Operational CRM: what is it all about?
Customer relationship management is a critically important activity for any company. Therefore, it is essential to manage customer relationship management processes as well as possible.
Are you aware that there are as many as 4 types of CRM? Do you know what they are and what differentiates them?
In this article we deal with operational CRM: what is it and what are its peculiarities?
What is meant by operational CRM?
Definition
CRM is a very broad concept concerning the company and its vision as a whole.
CRM, at a general level, designates the set of strategies to tactics inherent in managing customer relationships, with the goal of maintaining, acquiring and increasing their value.
Going into specifics, operational CRM deals with processes aimed at automating, standardizing and improving direct company-customer contacts.
It essentially applies to marketing, sales and customer service. Here are some activities pertaining to operational CRM:
- processes for automating after-sales support tasks,
- management of promotional and communication campaigns,
- automation of sales force activities, etc.
The differences between operational, analytical, collaborative and strategic CRM
We have seen the characteristics of operational CRM. At this point, however, we might ask what differences exist with the other 3 existing types.
Strategic CRM promotes a business strategy aimed at retaining and acquiring highly profitable customers. To do this, an entirely customer-centered corporate culture must be pursued.
Analytical CRM intervenes as a result of the data generated by operational CRM. Its goal is to analyze and transform this information so that it has an increasingly sophisticated understanding of customers.
Here is an image that clearly highlights the differences and links between operational CRM and analytical CRM:
© Marketing with heart.
Finally, collaborative CRM aims to improve internal communication within the company. All stakeholders should be able to immediately access and share all the information they hold related to customers.
☝ The product-oriented approach is now considered outdated by most business and corporate strategy experts.
Operational CRM: how to put it into practice
We have seen what the typical activities of operational CRM are. To carry them out, it becomes obviously essential to adopt the right tools.
CRM software has evolved greatly in recent years. Today, state-of-the-art solutions make it possible to make the most of the data collected, thanks to sophisticated business intelligence .
In terms of available solutions, there is certainly no shortage of choice! Precisely because of this, however, choosing the solution best suited to your characteristics could be complex.
💡Small businesses for example may have very different needs than more structured companies. One suggestion: look for solutions that are as flexible and scalable as possible.
Let's look together at what features to look for to perform operational CRM.
Features to choose the right software
Operational CRM must allow you to manage key customer-related business processes (sales, marketing, services, etc.). It follows that there are many features involved in operational CRM. Here are some of them:
- tools for prospect classification and segmentation (browsing data analysis, customer profiling, etc.),
- system for managing marketing campaigns and promotions,
- Chat for interacting with your customers,
- integration with social media (for advertising and customer interactions),
- tracking and centralization of communications with customers,
- automated sending of communications,
- monitoring of sales activities and customer satisfaction, etc.
💡 Make the most of geolocation data from mobile devices! In fact, the most advanced CRMs allow the creation of location based services: these are services offered based on the geographical location of the potential buyer.
The SaaS revolution: innovation at your fingertips
SaaS, which stands for Software as a Service, is an entirely cloud-based software delivery model. Its gradual emergence has enabled it to supplant traditional on-premise software, which required initial installation, complex manual maintenance, and had generally higher costs.
With SaaS, on the other hand, software can be accessed simply through a Web browser (and by having a good Internet connection). This revolution has greatly democratized access to enterprise CRMs: by paying a simple monthly fee, small and medium-sized businesses can now equip themselves with high-tech software tools.
Software for dealing with operational CRM
Among the best-known and most widely used SaaS CRMs is Microsoft Dynamics, a solution that takes interactive functionality to the highest level in the enterprise-customer relationship. Although it is best known for its functionality in CRM, the software actually enables the management of the entire business processes of companies.
On our business software comparator, you can find a large number of specific software for the Italian market.
The importance of operational CRM in the Italian landscape
Retaining customers, developing increasingly targeted and personalized marketing campaigns, increasing sales...all these goals require meticulous planning and preparation, unthinkable without using the right tools.
According to the CRM & Marketing Automation Observatory 2019, companies with a CRM system in Italy account for 74 percent. This figure, growing steadily year after year, speaks for itself: CRM is now an indispensable tool to remain competitive and perform.
What about you, were you aware of the differences between the various types of CRM? Are you familiar with these processes? What are your impressions on the subject? If you want, you can exchange with us by commenting below.
Article translated from Italian