What is CRM? Types of CRM

Every successful business runs on the blueprint of maintaining good customer relations through various means. CRM is a process that covers three different aspects that is marketing, sustaining sales, and customer service activities. Many organizations emphasize and channel their funds as well on activities and programs that are related to CRM software and technology. It does not just help to close sales and maintain good relations with customers but rather CRM helps an organization to defend against various problems with regard to marketing, customer service teams, business intelligence, and so on.

What is CRM?

CRM or more commonly known as Customer Relationship Management assists organizations while they are engaged in interaction with clients and potential clients. With a CRM stage, client inclinations are recorded, and client movement can be followed. CRM programming assists associations with smoothing out their cycles and work processes so that all aspects of the business are in total agreement. Sales and marketing groups, particularly, depend on CRM to make coordinated efforts and work on their productivity.

Types of CRM

As we discussed above, CRM is a software or an aspect that helps you to solve most of your problems by offering appropriate solutions to the same. However, using CRM and its various features can be also a con if you are not aware of the right type of CRM for your problem. The various types of CRM are mentioned as follows.

 
Operational CRM

As the name suggests, Operational CRM covers the aspect of all the operations that are taken with regard to the customers. Operational CRM consists of three different areas, i.e., marketing, sales, and service.

•  For the sales aspect, the operational CRM offers various tools that assist the sales team to identify and ease the process of finding the leads that are worth pursuing. It also streamlines the process by maintaining the record and pitching the same proposal by itself to the leads, thereby easing the process for the Sales team.

•   Operational CRM offers tools that help with marketing automation. As we are aware that marketing is very important for the sales of a company, however, at the same time it is very time-consuming as well. Operation CRM assists with running the campaigns smoothly and freeing up the marketing department.

• As for Service automation, Operational CRM offers various tools that assist in providing various automated services to the customers by offering some easy and probable solutions.

Analytical CRM

For any type of business, data is always the key. However, storing and managing all the data of your business is difficult and to make use of the same data is even more difficult. Analytical CRM helps you in using the same data to generate sales in your Operational stage. With ample of data, it becomes very complex to figure out the right data to be used for generating sales.

•  The first stage of the tools provided through Analytical CRM is the storing, accessing, and the organizing of the data. As discussed above, a business has ample of data at hand, figuring out through each of them is almost an impossible task, especially for the huge organizations. Analytical CRM offers tools that sort out all the required data and ease the process.

•   The second stage is to figure out or mine the data that you have. Reading and analyzing through all the given data is time consuming and hectic for any organization. Analytical CRM offers various tools that break through the given data and sort it out according to its usage. There are different aspects of data present with every company, some data leads to know the anomalies of a company, some help them to realize their strengths or undermined areas, and so on, Analytical CRM assists for the same.

•   The next aspect where Analytical CRM contributes to the making of the reports, i.e., deciding whether a particular set of data is important, how it may contribute to the profits of the organization, how certain areas are incurring losses for the business, and so on.

Collaborative CRM

Collaborative CRM or also known as strategic CRM is all about the communications and the collaboration that goes on within the different teams and departments of an organization. Be it about important data to be transferred to the analytics team, or be it about important leads that may lead to sales to the sales department, Collaborative CRM ensures all the processes and it also has the same motive of providing customer service, hence it is also considered to be similar to Operational CRM.

•  The primary aspect is the interaction management. As they say, the first impression is always the last impression. Every interaction that your customer has with the company is facilitated by Collaborative CRM, ensuring that the interaction is recorded, noted, maintained, and left with a good impression in the minds of the customers. Interaction management helps you to understand the problems and the wishes of your customers and accordingly you can make changes in your business operations.

•   Every business has its presence on different platforms, be it social media, website, and so on. Collaborative CRM also ensures proper channelling and interaction of the customers through any of the given platforms where the business has its presence. A customer may choose to approach through such platforms, or via email, or through the phone, it is the part of Collaborative CRM to ensure that the communication goes smooth.

•   The collaboration and communication is not just limited to customers and the various teams that the business has, it is also extended to all the vendors, suppliers, and any party that is crucial to the business organization as a whole. Sometimes, in certain aspects a few of the departments are also to be filled in during an important meeting or important happening, in such cases, Collaborative CRM ensures that each and every aspect, be it outside communication, or inside communication, word and is reached to every team that is concerned and encircles with regard to the business.

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