Written on
10/18/2017
Improving Your Business Part 1 of 3: Process Analysis and Your CRM
Business executives will almost always say that they want their CRM to be a tool for building a successful, customer-centric organization. And then many will admit they aren’t sure how to get started.
The first step to improvement is to understand exactly how your business is functioning today. There are three key areas you’ll need to review: Process, People and Insight. This article will help you get started by identifying and articulating your Process as it stands today. (Future articles in this series will address People and Insight.) Only by understanding where you are can you make a plan for improvement.
It’s important to be able to think critically about your organization – without beating up yourself or anyone else! Remember, even if you wish you’d made improvements long ago, you’re making them now, and that’s what’s important.
Process Analysis: What is happening today in your business?
Be candid about your operations as you answer the following questions about how your business operates today – and don’t spend any time analyzing or assigning “bad” or “good” to any of your answers – you’re just recording the facts at this point!
- How do your customers or clients discover your business?
- How do you know when someone discovers you? For example, someone might hear an ad on the radio, but you have no idea they’ve heard your message. But your ad might include a special coupon code, allowing you to track a new customer back to your radio ad.
- How do you identify and target potential new customers?
- For each of your new customer sources, what is the specific process followed to make a sale? This may be different for various sources – you may be using a different process to close a sale to your radio ad lead vs. making a sale to a referral.
- When you get a new lead, what happens to that information?
- How do you nurture new leads who aren’t ready to buy?
- How do you know when a lead might be ready to buy? How do you act on that information?
- What is the closing process? How do you collect the revenue?
- How do you deliver your product or service?
- After the sale, how do you follow up to ensure customer satisfaction?
- What is the process for making the next sale to a current customer?
Once you’ve collected the above information, it’s time to take a step back. What seems to be working well? Where are there holes in your sales process? Where are the inconsistencies in your processes?
And, most importantly, are you losing customers along the way? Perhaps there is no consistent follow up with new leads. Or perhaps there is a problem with revenue collection or delivery. Or no one is reaching out to past customers for repeat sales.
A well-functioning CRM is key to improved business processes and business growth. And let’s not forget improved customer satisfaction. AspenTech CRM has helped thousands of organizations analyze their current operations and implement new procedures that improve sales, customer satisfaction, and profitability. In our next article, we’ll look at the role your people play in your overall business success. To have a free conversation with us about the results of your business process review call 866-880-4228.
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