Companies with Successful CRM Strategies and how they did it

With technological developments happening daily, the world rapidly shifts the way it does business. One remarkable piece of evidence that proves how much tech is taking over, is the phenomena in which more and more companies decide to use Customer Relationship Management software.

CRM allows businesses to collect and use data to develop deeper relationships with their customers. It empowers sales, customer service, marketing, and is found to increase revenue overall. The average return of CRM have risen from $5.60 in 2011 to $8.71 for each dollar invested, and will continue to rise as more solutions are developed. The CRM industry’s growth shows no sign of declining, and according to statistics, it is even expected to reach a revenue of $80 billion by 2025.

How are companies leveraging this powerful tool?

Here is an overview of the businesses that have adopted their CRM correctly, their strategies, implementations, and overall success with Customer Relationship Management.

Toys “R” Us

Toy retailing company, Toys ”R” Us, decided to shift its online marketing strategy from local teams running their markets independently, to utilizing a centralized e-commerce platform, using Commerce Cloud by Salesforce. This allowed the company to strengthen its online presence in multiple regions, and at the same time, save money by cutting back on hosting multiple websites.

As opposed to their previous strategy of focusing on their offline, physical stores, the company now equally values e-commerce, using an omnichannel approach to reach its customers and drive sales. Whether it’s online or offline, the customer can easily access products and purchase Toys ”R” Us.

This is further aided by the company’s Star Card Loyalty Program, wherein customers can earn points and rewards through each purchase. It drives Toys ”R” Us to better understand their customers using data from previous purchases and other insights, allowing them to provide a more personalized experience.

Amazon

As the world’s leading e-commerce platform, Amazon continuously outperforms other online shopping sites with its simple, yet impactful strategy: Customer Obsession. Amazon makes it notably easy for customers to find whatever they need or want, and buy it from their site, with just one click. Offers are tailored depending on the customer’s stored data and coupled with fast delivery options, Amazon products are irresistible to consumers.

The role of CRM comes in when the user creates their Amazon account. From there, Amazon uses their browsing history, address details, as well as previous purchases, and other information to better understand each customer and dish out relevant product recommendations and promotions that are likely to keep the customers buying. It also saves payment details making it easier for subsequent purchases. Customers end up browsing the millions of available products on the platform, which further enriches the company’s data on its customers.

Apple

Customer Centricity and Product Differentiation have always been two of Apple’s brand ethos. Even without utilizing traditional marketing techniques such as doing market research and setting up a customer loyalty scheme, Apple still manages to build hype around its products. A big factor that contributes to this phenomenon is not only the products themselves, but more so on their effort to understand each customer, anticipating their needs individually. For Apple, the customer is always first, and their CRM strategy allows them to live out this philosophy even more.

All it takes for Apple to get closer to its customers is through Apple ID. The Apple ID is something that users need to register to once they own an Apple device. It allows access to services offered by Apple such as iTunes, iCloud, the App store, and many more. The Apple ID synchronizes with multiple devices and it enables Apple to use customer information in further understanding their customers, as well as to give tailored offerings and recommendations.

British Airways

In 2002, British Airways decided to implement its CRM movement to aid and automate its marketing efforts, hosting it on a single platform. Using Teradata’s CRM, BA was able to access integrated information from multiple sources, get insights on customer behaviors, and allow for less time for manual database administration. CRM enabled BA to automate marketing campaigns, improve overall customer communication, and reduce marketing costs.

In addition, the British Airways Executive Club made customer loyalty even higher. The Executive Club is a free membership that can be used to earn points called “Avios” whenever members purchase flights and other services offered by BA. Not only can the airline track the customer’s booking behavior, customers can also use this membership to save travel preferences like their meals, seating, etc. It’s also a way for British Airlines to deliver relevant offerings and marketing campaigns to its members, making re-booking and sales easier.

Mcdonalds

The multinational fast food restaurant chain known as Mcdonald’s, has thousands of franchises all over the world, which means it needs a powerful customer data collection tool that can serve the company both locally, individually, and as a whole. With this in mind, Mcdonald’s decided to use PowerCenter, a Customer Relationship Management tool created by Astute Solutions. The goal is to maintain customer satisfaction by collating customer feedback, both positive and negative. This data is then used to spot and mitigate potential problems before they bubble up into bigger issues.

The CRM allows both the franchisees and the corporate managers to have access to real-time feedback as well as other forms of customer information. Since Mcdonald’s is a network of restaurants spread out across the globe, having a single platform to collect, process, and store consumer data, makes it easier to create business decisions and effective marketing campaigns.

 

CRM is truly revolutionary as it enables 21st-century businesses to get ahead of the game by better understanding their thousands, if not millions, of customers through data. However, it isn’t without any drawbacks. Due to poor crm user adoption, many CRM projects, approximately 30%, fail. This means that if a company decides to take on CRM, its top priority should be the complete and seamless adoption of its chosen system. This can be achieved by using tools that can aid the adoption process. CRM Data Entry services can be engaged in order to fast track and optimize company CRM user adoption where data is properly mined but sales performance unhindered.

In Conclusion, CRM, if done right, can be a great tool to connect to customers, empower one’s business, and increase revenue. Strategically aligning CRM efforts with the company’s existing procedures, goals, and data, along with adequate CRM adoption efforts, will surely create business continuity and overall growth.