When implementing CRM software, many companies forget what the “C” is for – Customers. Companies are so busy focusing on gains in efficiency and tracking the numbers that they forget that without customers, there is no business. If you don’t take care of customers and grow the customer relationship, there is no reason to make investments in employees, products, office equipment, or technology. Without customers, there is no reason for the product or service. Does your customer define your business? That is the way it should be.

What is the purpose of CRM software? Let’s see. I think that is part of the title: Customer Relationship. But what is the relationship of the customer to your company? Customers make a purchasing decision – often based on the relationship your company had with with friends and colleagues. Ever think about that?

Customers drive the price of your product or service – either up or down, depending on how valuable they perceive it to be. Ultimately it is the customer that decides when, how and how much to interact with the company. It is the customer’s image of the brand that creates the brand.

The third word in CRM is management. Up to now it appears the customer manages the relationship, but the company needs to take some control. The company can and needs to develop strategies to enable the company to work in an ongoing fashion to improve its ability to start, continue, and improve its relationships with its customers.

By putting the Customer first in Customer Relationship Management, the company elevates the customer and his role in the business. By putting the customer first, the company becomes customer-centric and begins to ask questions of their customers and potential customers and listen to the answers. The company gets to know real customers with real needs and not some contrived profile of the ideal customer. From this, the company creates real answers.

The result is amazing. Improved customer satisfaction leads to customer loyalty. Revenues grow. Employees become more production and more satisfied. And the costs of lead generation, customer acquisition, marketing, and sales decrease.

Where does CRM software fit into this picture? The right CRM software enables the company to re-evaluate its priorities and re-shape its processes to fit its goals and its customers’ expectations. It empowers employees to better serve the customer. And it captures all those things that the customer says as well as how the company responds.