stay on top forever

Compared to last year, 88 percent of CRM was operated from client premises and systems. At present, 87 percent of CRM runs on the cloud. This will lead to enhanced relationship management. The data is not lost and will forever be secured.

Much is made of the customer experience. The customers place plenty of importance on experience, both in terms of transactions and experience.

CRM helps enterprises generate 6x sales revenues. Along with this, there is specific software that helps to expand the relationship over customers. Some of them include:

1. Salesforce CRM

The features of Salesforce CRM is enabled with applications to garner awards consistently. With this CRM, the retail enterprises get a platform for extensive sales and marketing solutions under the Salesforce brand.

2. HubSpot CRM

HubSpot CRM enables retailers to be off and dashing without having to commit substantial changes in their existing workflow. This CRM helps the retailers of all sizes to track and nurture leads and analyze the business graph. The smart and easy-to-use CRM solutions give all the necessary basic features, while doing away with the often confusing complexity seen in other CRM platform.

3. Freshsales CRM

Freshsales offers the customers by providing a seamless experience while dealing with business. The CRM provides informed lead management, territory insights for efficient campaigns, hyper powered profiles, developing efficiency starting with essential social profile, from an intuitive, and all power screen.

It's no longer brick and mortar stores hoping customers will visit and make purchases. CRM software helps retail to increase customer satisfaction, and improve the retail enterprise performance in the market. Noting many things down, CRM can quickly boost the retailers to gather information about each customer, including preferences and demographic data. After all, the company growth depends upon the attitude of retailers and not the prospect.

CRM has always been a platform of a comprehensive process of gaining and retaining customers with the help of business intelligence to enhance customer value to the organization.

Check out: Top Loyalty Management Solution Companies