Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
Customer Relationships are a key aspect of retaining existing customers and winning new ones. The management of the sales process has and always will be a key success factor
So what are the important aspects of managing customer relationships
1 Lead generation ) Plus Marketing
2 Identifying need
3 Qualification
4 Specification (may include customisation of standard product)
5 Enquiry handling
6 Cost estimating )
7 Quotation (may require project management for complex bids)
8 Order close
9 Sales Order Processing
10 Delivery (may require project management for complex products / services)
11 Installation / commissioning (may also require project management)
12 Servicing / spares / repairs
Order winning criteria or repeat business criteria might include the following,•Empower staff to own problems
•Quote realistic lead time
•Follow up quotations
•Make estimators responsible for sales
•Give telephone training
•Measure salespersons performance but be careful about incentives
•Improve disciplines / controls at all stages to avoid backlogs
•Analyse lost sales (Measure enquiry to order conversion rate)
•Cross train staff
•Give sales training to "office" personnel and service and repair staff
•Hide your internal complexity from your customer.
•Kill the old systems
•Make everyone responsible for marketing.
This should lead to:•Better all round ability to solve customer's problems
•Clearer priorities
•More customer confidence
•Fewer lost documents and delays
•A more business-like sales office
•Better customer communication
•Visible sales targets
•Ownership of the process
•Flexible people to deal with overloads
•Motivated staff
•Exploiting the telephone to help sales
•Better understanding of your competitors
Managing the ProcessThere should be a regular scheduled meeting of the sales office and mobile sales force, with a standard agenda as follows:
Operational issues•Special issues
•Customer situations
•Product developments
•Sales campaigns
•Etc.
•Review of turnaround times for quotes, enquiries, sales orders etc.
•Customer follow ups needed
•Sales calls anticipated (Do not let the salesman visit unarmed with the latest situation about current issues affecting that customer)
Development issues•Process Changes
•Organisation changes
•Problem solving
•Etc.
•Critique of the sales meeting
These form a major input into the improvement of the process.
So what are the important aspects of managing customer relationships
1 Lead generation ) Plus Marketing
2 Identifying need
3 Qualification
4 Specification (may include customisation of standard product)
5 Enquiry handling
6 Cost estimating )
7 Quotation (may require project management for complex bids)
8 Order close
9 Sales Order Processing
10 Delivery (may require project management for complex products / services)
11 Installation / commissioning (may also require project management)
12 Servicing / spares / repairs
Order winning criteria or repeat business criteria might include the following,•Empower staff to own problems
•Quote realistic lead time
•Follow up quotations
•Make estimators responsible for sales
•Give telephone training
•Measure salespersons performance but be careful about incentives
•Improve disciplines / controls at all stages to avoid backlogs
•Analyse lost sales (Measure enquiry to order conversion rate)
•Cross train staff
•Give sales training to "office" personnel and service and repair staff
•Hide your internal complexity from your customer.
•Kill the old systems
•Make everyone responsible for marketing.
This should lead to:•Better all round ability to solve customer's problems
•Clearer priorities
•More customer confidence
•Fewer lost documents and delays
•A more business-like sales office
•Better customer communication
•Visible sales targets
•Ownership of the process
•Flexible people to deal with overloads
•Motivated staff
•Exploiting the telephone to help sales
•Better understanding of your competitors
Managing the ProcessThere should be a regular scheduled meeting of the sales office and mobile sales force, with a standard agenda as follows:
Operational issues•Special issues
•Customer situations
•Product developments
•Sales campaigns
•Etc.
•Review of turnaround times for quotes, enquiries, sales orders etc.
•Customer follow ups needed
•Sales calls anticipated (Do not let the salesman visit unarmed with the latest situation about current issues affecting that customer)
Development issues•Process Changes
•Organisation changes
•Problem solving
•Etc.
•Critique of the sales meeting
These form a major input into the improvement of the process.
