In customer experience, developing a stronger brand-to-consumer relationship requires answering the sales CRM’s “who,” “what,” and “why” questions, all of which directly impact CX.
Visionary brands know they need to create tailored, efficient customer interactions to thrive. Research backs this up — personalization can lift revenues by 5 to 15% and boost marketing ROI by 10 to 30%. The key to creating this kind of personalization? Combining the rich data of CRM with CX to create unique experiences for your customers and, in turn, boost your profits.
In this blog, we walk through how to integrate sales CRM with your CX and drive results. So let’s start with the basics — what even are they, and how can they connect?
CRM and CX: What’s the relationship and what’s the difference?
What exactly is the difference between CX and CRM? In short, CX means customer experience, and CRM means customer relationship management.
CRM manages the interactions and relationships from the company’s point of view. This involves tracking customer sales, customer data and marketing efforts to improve relationships.
CX, on the other hand, zooms in on the customer’s perspective and asks questions like, what is the customer’s journey when interacting with the company? What are the pain points in each touchpoint? Are they satisfied or frustrated after their experience?
The two go hand in hand — you can’t have a strong CRM without a strong CX. And it’s safe to say businesses can’t survive without positive customer sentiment. Consumers expect brands to listen to them and invite them to come back (the customer is always right, after all).
And offering the basics to demanding customers just isn’t going to cut it nowadays. The promise of personalization is achieved through CRM and CX integration. Yep, these two areas should buddy up for the best results.
Key areas to integrate sales CRM and CX
Omnichannel
By offering a single view of traditional and digital channels, omnichannel facilitates access to the entire history of interactions with customers. This allows for a smooth and frictionless journey, which is essential in CX.
CRM can support the omnichannel experience by consolidating interactions across multiple channels (think social media, email, chat and in-store visits).
Personalization
By leveraging data stored in the CRM, you can create the personalized experiences your customers crave (and expect). This includes personalized marketing communications, product recommendations and customer support interactions.
Feedback management
CRM systems can facilitate the collection and analysis of customer feedback through surveys and reviews. By integrating feedback mechanisms, you can tap into insights for customer sentiment and make data-driven improvements to their services and products.
Information security
It’s critical that, with all the new tech integration, you find secure ways to respect customer privacy and the protection of sensitive data. Systems must therefore operate with a high level of information security.
To prevent data leakage, all sensitive customer information needs to be encrypted and allow limited access. Similarly, the same encryption standards are used for all backups and replications. There are multiple functionalities within CRM and CX that allow you to differentiate the types of information that each user can access.
Constant CX development
The integration can enhance analytics capabilities by providing insights into customer behavior, preferences and trends, which you can tap into for personalization strategies. You can use this data for reports that inform strategic decisions and improve CX.
Of course, the mindset to adopt here is continuous improvement. You should be constantly analyzing, making improvements and strengthening how CRM and CX can work together seamlessly.
6 steps to effectively integrate sales CRM and CX
1. Create a solid CX foundation before integrating CRM by conducting a comprehensive analysis of existing systems, establishing technology roadmaps for CRM and CX integration, and implementing integrated analytics solutions.
2. Centralize customer data by consolidating data from sales, marketing, customer support and other touchpoints to create a more unified customer profile. A single view of the customer is essential for personalized interactions.
3. Establish a cross-functional collaboration between sales, marketing and CX teams. Make sure you align efforts with communications on objectives. Cross-functional teams can share insights and strategies, ensuring that both sales and CX initiatives complement each other.
4. Implement real-time feedback mechanisms into the CRM system to capture customer sentiments continuously. This can include post-interaction surveys or feedback forms.
5. Personalize customer interactions by digging into this goldmine of insights gained from the CRM data. Tailor marketing campaigns, sales pitches and support communications based on individual customer preferences and behaviors.
6. Train employees on CRM and CX and make sure they have a comprehensive understanding of the systems. Equip them with the knowledge and skills needed to deliver A+ service.
Manage your CX and CRM with confidence
Despite being two distinct areas, CX and CRM share the goal of better understanding consumer behavior. To do this, a strong toolset with big data, machine learning and AI must be effectively applied, along with a new set of processes and mindset shifts. The bottom line? Establish a strong framework, and continuously learn and evolve with the technology. The collaboration of CRM and CX is a key piece to successful customer experience management, which involves a lot of moving parts but is a critical part of your overall business outcomes.
Learn how to create seamless experiences in our ebook “Customer experience management: Creating a consistent brand experience.”