Customer Relationship Management of ZOHO Software - Case Study Example

Customer relationship management case of ZOHO software Student’s name: Institution: Instructor’s name: Date: Table of Contents Introduction 2 Aim 3 Objectives 4 ZOHO CRM and key CRM Theory 4 What record types can ZOHO CRM store and Process 5 Marketing and Sales Campaigns in ZOHO CRM 6 Facilitating communication in ZOHO CRM 7 Classifying ZOHO CRM 8 Reporting in ZOHO CRM 8 Modifying ZOHO CRM to specific business needs. 9 Conclusion 10 Recommendation 11 References 12 Introduction It is good for a company to have long-term relationships with customers. Organizations have ventured into customer relations with the realization that customer contributes a high percentage of the total revenue of the company. The sole purpose of a business is to make profits and hence this purpose cannot be accomplished without the presence of a customer. A customer is, therefore, an important person in any business. The customer is the reason behind the success of accompanying in terms of profits. Customers can, however, can be sensitive because they need to be handle with attention and care. They need to feel satisfied with the products and service they purchase from any company. It is a long process to attract and retain customer because they change their purchasing habits depending on their tastes and preferences (Lamb, Hair, & McDaniel 2011). Customer relationship management was developed for the purpose of designing strategies to attract and maintain customers.in order to succeed in customer relationship management, a company should first analyze the lifecycle of a customer. This is called the customer life cycle. It is where the customer behavior and character regarding their taste and preference of a product are collected, analyzed and evaluated. The life cycle of a customer begins from the time they purchase a certain product to the time they decide to stop purchasing it (Jain and Singh 2002). Aim Customer relationship management is the process involved in ensuring that there is a lasting relationship between the company and its customers. It is important to note that customers are the most important factor to be considered in any profit making organization. This is because they are the basis of profit. A business cannot operate without customers. To enhance long-term profits, organizations have invested in customer relationship management by setting strategies that will promote long term relation. Analyzing the cycle of customers and ensuring that they are satisfied attracts customers. Losing customers is a threat to any company because the journey towards attaining a good relation with a customer is difficult. The aim of this activity is to integrate the use of software to enhance customer management.in this case, we are focusing on ZOHO software which is a leading customer solution to any company. Objectives We are going to analyze and evaluate the customer relationship management for ZOHO Company. This is an online solution to any company seeking to enhance its customer relation. It is important to understand that technological changes have impacted the manner in which customers are treated in every organization. Take for example the use of social media to create platforms for enhancing customer service through providing constant attention to customers. After analyzing the ZOHO CRM, we are going to integrate its functions and benefit to a small business and use it to enhance the customer relations target of the business. ZOHO CRM and key CRM Theory According to Peppers & Rogers, (2011), the theoretical view of CRM is defined as the process of using information relating to customers to develop a strategy on how to satisfy customers and retain them. It is the aspect of synchronizing customer characters with that of company goals and finding an appropriate solution to help attract retain and establish a strong relation with the customer. Organizations are investing in CRM and integrating the goals to long term strategies. CRM has been embraced in big organizations for the purpose of improving performance. A product has its life cycle from the point of production to the point of consumption; the same way a company will invest in all the stages of production is the same way it will invest in customer life cycle. Take for example when a product is launched in the market, the company will engage the effort and skills of marketing team to promote the product, in doing so, the marketer will begin by convincing the customer to purchase the product, the convincing power of the marketer is important because it will determine the purchasing decision of the customer. After the customer is persuaded and convinced to buy the product, the marketer should conduct a follow-up to ensure that customers are satisfied and they are willing to come for more. All this process of convincing, following up and paying attention to a customer request is CRM. Revolution of CRM has seen changes from way back in the 19th century where it was on the basis of after sales service whereby a customer could only receive attention from accompanying after purchasing the product. The 21st century has introduced technology in CRM whereby companies will use information gathered from different sources to analyze and evaluate the characteristics of a customer and thus find a solution that will lead to long term relation with the company. ZOHO is one of the results of 21st-century technological advancement in the sense that it provide advanced customer service management solution to any company. It is a platform used by customers to seek assistance. It is also a flat form used by companies to collect data to be used in enhancing their CRM strategies. Integrating the key CRM theory with that of ZOHO, we find that it reflects the theoretical view. This is because all the facts in the theory are depicted in the ZOHO platform (Verhoef 2003). What record types can ZOHO CRM store and Process ZOHO CRM has been rated the world number one online CRM tool used by customers and company.it is a link between the customer and the marketer in terms of service provision. Looking at its platform, ZOHO can record various types of information that is useful to a company in terms of accessing a customer life cycle.it enables a company to track sales, analyze customer behavior in terms of their taste and preference, it also keep the process of sales in streamlined so as to help a company get immediate access to the files containing customer records. These records are categorized according to its importance to the company. Revenue record, conversation rate records, records on improving customer retention, records on sales, records on marketing and sales costs. All the information needed by a company and are availed in ZOHO are integrated and illustrated below Marketing and Sales Campaigns in ZOHO CRM According to Payne, and Frow, (2005) companies that use ZOHO CRM software have benefited when it comes to reducing the costs associated with sales and marketing. ZOHO carries out marketing and sales campaign to facilitate the importance of customer information in improving sales and enhancing a long term relation with any company. The campaigns are carried out using the major platform in the software. Take for example the email campaign; this is where ZOHO carries out its marketing and sales through engaging in conversation with prospects through emails. This is an advanced way of marketing as it enhances swift communication and it results to reaching a large number of potentials (Venkatesan and Kumar 2004). Another form of the campaign is the use of social campaigns, this is where the company has invested in the use of social media platforms, it is important to note that social media has contributed to cost minimization when it comes to marketing and sales of any product. A company that invests in using social media to sell its brand has experienced reduced marketing cost and increased sales. Also, a company will be able to gather more information about the customer. Promotional offers, events, electronic commerce, and teasers are some of the different forms of applying social campaigns through ZOHO. The illustration below shows a brief summary on how ZOHO has integrated the use of customer information to enhance the sales and marketing strategy. Facilitating communication in ZOHO CRM ZOHO has ensured that there is a smooth flow of information from the customer to the companies. This is because it has integrated various communication platforms online and has enabled companies to access more information to be used in setting up strategies to improve sales and hence customer relations as asserted by Harmon, (2010). Extreme sports business will be able to obtain information concerning potential customers; this will be enhanced through ZOHO platform where the business will gather information about its potential customers. Take for example information from people who are involved in various sporting activities, ZOHO will collect information about people who love sports.it is obvious that extreme sort equipment are rare and hence people will log in to different sites on the internet to get access to information about this equipment. Therefore ZOHO is able to capture the interest of potential customers and communicate to extreme sports business. Classifying ZOHO CRM There are different types of software used by companies that have invested in CRM. Therefore ZOHO falls under one of this software. Evaluating and analyzing the types of service offered by ZOHO it is important to also know the software.it, therefore, fall used in the category of cloud salesforce software because it has enhanced the sales and marketing strategies of a company. The tool is used to gather, evaluate and analyze information regarding customers. This information is used by companies and big organizations to set strategies to enhance a long term relation with its customers. Reporting in ZOHO CRM The software is integrated with a reporting system that allows the user to get updates on any activity taking place that revolves around customers. This form of integration has enhanced the reporting system in the sense that it provides up to date reports on customer life cycle. The diagram below is an illustration on how reporting system of ZOHO functions. The reporting system provides updates on daily activities, the top ten potential resulting from customer’s daily activities, monthly activities and day to day activities. A theoretical view of CLC asserts that the reports of a customer are the appropriate information that a company could use in making marketing and sales decisions. Modifying ZOHO CRM to specific business needs. customization and configuration of ZOHO software if flexible enough to allow smooth flow of work. This is because it allows a company to work with its team to allow information flow from the pipeline due to the layout of its customs. This, therefore, makes it easy to use as the company can customize its daily activities in line with the objectives of CRM function. It allows the user to pick the features that are in line with the objectives of obtaining customer information. It also allows the user to set up alerts to managers when the sales are in the final stage or when there are changes in price (Newell, 2001). There is also the feature that allows the user to send a follow-up emails to customers automatically. The image below is a description of workflow in ZOHO. This image shows that there is a systematic way in which information is collected, analyzed and reviewed. Conclusion From the analysis of ZOHO software, it is evident that companies have invested in customer relations management, therefore using the software to gather information about the customer is relevant to maintaining a long-term customer relation for the purpose of continuity in profit making. The case of ZOHO present advanced technology and the manner in which customer can be regulated through setting strategies that relate to their purchasing decisions. The fact that ZOHO is flexible enough to be used by small business is beneficial to the extreme sports business since it can be able to rely on information gathered from ZOHO. The business thus is able to make decision basing on customer data collected from ZOHO. It can also set strategies in term of sales and marketing of its products. ZOHO is indeed a savior to many organizations that rely on customer information because it provides all information through the life cycle of customers. The fact that the software provides report is also another advantage to the business because the report will allow prediction of sales and the trend are used in making appropriate decisions. Recommendation CRM has become a sensitive aspect in many businesses, ZOHO has been a solution to organizations and small business seeking to advance their customer relations.it is recommended that the software is integrated with other tools such as buzz stream so as to enhance the features and allow the user to easily locate the customers. Also, integration will promote more streamline activities of a customer especially through the internet (Chen, & Popovich, 2003). References https://www.researchgate.net/publication/27399333_Strategic_Issues_in_Customer_Relationship_Management_CRM_Implementation http://www.oncontact.com/kpis-in-customer-relationship-management/ Lamb, C.W., Hair, J.F. & McDaniel, C. (2011) “Marketing: Student Edition” Cengage Learning Mathur, U.C. (2010) “Retail Management: Text and Cases” I.K. International Pvt Ltd Peppers, D. & Rogers, M. 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