CRM is regularly identified as one of the biggest painpoints for businesses.
In some cases the problem is an existing system that never worked out the way that was intended. In others, CRM has been one of those big hairy things that no-one ever wanted to face until now.
Either way, a CRM project is looming, which is a great big bundle of opportunity for the team that introduces new systems into your business. The funding is there, the need is clear, and your leaders are on board. More than that, though — and unlike some other digital projects — the payoff for getting it right will be both massive and ongoing.
That’s because CRM is about way more than just choosing and plugging in a new system. Your CRM implementation plays right into the heart of your overall digital business transformation , which will deliver big changes including:
- Ways to embrace new technology and data sources
- Digital-first products and services for your customers
- The sharp, data-led decision-making that your business needs to move quicker than the competition.
In this context, CRM is not just another system. It’s an underlying necessity for business success.
Customer-centred innovation, adaptive leadership, quicker and better decisions, and slicker customer service: CRM underpins many aspects of your digital business transformation
You need a central platform to support all the new and fancy customer-facing stuff that people are dreaming up (chatbots! augmented reality! location-based services!). You need a structured data source for all the nifty reporting and trend-spotting that will fuel your best moves in the future. This core role belongs to your CRM.
This is why we don’t talk about CRM as a system for storing customer data, or as a technical project. Instead, we talk about it as a structural platform for business. We’ve seen the huge strides that businesses take during digital transformation, and we’ve seen CRM make massive changes to the speed and potential of that transformation. We’re really clear about taking a strategic approach to CRM, and for the good of your business (wherever you work) you should be too.