Electronic customer relationship management, also known as E-CRM, is the application of internet-based technologies like emails and websites to achieve CRM objectives. It helps to support customer experience and enhance satisfaction by making it easier for them and the organisation.
Most small and large businesses are currently utilising electronic customer relationship management (eCRM). The companies are unwilling to run their operations using conventional methods. Customers are the most crucial component of a business strategy’s implementation. Electronic Customer Relationship Management has become necessary in the past ten years. Electronic customer relationship management (eCRM) aims to acquire and retain economically desirable clients.
This CRM feature, which interacts with customers via its online business portals, aids in identifying the most critical clients so that the company can focus more resources on them and enhance efficiency.
This CRM feature, which interacts with customers via its online business portals, aids in identifying the most critical clients so that the company can focus more resources on them and improve operations. These businesses are given access to various solutions, which are frequently packaged and sold at exorbitant prices. The nature of a company is essential because implementing these CRM solutions is not only a waste of money but also a significant amount of time. This might potentially result in the loss of a crucial customer base for the functioning of the business. All small and medium enterprises should use e-CRM software since it provides profiles and histories of every company’s interaction with its clients. E-CRM also offers extensive role setup options to guarantee that only the right members have access to the data they require.
Some of the features of the E-CRM system are as follows:
- Customer Management: E-CRM helps to access all customer information, including correspondence and the progress of enquires, making it easier for business organisations.
- Knowledge management also helps an organisation have a centralised database that manages and distributes consumer data.
- Account management: The E-CRM automated system will record all the customers’ history and data. Because of this usefulness, sales teams and customer support teams can work effectively since they have access to customer information and history.
- Reporting and analysing: It helps to create reports on business criteria and customer behaviour.
- Back-end integration: This E-CRM integrates with other systems, such as billing, inventories, and logistics, through appropriate customer interaction points, such as websites and call centres.
Difference between E-CRM and CRM systems:
Customer relationship management (CRM) is a “subcategory” of ECRM since CRM relies on multi-channel marketing, whereas ECRM concentrates on all digital channels. CRM is based on conventional methods like a web-based, retail shop, telephone, or fax client interaction. Still, it covers the procedures and systems that enable a business to build, manage, and track relationships and contacts with its customers for the company’s growth. Relationships in customer relationship management are straightforward and static. E-CRM is superior to CRM and adapts CRM online and in an e-commerce setting. Here, all communication—including requesting customer service, making an online purchase, managing customer relationships, and gathering client comments and suggestions—takes place online. Relationships are complicated and dynamic in electronic customer relationship management.
The communication channels are where CRM and ECRM diverge. CRM communicates with clients via phone, fax, or other distribution methods. On the other hand, E-CRM communicates with clients using the Internet, email, and cutting-edge technology.
The primary purpose for implementing an E-CRM system in an organisation is due to the following reasons:
- More effective marketing: The help of E-CRM allows an organisation to predict customer needs and satisfaction. With all the data available on customers, it expects what a customer will buy and the timing of the purchases. This will give an upper hand to the organisation to manage the product and make items available for valuable customers making marketing more effective.
- Increases efficiency and Saves cost: E- CRM systems can put all customer data in a single database in an E-CRM system, allowing an organisation to share data and information more quickly and efficiently. It keeps track of all the expenses and saves staff time; saving staff time means saving costs.
- Improves customer relationships: E-CRM system helps an organisation better understand customers. It focuses more on customers and tracks and manages customer information, enhances support for customers by lowering administrative costs and gives them faith in shifting more business to an organisation. These things help to gain customer support and improve customer relationships with the organization.
- Customer satisfaction: It will be possible to respond to inquiries and handle problems thanks to automatic customer tracking and detection. This will enhance the customer’s overall interaction with the business.
Potential disadvantages of an E-CRM could be:
- Technical risk: While setting up an e-CRM system, the customers might require manual intervention and human assistance while resolving specific issues or obtaining status for a complicated order.
- Technological risk: A technical downtime might also result in brand damage to the company, and customers might be left in disarray while looking for a solution and technology, refusing to respond.
- Data security: Data security would be a key component where the company needs to make sure there are enough firewalls in place t the company from hackers and disallow them to steal any customer-sensitive data.
- Third-party access: There have been several cases where a web hosting business has sold customer relationship management data to another company. When a third-party provider is selected, it is anticipated that they will treat the data with the privacy it merits because third parties might sometimes use this application to access sensitive information. They must do due diligence to prevent data from getting into the wrong hands.
- Adequate training: Smaller companies don’t typically have as many training problems. However, it will be necessary for the big businesses to offer workers’ movement. This will need to engage an expert to lead the training for E-CRM projects of greater scope. This is a significant drawback for new E-CRM applications because movement frequently denies the business the time needed to increase productivity. Additionally, because many apps offer unique features and functions for executives and managers, E-CRM training is typically different for employees and managers. Additionally, these other traits need to be trained. The training session may be brief (a few hours) or lengthy, lasting several days.
In conclusion, I will say people need to spend some time deciding if the E-CRM software is appropriate for the company or not. If so, get in touch with an impartial and independent software vendor to ensure a smooth transition into a new stage of your company’s growth.
