What are the best tools for managing customer relationships over time?

Crm is a sales tool. You can use it to manage pipeline and leads for existing customers, but don’t confuse it for a CS tool like Gainsight, Churnzero, Planhat etc. Expecting csms to manage outcomes out of Salesforce is the equivalent of asking Sales to work out of Jira. It’s the wrong tool for the job.

Customer relationship management (CRM) allows you to stay on top of all customer data & interactions. By acting as a repository of customer data and a unified platform that everyone can access, CRM can boost productivity for your team and help you make more sales.

CRM is the first step to understand how you are delivering value to the customer. Each and every interaction with th customer needs to be recorded in the system so that an organization can better evaluate how the customer perceives service-whether it be sales opportunities or service work.

In my experience, having the right CRM helps you manage every aspect of your customer including their overall health. Creating tasks with automation based on customer feedback and behaviors is really useful.

CRM systems are only as good as the people using them. Highly trained, skilled and knowledgeable workforces are critical to long term success of any CRM system and the data and information they store and distribute throughout an organisation. You always get out as good as you put in

Email marketing is a powerful tool for increasing customer retention and growing your business. By sending targeted and personalized emails to your subscribers, you can keep them engaged with your brand, build relationships, and drive conversions.

Un bon programme de fidélité permet aux clients de devenir ambassadeurs de la marque, du produit et plus tard de l’entreprise en tant que telle. Ils se surprennent à proposer et défendre la marque, le produit et l’entreprise auprès des prospects, nouveaux clients ou des clients insatisfaits. La règle des 5 R de la fidélisation client (réachat, rétention, réductions des coûts, résistance aux prix, recommandation ) trouve tout son sens lorsqu’un programme de fidélité répond de manière proactive aux attentes de ses membres.

In a B2B world, have a tool for marketing automation that is built into the CRM tool is extremely powerful. Sales can ask marketing to build great curated content and nurture campaigns that live right within CRM. Within Salesforce, I can add my contacts to the most relevant nurture campaign and now that they will be kept engaged with my brand over time with no work on my part. Add in my own personal connections, and it makes for a customer journey that is much more likely to turn into a meaningful prospect/ customer.

Email marketing tools are quite effective, but at the moment, I feel more at ease with chat apps because they are more informal and allow for quicker responses.

There are several great tools for managing customer relationships over time, and these tools often fall under the category of (CRM) software. Salesforce: Salesforce is a widely used CRM platform that offers a range of features for managing customer relationships, including sales, customer service, and marketing automation. HubSpot: HubSpot provides a suite of tools for marketing, sales, and customer service. It offers CRM, email marketing, and automation capabilities to help businesses manage customer relationships effectively. Zoho CRM: Zoho CRM is a cloud-based CRM platform that offers a range of features for managing customer relationships, including lead management, contact management, and sales pipeline management.

AI chats can help customers have a positive experience and feel valued. An AI chat is a type of chatbot that uses artificial intelligence. This chatbot can help customers get answers to their questions faster and more efficiently, creating better customer engagement.

Comme si nous communiquions avec des humains, les chatbots simulent des conversations humaines et nous facilitent l'accés à l'information et répondent à nos questions. Le chatbot ou assistant numérique est un outil digital utile qui fait gagner au client un temps considérable. Grâce à ces assistants numériques, les entreprises peuvent optimiser leur productivité. Si une équipe front office peut gérer un nombre limité de clients, les chatbots peuvent traiter avec un nombre nettement plus important.

Which chat app do almost all people use daily? WhatsApp. With WhatsApp marketing, brands can reach their customers where their friends are. Improving customer loyalty and revenue retention.

These technologies offer real-time interaction, providing instant and convenient support, which is crucial in the dynamic IT landscape.

AI or ML based interactive and responsive Chatbots are high in demand. Some Chatbots give auto-response and manages the enquiry at level 1 at least. Beyond which human intervention is required. On the other hand live chat tools saves a lot more cost for voice calling using phones, lines and mobile connections. Recently, I have seen a chatbot developed by some Chandigarh based company that allows chat within the staff, between staff and client, and between staff and B2B agents. All communication and documents shared are monitored, managed, and shown as and when needed even if these are deleted by the staff. That ychat runs on WhatsApp & facebook business API. That company is working on the removing this dependency as well.

A effective loyalty program will also improve retention by decreasing the value of purchases made through competitors. There are various types of loyalty programs brands can incorporate, including: Points – customers get a defined number of points after they make a purchase from a brand.

Loyalty programs empower companies to not only nurture long-term customer relationships but also gain valuable insights into consumer preferences, ensuring loyalty programs remain dynamic and aligned with evolving customer needs. It also creates great incentives for returning customers. How often do you stay loyal to airlines, hotel brands, car rentals etc just because you have status?

Loyalty programs are a great way to gauge customer sentiment of any feedback and route to the appropriate staff member to help. Unfortunately negative feedback ignored slashes the effectiveness of any loyalty programs in the future. Solved problems are the answer to loyalty programs.

KundenLoyalität wird durch gezielte Programme nicht nur attraktiv, sondern auch messbar. Emotionen bewegen immer zum Kauf und durch emotionale Kundenbindungsprogramme, in denen vor allem gut kommuniziert wird, entsteht eine starke persönliche Beziehung

I believe the strength of loyalty programs. It contributes to branding positioning, increases sales and consequently better profits in the business.

A  customer feedback tool is a software solution designed to collect, manage, and analyze customer feedback to improve products, services, and overall customer experience.

Often we can be caught in our own organisational story of the Emperor's new clothes. We think we are fabulous and become overconfident in the value we are providing to customers. Seeking honest and direct feedback can be painful but so critical to help the organisation make changes at point easy, versus point difficult. Customers don't churn because of cost, they churn because they aren't realising the value they were hoping for.

I always find the basics a good diary and a good old fashioned telephone. If you haven't got time to actually speak to your existing customers on a 3 or 6 month basis you really shouldn't be retaining their business.

Absolutely, customer feedback and survey tools are invaluable in keeping our finger on the pulse of customer needs and expectations. They enable us to continuously adapt and improve our offerings, ensuring we align closely with what our clients value most. It's fascinating to see tools like Churnfree, which facilitate a deeper understanding of customer insights without overwhelming us with data. The real magic lies in using these insights to enhance our customer relationships in a natural, customer-focused way. This approach not only enriches our product and service quality but also strengthens customer loyalty and satisfaction.

conducting surveys to help manage customer relationships over time. Here are some popular options: -SurveyMonkey: SurveyMonkey is a widely used platform for creating and conducting surveys. It offers a range of survey templates and analytics tools to gather valuable customer feedback. -Qualtrics: Qualtrics is a comprehensive experience management platform that includes survey tools for gathering customer feedback, as well as features for analyzing and acting on the feedback received. These tools can help businesses gather valuable insights from customers, understand their needs and preferences, and ultimately improve customer relationships over time. Each tool has its own unique features and capabilities.

Being there for your customers through the happy times as well as the complaints. Be there no matter what. Be approachable, be available, be transparent. It's not just about shaking their hands and saying thank you when the transaction is good but also making sure that if you or your company has made a mistake then you need to do everything possible to rectify that mistake. Customer satisfaction is not measured by the mistake but how a company handles the mistake. Customer satisfaction is a company culture and it starts right from the top.

Your calendar! Yes, not the fancy route, but saving key dates/ milestones/ birthdays in your calendar on a very specific date to enforce your outreach to the client on that exact date is very thoughtful from a client perspective. It shows you care about them.

You can have all the fancy expensive tools in the world, but if you don't have rapport you are screwed. Find the commonality, spend time understanding who your client is and what drives them - and dont talk about whatever you are pitching in the first 5 or so minutes. Don't be disingenuous.. people will see right through that (especially Aussies and Kiwis). For me, be selective about who you message re birthdays or special events - it will be hollow and not seen positively if it is to someone that you didnt have a connection with, and if you are that way inclined, write notes that help remember the salient points to read before the next interaction (ie. Little Johnny broke his leg) that help with the rapport. Everything is relationships.

Creating a sense of belongingness by soft , sincere and wholehearted approach towards Customers , by Handholding Customers , by taking care of their needs and wishing them prosperity throughout can never ever turn Customers away but can only bring them more and more closer culminating in a blooming and cherished relationship all along the way ..

Being handled the B2C sales team, The most important stuff is taking followup on time. Calling and following up with the Cx at the given time from Cx end is very crucial for building trust. We miss most of the sales because of poor followup. As per my industry knowledge, any potential lead getting closed needs at least 4-9 followup calls. We miss out the right time to call the Cx, hence we loose out on sales. So Marking TASK DATE AND TIME for Followup is important inorder to close the pipeline and convert them into sales.