Is your organization considering a customer relationship management (CRM) platform to better serve customers? PR plays a critical role in the process, says Mike Boysen, founder of Effective CRM. “PR and marketing are focused on down-line revenue generation and brand awareness/preservation,” says Boysen. “This long-term focus helps to predict the right time to trigger customer behaviors.” Boysen suggests five actions to set the business stage before deploying a CRM platform.
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Make your customer information a strategic asset. Look at your customer data in new ways, and find new data to capture in order to craft more effective customer-centered messages.
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Create value with your customer at each point. Gain a better understanding of your customer’s complete experience, through the touch points and decisions before and after the sale, and during the use of your product or service.
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Be in sync. Your organization should have rules defining who communicates what, and through which channels.
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Share customer information across business units and external partners. This includes campaign coordination and lead distribution.
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Manage campaigns strategically. Campaigns should be man- aged based on customer needs, the value created, likelihood of repurchase and prior campaign results.
PR News subscribers can read more about customer relationship management in the case study: "A Web Site Redo and Fully Integrated Marketing and PR Lure Thousands of Anglers to Fishing Advocacy Platform."
Attend PR News’ Digital PR Summit on Feb. 16 in San Francisco to learn more about managing customer relationships through digital and social media.