What is CRM? With rapid new developments in the CRM market, the understanding of the term itself is also changing. How significant is the ‘Customer’ share in CRM still? Yes indeed, CRM primarily revolves around service provision and sales. But CRM is more than that. Time to revise the definition!
CRM is an abbreviation for Customer Relationship Management, literally ‘managing customer relationships,’ but commonly translated as ‘relationship management.’ It concerns the strategy or process by which you optimize contact with customers and other stakeholders.
The term ‘CRM’ is often used when we should actually be talking about ‘CRM system’. A CRM solution such as Aurea CRM makes it easy for companies to gain insight into their relationships and customers. With that, your organization can improve its processes and thus maximize its profits.
In CRM, ‘Relationship’ refers to the connection and interactions a business has with its customers, leads, and other stakeholders. It encompasses all touchpoints and data points that together define how a business understands, engages with, and serves these individuals or organizations.
Relationship. Sounds rather vague. With whom? What kind of relationship? CRM is there for all the business relationships of an organization. ‘Customer’ indicates that it concerns clients. Yet it's not just about clients. The concept of ‘relationship’ has more value than ‘customer’. Therefore CRM goes beyond just clients and applies to all relationships that are important to your organization.
Besides customers, examples of relationships include: service users, colleagues, suppliers, partners, shareholders, and many more. This wide variety of relationships already indicates that CRM is no longer limited to sales and marketing.
CRM is more than sales and marketing
Sales and marketing still form the lion's share of CRM, but other departments also benefit from it, such as customer service or HRM. CRM works cross-departmentally. This way, every employee – with the right permissions, of course – can access the data the organization collects about its relationships. This comprehensive view provides usable information that your organization can use to steer operations. For example, making accurate sales forecasts, having a more efficient ticket system, and providing even better customer service because you know them better.
What is the difference between CRM and ERP?
CRM and ERP are often confused with each other. In a way, that's logical, as both systems help your organization work more efficiently. But there are major differences.
ERP stands for Enterprise Resource Planning. The name says it all: ERP software collects important business information from various sources within your organization, allowing you to standardize and automate your business processes. This can include data from order management, as well as HR and Finance.
In a CRM system, you manage all touchpoints with your relationships – from a quote to the delivery and support of an order. The goal? Automate processes and deal with sales and service even more efficiently. A CRM solution can be part of an ERP system, but is often used separately due to its specific qualities.
6 Benefits of CRM in the Manufacturing Industry
The better you know your customers, the better forecasts you can make. If you know your colleagues well, you can work together more productively. The possibilities of a CRM solution are constantly expanding thanks to new technology and smart use of data. The number of benefits also grows. Below we highlight the most important applications of CRM in the manufacturing industry:
- Relationship and contact management
CRM systems offer a structured way to manage customer data. This includes not only basic information such as names and contact details, but also detailed data about customer interactions, their preferences, and their purchase history. This allows for targeted and personalized customer contact.
- Sales follow-up and lead management (quote management)
CRM systems help track lead progress throughout the entire sales process – from initial contact to sending quotes and ultimately closing the sale. This ensures a structured approach and increases the chances of success.
- History and Reporting
CRM software enables companies to document all interactions with relationships. Whether it's a phone call, an email exchange, or an in-person visit – everything is recorded in the system. This creates a detailed history that can be consulted to communicate better with customers or, for example, suppliers. Furthermore, this record-keeping allows your organization to make better decisions.
- Task assignment system
In the manufacturing industry, cooperation between different departments is crucial. CRM systems make it easy to assign tasks and responsibilities to colleagues, for example, in the form of a ticketing system. Internal communication is improved and the chance of errors is reduced.
- Analysis and reporting
CRM systems offer extensive capabilities for analyzing customer data and generating reports. For example, you can analyze sales trends, measure customer satisfaction, and assess the effectiveness of sales colleagues. These insights help in making strategic decisions and optimizing business processes.
- Manage work orders
For manufacturing companies dealing with technical service or maintenance work, a CRM system offers the ability to manage work orders. The result: a clear schedule, a more efficient operation, and higher customer satisfaction.
By integrating these functionalities into their daily operations, the manufacturing industry can not only increase efficiency but also improve customer satisfaction and optimize overall business results.
How can we help?
Bluedesk helps manufacturing companies find the right CRM package and implement it. However, besides being CRM experts, we are also business consultants and can therefore contribute to the processes of manufacturing companies. Once the process is in place, we can indicate what analysis or reporting you need to manage the process or implement improvements.
In short, besides providing the right system for manufacturing companies to work more data-driven, we also offer the service and expertise around it to optimally utilize that data. We grow together!
Would you like to know how we can help your manufacturing company? Contact us contact Meet us!
