Customer Relationship

Management

1.
Customer relationship management (CRM), is a
software system that helps manage and easily track all
interactions and develop relationships with their leads and
clients. This platform enables to compile customer data across
different channels and points of contact between the customer
and the company and then helps to collate, tabulate, and
organise the data, to easily interpret the reporting features.
It caters a streamlined platform for sales teams to manage
customer communications and prioritize activities so that no
client feels ignored, thereby boosting their customer
experience. It helps the sales teams go deeper with analytic
data and metrics, including those from other sources. CRM
software is one of the most important sales tools in sales
representation forte, since it helps the users more easily access
and manage that information. It is definitely more than just a
contact management system.

Since Salman wants to implement CRM in his organization, as

a consultant the advantages, disadvantages of CRM and the
future of CRM are as follows:
Advantages of CRM :

Relationship building is an inevitable part of business. All

good organisations have great relationships with their clients,
the strategy is to find potential clients and follow up on them as
well as to rectify possible problems even before they are logged
as complaints.. The better the business manages customer
relationships, the more it will grow.

By implementing CRM the advantages are as follows:

 Stronger Customer Service :
CRM software enables a 360 degree view of
customers which is used to create highly customer specific
offers based on their requirements, purchase history and
more. It allows to segment the customers and address the
right audience with the right message, instead of sending
them all the same type of information. This provides a
personal relationship with the customer by offering
relevant content and service with quick and attentive
service by keeping in constant touch with them. Each
interaction between a member from the organisation and a
customer is an opportunity to boost customer satisfaction.
Improving overall customer service will keep your customers
coming back. Loyalty is built with good customer service.

 Generating new potential leads:

Lead generation aims at bringing in prospective
potential customers to the organisation. CRM plays a vital
role in generating leads. It enables to capture leads,
enhance them, make sure if they meet the requirements,
distribute them among the sales managers, and nourish
them more effectively. Thus CRM tool helps to capture
opportunities and convert them to deals, which is crucial to
grow and develop the business organisation.

 Increase in sales :
CRM helps sales people to align and optimise their
daily routines with regard to sale and prioritise task to
make sure customers are not ignored. This has a
significant impact on sales success since it helps the
business organisation close more deals, thereby
increasing profits. It helps in the management of time
along with having a target focus on the key prospects.
CRM helps streamline the sales tasks which results in
closing deals and helping everyone in the team not only
to just reach the targets but also to reach the bonanza
faster. Revenue can increase by a significant number
 when businesses use a CRM platform. CRM accelerates
each step of the sales cycle, hence the business revenue
hike up quickly.

 Better employee productivity:

CRM works towards the goal by focussing on time and
target. From generating leads to closing deals, CRM helps
to improve one’s productivity by multitasking without the
need of long hours. Pipeline management, prospect
monitoring, scoring etc are high levelled automations
provided by the CRM based on the personal approach of
every representative, because tailoring the process to an
individual helps in cracking more businesses and is an
effective strategy.

Disadvantages of CRM:

To incorporate CRM in an organisation it is important to

know the drawbacks of CRM along with knowing the
advantages. Despite the numerous benefits that CRM has to
offer to businesses, there are also some dormant
disadvantages of CRM thar is to be considered before making
decision.

 Security :
Data is one of the most valuable resources for any
organisation in this digital era. Data privacy is one of the
significant concerns while using the CRM systems. CRM
collects customers valuable and sensitive information
such as names, addresses, payment information etc and
stores it, which other parties can misuse. A data breach
can lead to significant impact on the business's
credibility, reputational damage and legal liabilities for
businesses.

 Cost:
 CRM has to be bought from a reputable solution
provider to minimize the drawbacks that comes along.
One of the biggest concerns of implementing a CRM
system is the cost that comes along. The implementation
is an expensive investment which doesn't guarantee
whether the return on investment is worth it. The software
not only demands installation cost but also makes other
ongoing overhead costs like subscription cost for any
additional services or features the organisation takes from
the CRM solution provider.

 Resistance to change :
CRM software often demands changes in business
culture and approach, which can be challenging for the
employees to adapt. CRM installation is easy since it is
fully automated process where data can be streamlined in
one place, however post the implementation process CRM
is not fully customised based on their work culture.
Despite being an expert in his job, the employee is trained
to become accustomed to CRM and learn to use it
effectively.

 Human element:
Amidst of technological advancements and data-driven
decision-making, it's essential not to lose sight of the
human element in CRM. Relying solely on CRM
technology may result in neglecting the human touch in
customer relationships, potentially leading to a loss of
customer loyalty.

Future of CRM:

In this digital era of innovation Artificial intelligence is the

ruler of any organisation. The future of CRM looks very bright
and is expected to grow significantly in the coming years,
fuelled by advances in AI, since it is made on the perspective of
“customer first, not company first.” This means focusing
on customer retention and highly personalized experiences
thereby improving sales and growth of the organisation.
Improvements and
advancements in artificial
intelligence, the expanding
role of the Internet in CRM
and increasingly more mobile
CRM solutions are the factors
that influence the growth of
CRM. Sales, marketing,
customer service,
management teams and even
other departments are
depending more on CRM tools to meet the growing
expectations of their customers. The market for CRM software
have increased rapidly in the last few years. CRM automation
saves marketers hundreds of hours composing emails and
drafting reports while CRM takes no time and labour. A
cohesive combined effort among the employees with an
operational sync with CRM ensures to attain the end goal of the
organisation faster at each point of the sales funnel. Since,
CRM platforms provide personalized communications even to
the individual level. Over the next few years, CRMs will play a
vital role in sales organizations. As businesses continue to
adapt and evolve, so does the CRM, it will remain as a base in
the search to build lasting relationships between customers and
the employee. Data-driven insights, and a commitment to
delivering outstanding customer experiences marked by
technological innovations is an evolving journey of the CRM in
the future. Automation, personalization, Internet of things,
social media are just a few of the trends that are set to shape
the future of customer relationship management.

2.

CRM in the area of sales, service and marketing lets

organisations manage customer relationships over the sales
cycle. Companies use CRM to streamline their sales,
service and marketing activities on one platform. Basically, it
is the combination of practices, strategies and technologies
that organisations use to manage and analyse customer
interactions and data throughout the sales and customer
lifecycle. It helps the employees to maximize their potential
in their daily routines and to prioritise their mission to make
sure their customers are not ignored and the key prospects
are contacted on time. CRM is all about communication, it
helps the employee to stay in touch with customers so one
can continually scale up their level of satisfaction with the
business. The systems helps in the overall internal
communications so the entire team is on the same page
when it comes to each lead and customer.

 Data accuracy and Analytics : To implement business

tasks and the strategies successfully, the need for
qualitative accurate data is important. It is common for a
sales employee to get a customer lost or be forgotten, but
by using CRM, one can collect and analyse customers'
details and deliver personalized marketing
communication. Maintaining accurate data is crucial for
sales in businesses of all sizes and industries. Since it
engages to run helpful reports, that forecast sales, identify
hot leads, and empower sales reps to act fast. The
analysis and accurate data available on hand with the help
of CRM provides businesses with insights to make
informed decisions, improve customer satisfaction thereby
helping in the growth of the company.

 Lead generation: There are various digital marketing

techniques to convert random visitors into clients and later
into loyal customers. A CRM system not only helps to
build a comfortable database for sales people to simplify
the process but also helps in generating leads. CRM
assists in delivering personalized solutions based on the
 social media activity of the leads. By capitalising customer
data, automation, and integration with marketing and sales
tools, CRM can provide a complete view of each customer
and inform more effective lead generation campaigns.
Leads are captured through various sources such as
websites, social media or shows. That information is then
entered into the CRM system. Therefore, CRM plays a
vital role in lead generation, by helping sales people to
identify and target new prospects.

 Bigger Revenue: One of the most important metrics

about a business is its ability to convert a lead into a
buying customer. The streamline workflow ensures every
detail from the sales process is preserved. CRM helps
rationalize sales moves by streamlining the sales cycle by
drastically accelerating it and improving tracking and
follow-up with leads hence one can expect the business
revenue to grow quickly. Therefore, Revenue can increase
by a significant percentage when businesses use a CRM
platform.

 Higher Productivity: CRM can lessen your mental load

and can take some stress off employees shoulders. CRM
releases the sales teams from the majority of basic tasks
by reducing and even removing some of the repetitive
actions that take a lot of time thereby eliminating petty
works and help them focus on the main task. CRM stores
product and price details, triggers reminders for activities,
and takes sales people through sales pipeline one step at
a time. It also enhances the spirit of teamwork amongst
the sales members by providing a central platform for
sharing information, tracking progress, coordinating and
managing efforts thereby helping them foster a sense of
unity and enables them to work more effectively together.
 Shorter sales cycles: A CRM solution illuminates
customer data with intelligence that guides salespeople
and marketers to reduce their sales cycle. This has a
direct impact on the bottom line. It is equipped with built-in
marketing automation, and gives you visibility into data
from marketing engagements, nurturing email
performance, and tracking events, all from within a single
dashboard. Shortening the sales cycle can help in the
growth of revenue because employees will be able to
reach more prospects.

 Enhanced Customer Service: CRM gives a 360 degree

holistic view of each and every customer. with CRM the
company can save all activities, projects, sales, chats,
email exchanges, invoices, orders or customer service
requests that a contact has ever been involved in. Having
such customer information easily accessible helps
customer support representatives provide better and
faster customer service.

 Customer Retentions: Retaining an existing customer is

more challenging than acquiring a new customer. CRM
software helps you collect and organize customer
information and identify their preferences based on
their purchase history, communication preferences,
feedback, and demographics. It provides businesses with
the tools and insights needed to build and maintain strong
relationships with customers. CRM can also prompt you to
reach out to those customers who have not been
contacted in a while, and perhaps feel neglected.

 Collaboration of Sectors: CRM can hold all types of

information, but various sectors of the same organisation.
 Aligning business processes between sales, customer
service, marketing etc is a tricky business. But CRM with
the help of AI does the job easily. By aligning under one
single database the company with various sectors can
work collaboratively and share insights, leads, issues, and
purchase history. When information is shared across
teams of various sectors, productivity and efficiency
escalate, silos of data vanishes, and the entire company
appears as one cohesive unit to the customer.

For example let us take a company who employ

CRM in their organisation as an example :

Netflix : As one of the world’s top streaming services

Netflix employs and relies on CRM. Netflix uses Zoho,
CRM to enhance the user experience by analysing
viewing history and preferences, it also helps to engage
subscribers, manage sales
leads, track growth and build
subscriber relationships.
Netflix’s intelligent content
recommendation system
delights users the most when using the platform. CRM
strategies have enabled them to understand customers
and predict their wants thoroughly. Zoho CRM's
automation and marketing tools help Netflix optimize its
sales funnel and subscriber lifecycle.
These are the benefits companies will gain because of
implementing CRM in the areas of sales, services, and
marketing. In a nutshell, If CRM is adopted and used correctly,
it will boost the performance of any sales, service and
marketing team, and will help teams to excel in their forte.
Overall, CRM enhances employees mobility, as the database
and all the work-related activities can be accessed on multiple
devices and from different location.
3.

A).

A well implemented CRM technology database puts a full

stop to chaotic process of spreadsheets and disorganized
customer data, in return provides a streamlined and
organized system of database. The benefits of CRM
databases are highly beneficial to be ignored, and an
effective CRM strategy is dependent on the ability to organize
the database along with its operations. To ensure the
correctness of the database in all aspect and to build a
database for the customers for the future are as follows:

 Data Security: Data security is the process of

safeguarding digital data of the organisation from theft,
corruption and from any unauthorized access. The data
includes all kind of information such as customer contact
details, purchasing patterns, and even financial data. If
any of this data was to get into the wrong hands, an
individual privacy or finances could be compromised. It
has to be made in such a way that Audit CRM processes,
including logins, errors, anomalies, and any changes to
the data should strictly monitored as well as encrypted
and given access control to the required employees.

 Data Enrichment: Data enrichment helps in improving

the quality of the pre-existing data so that the organisation
can maximize the potential of each customer interaction. It
is basically a process that enables companies to enhance
their existing databases by filling in the gaps with accurate
and relevant data, thereby maximising the potential of
each client interactions. Moreover the enriched data is
more accurate which pushes the potential of the
 employees to enrich internal sales data with third party
advertisement data for better effectiveness.

 Data Integration: Data Integrations result in automated

actions that spread the functionality of the software,
cutting the need to toggle between systems. It builds a
harmonial connect between the CRM software and the
applicants. It provides an insight on marketing strategies
by offering how customers respond by tapping into the
latest customer data, ensuring that every data is timely,
relevant and effective.

 Data Cleaning and Validation: This involves the

process of validating the correctness of the data and
correcting any errors in it. The data in the company
application that is duplicated, incomplete or poorly
formatted through the process of data validation and
cleansing it ensures that the inconsistencies in the data
are identified well before the data is used in the analytics
process.

 Data Quality Check : Data quality requirements should

be expressed in terms of data quality dimensions and
should be aligned with organizational objectives. The
quality of the data relies on the timeliness, compliance,
relevance, completeness, reliability, consistency and
accuracy of the information with regard to data
governance standards. Targets and thresholds should be
established for each of the dimensions. It involves running
predefined tests on datasets to identify discrepancies,
errors, or inconsistencies that could impact its usability
and credibility.

Airtel being one of the largest telecommunication service

provider in India and which is about to implement a CRM
technology, with me being the Chief Information Officer the
above are the means I will ensure that the database is correct
in all aspect and build a database of our customers for the
future.

b).

A CRM database keeps track of vital information while

making it easy for all the staffs to access data whenever and
wherever needed. Information or records about customers that
are stored within a CRM system is very important. There are
many pieces of data that an organisation can store in the CRM,
such as a contact’s name, email, phone number, city or location,
address, gender, education, work history, marital status
etc. Collecting accurate and complete data is of top priority
when using a CRM in the business. This data can be sourced
by following the below steps:

 Customer registration: Customer preference centres

allows the subscribers to provide their details and
customize their communication preferences. By this all
information about the customer flows directly into the
CRM. This customer data can be obtained during the sign-
up process, either through website, mobile application, or
even through a physical store.

 Direct interaction: This kind of data is obtained through

the direct communication with the customer through email
or other interactive channels. This includes the customers
feelings, behaviours, perception, emotions during the
purchase or consumption. It also covers the customer
interactions, such as sales transactions, service support
inquiries, and marketing engagements.

 Surveys : Customer feedback provides essential insights

into the actual customer experience and is vital for
increasing the customer satisfaction rate. Collecting
feedback from reviews and surveys will help in optimize
the strategies as well as identify weaknesses that can be
 improved. These surveys can be sent to the customer
through SMS text or email or even when they visit the site or
store.

 Third party platform : Customer data lives in many

physical, publicly available sources and technical third
party channels, such as emails, spreadsheets, post-it
notes, social medias like Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram
etc. These third party sources are external providers of
additional information that enrich the CRM data base and
help in understanding the customers better.

With the help of these sources, as the Chief Information

Officer of the AIRTEL company I can build a comprehensive
and up-to-date customer database.