According to the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, the internet is a computer system that allows millions of computer users around the world to exchange information. We want to look at internet influence on CRM.
| OBJECTIVES OF THIS ARTICLE At the end of this lesson, you should be able to: · Discuss the relationship between CRM and Internet. · The Internet and Globalization · The major CRM packages that we have in the e-business environment. |
When talking about the internet, it is a process that allows someone sitting in the corner of his room or office to send out messages or transact business with millions of users who were connected around the world.
In our own part of the world, it has been observed that many of the business that we have in the country has not embraced the use of information communication technology in the running of their business, that is why a large percentage of them remain stagnant.
The use of the internet in the conduct of your business will help your business to grow.
It will remove the border that you have built against your business. One thing that could prevent customers from transacting business with you is your location.
Most times, it also determines the kind of customers that you attract to your business.
But with the advent of the internet, it is possible for you to transact business with individuals outside your country or continent without having your physical presence there.
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Worthy of mention is what some IT organisations are doing now which many of us have been partakers of, without knowing that it is CRM in action.
You can actually pick some items online and pay online or you pay on delivery. It is one of the ways that internet add value to CRM.
Another way is that CRM allows customers to be served across multiple channels.
If you are a truly customer-centric enterprise, you will not force all your customers and prospects to come to your offices before they can enjoy the wide range of products and services that you have to offer.
In serving the customers through the internet, communicate with the organisation and enjoy the same quality of service. This will make them stick to your organisation for life.
In human nature, as we know, we always like to enjoy our freedom. Nobody likes to be controlled by others.
That is why people like to move to organisations that give them the freedom to do whatever they want to do.
Take, for example, a manager in the convenience of his office, with internet banking, could send and receive money from anywhere around the world.
He could also buy items from organisations that have their presence online. This is one of the arrays of ways that the internet has contributed to the growth of CRM.
CRM AND GLOBALIZATION
Without mincing words, we will say that globalization is the process of turning the whole world into a global village.
This astronomical change was made possible through the use of the internet. In a global village, there is nothing like borders or sovereignty.
Without going through the process of obtaining a visa or other travel documents, you can now sell and receive goods from across the globe.
Looking at what has been discussed so far about customer relationship which has much to do with serving your customers across multiple channels, meeting their needs and putting technologies in place in order to ensure that wherever your customer is, they are able to enjoy the same quality products and services that they used to enjoy when they walk-in into any of your branch offices.
CRM in collaboration with its associated technologies, most especially with the use of the internet will place your organisation at the centre of the global village; you will be able to meet with different prospects and customers from across the world.
The main thing in CRM is that you should be able to predict your customer’s next move and meet them at the right place with the right products and services.
When you are doing business in globalize village, the customers are less concerned about where you are operating form as far as you are meeting their needs.
If you failed to meet their needs, the next organisation is just a mouse click away. That is why they don’t bother about your business location.
That is also the main reason why if you want to establish your presence in the globalize environment using the internet, you must be ready to constantly meet the need of your customers so that you don’t lose them as they are moving around your Life Cycle.
As far as you continue to meet their needs, they will continue to be loyal to your organisation.
Major CRM packages
#1 Team Support
This is a user-friendly help desk that helps businesses deliver the best possible experience to their customers by building teamwork, solving in-house communicating breakdowns and answering customer inquiries.
#2 Plan Plus Online
Plan Plus Online provides collaboration and CRM for businesses. This web-based package helps increase productivity with features including sale automation, email marketing and project management.
#3 Mhelp Desk
This is a web-based CRM solution that is a web-based solution that more than 6,000 companies use in improving look order visibility.
Their user-friendly interface helps businesses management support tickets, computer services and invoice and billing.
#4 Act-on
This is an intuitive marketing automation solution, ideal for companies with minimal IT involvement.
Deployed as a web-based system, the solution will automatically update so that you can focus on your business, not your software.
#5 Saleforce.com
This is the innovator behind cloud-based CRM systems. They played a huge part in popularizing the model by offering a contact management system that is assessable anywhere with the aid of an internet connection.
#6 Oracle Eloqua
Oracle Eloqua is a leader in Business to Business marketing automation. It is a web-based system. It offers strong capabilities in demand generalization, lead management and revenue performance management.
#7 Tracker RMS CRM
It offers cloud-based relationship management systems for sales, support, project management and recruiting.
The tool easily integrates with Microsoft Outlook and it is easily assessable from any internet-capable mobile device.
#8 Leadmaster Lead Management
This is an online CRM solution that offers a full set of features including online tracking, sales force automation and real-time data mining.
It can be customized for specific industries, including insurance and real estate firms.
#9 Marketo Lead Management
It was founded in 2006. The software was developed for the Business to Business (B2B) marketer and is the most rapidly growing solution on the market for lead management.
#10 Nextiva Hosted Call Centre
Nextiva provides telephony packages for small businesses that can be easily managed from an online dashboard.
Their hosted call centre solution is also a tool for managing queues, routing and automatic call distribution online.
SUMMARY
At the end of this lesson, we have been able to discover that:
- The internet helps to put the business on the world map.
- It helps you to serve your customers across multiple centres.
- It allows you to give your customers the freedom that they crave.
- We have some CRM packages that organisations can use such as team support, plan Plus Online, Mhelp Desk, Act-on, and Salecom. Oracle Eloqua among others.
BRAINSTORMING SESSION
- If you are the new CRM Manager for Sterling Bank Plc, you have been asked to prepare a blueprint for the migration of the Bank to a “one customer bank” How will you go about this?
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PS: If you would like to have an online course on any of the courses that you found on this blog, I will be glad to do that on individual and corporate levels, I will be very glad to do that I have trained several individuals and groups. They are doing well in their various fields of endeavour. Some of those that I have trained include the staffs of Dangote Refinery, FCMB, Zenith Bank, and New Horizons Nigeria among others. Please come on Whatsapp and let’s talk about your training. You can reach me on Whatsapp HERE. Please note that I will be using Microsoft Team to facilitate the training.
I know you might agree with some of the points that I have raised in this article. You might not agree with some of the issues raised. Let me know your views about the topic discussed. We will appreciate it if you could drop your comment. Thanks in anticipation.
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