E-Business?s Best Friend: eCRM

From Ebay to the smallest home-operated start-up, e-businesses of all sizes struggle to accurately answer a common question: who are my customers? If you can't answer that question, chances are you're also in the dark about the following questions. What customer demand trends can I expect in the future? How can I improve customer retention? What can I do to build long-term relationships of trust with customers? Knowing the answer to these questions can mean the difference between long-term growth and profitability and crashing and burning.

Enter eCRM

With the proliferation of e-business into just about every consumer market, customers are faced with more options than ever. As a result, they have naturally become increasingly demanding both of the products they purchase and customer service they receive. The idea is that, "if company A doesn't meet my expectations, I can always go to companies B thru Z. By merely doing a Google search on your product or service you can quickly discover the number of competitors waiting for the chance to eat your lunch.

The importance of eCRM is highlighted when you think of the fact that e-business' customer 'touch points' are limited and usually virtual. There's seldom any face-to-face contact because the company usually doesn't have a physical location, just a web domain.

Because of the relatively recent appearance of eCRM on the business scene, many people aren't quite sure how to define it. In fact, the definition of eCRM varies almost as widely as the techniques companies use to manage it. For some people, eCRM may be as simple as pulling data off their order tracking system; they may believe keeping track of who bought what tells them the whole story. Other e-businesses with more experience may take a more complex view; metadata, datamining and drilldowns, and CTI can all be seen as vital eCRM tools used to paint a picture of the customer.

Unfortunately, because of the recent inundation of eCRM systems to the market, some e-business fall into a 'can't-see-the-forest-for-the-trees' syndrome; management may get lost in the data and lose sight of their goals. The purpose of eCRM isn't to collect data in new and interesting ways, it's to answer the questions above. Still, crossing the gap between software and results remains a feat few eCRM systems are able to accomplish.

The problem with many eCRM systems is that they either, 1) collect irrelevant or insufficient data, or 2) don't correctly interpret data. While the second point is largely what management gets paid for, we must remember that small and medium business is the largest market segment for eCRM. These businesses are usually run from home by individuals with little or no formal business education.

The good news for startup e-businesses is that many of the newer eCRM providers will handle the nitty-gritty aspects of your customer relationship management system for you, effectively freeing up more of your time for other important tasks.

Cameron Brown is an internet marketer specializing in ranking automation. For more information on eCRM, please visit Inside Sales.

---

6 Reasons Why Complaining Customers are Golden

With Some Tips on How to RespondTt has probably happened... Read More

10 Customer Service Quality Statements to Measure up Against

It might sound quick and simple, to say how well... Read More

How To Kick Your Customer Service Up A Notch!

Welcome to the inaugural issue of Human Tech Tips --... Read More

At Your Service: The Ten Commandments of Great Customer Service!

Customer service is an integral part of our job and... Read More

Whats Love Got To Do With It?

Customer Loyalty, we all want it. Don't we?Some people say... Read More

Client Appreciation - It Means Everything!

Want to know the secret for keeping your clients forever?... Read More

5 Ways Customer Service Managers are Implementing to Increase Customer Focus

According to a Forum Corporation survey of commercial customers lost... Read More

Are You A Coward? I Was

Over the last month, I have come to hate emails... Read More

Call Center Software - Your Tool of Choice in Customer Relations

The call center represents your first line of communication with... Read More

Treating the Customer Dissatisfaction Epidemic: How to Go Beyond Simply Masking the Symptoms

Corporations in every sector are spending more than ever before... Read More

The Drawback of Hacking Off a Blogger Through Weak Process Gaps and Pathetic Customer Service

With all of the recent data theft in the financial... Read More

The Dissatisfied Customer

We, as small business people, naturally dislike complaints from our... Read More

Customer Service, Italian Style

Nowadays, we complain nearly all of the time about how... Read More

Ten Ways to Help You Improve Your Customer Service

1. Stay in contact with customers on a regular basis.... Read More

What Every Employee Should Know About How to Win the Loyalty of Customers

Dr. Michael LeBoeuf, in his cassette album entitled, Win... Read More

The death of customer servie

The other day a reporter call to interview me on... Read More

When a Customer Has Done Everything to Get Your Goat

You try to make your customers happy. You sincerely WANT... Read More

Loyalty Programs May Keep Customers Coming Back ? But First You?ve Got to Earn their Trust

Remember trading stamps? If you're over 40, chances are you... Read More

Saying Thank You to Your Clients

"Thanking your customers" - Why you should do it and... Read More

Putting The Serve Back Into Customer Service

Good service is easy to spot and hard-to-find. Mediocre service... Read More

It Is All About Customer Service!

In this day of terrible customer service, it should come... Read More

Got A Consumer Problem?

Millions of people, just like you, end up with a... Read More

Oil Change Customer from Hell or Hoax; You Decide

Evacuation, "E-Vac" Oil System for Oil ChangingHow do most mobile... Read More

Dont Be Afraid To Give Problem Customers The Boot

Q: In a recent column you made the point that... Read More

The 7 Principles of Business Integrity

If you have integrity, nothing else matters. If you don't... Read More

Astonish your Customers With These Customer Service Tips

Customer service today is getting worse. Win customers over and... Read More

Courting Customers - From First Date to Marriage

Landing a new client is like courting a potential spouse.... Read More

Mexico: Online Ordering?Dont!

I got it into my head sometime in December 2004... Read More

Dont Work with Jerks: How to Recognize a Difficult Client Early

Five minutes into the call I knew this client was... Read More

Losing Angry Customers

This article offers five ways to help you deal with... Read More

7 Bits Of Critical Information You Cant Afford NOT To Know About Your Customers

If you think customer relationship management is just a piece... Read More

Customers - What They Really Want - 6 Secrets of Customer Service

What customers really want can be divided into two areas.Firstly... Read More

What Exactly is Customer Relationship Management?

The defintion of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) that I favor... Read More