How Marketing and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) are Connected
Every business knows that Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Marketing go hand-in-hand. Do all of these businesses know why though? By learning what customers want, the marketing can be more appropriately tailored to suit the target’s needs.
REPEAT CUSTOMERS
50, 30, even 20 years ago, the main goal was to sell a product to a customer, then move on to the next one. Now, companies have realized that repeat business can be as valuable, if not more, than one-time customers. According to About.com: Marketing, “repeat customers spend 33% more than new customers.” Colin Shaw, an “Influencer” on LinkedIn, also notes “The probability of selling to an existing customer is 60 – 70%. The probability of selling to a new prospect is 5-20%… It costs 6–7 times more to acquire a new customer than retain an existing one.” So, while gaining new business is important, it is also EXTREMELY important to keep your existing customers happy too.
CONSUMER’S VOICE
Another factor for companies to consider is not only how much monetary gain they will have from a repeat customer, but also how much of a reach that customer has to others via the Internet. If a customer is pleased with a certain product, they have the outlet to voice their positive opinion online. In the same sense, if a customer is not happy with a company or product, they can post negative comments online. Both reasons show why customer relationship management is important. Laura Lake of About.com also stated “Referrals among repeat customers are 107% greater than non-customers.” Also, maybe it’s not a bad product, but the service itself. Mr. Shaw says “A customer is 4 times more likely to defect to a competitor if the problem is service-related than price or product-related [and] for every customer complaint there are 26 other unhappy customers who have remained silent.”
ARE YOU LISTENING?
One negative review by a highly trafficked website can undo months of marketing, so it is important for companies to consider this into their marketing plan – by monitoring online activity such as blogs and social media. Another marketing item to consider related to customer relationship management is the opportunity to be connected, which can have valuable information. A customer who would like to receive emails from a company, or a customer who becomes a fan of a company on Facebook, is giving the organization an opportunity to connect with them personally, which can yield great insight into the habits, likes, and dislikes of customers or potential customers. There is also the ability to have a marketing plan that involves customer interaction. A company should strive for a customer that wants to visit their site and engage with them.
In short, marketing and customer relationship management are connected. Customer relationship management gives companies the chance to earn trust, please customers, and gain insight for their marketing plans.
References:
Lake, L. (2018). Customer relationships are key to your marketing strategy. About.com: Marketing. Retrieved from http://marketing.about.com/od/relationshipmarketing/a/crmstrategy.htm
Shaw, C. (2018). 15 statistics that should change the business world, but haven’t. LinkedIn. Retrieved from http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20130604134550-284615-15-statistics-that-should-change-the-business-world-but-haven-t