The basic idea of a CRM manager is not new
Everyone talks about Customer Relationship Management (CRM for short) when they mean the organization of customer relationships. The appointment or recruitment of a CRM manager therefore goes hand in hand with the growing importance of customer loyalty for a company's business.
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Or rather: What does the person responsible for CRM need? In our experience, he or she must above all be versatile.
Areas of responsibility
Like a corner shop, the top manager of customer relations also has the goals of customer retention and acquisition, but uses a wide range of measures that were or are not usual for a corner store.
- Based on the CRM strategy, the CRM manager works out the CRM objectives with all departments and employees of the company who are involved in the measures.
- The CRM manager and his team analyze the data on purchasing behaviour, customer development or the company's current market situation. This allows potential for cross-selling to be uncovered, for example.
- In order to uncover these "treasures" and increase customer satisfaction, the Customer Relationship Manager installs, coordinates and optimizes all CRM processes in sales, marketing and service and reports the analyses and successes to top management.
- It is often also the Customer Relationship Manager who helps the company to introduce suitable software. It provides digital support for customer management across the entire customer journey. To this end, they research promising CRM tools and usually also manage the CRM project. The aim here is to provide all information about the customer and the experience with the customer in sales, marketing and service.
Skills of the CRM manager
- The customer relationship manager requires specialist skills, particularly in the areas of marketing and sales. A certain understanding of software ( CRM system) and figures ( analyses) is also required.
- In addition to technical skills, good manners, a well-groomed appearance, leadership qualities and communication skills in dealing with employees and customers are also relevant for the job of CRM manager.
- A CRM manager - in contrast to a store assistant - often works outside the store or office, as customer meetings play an important role. This requires independent work and effective time management on the one hand and teamwork on the other when other departments of the company are involved in campaigns. That's why one thing is absolutely essential:emotional intelligence.
The link between customers and care
Customer-Relationship-Management sollte nicht einer Abteilung wie Marketing, Vertrieb oder dem Service zugeschrieben werden. Mit der Benennung eines hauptamtlichen CRM-Managers im Unternehmen können Zielkonflikte vermieden werden. Er agiert dann in der Rolle einer unparteiische Instanz, wenn es um die Optimierung der CRM-Prozesse und CRM-Lösung geht.
Kommen die CRM-Weisungen hingegen aus einer Abteilung, so können Schwierigkeiten unter den Abteilungen entstehen.
The Customer Relationship Manager is not only the link between the specialist departments. Rather, they can act as a central point of contact for department heads and the interface to external service providers and the CRM software supplier.
CRM manager's tool: CRM software
CRM software supports the CRM manager in optimizing customer relationship management by recording all relevant customer data and processes. This provides them with a valid database for their work. In addition, the CRM software supports and increases the efficiency of all areas of the company that are in contact with the customer through newly created transparency and the central provision of information.
A CRM system is particularly helpful for the function of the CRM manager as a link between departments: a customer relationship program that addresses the requirements of sales, marketing and service reduces conflicts between employees.
To ensure that all employees recognize the benefits of the CRM system, they must be involved in the CRM system implementation phases wherever possible. This gives everyone the opportunity to get involved. The team around the CRM manager records further requirements in the CRM requirements overview (also known as the specification sheet), which is used to successfully implement the software evaluation. The Customer Relationship Manager is therefore actively supported in his work by his team.
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7 TIPS FOR CRM MANAGERS
If you know the purchasing behavior of your customers, you can create suitable offers and thus increase your company's sales.
