CRM is an acronym for Customer Relationship Management. Looking after your customer base - it seems obvious that this is the cornerstone of every business. So it makes sense that if there is a system designed to help any serious business owner should climb on board. This first section of a two-part article is designed to offer advice when taking the first steps to implementing CRM in your business.
Finding and Planning the Right Solution
Forward planning and vision is essential. There are thousands of different CRM solutions available. With a little research and guidance this jungle needs to be navigated for you to arrive at the solution that is right for you. When you have chosen a solution, you have finally made it - to the beginning of the journey.
Setting the Records Straight
A CRM system is rarely up and running overnight. The system itself can be put in place in seconds, but the real work comes in knowing how to use it.
Importing your company and contact data can be a complex process especially if you have data in various different locations and recorded in different ways for example in Excel files, Outlook and in different email accounts.
Duplicate records need to be merged in a way that doesn't lose data. For example your sales, marketing and support teams may well have worked with the same customer and you need to merge these into one record without losing any of the valuable data collected by each department. This can be a complex and time-consuming task and needs to be factored into the timing and budget of your CRM implementation.
Learning to walk before you start running.
Once you have figured out how you will get the data into your system, you need to work on educating the users. This requires commitment throughout your organisation. Using a project manager, or CRM champion to look after your CRM implementation is one way of ensuring someone is keeping track of progress.
Teaching your staff to use the system is essential. A CRM system is rarely as complicated as it first appears, and once the users are familiar with the operations it will become second nature. But this initial training session is invaluable. This also needs to be refreshed when you have new users in your organisation.
It is often worth starting with the basics and growing as and when you can. This can help users to learn the core of the system and expand when comfortable. For a successful CRM implementation this initial education needs to be carried across the organisation. Having people from all departments working with the company records means you are able to create complete records and build up rich customer profiles.
OpenCRM is a UK based provider of fully featured hosted CRM software that is easy to use and intuitive with a familiar interface and powerful features. We also offer a flexible bespoke Consultancy, Training and Support service which can be tailored to suit your needs by our clever team of professionals.
For all matters CRM including links to a demo please visit OpenCRM
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