Picture yourself strolling into your neighbourhood cafe. Before you can even blurt out your order, your favourite barista, Bob, is already whipping up your go-to large iced coffee with cream and extra ice cubes. He slides your beverage across the counter, your name beautifully scribbled (and spelled right, surprisingly).

That's the ultimate customer service dream, right? But let's face it: Bob isn't a psychic. He's just supremely good at his job. But what if there's a way for your business to channel Bob's magic? ✨ A strategy to remember your customers, their buying history, and even how they spell their names?

Enter the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) strategy. It's a business's secret recipe to make every customer feel like a favourite regular. And it's not just great for your customers - it's a total game-changer for your business.

Understanding CRM Strategy

Before we dive deep into this, let's clear up some jargon.

• Customer Relationship Management is the key to winning over your customers. It's about understanding them, engaging them, and building relationships that last.

• CRM software is your tech BFF. It's a suite of digital tools designed to organise, automate, and synchronise customer interactions.

• Your CRM strategy, the main focus of this article, is the master plan to keep customers satisfied, engaged, and returning for more. It's about harnessing the power of customer insights to make your business irresistible. (You don't necessarily need CRM software to implement your strategy, but it can be a massive help.)

With a solid CRM strategy, you can not only keep your customers as satisfied as Bob's customers, but you can also boost your business by using their behaviour to keep that relationship strong for years to come.

Creating a Winning CRM Strategy

Your business is unique, and your CRM strategy should follow suit. Here are some steps to help you create a CRM strategy that works for your business.

1. Perform an Audit

When kickstarting your CRM strategy, you'll need to take a good look at your current data. This step involves assessing the information you currently have and identifying gaps.

Consider the following data points:

• Contact details: You can't reach out if you don't know how.
• Purchase history and frequency: What do customers buy and how often?
• Value of purchases: Are customers high spenders?
• Personal preferences: What do customers like or dislike?
• Demographics: Who are the customers in a broader sense (age, location, etc.)?

This step aims to get a clear overview of your current data landscape. After this, you'll know what additional data you need to collect to enrich your CRM strategy.

2. Identify Your Target Audience

This step involves analysing the data you've just examined and identifying commonalities and preferences. You'll be creating what marketers call buyer personas. These are profiles of your ideal customers that you'll keep in your CRM strategy toolkit.

For a bookstore, after some data analysis, your target audience might look something like this:

• Demographic: People in their 30s
• Location: Urban dwellers in the U.S.
• Interests: Consuming books at a rapid pace, writing, and being the life of the book club
• Values: Focused on inclusivity and hand-picked collections

Identifying your target audience is all about avoiding generic marketing. With this data, you can customize your messaging and interactions to fit your customers perfectly. Trust us - they'll appreciate the extra effort.

3. Evaluate Your Customer Touchpoints

Next, examine how your customers interact with you. This could include your website, customer service line, social media profiles, or physical store. And yes, even that contact form hidden in the corner of your site counts.

Some customer touchpoints might include:

• Communication records: How and when have you interacted before?
• Feedback about your business: What has been their experience so far?
• Website and app behaviour: How do they interact with your digital platforms?
• Social media engagement: How active are they on your social channels?

The goal of this review is to truly understand how you're connecting with your customers. Are they happy? Or is there room for improvement? A good example of this is Domino's dramatic comeback. Did you know it was tied with Chuck E. Cheese as America's worst pizza? It was at the bottom of the pizza game, but it listened to its customers, started making decisions based on actual data, and turned its business around.

Indeed, it even made a commercial explaining its strategy.

Understanding what your customers are saying and how they're interacting with your brand will help shape your CRM strategy, setting the stage for more focused, achievable goals.

4. Set Goals

Now it's time to decide what you want to achieve with your CRM strategy.

Take Amazon's CRM strategy, for example. Its goal is to provide an unparalleled shopping experience tailored to each customer's preferences. It knows exactly how to entice you with personalised offers, irresistible recommendations, and captivating promotions, all based on your past purchases.

Plus, Amazon has mastered the art of convenience, making it incredibly easy for customers to create an account and enjoy the benefits. It's a win-win for both Amazon and its customers.

But here's the kicker: your goals need to be SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound.

Here's a breakdown:

• Specific: Your goal needs to be clear. Something like "Improving customer service" is as clear as a foggy morning. What aspect of customer service? How much improvement? Bring the details.
• Measurable: You need a yardstick. If you want to boost customer retention, what's your target percentage?
• Achievable: Your goal should challenge you but not be out of reach. Are you setting yourself up for success or setting a goal that's as realistic as running a marathon after the office Christmas party?
• Relevant: Make sure your goal actually matters. Does this goal align with your overall business objectives? Or is it a distraction from your primary focus?
• Time-bound: Set a timeline to keep yourself on track. Without a deadline, a goal is just a dream.

With clear direction and intention for your goals, you'll be well-equipped to steer your CRM strategy in the right direction.

5. Sketch a Customer Journey Map

Now that you have some goals, a buyer persona, and a stash full of customer data, it's time to grab a marker and sketch out a customer journey:

• Capture their attention: Make your customers' first interaction with your brand captivating, like Burger King's wildly unpredictable Twitter vibe or Nike's iconic eye-catching Instagram posts.
• Spark their interest: Now that you've caught their attention, it's time to stimulate their curiosity. Nurture their interest with engaging content, valuable insights, and intriguing storytelling.
• Guide them with purpose: Every step of the journey should have a clear purpose and direction. Ensure your messaging, offers, and interactions align seamlessly, creating a cohesive and meaningful experience.
• Engage them at every stage: Surprise and delight are the secret weapons of an extraordinary customer journey. Go above and beyond to exceed their expectations, whether it's through personalised recommendations, unexpected perks, or exceptional customer service.
• Close the deal: Make the buying process a breeze, removing friction or barriers like a complicated sign-up process or unnecessary clicks. Ensure they feel confident, excited, and fulfilled as they take that final step to become loyal patrons of your business.

Doing this allows you to fine-tune your CRM strategy to offer your customers a smooth, enjoyable journey every time they interact with your brand.

Trust us - they'll appreciate the scenic route.

6. Select the Right Tools

Knowing your customers' preferences, just like baristas know your complicated coffee order, won't do much good if you can't deliver.

That's why most businesses turn to CRM software to better organise and manage relationships with current and prospective customers.

Before signing up for any software, consider the size of your organisation, the number of users who will need to access the tool, and the complexity of your customer interactions. Then decide which features are important to you, like:

• Contact management: Keep all your customer details organised and easily accessible.
• Lead tracking: Monitor and track the progress of your leads throughout the sales process.
• Sales pipeline management: Efficiently manage and track your deals as they move through the sales pipeline.
• Reporting and analytics: Gain valuable insights into your business performance and customer trends through comprehensive reporting and analytics features.
• Automation and integration capabilities: Look for built-in automations, and ensure seamless integration with your existing apps and systems for smooth data flow and collaboration.
• Mobile accessibility: Access and manage your CRM system on the go, keeping you connected and productive from anywhere.

7. Train Your Team

Training your team is critical for the success of your CRM strategy. Here's how to ramp up their CRM strategy training:

• Assemble the right team members: Don't just include sales and customer service, but consider other departments like marketing who will be integral in deploying your CRM strategy.
• Provide ongoing support and resources: A couple of training sessions won't cut it. Proactively communicate and promote the benefits of the strategy, and if you're deploying software, you'll need documentation and a detailed onboarding process.
• Foster continuous learning: Encourage a culture of learning and knowledge sharing to prevent silos.

With a well-trained team of CRM superheroes, you'll be ready to tackle any customer challenge that comes your way. Together, you'll deliver exceptional experiences and save the day for your customers - not to mention supercharge your business.

8. Monitor Performance to Improve

Rome wasn't built in a day, and your CRM strategy won't be perfect right away. Here's how to track your performance metrics and continuously fine-tune your approach:

• Monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) like customer acquisition rates, customer satisfaction scores, or conversion rates to gauge the effectiveness of your CRM strategy.
• Analyse customer feedback and reviews to identify areas for improvement and to spot any red flags indicating dissatisfaction or pain points.
• Regularly review and compare your performance against your SMART goals to measure progress and identify optimisation opportunities.
• Leverage built-in analytics and reporting features in your CRM tool to gain insights into customer behaviour, engagement patterns, and sales performance.
• Conduct A/B testing or experiments to test different strategies or approaches and determine which ones yield better results.
• Seek feedback from your team and stakeholders to gain diverse perspectives and insights on your CRM strategy's impact and areas for improvement.

Over time, you'll find yourself making smarter, data-driven decisions, adjusting your strategy on the fly, and watching your CRM performance soar. So channel your inner detective, and let your CRM strategy evolve into a masterpiece.

CRM Strategy Examples

Now that we've walked through the "how" of a CRM strategy, let's look at some real-life examples.

Rewards Programs

Rewards or loyalty programs are a perfect win-win for businesses and customers. Your customers get points, discounts, special offers, or other perks, and you get their continued engagement and loyalty.

Take the Barnes & Noble example. Their tiered rewards program has book lovers hooked. For every $10 spent, you get a stamp. Collect 10 stamps? That's a $5 reward in your pocket. They even offer a premium membership for $39.99 a year, with added bonuses like 10% off purchases and free shipping.

If you run a program like this through your CRM tool, you can gather valuable data on your customers' preferences, which can be used to personalise your marketing and customer experience.

Personalisation

Starbucks knows my go-to order - a venti iced peach green tea lemonade with one pump of classic syrup. And they use it against me every chance they get by sending me irresistible push notifications and personalised deals. Crafty? Yes. Effective? Absolutely.

You can channel your inner Starbucks with your CRM strategy. Use customer data like purchase history, browsing behaviour, demographics, and previous interactions to create a tailor-made customer journey. This kind of personalisation aligns with your target audience's interests and needs, turning casual visitors into lifelong fans.

Valuable Content

Want to know the secret to engaging and nurturing customers throughout their journey? High-quality, relevant, and informative content. This could be blog posts, videos, podcasts, eBooks, case studies, or, if you're Starbucks, an online sweepstakes game that's as addictive as their Frappuccinos.

HubSpot's CRM starter page, free online marketing and sales courses are a prime example. They're so valuable that many workplaces often require them. This approach solidifies HubSpot's authority and delivers lasting benefits to its audience.

Remember, the key to creating valuable content is understanding your customers' needs, interests, and pain points. And all that juicy information is right there in your CRM.

Elevating Your Business With a Stellar CRM Strategy

Implementing a CRM strategy can help your business channel its inner Bob, ensuring your customers get their large iced coffee with cream and extra ice swiftly, with the care and attention they deserve. With a strategy and CRM tool that works for your organisation, the sky's the limit for automating and integrating customer data.