Abstract: CRM at the Speed of Light, is an outstanding book for any business executive who is dealing with any level or number of customers. It provides a simple to comprehend roadmap for developing an effective relationship with existing and prospective customers. The author brings out that our relationship with the customer should be like an ongoing conversation without an end. Regardless who we talk to whether an accounts receivable person or customer service rep or sales person or telemarketing agent, they all expect us to care for them and offer them something special. Similarly, one could be involved with Direct marketing or Telemarketing or even a customer revisiting our website, they all expect that we always have some thing new to offer.
If you fail to exhibit that you care for them, they will think you just do not regard them or you do not appreciate their business. Consequently, they will go away to other vendors/suppliers/service providers. Therefore always remember that your relationship with your customer is vulnerable if you don’t take it seriously. This book lays down the groundwork for having good CRM and gaining bigger share of the available market space.
The author clearly brings out CRM is not just a piece of software to be mastered. Instead, CRM is a business strategy to select and manage customers and to optimize business process. The real challenge is to make people use CRM software as a potent marketing tool and make it happen throughout the whole enterprise. For this, the senior management should get involved and consider it a force-multiplier for progress of their business. For implementing CRM and using it effectively throughout the enterprise, there should be a clear understanding of the business process and the values it provides To have a cutting edge in today’s highly competitive global market, the company must build an infrastructure that creates and maintains database of customers related to their frequency of visits to your website , placing number of orders and of what value. Special care is needed for the revisits and even the wish- list, which customers may desire to buy at some stage. With a common data source, you can have your customers facing sales teams; support back office and enhancing their web presences. This enables you to can get everybody sharing a common understanding of that customer and providing the best deal to make a customer delighted.
The author emphasizes that you should develop a solution /service for the customer, which completely meets customer’s functional as well as non-functional requirement. In simple terms CRM is all about creating a consistent customer historical database regarding his/her experience. It is the customer feedback that helps to determine business performance, optimize business processes and ensure future growth.