Continuity Programs Australia

ARE YOUR CUSTOMERS LOYAL? How do you measure your customer's loyalty? Just ask them this question: Would you recommend us to a friend? If you're not 100% certain that the answer is "yes", you need a CRM solution. Read on.

What is CRM?

CRM (Customer Relationship Management) is first and foremost a concept! It is the strategic way your organization intends to acquire, treat and keep a customer. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is about all customer touch points within your business...

Sometimes it's easier to describe what it's not...

• It is not equal to technology (technology is the enabler of CRM strategy)
• It is not a company reorganisation to make employees more customer focused (while this will certainly make implementing your CRM strategy easier, reorganization isn't CRM)
• It is not the integration of ALL customer data (again may make achieving CRM easier)
• It is not lead management, customer service, nor e-mail (which are tools used to start, maintain and optimise relationships)

CRM means different things to different People...

• A customer loyalty strategy, where loyalty is measured in terms of additional purchases, cross purchases, willingness to ignore competitors offers and advocacy (E. Reid Smith, December 2003).
• Creation and maintenance of long-term, mutually beneficial relationships with strategically important markets.
• A fundamental of CRM is that the value proposition or offer should be customised to meet or exceed customer expectations.
• The reward is enhanced profitability achieved through longer customer tenure and a greater share of customer spend (F. Buttle, Macquarie University).

In essence, a CRM appreach should be:

• Strategic by nature
• Structured (a formal process)
• Measurable (to measure the effectiveness of your efforts)
• Based around your high value (target) customers
• Linked to your value proposition
• Regularly reviewed, and
• Evolved with time

Why do I need a CRM system?

In the information age where information about you, your industry and your competition is readily available, at a click of a button, CRM is a vital business tool, which allows you to keep in touch with all the people you have done business with and the people you'd like to do business with again. It also lets you prepare a database of people you're not currently doing business with, but you'd like to.
Most importantly though, there are a wealth of compelling financial reasons why your business needs CRM.

It's a marketing mantra, but it is true...

• Keeping existing customers is 5 to 7 times cheaper than recruiting new ones
• In whatever form you decide CRM should be, it is an integral part of delivering your value proposition
• Do it well, do it consistently, it will create the customer experience that builds your brand (and your individual profile)

Think of Customer Relationship Management like you do dating...

1. Just because you bought a guy/girl a drink to get a phone number, doesn't mean he/she wants to go out with you (that's lead generation, not relationship building)
2. If you use a sexy outfit / hot car to acquire that first date, remember it's the follow through that makes or breaks the relationship (promises may attract customers, but it's the product quality, service and personal attention that makes them loyal)
3. Don't get smug because you got lucky on the first date (merely selling the first time is not a relationship, you need to give them a value proposition to make them want a relationship)
4. It takes careful relationship management to make it to the alter, and it takes even more management to stay hitched (customers are no different)

Continuity Programs Australia – Added value:

CPA offers a variety of dynamic CRM solutions that can be customised to fit your marketing needs. Our arrays of CRM programs are constantly enhanced to meet your new and upcoming challenges. The programs' targets are:

• Customer lead-generation and retention,
• Customer satisfaction, and
• Getting more business from past customers.

We can also fulfil any special mailing program requirements you may have. Our high quality materials are professionally designed to be warm and inviting to your customers' eye.

Samples of some of our pre-designed programs are available for these industries:

TALK IS CHEAP But this is not just sales talk. Solid research over several decades has been done in this arena, and these are now considered established facts. Here are the numbers: A 10% improvement in customer retention will result in a 30% increase in the value of the company. (Source: Bain & Co.)   A 1% increase in customer loyalty will result in a 10% cost reduction. (Source: Bain & Co.)   The probability of selling to an existing customer is 60%-70%, versus a 5%-20% probability of selling to a new prospect. (Source: Marketing Metrics)   The higher the customer retention rate of a company, the higher the company's productivity. The two are directly proportional. (Source: John A Murphy, The Lifebelt: The Definitive Guide to Managing Customer Retention, John Wiley and Sons, 2001, p.29.)   In any company, customer loyalty will on average account for 38% of the margin, 40% of revenue growth, and 38% of shareholder value. (Source: Accenture Research).   Now, if that isn't a call to action on CRM and customer retention, I dont know what is!