So I was out with a friend and explaining what I do, I get a confused look. What is C…R…M? Ok, I get it. Not everyone has lived in the software industry and is used to the many acronyms for our products. I explain it is a software package that helps you keep track of your customers and all your interactions with them. And hopefully by tracking all these interactions you can deliver a positive experience to your customers.
So I thought today we’d get back to basics! What is CRM? CRM = Customer Relationship Management. It is perhaps the most succinct description for the product; afterall it a software solution designed to help you manage and organize your customers so you have better relationships with them. You can track information that can answer these questions and many more:
- Who is my customer and what is their contact information? Who should I be contacting?
- What products do they own and what services do they use?
- What contracts do we have with them?
- What conversations have we had?
- What issues do I want to touch base with them on during our next call?
- What issues have we had and what was recommended? What were the resolutions?
When you think about who would use CRM you might automatically think Sales! But it can also be used by your marketing team, customer service and technical support teams. All these groups interact with your customers and directly or indirectly effect one another. For example if a customer is have troublesome support issues, it may put a damper on future sales. By having all these interactions in one system, the sales person has visibility into what is happening and can make a call that is more appropriate to the situation. If you want to learn more about how Sales, Marketing & Service can work together through CRM to make a more positive experience, check out this whitepaper by Peppers & Rogers called .
is a great program to manage all your customers' interactions and what’s even better is that it can integrate into your ERP solution such as Microsoft Dynamics GP. If you'd like to see what Microsoft Dynamics CRM looks like there are demos for , and or you can sign up for .
If you would prefer to have a custom demo, contact DFC Consultants at 800-277-5561 so we can learn more about your business and prepare a presentation for you to see how Microsoft Dynamics CRM can work for you. DFC Consultants is a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner specializing in Microsoft Dynamics CRM and GP. Since 1989, DFC has been providing accounting software solutions, training and support in our offices in Fargo, Bismarck, and Dickinson, North Dakota. Our passion is to assist clients in meeting their goals with professional services and powerful business solutions.
By Vanessa Veflin,
Customer retention is key to a company's success. A good CRM solution can help keep customers from slipping through the cracks. CRM enables moving suspects through the pipeline into prospects and ultimately, customers.