A Practical Guide to CRM

  • 5h 50m
  • Janice Reynolds
  • Taylor and Francis
  • 2002

In today's global economy the customer has more and better choices than ever before, bringing on one of the biggest challenges the business community faces today--customer loyalty and retention.

To thrive in today's customer-driven economy a company needs to give customers what they really want. They don't just want the best prices, selection, and service; they want a relationship. CRM (customer relationship management) technology is designed to collect, store, and analyze data about customers, optimizing marketing, sales, customer service, back-office operations, and new product development. Yet, technology can't do it alone. In practice, CRM is a business strategy that evokes a corporate culture in which the customer is the center of the corporate universe and CRM technology is what enables that business strategy.

While CRM may start out as a means of linking different customer-facing functions, it must end up changing the way the entire company thinks about customers: who they are, what they want, and how they can be better served.

This book explores how to:

  • Develop and use a CRM strategy to integrate all channels and media of customer contact from the Internet through field sales into one system.
  • Know the customers and focus on their needs to better deploy resources and achieve lower costs, higher revenue, and increased customer loyalty.
  • Use CRM tools to increase profitability.
  • Link CRM tools with sales partners both up and down the value chain.
  • Choose the right customer-focused strategies and the right CRM systems.
  • Implement and deploy CRM for the best results.

About the Author

Janice Reynolds is a writer, editor, speaker, and consultant specializing in information technology and Internet/intranet. She started her own consulting firm in 1995 and has edited numerous technical books and led several e-commerce development teams. Ms. Reynolds has served as the E-commerce and Internet Ventures Expert on allbusiness.com and as the DSL expert on speedcorp.net. She was one of the prime developers of the e-commerce portal Town24.com. She is the author of the bestseller The Complete E-Commerce Book, as well as Logistics and Fulfillment for E-Business and The Practical Guide to DSL.

In this Book

  • What is CRM
  • The Evaluation Process
  • Preparing a Business Case
  • Creating the CRM Strategy
  • A Program of Projects
  • The People Factor
  • Increasing Customer Loyalty
  • Know Thy Customer
  • The Many Flavors of CRM — An Overview
  • Marketing
  • Sales
  • The Call Center Evolution
  • The Importance of Data
  • Hosted Solutions
  • Partnering for Success
  • The Vendor Selection Process
  • Implementation and Deployment
  • Some Parting Advice
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