The term Customer Relationship Management is an approach that refers to strategies, practices, and technologies, a company uses to analysis and manage customer interactions and data to improve business relations with the aim to improve business relations with customers, to assist in customer retention and to drive sales growth. One aspect of CRM approach is to use the systems of CRM to compile data through different communication channels like the company’s website, telephone, email, live chat, marketing materials and social media. Through this approach, businesses learn more about the target audience and the best way to cater to their needs. A CRM that integrates to social media enables businesses to implement effective social selling strategies. Companies in a bid to maintain a positive relationship with their customers in this highly competitive market need a good CRM program in keeping the customers satisfied. Customer relationship management has significant effect on customer satisfaction and the top CRM companies ensure that both the variables have positive relation. Companies tend to make their CRM reliable and strong so as to keep the customers satisfied and retain with the company. Since CRM also plays major role in increasing the market share, enhancing productivity, improving customer’s knowledge and also customer’s loyalty to the company, all of which helps the business to grow.

Online Customer Relationship Management Tools

There are many customer relationship management (CRM) applications available in the market, which help the company monitor, manage and respond to the customer’s queries and feedbacks on social media sites. A few of the online CRM tools that are useful are –

Insightly: An apt CRM tool for small businesses, Insightly offers their system free for two users, 200 megabytes of storage, 2500 records and ten custom fields. With a built-in email marketing system, Insightly is set apart from other CRMs due to this feature.

Zoho CRM: With highly developed importing features, Zoho is an easy to use CRM tool. An expert of business software, its free version allows 10 users and 5000 records. Along with social CRM it also comes with a mobile app.

Sales Mantra: For logistics industry, Sales Mantra helps better co-ordination among the sales team and maintaining centralized database of customers to provide better service.

Benefits of Customer Relationship Management for Online Businesses

A system which aims at improving the relationships with existing customers and finding new prospective customers, top CRM companies help in collecting, organizing and managing customer information. Implementing a CRM strategy is extremely advantageous for online businesses. The benefits of CRM are –

• Improved customer relations: Improving customer relations is of paramount importance as it helps build a satisfactory relation. By using CRM, serving, marketing and selling the products can be carried out in a systematic and organized way. It also helps in providing better services to customer by understanding their issues which in turn helps increasing customer loyalty.

• Better internal communication: A CRM strategy helps in building a better communication within the company as data sharing between different departments boosts teamwork. This enables in increasing company’s profitability as well as better service to customers.

• Optimize marketing: By utilizing CRM, the company is able to understand customer’s needs and also identifying the appropriate time for marketing the product to the customers. With the help of CRM, it helps identifying the potential profitable customers.

• Increasing customer revenue: By using the data collected with the help of CRM, it helps in popularizing marketing techniques in a more effective way. It also helps in targeting a new set of audience, one which doesn’t overlap with the existing customers.