Customers. A business without them is no business is at all. So, common sense says that keeping customers at the forefront of your business plan is critical to the success of any company, writes Scott McLaren. Unfortunately, while many retailers understand this and have great customer relationship management ideas, they just can’t quite turn them into action. Ideas are great, but they won’t impact your business until you bring them to life. So, what exactly do retailers need to do to inject a little life into their long list of customer relationship management (CRM) concepts? An action plan, of course. Ready to turn your ideas into action? Take these four steps to get your CRM plans under way …
1. Focus on a single idea
One of the biggest mistakes retailers make when trying to turn their CRM ideas into reality is trying to make several changes at once. You may want to see your concepts have an impact as soon as possible, but pushing too many ideas into the pipeline at the same time can kill them faster than you dreamed them up. To avoid this, identify a single idea that will impact your business and focus on making that happen.
2. Pursue CRM plans that will make an impact.
Have you found your opportunity? Great. Now ask yourself ‘Why does this matter to my business?’ If you can’t answer that question definitively, it’s time to go back to Step #1. Every idea needs to connect to your bottom line, and if you’re not sure how one does, it’s safe to say that you should move on to a more useful option.
3. Get moving
You’ve targeted an idea and identified how it will help your business – now it’s time to implement your plan. But before you do, make sure everyone on the team understands your goals, clarify who’ll be in charge of implementing the new CRM plan, and accept that it will take time before you’ll see an impact. Defining a clear path for your team can help you avoid problems that could bring your well-planned process to a halt.
4. Assess and repeat
So, you’ve made your first customer relationship management idea reality. Now it’s time to assess that process and move on to the next one. Look at what worked (and what didn’t), and pinpoint where you could smooth out some issues. Then tweak your plan accordingly. You’ve done it once – now do it even better!
Scott McLaren is the CMO of Fortegra Financial Corporation, a single-source insurance services company that, through a network of subsidiaries and preferred partners, offers a range of credit protection, warranty, and specialty underwriting solutions.
