“CRM alone will not resolve all organisational ills. However, the organisations that implement CRM have shown improved results in key metrics impacting both customer and organisational profitability.”
These were the finding from a study commissioned by the Aberdeen Group who looked at customer care levels when a CRM system was installed (versus no system). They found that Customer Care agents benefit from having a CRM tool at their disposal.
As seen in the chart below, agent utilisation more than doubles when they have a CRM system in use compared to when they do not (56% vs. 23%). Similarly, agent productivity is drastically higher when they are able to utilise a CRM platform as opposed to when one is not available (48% vs. 32%). Additionally, using CRM leads to much higher client retention rates compared to not using CRM at all (47% vs. 37%).
Customer Care in CRM
Source: Aberdeen Group
A CRM system transforms the client service agent into a more productive, proactive, and knowledgeable agent. Therefore, the agent’s response times, quality of advice, and overall delivery and demeanour improve to transform and enhance the customer experience. Likewise, the agent finds it easier and more convenient to do his job with the help of CRM because data is centralised, readily available, and real-time. Thus, the client contacting the Customer Care division finds it quicker, easier, and more convenient to contact the firm. Since it is no longer a hassle, and surprisingly pleasant, the client becomes more satisfied and loyal. In the end, the client is less likely to leave and the use of CRM helps client retention shoot through the roof.
Aberdeen is not done there, though. They go on to highlight in the following chart how using CRM leads to positive returns on a year over year basis for the metrics of average margin per client, cross-sell and up-sell revenue, and first contact resolution. On the other hand, firms not using CRM experience negative or flat results for the same year over year KPIs.
Organisations who are either slowly struggling or refusing to use CRM are definitely lagging top performers that already are successfully using CRM.
Customer Care in CRM
Source: Aberdeen Group
If your organisation is clamouring to provide your customer service agents and field sales executives with more insight and visibility into your client, prospect, and partner relationships take a look at CRM. As a leading Sage CRM Developer,
Loria Consulting can assist you in syncing your CRM system with your sales and operational processes to better align your products and services with your customers’ needs and differentiate yourselves from the competition.
