Study Outlines Successful CRM Process
Research and benchmarking firm Best Practices, LLC has released a new study, “Countdown to Customer Focus: A Step-By-Step Guide to CRM Implementation,” designed to reveal CRM tools and processes that world-class companies use to retain current clients, increase per-customer revenue and extend the longevity of customer relationships.
The report, based on one-to-one interviews and exclusive surveys with CRM team leaders at 32 of the world's most profitable companies, outlines how leading organizations successfully design and implement the most appropriate multi-million dollar CRM systems, enabling a multi-faceted approach to retaining and maintaining valuable customer relationships. The report includes a step-by-step guide detailing how companies effectively roll out a CRM program, and identifies the most valuable performance metrics and tactics to build company-wide support.
The Best Practices, LLC research team analyzed the study data and crystallized the results into three key findings that provide an underlying focus and organizational structure:
- Identify points in the company's business strategy where CRM can deliver maximum value. Highlight these opportunities through internal “marketing” of customer-focused programs.
- Prioritize customer-centric programs based on potential for early wins and immediate positive impact on business. Dedicate resources necessary to ensure success and then execute a staged implementation to all parts of the business.
- Set goals based first on leading indicators of customer satisfaction and then on customer retention and profitability. Measure performance and communicate results to ensure accountability.
Additionally, the report outlines the most effective measures for structuring leadership teams that can implement CRM plans of action, and initiate the shift from a product-centric to a customer-centric culture, while measuring the long-term overall success of their CRM solution.
Benchmark partner companies that were interviewed for the report include American Automobile Association (AAA), Aventis, Eli Lilly, Land's End, Merrill Lynch, PSEG, and U.S. Department of Veteran's Affairs, among others.
Founded in 1992 and based in Chapel Hill, N.C., Best Practices, LLC provides continuous improvement and best-practice benchmarking strategies as a result of ongoing research. Best Practice Benchmarking is the process of seeking out and studying the best internal practices that produce superior performance, supplementing the traditional metrics-focused approach with an analysis of why and how practices produce exceptional results.
Robyn Greenspan, an independent researcher and speaker, is interested in innovation, market trends and information technology. She was a participant in the AI Summit and also took part in the IEEE International Conference on Edge Computing, International SOA Symposium series and the International Cloud Symposium series. She graduated from Temple University. She was previously the communications and research manager for the AMS, an internationally recognized professional association that advances knowledge in the IT and business management areas.
